by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XX
JIMMY'S SACRIFICE
For a little way the dogs traveled at a gallop, and Bobby and Skipper Edhad lively work while this lasted, guiding the _komatiks_ between theice hummocks. But it was not long before the first excitement of goingupon a journey wore off, and after their manner the animals, with tailscurled over their backs, settled down to a steady pulling. Now and againthey came upon a ridge of ice piled up by the tide, and then it wasnecessary to lift at the _komatiks_ and help the dogs.
Presently the ice hummocks were left behind and the smooth, whitesurface of the frozen bay stretched out before them. The snow whichcovered the ice had been beaten down and hard packed by the wind, andthe sledge runners slid over its surface so easily that the dogsincreased their pace to a steady, rapid trot.
The weather was fearfully cold. The runners of the sledge squeaked andcreaked. Frost flakes on the hard packed snow glistened and scintillatedin the moonlight and soon the _netseks_ of the travelers were coveredwith white hoar frost, ice formed upon their eyelashes and Skipper Ed'sbreath froze upon his beard until presently his face was almost hiddenby a mass of ice.
They ran by the side of the _komatiks_ to keep warm, only now and againriding for a little way to rest, and as they ran or walked they chattedgaily, contemptuous of the cold, and keenly enjoying in anticipation thesport and adventure in store for them.
And so they traveled for three full hours before the first hint ofdaylight came stealing up over the white horizon in the southeast, andat length, very slowly, as though reluctant to show his face, anduncertain of his welcome, the sun peeked timidly over the ice field.Then, reassured, he boldly lifted his round, glowing face full intoview, giving cheer and promise to the frozen world.
To the sledge traveler the dreariest hour of the day, and the hour ofbitterest cold, is that immediately preceding sunrise. As though byconsent our three friends during this period fell into silence,and none spoke until the sun looked out over the ice, and the frost-coveredsnow--each frost flake a miniature prism--was set a-sparkling anda-glinting as though the snow was thick sown with diamonds.
They ran by the side of the _komatiks_ to keep warm]
"Glorious! Isn't it glorious!" exclaimed Bobby, dropping by Jimmy'sside upon the _komatik_, and removing a hand from its mitten for amoment to pick small particles of ice from his eyelashes.
Jimmy for answer drew his right hand from its mitten, and clapping itover Bobby's nose began to rub the member vigorously.
"There, now it's all right," said he, donning his mitten again after aminute or two of rubbing. "Your nose was going dead.[E] The end of itwas white."
[E] Freezing.
"I never felt it," laughed Bobby. "Just look at the Skipper back there.He's a perfect image of Santa Claus!"
"Exactly!" exclaimed Jimmy, looking back at Skipper Ed. "He's exactlylike the picture of Santa Claus in that old magazine you and I used tolook at so much, only a good deal more real."
"If he was driving reindeers, now, instead of dogs," laughed Bobby, "andI met him with all that ice on his beard, and his _netsek_ white andglistening with the frost that way, I'd think he had stepped right outof the old picture book."
"Good old Partner!" said Jimmy. "I think I'll drop back with him a whileand keep him company."
And, dropping lightly from the moving _komatik_, he waited to run alongfor a while with Skipper Ed, while Bobby ran alone with his own sledge.
Once a lonely raven coming from somewhere out of the blank spacesalighted on the ice a quarter of a mile in advance of Bobby's team anddirectly in its track. The dogs saw it immediately, and in an instantthey were after it at a mad gallop. Bobby threw himself upon the sledge,in high glee at the wild pace, and Skipper Ed's team, quite sure theywere missing something very much worth while, set out in hot pursuit.
In seeming disregard for his safety, the raven, cocking his head firston one side, then on the other, surveyed the approaching dogs withinterest, and to Bobby it seemed that the dogs would surely catch him.Old Tucktu, the leader, was apparently of the same mind and very sureof a tasty morsel, and they were almost upon him before the raven, toodignified to hurry, rose leisurely on his wings, tantalizingly near toTucktu's nose, and flapped away another quarter of a mile to repeat,with evident enjoyment, the episode, and then, unscathed, he disappearedagain into the blank spaces.
When the raven had gone and the excitement was at an end, Bobby andSkipper Ed shouted "_Ah_!" at their teams, and ran ahead with their longwhips as the dogs stopped, to compel the panting animals to lie down andremain quiet while they straightened out the tangled traces and mademerry over the rapid ride they had enjoyed. Then, extracting somehardtack biscuits from their bags, they sat on the sledges and ate theirdry luncheon while the dogs jogged leisurely on again.
The sun was setting when Bobby, now well in the lead, halted his team atAbel Zachariah's old fishing place on Itigailit Island to await SkipperEd and Jimmy. The sea, far out in the direction in which Abel had foundBobby in the drifting boat that August morning, was frozen, and a littleway out from Itigailit Island the smooth ice gave place to mountainousridges and hummocks where, earlier in the season, rough seas had piledmassive blocks one upon another and left them there to freeze and catchthe drifting snow. Far out beyond the pressure ridges Bobby could see adark line which marked the edge of the sea ice and the place where openwater began. That was the _sena_ for which they were bound.
"Don't you think we'd better build our _igloo_ here?" Bobby suggested asthe others came up. "It's getting late and we can't do any huntingtonight, anyway, and perhaps there won't be any good drifts out there."
"Yes, by all means," agreed Skipper Ed. "We'll have plenty of time inthe morning to go out, and if the hunting proves good, and we prefer tostay there, we can build an _igloo_ at our leisure. If we get plenty ofseals we will want to haul them in here to land to cache them, and thenif the ice breaks up before we get them all hauled home, we can takethem in the boat. And while we are hauling them in here from the _sena_we'll have a snug _igloo_ at each end of the trail, where we can makehot tea, if we wish, and drink it in comfort."
They found an excellent drift in a spot well sheltered from the wind,and because he was taller and stronger than Bobby and a better builderthan Jimmy, Skipper Ed, with a snow knife which looked very much like asword but had a wider blade, which was straight instead of curved,marked a circle about ten feet in diameter upon the drift.
Then he cut a wedge out of the snow in the center, and with this as abeginning he carved from each side of the hole blocks of the hard-packedsnow, each block about two feet long and a foot and a half wide and teninches thick. These he placed on edge around the circle, fitting theirends close together by trimming them as he found necessary, with theknife.
Bobby and Jimmy, each with a knife, now began also to cut other slabsfrom a drift outside the circle, and passed them to Skipper Ed when hehad exhausted his supply within the circle. They were very heavy, theseblocks, and as much as the boys could manage.
When Skipper Ed had built a row of blocks completely around the circle,he trimmed the first blocks which he had placed to a wedge, that hemight build his circle of blocks up in a spiral.
Each block of snow was so placed that it was braced against the onenext it, and its top leaned a little inward, so that as the walls of the_igloo_ rose each was smaller than the one preceding it, until at last akey block in the top completed the dome-shaped structure. As the housegrew Bobby plastered the joints between the blocks full of snow, makingits outside smooth like the surface of a snowdrift.
When Skipper Ed had finished the building, he cut a circular placethrough the side, close down to the bottom, and just large enough topermit him to crawl out. Now with a snowshoe he shoveled the loose snowout of the opening, and leveled the floor within.
Bobby and Jimmy in the meantime busied themselves unlashing the loadsupon the sledges and unharnessing the dogs. When this was done Bobbywith an ax chopped frozen seal meat
into pieces for the dogs' supper,while Jimmy with the long whip kept the hungry dogs at a distance, forwith the unharnessing, and preparation of their supper, they collectedinto bunches, and sitting on their haunches, growled and snapped at oneanother, each fearful that his neighbor should gain an advantage, andall the time emitted dismal, whistling whines of impatience.
Presently Bobby stepped aside, Jimmy withdrew the menace of the whip,and in an instant the hungry beasts were upon their food, gulping itdown as fast as they could pick it up, a snarling, snapping, yelpingmass, and there was a fight or two that the boys were called upon tomediate by beating the animals apart.
By the time the feeding was over Skipper Ed had carried the harness intothe _igloo_ and spread it evenly on the floor--for the dogs would haveeaten their own harness if it had been left to them--and over theharness he laid caribou skins, and then carried in the sleeping bags andprovisions. Nothing, indeed, was left outside, for nothing would havebeen safe from the ravenous beasts. And when the dogs were fed and allwas made snug and safe the three crawled within, and closed the entranceto the _igloo_ with a big block of snow previously provided for thepurpose.
They had brought with them two of Abel's old stone lamps. These weresimply blocks of stone cut in the shape of a half moon, and hollowedout, to hold seal oil.
The lamps were now placed upon snow shelves, one on either side of the_igloo_, and the oil from a piece of blubber squeezed into them. Piecesof rags carefully placed along the straight side of the lamps served aswicks. These were lighted and burned with a smoky, yellow flame.
When the wicks were burning well a snow knife was stuck into the wall ofthe snow house over each lamp, and upon these knives kettles weresuspended and filled with snow taken from the wall of the _igloo_. Oneof the kettles was removed when the snow was melted, and set aside fordrinking water. The other was permitted to boil, tea was made, and thenthe fire was put out, for already the temperature inside the _igloo_ hadbecome so warm that presently there would be danger of the snow drippingmoisture.
"Now," said Skipper Ed, lighting a candle, for it was growing dark,"we're ready for supper. You chaps must be hungry."
"I could eat my boots!" declared Bobby.
"So could I!" exclaimed Jimmy, as he poured hot tea into Skipper Ed'sand Bobby's cups and then helped himself. "I was glad enough when wedecided to stop here."
"Isn't it fine and cozy," said Bobby, between mouthfuls of frozen boiledpork and hardtack. "I always find a snow _igloo_ cozy."
"It makes a pretty good shelter," Skipper Ed admitted, "but I never didcare for an _igloo_. I'm too much of an Indian, I suppose, for I prefera tent and a good wood fire, with its sweet smoke odor, and thecompanionship and shelter of the forest."
"Oh, I think an _igloo_ is nicer," insisted Bobby. "A tent gets cold atnight when the fire goes out, and an _igloo_ keeps fine and warm. Icould live in an _igloo_ all winter."
"You're a regular husky!" laughed Skipper Ed. "Partner and I areIndians, aren't we, Partner?"
"Yes, Partner, I like a tent better," agreed Jimmy, "but," he added, "Ilike our house better than a tent."
"It all depends upon what we're used to, after all," remarked SkipperEd, "and comfort is a matter of comparison. I've no doubt that Bobby,had he never been sent adrift, and had he never found his way here,would now be living in a fine mansion somewhere, and if he had beenbrought here directly from the luxuries of that mansion would have foundthis _igloo_ unbearable, and instead of praising its comforts, as he is,would be denouncing it as unendurable, and the good supper we have justeaten as unfit to eat. And in that case it would have been a terriblehardship for him to spend even a single night here."
"I'm glad, then, that I came away from the mansion and its finery,"declared Bobby. "But I've often wondered who the dead man was thatFather found in the boat with me. I've often felt strange about that,and every summer when we're here I go over and look at his grave."
"I remember you spoke of him as 'Uncle Robert,'" said Skipper Ed."Perhaps he was your uncle."
"I wonder--and I wonder--" said Bobby. "I wonder if my real mother andfather are living, and whether they have stopped feeling bad about me,and forgotten me. I--think--sometimes I'd give most anything to see themand tell them I'm happy."
Then they were silent, and presently Skipper Ed knew that the boys weresleeping. But for a long time he lay awake and thought of other lands,and the friends of his youth and the days when he lived in luxury; andhe wondered if, after all, he had been one whit happier in those days,with all the fine things he had, than were Bobby and Jimmy here in thisrugged land, with no luxuries whatever. "We do not need much," hesoliloquized, "to make us happy if we are willing to be happy. Healthand love, and enough plain food to eat and clothes to cover us, and ashelter--even a snow house--and we have enough."
Before day broke they were astir; and the sun had not yet risen whenthey repacked their sledges and harnessed the dogs, and drove down overthe ice toward the _sena_. For a mile the ice was smooth. Then they cameamong the pressure ridges, and had to pick their course in and out foranother two miles before they came at last to the open sea.
Seals were numerous on the ice edge, and on floating pans of ice, andthe dogs began to strain and howl in eagerness to attack the game, andwould have dashed to the very water's edge but for big hoops of walrushide thrown over the front of the _komatik_, which dragged into the snowunder the runners and stopped them, and when they were stopped only themenace of the long whips could induce the animals to lie quietly down.
"We're going to have a dandy hunt!" exclaimed Bobby. "Shall we go rightat it, and build an _igloo_ later?"
"Don't you think we had better build the _igloo_ first?" suggestedSkipper Ed, laughing at Bobby's eagerness. "Then when we're tired wewon't have it to do, or to think about, and we'll have a shelter allready. Let us make things ship-shape."
"I suppose you're right," and Bobby grinned.
One of the two lamps and a share of the provisions had been left in the_igloo_ on Itigailit Island, which was to be their land base and theircache. But they had brought with them the other lamp and necessaries tomake their hunting _igloo_ comfortable. A good bank of snow was found,not too far from the ice edge, and in an hour an _igloo_ was ready andeverything stowed safely away from possible foraging by the dogs. Thenthe two teams, still fast in their traces, were picketed behind the icehummocks near the _igloo_, for had they been set at liberty each dogwould have gone hunting on his own account, and the seals would havebeen driven from the ice and beyond range of the guns.
Now, each armed with a rifle, and Bobby with a harpoon, they stole downtoward the seals, crawling toward them, Bobby now and again emitting a"_Hough! Hough_!" in imitation of the coughing bark of the seals, untilthey approached quite near. Then, almost simultaneously, they fired,and, springing up, ran forward. Two seals had been shot clear throughthe head, and lay dead on the ice, but the other, though wounded, hadslipped into the water. Bobby drew his harpoon, and holding it poisedwaited, until presently a dozen feet away the wounded seal camestruggling to the surface. In a flash the harpoon flew from the younghunter's hand and struck its mark, and with the assistance of Skipper Edand Jimmy he drew it to the ice.
These seals were of a species which they called "harps," because of thepeculiar, harp-shaped markings on their back; and of the hair variety,for none of the valuable fur seals inhabits north Atlantic waters. Theskins, however, when dressed into leather by Mrs. Abel, would prove ofsplendid quality for boot tops, or, when dressed without removing thehair, would supply them with many articles of clothing for theircomfort.
The day was terribly cold--Skipper Ed judged that the temperature musthave stood at least at fifty degrees below zero, and that even thetemperature of the sea water, where it was unfrozen, was well below thefreezing point. Once or twice, indeed, in spite of their enthusiasm, thehunters retired to the _igloo_, where a lamp was kept burning, to warmthemselves.
Late that afternoon Jimmy wounded a seal on a
n ice pan, and it went intothe water. He seized a harpoon, but when the seal rose to the surface itwas so far away that the line could not reach it.
"Here!" shouted Bobby, laying down his gun and grabbing a paddle whichhe had brought from Itigailit Island for such an emergency, "jump onthis pan. I'll paddle you out where you can get him."
They sprang upon a small pan, and, utilizing it as a raft, Bobby paddleda few yards.
"There! There!" shouted Bobby. "There he is. He's most dead. You can gethim!"
Jimmy jumped to the side of the pan upon which Bobby was kneeling withhis paddle, and poising the harpoon was about to cast it when the pan,too heavily weighted on that side, began slowly to turn. Bobby did notsee this, but Jimmy did.
"Don't move!" shouted Jimmy. "Stay where you are!"
And, without hesitation, Jimmy slipped from the pan and into the icysea, though he knew there was small chance for him to swim, and,overcome by the shock of the terrible cold, he sank beneath the waves.
The pan righted itself immediately it was relieved of Jimmy's weight,and Bobby, realizing what Jimmy had done, and that his friend hadsacrificed himself for his sake, stood bewildered and stunned, gazingblankly at the spot where Jimmy had sunk.