CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
A GREAT SINGING DUEL INTERRUPTED BY A CATASTROPHE.
When the lamps were rekindled by Kannoa, it was discovered that the oldlady's nostrils were twitching and her throat contracting in aremarkable manner, with smothered laughter. Very different was thecondition of Ippegoo, who still lay bound in the middle of the room.Fear and surprise in equal proportions seemed to have taken possessionof him. Rooney, having dropped the bear-skin, approached him, whileAngut stood beside the lamp looking on with a sort of serious smile.
"Now, Ippegoo," said the sailor, stooping and cutting his bonds, "I setyou free. It is to be hoped also that I have freed you fromsuperstition."
"But where is the bear-angekok?" asked the bewildered youth.
"I am the bear-angekok."
"Impossible!" cried Ippegoo.
To this Rooney replied by going back to his bear-skin, spreading it overhimself, getting on a stool so as to tower upwards, spreading out hislong arms, and saying in his deepest bass tones--
"Now, Ippegoo, do you believe me?"
A gleam of intelligence flashed on the youth's countenance, and at thatmoment he became more of a wise man than he had ever before been in hislife, for he not only had his eyes opened as to the ease with which somepeople can be deceived, but had his confidence in the infallibility ofhis old tyrant completely shaken. He reasoned somewhat thus--
"If Ujarak's torngak was good and true, it would have told him of thedeceit about to be practised on him, and would not have allowed him tosubmit to disgrace. If it did not care, it was a bad spirit. If it didnot know, it was no better than a man, and not worth having--so I don'twant to have one, and am very glad I have escaped so well."
The poor fellow shrank from adding, "Ujarak must be a deceiver;" but hebegan to think that Red Rooney might not have been far wrong after allwhen he called him a fool.
Ippegoo was now warned that he must keep carefully out of the wizard'sway, and tell no one of the deceit that had been practised. He promisedmost faithfully to tell no one, and then went straight home and told hismother all about it--for it never for a moment occurred to the poorfellow to imagine that he was meant to conceal it from his mother!
Fortunately Kunelik was a wise little woman. She knew how to keep herown counsel, and did not even by nod or look insinuate to any one thatshe was in possession of a secret.
"Now, then, Angut, what is the next thing to be done?" asked Rooney,after Ippegoo had left.
"Make Ujarak fight his duel," said Angut.
"What! the singing duel with Okiok?"
"Yes. The people have set their hearts on the thing, and Ujarak willtry to escape. He will perhaps say that his torngak has told him to gohunting to-morrow. But our customs require him to keep his word. Myfear is that he will sneak off in the night. He is a sly fox."
"I will stop that," said Rooney.
"How?"
"You shall see. Come with me to the hut of Ujarak."
On reaching the hut, they found its owner, as had been expected,sharpening his spears, and making other arrangements for a huntingexpedition.
"When do you start?" asked Rooney.
"Immediately," replied the wizard.
"Of course _after_ the duel," remarked Angut quietly.
The wizard seemed annoyed.
"It is unfortunate," he said, with a vexed look. "My torngak has toldme of a place where a great number of seals have come. They may leavesoon, and it would be such a pity to lose them."
"That is true," said Angut; "but of course you cannot break our customs.It would ruin your character."
"Of course, of course I will not break the custom," returned Ujarakquickly; "unless, indeed, my torngak _orders_ me to go. But that is notlikely."
"I want to ask you," said Rooney, sitting down, "about that trip you hadlast year to the land of the departed. They tell me you had a hard timeof it, Ujarak, and barely escaped with your life."
The sly seaman had spread a net with which the wizard could at all timesbe easily caught. He had turned him on to a tune at which he was alwayswilling to work with the persistency of an organ-grinder. The wizardwent on hour after hour with unwearied zeal in his narrations, beingincited thereto by a judicious question now and then from the seaman,when he betrayed any symptom of flagging. At last Angut, who had oftenheard it before, could stand it no longer, and rose to depart. Havingalready picked up the Kablunet's mode of salutation, he held out hishand, and said "Goo'-nite."
"Good-night, friend," returned Rooney, grasping the proffered hand. "Ican't leave till I've heard the end of this most interesting story, soI'll just sleep in Ujarak's hut, if he will allow me, and thus avoiddisturbing you by coming in late. Good-night."
"Goo'-nite," responded Angut, and vanished from the scene.
The wizard heaved a sigh. He perceived that his little plan of glidingaway in the hours of darkness was knocked on the head, so, like a truephilosopher, he resigned himself to the inevitable, and consoled himselfby plunging into intricacies of fabulous adventure with a fertility ofimagination which surprised even himself--so powerful is the influenceof a sympathetic listener.
When Ujarak at last discovered that his guest had fallen into a profoundslumber, he brought his amazing narrative to an abrupt close, and,wrapping himself in a reindeer-skin, resigned himself to that reposewhich was so much needed to fit him for the combat of the approachingday.
It was a brilliant sunny morning when Red Rooney awoke from a startlingdream, in which he had been wrestling with monstrous creatures in thedepths of ocean as well as in the bowels of the earth.
The wizard was still locked in apparently dreamless slumber. Unwillingto disturb him, the seaman glided quietly out, and clambered to the topof a cliff, whence a magnificent sea-view was revealed to his wonderinggaze.
There are times when the atmosphere of this earth seems to be rarefiedand freshened with celestial zephyrs, which not only half intoxicate thespirit, but intensify the powers of hearing and vision, so that gentlesounds which are very far off come floating to us, and mingle softlywith those that are near at hand, while objects are seen at such immensedistances that one feels as if the world itself had suddenly grownlarger. To these influences were added on this occasion a sea whichabsolutely glittered with the icy gems that decked her calm and wavelessbosom. It was not only that millions of white and glittering peaks,with facets and edges gleaming like diamonds, rose into the blue sky,but here and there open lanes of water, and elsewhere lakes and littleponds upon the melting ice caught the full orb of the rising sun, andsent its reflection into the man's eyes with dazzling refulgence, whilethe ripple or rush of ice-born water-falls and the plaintive cries ofwild-fowl gave variety and animation to the scene. In a mind lessreligiously disposed than that of our seaman, the sights and soundswould have irresistibly aroused grateful thoughts to our Creator. OnRooney the effect was almost overpowering, yet, strange to say, it drewno word of thanksgiving from his lips. Clasping his hands and shuttinghis eyes, he muttered with bowed head the words, "God, be merciful to mea sinner!"
Perhaps the recognition of the Father's great goodness andcondescension, coupled with his own absolute unworthiness, and theimpulse which called those words forth, was nearly the highest act ofworship which the sailor could have offered.
Far below, under the sheltering cliff, the huts of the Eskimo villagecould be seen like little black specks dotting the still snow-coveredland; and the voices of children could be heard in faint but merryshouts and peals of laughter, as their owners, like still smallerspecks, romped about. One of those specks Rooney recognised, from itsintense blackness, to be his friend Tumbler, and a smaller and lighterspeck he guessed to be Pussi, from the circumstance of its persistentlyfollowing and keeping close to the raven-clad hero.
The pleased look with which Rooney at first regarded the children slowlypassed away, and was replaced by one of profound sadness; for how couldhe escape dejection when he thought of a sweet Irish w
ife and littleones, with a dear old grandmother, whom he had left in the old country,and who must long before that time have given him up as dead?
His melancholy thoughts were dissipated by a sudden increase in theshouting of the little ones. On regarding them attentively, he observedthat they scattered themselves in the direction of the several huts, anddisappeared therein.
Well did Rooney know that the movement meant breakfast, and having apersonal interest in that game, he left his perch and the glorious view,and hastened down.
After breakfast the entire community went with one consent to witnessthe singing combat. It was to take place on the ice near the scene ofthe recent kick-ball game, close to the berg of the sea-green cave. Thepeople were much elated, for these savages were probably as muchinfluenced by brilliant spring weather as civilised folk are, though notgiven to descant so much on their feelings. They were also in thatcheerful frame of mind which results from what they correctly referredto as being stuffed; besides, much fun was expected from the contest.Lest our readers should anticipate similar delight, we must repeat thatEskimos are a simple folk, and easily pleased.
"Won't it be a tussle?" remarked Issek, who marched in the centre of agroup of women.
"It will, for Ujarak is tough. He is like a walrus," responded anadmirer of the wizard.
"Poo!" exclaimed the mother of Ippegoo contemptuously; "he can indeedroar like the walrus, but he can do nothing else."
"Yes; and his strength goes for nothing," cried a sympathiser, "for itis his brain, not his body, that has got to work."
"We shall see," said Kabelaw, whose sister remarked--"if we are notblind."
This mild observation was meant for a touch of pleasantry. Littletouches of pleasantry often passed between these "lying sisters," asthey were called, and they not infrequently culminated in touches oftemper, which must have been the reverse of pleasant to either.
Arrived at the arena, a ring was formed, and the wisdom as well asamiability of these poor people was shown by their putting the childrenin front, the little women in the second row, the tall women in thethird, and the men behind.
In a few minutes Ujarak bounded into the centre of the circle, with asmall drum or tambourine in one hand, which he beat vigorously with theother. Okiok followed more sedately, armed with a similar musicalinstrument, and retired to one side of the arena, for the wizard,perhaps because he was the challenger, had the right to begin.
A good authority on the Eskimo tongue says: "The language is not easilytranslatable, the brevity and force of a single sentence requiring to berendered in many words of another tongue." The same authority alsoinforms us that angekoks "speak in a metaphorical style sometimes, inorder to exhibit their assumed superiority in learning and penetration."It will not be expected, therefore, that our translation should conveymore than a general idea of the combat.
Ujarak's first act, after bounding into the ring and drumming, was toglare at his adversary. Okiok returned the glare with interest, and,being liberal, threw a sneer of contempt into the bargain. Ujarak thenglared round at the audience, and began his song, which consisted merelyof short periods, without rhyme or measure, but with a sort of rhythmicmusical cadence. He commenced with the chorus--"Amna ajah ajah hey!"which was vociferously repeated by his supporters among the audience.
What these words, mean--whether they represent our "fal lal la" or"runity iddity"--we have not been able to ascertain, but they came in atirregular intervals, greatly to the satisfaction of the audience,thus:--
"Amna ajah ajah hey! There was once a man--a man (So it is said, but we are not sure), A puffin perhaps he was--or a stupid spirit Made in the likeness of a man; Amna ajah ajah hey!"
Here the wizard not only accompanied the chorus with the drum, but witha species of dance, which, being a clumsy man, he performed in anextremely elephantine manner. After a few moments he went on:--
"This man--this puffin--was a liar: A liar, because he was a teller of lies. Did he not one time say that seals had come, And that birds were in the air? And when we went to look, no seals or birds were there. Amna ajah ajah Hey!"
The extreme vigour with which the last word was uttered resulted fromthe wizard having tripped in his dance, and come down heavily on theice, to the immense delight of his opponents and the children. ButUjarak rose, and quelling the laugh with a look of dignity, continued:--
"Worse than a liar was this foolish puffin. He hunted badly. When he flung the spear The seals would laugh before they went away. Sometimes he missed, sometimes he tipped the nose, Sometimes hit the wrong animal, And sometimes touched the tail. Amna ajah ajah hey!"
This verse was a hit, for Okiok was known to be but an indifferentmarksman with the throwing-spear; yet such was his industry and hisability to approach very near to his prey, that he was the reverse of abad hunter. But men in all lands are prone to shut their eyes to thegood, and to open them very wide to the evil, that may be said of anadversary. Consequently at this point the chorus was given with greatvigour by the wizard faction, and the wizard himself, having workedhimself into a breathless condition by the mental effort and the furiousdance, deemed it a fitting occasion to take his first rest.
The custom in those duels is for each combatant to devote a quarter ofan hour or so to the attack, and then make way for his opponent, who atonce steps forward and begins his counter-attack. After a short time hein like manner gives way, and his foe returns. Thus they proceed untilone is exhausted or overwhelmed; and he who has the last word gains thevictory, after which the dispute is held as settled, and they frequentlybecome better friends than before.
There was something in the expression of Okiok as he stepped sedatelyinto the ring which gladdened his friends and distressed his opponents.Unlike the wizard, he was well formed, and all his movements werecomparatively elegant, so that in his case the conventional bit of danceat the end of periods was pleasant to the eye, while his peculiaradvantage of rhyming power rendered his performance grateful to the ear.After a little drumming he began:--
"Why must I step within this ring, To jump and dance, and drum and sing? You all know well that Okiok Was never made an angekok. Amna ajah ajah hey!"
"Amna ajah ajah hey!" yelled the hunter's admirers, with enthusiasm.
"But Ujarak's the man of skill, To kick or wrestle, sing or kill; He bids me meet him here to-day. Poor Okiok! he must obey. My Torngak, come here, I say! Thus loud I cried the other day-- `You always come to Ujarak; Thou come to me, my Torngak!' But he was deaf, and would not hear, Although I roared it in his ear. At last he said, `No, Okiok, For you are not an angekok!' Amna ajah ajah hey!"
Here the hunter, after a neat pirouette and tickling of the drum,changed his tone to a soft insinuating whine:
"'Tis true I'm not an angekok; I'm only hunter Okiok. But Torngak, dear Torngak, Don't go away. O do come back! If you'll be mine, and stick to me For evermore, I'll stick to thee. And every single thing I do I'll come and ask advice from you; Consult you morning, noon, and night; Consult you when I hunt or fight; Consult you when I sing and roar; Consult you when I sleep and snore; Consult you more than Ujarak-- My Tor--Tor--Tor--Tor--Torngak!"
A roar of laughter and a stupendous "Amna ajah ajah hey!" greeted thisflight, while Okiok gravely touched his drum, and performed a few moreof his graceful evolutions.
"`No, no,' he said; `I'll never make So gross and stupid a mistake. One man there is who tried to do it-- He thinks the spirits never knew it-- He tried to make an angekok-stew Out of a lad named Ippegoo!'"
Here another yell of delight was followed by the chorus, and Okiok wasabout to resume, when a terrific rending sound seemed to paralyse everyone. Well did they know that sound. It was the rending of the solidice on which they stood. The advancing spring had so far weakened itthat a huge cake had broken off from the land-ice, and was now detached.A shriek from some of the women drew attention to the fact that thedisruption of the mas
s had so disturbed the equilibrium of theneighbouring berg that it was slowly toppling to its fall. A universalstampede instantly took place, for the danger of being crushed by itsfalling cliffs and pinnacles was very great. Everything but personalsafety was forgotten in the panic that ensued. Red Rooney was almostswept off his legs in the rush. Women and children were overturned, butfortunately not hurt. A very few minutes sufficed to take them allclear of danger; but the succeeding crashes produced such aninconceivable roar that the terrified villagers ran on until close tothe place where the ice had cracked off, and where a lane of water aboutthree feet wide presented itself.
Over this went men, women, and children at a flying leap--all exceptpoor little Pussi. That fat little thing would have been left behindhad not the mere force of the rush carried her on in a half running,half rolling way. Being unable to manage the jump, she went in with aplunge, and disappeared.
A wild scream from the nearest female caused every one to stop and runback.
"Pussi!" exclaimed Nunaga, pointing wildly to the water.
"Where--where did she go in?" cried Rooney.
"She must have gone under the ice!" gasped the poor girl.
As she spoke a bubble of air rose to the surface. Next moment theseaman cleft the cold black water and disappeared.
Then with a thrill of alarm the Eskimos observed that the great ice-cakewhich had broken off was being driven shoreward by the rising tide, andthat the lane of water was rapidly closing.
But they were not kept long in suspense. Another moment, and Rooneyappeared with little Pussi in his arms. They were instantly seized byOkiok and Angut, and dragged violently out--not much too soon, for onlya few seconds after they were rescued the ice closed with a grindingcrash, that served to increase the fervency of the "Thank God!" withwhich the seaman hailed their deliverance.
The child was not quite insensible, though nearly so. Rooney seized herin his arms, and ran as fast as he could towards the village, whitherthe fleet-footed Ippegoo had already been sent to prepare skins and warmfood for the reception of rescued and rescuer.
Red Rooney: The Last of the Crew Page 15