Fritz and Eric

by John C. Hutcheson

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

  SEALING.

  It was well on in the month of September--the spring of the year inSouth Atlantic latitudes--when the brothers commenced their crusoe-likelife on Inaccessible Island; and, by the time that Fritz had recoveredfrom the effects of his sprained ankle, so far as to be able to hobbleabout the place, it was nearly the end of October. This was thebeginning of the early summer at Inaccessible Island; and, the seasonbeing but a short one, not an hour of it could be wasted if they wishedto carry out to advantage the special purpose that had taken them awayfrom the haunts of men.

  The sealing season would soon begin; and, it behoved them to be readyfor it, so that they should lose no chance of securing as many skins asthey could get. The amount of oil they might procure from the boiled-down blubber was also a consideration, but only a secondary one incomparison with the pelts; for, owing to the market demand for sealskinsand the wholesale extermination of the animal that supplies them that isnow continually going on in arctic and antarctic seas alike, the pursuitis as valuable as it is more and more precarious each year--thebreeding-grounds now being almost deserted to what they once were, evenin the most out-of-the-way spots, the Esquimaux to the north andAmerican whalers in the south having depopulated the whilom numerousherds.

  The garden was the first point Fritz aimed for, when he found he couldput his foot to the ground; and he proceeded thither slowly, with theaid of a stick to lean upon and with Eric "frisking round him," as hesaid, just like old Gelert would have done!

  In the comparatively short space of time since Fritz had last seen thelittle plot, a wonderful transformation had been effected--thanks to therichness of the virgin soil, the productiveness of the climate, and,lastly, the super-stratum of guano which Eric had suggested being placedover the clearing.

  The sailor lad, too, had not forgotten each morning to water the newlyplanted land, which was exposed all day to the sun's heat, with theexception of a brief period in the afternoon when the shade of thecliffs extended over it; so, now, the garden presented a smilingappearance, with the potatoes just sprouting above their ridges, andcabbages and radishes coming up in clusters, while rows of peas andscarlet runners were sprouting as thick as hedges--not to speak of theslender onion stems, like tiny spears, each bearing its own seed backabove ground after it had performed its creative mission below thesurface, leaving a root behind.

  "This looks well," said Fritz, delighted at the result of their jointhandiwork. "Bye-and-bye, we ought to reap a good return for all ourlabour. I'm glad we got the job done when we did; otherwise, we shouldnot have such a charming prospect before us."

  "I'm jolly glad we haven't got to do it now!" replied Eric, with a shrugof his shoulders and laughing as usual. "Himmel! I shall never forgetthat digging!"

  "Nor the penguins either, I suppose, when you went to get the guano thatday?" said Fritz slyly, with a meaning glance.

  "Ah, brother, `no more of that, an thou lovest me!'" quoted Eric."Still, the guano, perhaps, has made the things come on so well, eh?"

  "No doubt of that," replied Fritz. "But, we'll have to thin out thosecabbage plants shortly, laddie; that will necessitate our digging upsome more ground, so as to make a place ready for them."

  "Oh!" groaned the other in a lachrymose way, making a hideous grimace.

  "However, we needn't hurry about it," continued Fritz, smiling at hisgrimace.

  "Ah!" exclaimed Eric, much relieved. He knew that if the thing had tobe done, he should have to accomplish it; for, in spite of all hisdisgust for spade work, he certainly would not have allowed Fritz toattempt gardening so soon with his invalided foot.

  "No, there's no hurry," went on Fritz, as if thinking aloud. "We'llhave to confine our attention to the seals now for the next two monthsor so, as that is our special business here. When we can capture nomore of those gentry, we'll have plenty of time to attend to the garden;although, probably, we shall get something out of it ere long, if only afew radishes--at all events we ought to have some new potatoes byChristmas, that is if they ripen as rapidly as they have jumped out ofthe ground!"

  "Fancy, new potatoes at Christmas!" cried Eric. "I wonder what theywould say to that at home in Lubeck?"

  "Aye, what!" repeated Fritz; and, in a second, his thoughts were faraway across the rolling Atlantic. His mental eyes could see--as plainlyas if the scene was there before him, now, in that little valley betweenthe cliffs of the desert isle where the two brothers were--the house inthe Gulden Strasse, with the dear home faces belonging to it. Yes,there they were in a loving vision, the "little mother," Lorischen, andMadaleine, not forgetting Gelert or Mouser even; while the old-fashionedtown, with its antique gateway and pillared market platz, and quaint DomKirche and clock of the rolling eyes, seemed moving past in a mentalpanorama before him!

  Eric recalled him presently to himself by a pertinent inquiry.

  "We'll have to see to our boat to hunt the seals in, won't we?" heasked.

  "Yes, certainly," said Fritz, fixing his mind on present things with aneffort. "I hope it's all right!"

  "You may make sure of that," answered Eric. "I wasn't going to let anyharm happen to the boat which the good captain so kindly gave us! No.I have been down to look at and overhaul it every day--keeping water init besides, that the seams should not open with the heat and make itleak."

  "Then it is quite seaworthy?"

  "Oh, yes, without doubt."

  "Well, I tell you what we'll do," said Fritz. "As the exertion will notcompel me to have any walking to speak of, nor interfere with thestrengthening of my poor foot, I vote that we sail round the headland tothe western beach on the other side of the island. We can then seewhether there is any appearance yet of the seals coming to take up theirsummer residence here."

  "Won't that be jolly!" shouted out Eric. "Why, it is the very thing Ihave been longing to do since we went up the cliffs and saw the beachthere from the tableland! I would not speak to you about it, because Iknew, of course, you could not move, and feared that talking of it mightexcite you."

  "That was very considerate of you, laddie," replied Fritz; "so, now toreward you for your thoughtfulness, I vote that we proceed there as soonas we can get the boat ready and prepare for the excursion. Apart fromits being in the nature of a little pleasure trip--my convalescent tour,as it were, for change of air--it is really necessary work for us toknow when we can begin, if we are going to be seal hunters and trade inskins and oil!"

  "Right you are," said Eric, quite convinced by this argument thatnothing could be more wise or sensible than a voyage round the island inthe whale-boat, especially as the plan agreed with his own views of thematter to an iota; and, in his usually impulsive way, in spite of havingalready inspected the little craft that morning, he rushed off down tothe beach, scaring multitudes of penguins on his way, to see whether shewas as sound and seaworthy as he had said, and thoroughly fit for thecruise.

  Everything was right, fortunately; so, early on the following day, theyshoved off the whale-boat from the beach. This was a rather fatiguingoperation, although it was greatly facilitated by some rollers whichEric sawed off a spare topgallant mast that was amongst the old sparsthe skipper gave them. The brothers then started on their trip roundthe island, the wind being fair from the south-east--the same point,indeed, from which it had blown almost entirely during their stay, withthe exception of a short spell from the south-west just after theirarrival.

  The coast, after clearing the headland, was bold and precipitous, thewall of rock continuing round to the west side; although here it brokeaway, with a lower ridge of soft dolomite that had caves worn into itsface from the action of the sea, and one or two creeks that the boatcould run into. This was evidently the haunt of the seals, for numbersof fish bones were scattered about on the floor of the caves and on thefragments of volcanic rock that were scattered on the beach below, piledand heaped up in pyramid fashion.

  Landing at one of the little caves, just under
a tussock-grass-growngully, like that close to their hut on the eastern side, Eric ascendedwith his rifle to the ridge above. He soon gained the tableland,returning anon with a well-grown kid which Fritz had told him to shoot,so that they might take it home with them. The ascent to the plateau,the lad said, was much easier from this part of the coast than by thewaterfall; but, of course, as it would necessitate a voyage almost roundthe island whenever they attempted it, the other way was morepreferable, although dangerous by contrast.

  One or two seals were seen sunning themselves on the rocks; but thesequickly slid off into the sea when the boat approached. Their breeding-season had certainly not yet arrived, else they would not only have beenmore numerous, but have been too much engaged with their families tomind ordinary intruders. When separated from their fellows, as thebrothers now saw them, however, they were naturally extremely timidanimals.

  Proceeding round the southern extremity of the island, the cliff thatencircled the coast seemed the more precipitous the further theyadvanced, frowning down destruction on any ship that might approach itunawares in the darkness--should the wind blow on shore and the set ofthe sea prevent escape from its terrors!

  Eric steered the boat out a bit here, so that they might tack further oninwards and so weather the eastern promontory, which stretched to theleft of the bay outwards into the ocean. They were thus able to have agrand view of the whole island, getting back to their little home, notlong before sundown. Nor did they return empty-handed, either; for, thekid furnished fresh meat for their dinner, to which their trip besidesadded a piquant relish.

  What with making things more comfortable in their hut and attending tothe garden, which bloomed out apace each day, the hours did not lag ontheir hands by any means during the next week or two. There wasoccupation enough, even in this interval, to pass the time pleasantlyaway; but, when the month of November was ushered in, the seals thencoming to the island in shoals, they found plenty to do from morningtill night.

  There was work of all kinds to be done:-- first, boating round the coastafter their prey; secondly, hunting the animals into their caves andkilling them, taking care to secure their bodies before they sank intodeep water and were thus irrecoverably lost; thirdly, getting off theskins and salting them down to prevent their putrefying; and, lastly,boiling blubber--oh, yes, they had enough work to employ them, and notime to be idle!

  Before this busy period, however, every morning, again at midday, and inthe afternoon, Eric would go up and down the tussock-grass ladder bywhich he scaled the precipice on to the tableland above, whence he wasable to reconnoitre the west coast, the favourite resort of the seals,according to the information of young Glass, the Tristaner whoinstructed them in the matter.

  The lad did this daily as a matter of duty, "climbing the fore cross-trees for a look-out," as he termed the scramble up the gorge; and, asregularly, three times every day, after his morning, midday, andafternoon observations, he would come back to Fritz with the sameunsatisfactory tale--that no seals were in sight.

  One afternoon, however, towards the end of the month, he reported morecheering news.

  "Oh, there are such a lot of seals on the rocks!" he called out from thetop of the cliff, without waiting to come down. "Why, there must behundreds of them there, crawling in and out of the caves on theirflappers, to and from the sea! Which will be the best way to tacklethem, brother, we can reach them from here, you know?"

  Fritz, who was below seated outside the hut, just preparing to mend someof his clothes that had long needed looking after, in a moment becameequally excited, pitching the dilapidated garments back inside the hutand putting off the work of repairing to some future day.

  "Come down sharp, Eric, and help me to get the boat out," he cried. "Wemust attack them from seaward; for, if we went at them from the cliff,they would at once take to the water, and so escape us. Descend atonce, while I am getting the guns and tackle ready!"

  "Right you are!" shouted the sailor lad in answer. "I'll be down withyou in a brace of shakes!"

  No sooner had he uttered the words than he was scrambling down by thetussock-grass through the waterfall gully; while, at the same time,Fritz below was proceeding hurriedly to collect the various articlesrequired for the sealing expedition, which had been put away on one sideso as to be handy for just such an emergency:-- the loaded rifles, withspare cartridges; the two harpoons, to each of which a long coiled-upline was attached; the strong boat-hook to pull in the carcases of theirvictims; and, other little etceteras.

  The common seal, which is frequently seen on the north coast of Scotlandamongst the Hebrides and Shetland Islands, and the sea bear of Cape Hornand the Magellan Straits, are both very similar in their general habitsto the Greenland seal of the Esquimaux; and the animals usually herdtogether in flocks or droves of some thirty to a hundred, each malehaving a certain number of females under his charge--the males beingsome six to eight feet long and the females of less dimensions.

  The seals invariably frequent the most desolate rocks and caverns, wherethey can have ready access to the sea, which is their proper element;and, in the north and extreme south, they live on the ice-peaks as arule, getting the fish they require for their food by diving off andcatching their prey in the same way that an otter does.

  The wildest and stormiest seas appear to delight them most. In suchthey may be seen, sporting amidst the breakers and rough water, in thehighest of spirits apparently, and escaping scatheless where othercreatures would be dashed to pieces on the rocks that form theirtemporary homes. Although they do not assemble on shore in any numbers,except during the summer months of the latitudes in which they arefound, they are never far-distant from their favourite haunts at anytime, the reason for their not being seen, most probably, being thatthey only leave the water at night during the winter, or else becausethe stormy weather prevents those who go after them from approachingtheir habitats and so noticing them.

  By the time Eric descended the cliff, Fritz had the boat ready to shoveoff, with their hunting gear inside and all necessary weapons for thechase; so, the two were soon on their way round the headland, steeringtowards the seal-caves on the western side of the island.

  "You never saw such a lot, brother," Eric went on to say, when they hadembarked and were working round the coast. "There were hundreds ofsmall ones, while some were big monsters that had long noses and seemedto be double the size of the others!"

  "Ah, those were probably sea elephants," said Fritz. "I should like tocatch one. The fur, they say, is not so good as that of the commonseal, but they yield an immense lot of oil from their blubber--fromeight to ten barrels, I have been told."

  "Really?" observed Eric. "Why, one or two of those gentlemen would soonfill up our casks!"

  "Yes, and I shouldn't regret it," said Fritz. "We should then have agood stock ready against the time Captain Brown returns to visit us withthe _Pilot's Bride_!"

  "Aye, I should like that," replied the other; and then, as both rowingand sailing--for the wind was light--the boat neared the rock caves ofthe western coast, the brothers grew too excited to talk any more.

  Presently, they hove in sight of their hunting-ground; whereupon, theyat once stopped the way of the boat in order to map out their campaign.

  It did not take long for them to do this; and the gist of the plan couldbe seen in the arrangements they made for battle.

  Fritz and Eric both put their rifles ready on the thwarts of the boat,and the harpoons were also placed handy in the bows along with the boat-hook; then, lowering the lugsail which the little craft carried, theymuffled their oars with some rags they had prepared and pulled insteadily towards the beach.

  As they got nearer, the seals could be seen swarming on the rocks, whilethe noise they made--something like the bleating of sheep mingled with ahoarse growling roar, not dissimilar to that of an angry bull in thedistance--could be heard plainly while the brothers were yet more than amile off.

  Some of the seals were swimm
ing about in the water, but the majoritywere basking on the huge slabs of rocks that had been broken off fromthe face of the cliff by the onslaught of the waves and which now lay onthe beach at its base, partly in and partly out of the sea.

  "Now, Eric, be ready!" called out Fritz in a hoarse whisper. "Do yousee those two fellows on that boulder nearest us?"

  "Yes," whispered Eric in return, almost breathless with excitement.

  "Then, you take the right-hand one, and I will make sure of the one tothe left. Aim low and steadily at the head, for that is the only vitalpart a ball will reach. Remember, if you only wound him, he'll slipinto the water and dive out of our reach!"

  "Right you are; I'm ready," was Eric's reply.

  "Wait till I give the word, then," said Fritz.

  There was a moment of suspense as the boat crept closer to the poorseals, who were playing away, thoughtless of danger, and then--

  "Fire!" exclaimed Fritz.

  The two murderous rifles, at the same instant, at once belched forththeir contents; and, a moment after, the dropped heads of the animalsaimed at showed that the respective bullets had accomplished theirmission.

  "Now, let us push in," cried Fritz, seizing his oar again, when, hisbrother following his example, they beached the boat in a few strokes.

  Then, each taking up a harpoon, they attacked the cluster of animals,killing fifteen before the frightened creatures could escape into theirnative element, although they came off the rocks with a rush, lookingmost formidable as they opened their mouths and showed their fangs,emitting the while terrific roars; and, as they waddled in a crowd intothe water, they rolled down the brothers with their impetus as if theyhad been ninepins.

  "I don't mind the bruises," said Fritz, picking himself up again with alaugh. "Not when I have such a sound salve for them as the thought ofthe oil we'll get out of all the carcases!"

  "Nor I," chimed in Eric, rubbing his nose ruefully though all the same."Think of fifteen--no, seventeen sealskins, counting in the two we shotfirst on the rocks! They ought to fetch something handsome when we sendthem to the States, eh?"

  "Yes," said Fritz; "but now, out with your knife, laddie! Let us set towork, taking off the pelts while they are still warm."

  "Right you are," replied Eric; and the two were soon at work, skinningthe animals and taking off the layer of blubber which lay immediatelybeneath the inner lining of the skin--rolling up the greasy and reekingmass of skin and fat together in bundles and placing them in the boat assoon as each seal had his toilet thus attended to.

  It was very dirty work and neither was sorry when all the blubber andskins were stowed in the whale-boat; their last care being to roll thepoor bodies of the seals now bereft of those coveted coats which hadcaused their destruction, into the sea. This was done in order that theremains might not scare away others of the herd from such inhospitableshores. The task was soon accomplished, for the rocks shelved downabruptly into the water; and, when the place was made tidy again, thebrothers set sail for home with their cargo, going back the contrary waythey came, so as to have the advantage of the wind and save the labourof rowing.

  Since their onslaught, not another live seal was to be seen in thevicinity, the first to make off before the boat was pulled into thebeach after Fritz and Eric had fired being the couple of sea elephantswhich they had noticed amongst the mass of animals, clustered togetheron the rocks; and these, consequently, they were unable to secure.

  However, they consoled themselves on their way back to the bay with thereflection that they had done a very good day's work. They were by nomeans dissatisfied with the result of their sport--seventeen seals atone haul were not to be despised!

  For some time after reaching the hut they were busily engaged, cleaningthe skins and salting them down for preservation. They had both beeninstructed how to do this on board the whaler; although Eric, having hadprevious practical experience with all the details of the operation, nowacted as superintendent.

  They had also to boil the blubber in the iron cauldron, which they hadbrought from the States for the purpose of "trying out the oil," aswhaling men technically term the procedure; and they found when they hadfinished that the result realised some ten barrels full.

  This was a splendid start for them and it made them so contented that itwas upwards of a fortnight before they undertook another expedition tothe west beach.

  But, apart, from the satisfactory results of their first venture, theythought it best to let the seals have a little interlude of calm beforeattacking them again. Besides this, Eric's reports from his look-outstation on the tableland were most unfavourable, as, for some days aftertheir last foray, hardly a seal was to be seen in the neighbourhood ofthe scene of the fray.

  However, one fine morning in December, Eric reported the arrival of afresh batch of the fur-bearing animals on the west rocks; so, makingtheir boat ready, the brothers soon sailed round thither once more.

  They had turned the last projecting point of the headland, beforeopening the beach frequented by the seals, and Fritz had brought up theboat's head to the wind, preparatory to their lowering the sail andtaking to their oars to pull into shore, when Eric, who had been lookingout over the bows, arrested his brother's intention.

  "Hullo, Fritz!" he exclaimed, "there's some one there before us. I cansee a boat, with a lot of men in it, close to the beach!"

  "Indeed!" said Fritz, quite as much astonished. "I wonder who theyare?"

  He felt almost as indignant as a landlord on finding that a party ofpoachers had invaded his choicest preserves and were ruthlesslyappropriating his pet pheasants!

  "Himmel!" he repeated, "I wonder who the fellows can be?"

  Just then, the discharge of several rifles all together, as ifpractising platoon firing, struck on his ear; and, as Fritz sniffed thesmell of the burnt gunpowder floating by him in the air to seaward,driven off from shore by the wind, the saltpetrous scent did not tend torestore his equanimity!