Children of the Frost

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by Children Of The Frost (Pg) [Lit]

"else would he not speak the speech of the Bear People, which is like the

  speech of the Hungry Folk, which is very like the speech of the Mandells.

  For there have been many Sunlanders among the Bear People, few among

  the Hungry Folk, and none at all among the Mandells, save the Whale

  People and those who sleep now in the igloo of Neegah." "Their sugar is

  very good," Neegah commented, "and their flour."

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  "They have great wealth," Ounenk added. "Yesterday I was to their ship,

  and beheld most cunning tools of iron, and knives, and guns, and flour,

  and sugar, and strange foods without end."

  "It is so, brothers !" Tyee stood up and exulted inwardly at the respect and

  silence his people accorded him. "They be very rich, these Sunlanders.

  Also, they be fools. For behold! They come among us boldly, blindly, and

  without thought for all of their great wealth. Even now they snore, and we

  are many and unafraid."

  "Mayhap they, too, are unafraid, being great fighters," the wizened little

  old hunter objected.

  But Tyee scowled upon him. "Nay, it would not seem so. They live to the

  south, under the path of the sun, and are soft as their dogs are soft. You

  remember the dog of the Whale People? Our dogs ate him the second day,

  for he was soft and could not fight. The sun is warm and life easy in the

  Sun Lands, and the men are as women, and the women as children."

  Heads nodded in approval, and the women craned their necks to listen.

  "It is said they are good to their women, who do little work," tittered

  Likeeta, a broad-tripped, healthy young woman, daughter to Tyee himself.

  "Thou wouldst follow the feet of Mesahchie, eh?" he cried angrily. Then

  he turned swiftly to the tribesmen. "Look you, brothers, this is the way of

  the Sunlanders! They have eyes for our women, and take them one by one.

  As Mesahchie has gone, cheating Neegah of her price, so will Likeeta go,

  so will they all go, and we be cheated. I have talked with a hunter from the

  Bear People, and I know. There be Hungry Folk among us; let them speak

  if my words be true."

  The six hunters of the Hungry Folk attested the truth and fell each to

  telling his neighbor of the Sunlanders and their ways. There were

  mutterings from the younger men, who had wives to seek, and from the

  older men, who had daughters to fetch prices, and a low hum of rage rose

  higher and clearer.

  "They are very rich, and have cunning tools of iron, and knives, and guns

  without end," Tyee suggested craftily, his dream of sudden wealth

  beginning to take shape.

  "I shall take the gun of Bill-Man for myself," Aab-Waak suddenly

  proclaimed.

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  "Nay, it shall be mine!" shouted Neegah; `'for there is the price of

  Mesahchie to be reckoned."

  "Peace! O brothers!" Tyee swept the assembly with his hands. "Let the

  women and children go to their igloos. This is the talk of men; let it be for

  the ears of men."

  "There be guns in plenty for all," he said when the women had unwillingly

  withdrawn. "I doubt not there will be two guns for each man, without

  thought of the flour and sugar and other things. And it is easy. The six

  Sunlanders in Neegah's igloo will we kill to-night while they sleep. Tomorrow

  will we go in peace to the ship to trade, and there, when the time

  favors, kill all their brothers. And to-morrow night there shall be feasting

  and merriment and division of wealth. And the least man shall possess

  more than did ever the greatest before. Is it wise, that which I have

  spoken, brothers?"

  A low growl of approval answered him, and preparation for the attack was

  begun. The six Hungry Folk, as became members of a wealthier tribe,

  were armed with rifles and plenteously supplied with ammunition. But it

  was only here and there that a Mandell possessed a gun, many of which

  were broken, and there was a general slackness of powder and shells. This

  poverty of war weapons, however, was relieved by myriads of boneheaded

  arrows and casting-spears for work at a distance, and for close

  quarters steel knives of Russian and Yankee make.

  "Let there be no noise," Tyee finally instructed; "but be there many on

  every side of the igloo, and close, so that the Sunlanders may not break

  through. Then do you, Neegah, with six of the young men behind, crawl in

  to where they sleep. Take no guns, which be prone to go off at unexpected

  times, but put the strength of your arms into the knives."

  "And be it understood that no harm befall Mesahchie, who is worth a

  price," Neegah whispered hoarsely.

  Flat upon the ground, the small army concentred on the igloo, and behind,

  deliciously expectant, crouched many women and children, come out to

  witness the murder. The brief August night was passing, and in the gray of

  dawn could be dimly discerned the creeping forms of Neegah and the

  young men. Without pause, on hands and knees, they entered the long

  passageway and disappeared. Tyee rose up and rubbed his hands. All was

  going well. Head after head in the big circle lifted and waited. Each man

  pictured the scene according to his nature— the sleeping men, the plunge

  of the knives, and the sudden death in the dark.

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  A loud hail, in the voice of a Sunlander, rent the silence, and a shot rang

  out. Then an uproar broke loose inside the igloo. Without premeditation,

  the circle swept forward into the passageway. On the inside, half a dozen

  repeating rifles began to chatter, and the Mandells, jammed in the

  confined space, were powerless. Those at the front strove madly to retreat

  from the fire-spitting guns in their very faces, and those in the rear pressed

  as madly forward to the attack. The bullets from the big 45: go's drove

  through half a dozen men at a shot, and the passageway, gorged with

  surging, helpless men, became a shambles. The rifles, pumped without

  aim into the mass, withered it away like a machine gun, and against that

  steady stream of death no man could advance.

  "Never was there the like!" panted one of the Hungry Folk. "I did but look

  in, and the dead were piled like seals on the ice after a killing!"

  "Did I not say, mayhap, they were fighters?" cackled the wizened old

  hunter.

  "It was to be expected," Aab-Waak answered stoutly. "We fought in a trap

  of our making."

  "O ye fools !" Tyee chided. "Ye sons of fools! It was not planned, this

  thing ye have done. To Neegah and the six young men only was it given to

  go inside. My cunning is superior to the cunning of the Sunlanders, but ye

  take away its edge, and rob me of its strength, and make it worse than no

  cunning at all ! "

  No one made reply, and all eyes centred on the igloo, which loomed vague

  and monstrous against the clear northeast sky. Through a hole in the roof

  the smoke from the rifles curled slowly upward in the pulseless air, and />
  now and again a wounded man crawled painfully through the gray.

  "Let each ask of his neighbor for Neegah and the six young men," Tyee

  commanded.

  And after a time the answer came back, "Neegah and the six young men

  are not."

  "And many more are not!" wailed a woman to the rear.

  "The more wealth for those who are left," Tyee grimly consoled. Then,

  turning to Aab-Waak, he said: "Go thou, and gather together many

  sealskins filled with oil. Let the hunters empty them on the outside wood

  of the igloo and of the passage. And let them put fire to it ere the

  Sunlanders make holes in the igloo for their guns."

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  Even as he spoke a hole appeared in the dirt plastered between the logs, a

  rifle muzzle protruded, and one of the Hungry Folk clapped hand to his

  side and leaped in the air. A second shot, through the lungs, brought him

  to the ground. Tyee and the rest scattered to either side, out of direct

  range, and Aab-Waak hastened the men forward with the skins of oil.

  Avoiding the loopholes, which were making on every side of the igloo,

  they emptied the skins on the dry drift-logs brought down by the Mandell

  River from the tree-lands to the south. Ounenk ran forward with a blazing

  brand, and the flames leaped upward. Many minutes passed, without sign,

  and they held their weapons ready as the fire gained headway.

  Tyee rubbed his hands gleefully as the dry structure burned and crackled.

  "Now we have them, brothers! In the trap!"

  "And no one may gainsay me the gun of Bill-Man," Aab-Waak

  announced.

  "Save Bill-Man," squeaked the old hunter. "For behold, he cometh now !"

  Covered with a singed and blackened blanket, the big white man leaped

  out of the blazing entrance, and on his heels, likewise shielded, came

  Mesahchie, and the five other Sunlanders. The Hungry Folk tried to check

  the rush with an ill-directed volley, while the Mandells hurled in a cloud

  of spears and arrows. But the Sunlanders cast their flaming blankets from

  them as they ran, and it was seen that each bore on his shoulders a small

  pack of ammunition. Of all their possessions, they had chosen to save that.

  Running swiftly and with purpose, they broke the circle and headed

  directly for the great cliff, which towered blackly in the brightening day a

  half-mile to the rear of the village.

  But Tyee knelt on one knee and lined the sights of his rifle on the rearmost

  Sunlander. A great shout went up when he pulled the trigger and the man

  fell forward, struggled partly up, and fell again. Without regard for the

  rain of arrows, another Sunlander ran back, bent over him, and lifted him

  across his shoulders. But the Mandell spearmen were crowding up into

  closer range, and a strong cast transfixed the wounded man. He cried out

  and became swiftly limp as his comrade lowered him to the ground. In the

  meanwhile, Bill- Man and the three others had made a stand and were

  driving a leaden hail into the advancing spearmen. The fifth Sunlander

  bent over his stricken fellow, felt the heart, and then coolly cut the straps

  of the pack and stood up with the ammunition and extra gun.

  "Now is he a fool!" cried Tyee, leaping high, as he ran forward, to clear

  the squirming body of one of the Hungry Folk.

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  His own rifle was clogged so that he could not use it, and he called out for

  some one to spear the Sunlander, who had turned and was running for

  safety under the protecting fire. The little old hunter poised his spear on

  the throwing-stick, swept his arm back as he ran, and delivered the cast.

  "By the body of the Wolf, say I, it was a good throw!" Tyee praised, as the

  fleeing man pitched forward, the spear standing upright between his

  shoulders and swaying slowly forward and back.

  The little wizened old man coughed and sat down. A streak of red showed

  on his lips and welled into a thick stream. He coughed again, and a strange

  whistling came and went with his breath.

  "They, too, are unafraid, being great fighters," he wheezed, pawing

  aimlessly with his hands. "And behold! Bill-Man comes now! "

  Tyee glanced up. Four Mandells and one of the Hungry Folk had rushed

  upon the fallen man and were spearing him from his knees back to the

  earth. In the twinkling of an eye, Tyee saw four of them cut down by the

  bullets of the Sunlanders. The fifth, as yet unhurt, seized the two rifles, but

  as he stood up to make off he was whirled almost completely around by

  the impact of a bullet in the arm, steadied by a second, and overthrown by

  the shock of a third. A moment later and Bill-Man was on the spot, cutting

  the pack-straps and picking up the guns.

  This Tyee saw, and his own people falling as they straggled forward, and

  he was aware of a quick doubt, and resolved to lie where he was and see

  more. For some unaccountable reason, Mesahchie was running back to

  Bill-Man; but before she could reach him, Tyee saw Peelo run out and

  throw arms about her. He essayed to sling her across his shoulder, but she

  grappled with him, tearing and scratching at his face. Then she tripped

  him, and the pair fell heavily. When they regained their feet, Peelo had

  shifted his grip so that one arm was passed under her chin, the wrist

  pressing into her throat and strangling her. He buried his face in her breast,

  taking the blows of her hands on his thick mat of hair, and began slowly to

  force her off the field. Then it was, retreating with the weapons of his

  fallen comrades, that Bill-Man came upon them. As Mesahchie saw him,

  she twirled the victim around and held him steady. Bill-Man swung the

  rifle in his right hand, and hardly easing his stride, delivered the blow.

  Tyee saw Peelo drive to the earth as smote by a falling star, and the

  Sunlander and Neegah's daughter fleeing side by side.

  A bunch of Mandells, led by one of the Hungry Folk, made a futile rush

  which melted away into the earth before the scorching fire.

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  Tyee caught his breath and murmured, "Like the young frost in the

  morning sun."

  "As I say, they are great fighters,', the old hunter whispered weakly, far

  gone in hemorrhage. "I know. I have heard. They be sea- robbers and

  hunters of seals; and they shoot quick and true, for it is their way of life

  and the work of their hands."

  "Like the young frost in the morning sun," Tyee repeated, crouching for

  shelter behind the dying man and peering at intervals about him.

  It was no longer a fight, for no Mandell man dared venture forward, and as

  it was, they were too close to the Sunlanders to go back. Three tried it,

  scattering and scurrying like rabbits; but one came down with a broken

  leg, another was shot through the body, and the third, twisting and

  dodging, fell on the edge of the village. So the tribesmen crouched in the

  hollow places and burrowed into the dirt in the open, while the Sunlanders'
<
br />   bullets searched the plain.

  "Move not," Tyee pleaded, as Aab-Waak came worming over the ground

  to him. "Move not, good Aab-Waak, else you bring death upon us."

  "Death sits upon many," Aab-Waak laughed; "wherefore, as you say, there

  will be much wealth in division. My father breathes fast and short behind

  the big rock yon, and beyond, twisted like in a knot, lieth my brother. But

  their share shall be my share, and it is well."

  "As you say, good Aab-Waak, and as I have said; but before division must

  come that which we may divide, and the Sunlanders be not yet dead."

  A bullet glanced from a rock before them, and singing shrilly, rose low

  over their heads on its second flight. Tyee ducked and shivered, but Aab-

  Waak grinned and sought vainly to follow it with his eyes.

  "So swiftly they go, one may not see them," he observed.

  "But many be dead of us," Tyee went on.

  "And many be left," was the reply. "And they hug close to the earth, for

  they have become wise in the fashion of fighting. Further, they are

  angered. Moreover, when we have killed the Sunlanders on the ship, there

  will remain but four on the land. These may take long to kill, but in the

  end it will happen."

  "How may we go down to the ship when we cannot go this way or that?"

  Tyee questioned.

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  "It is a bad place where lie Bill-Man and his brothers," Aab-Waak

  explained. "We may come upon them from every side, which is not good.

  So they aim to get their backs against the cliff and wait until their brothers

  of the ship come to give them aid."

  "Never shall they come from the ship, their brothers! I have said it."

  Tyee was gathering courage again, and when the Sunlanders verified the

  prediction by retreating to the cliff, he was light-hearted as ever.

  "There be only three of us!" complained one of the Hungry Folk as they

  came together for council.

  "Therefore, instead of two, shall you have four guns each," was Tyee's

  rejoinder.

  "We did good fighting."

  "Ay; and if it should happen that two of you be left, then will you have six

  guns each. Therefore, fight well."

  "And if there be none of them left?" Aab-Waak whispered slyly.

  "Then will we have the guns, you and I," Tyee whispered back.

  However, to propitiate the Hungry Folk, he made one of them leader of

 

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