tells of hunting extraordinary.
this advent of a male fire-spouter into the little community was a source of much interest and delight to old and young—all the more that he had brought the mysterious spouter with him.
not less interesting to nazinred was the community in the midst of which he found himself, for, as we have more than once indicated, our indian was intellectually far in advance of his fellows, and the opportunity he now had of observing closely the life of the men-of-the-ice in all its details could not be otherwise than full of interest to an inquiring and large-minded man.
on the day, or rather the night, of his arrival he was allowed quietly to eat his supper in the igloe of mangivik, and go to sleep in peace, but next morning there was a crowding of relatives and friends into the hut, which rendered the meal of breakfast not quite so pleasant as it might have been, for the indian, having been accustomed all his life to the comparatively open wigwam, did not relish the stifling atmosphere of the densely crowded snow-hut. however, he belonged to a race of stoics, and, restraining his feelings, ate his meal with moderate appetite and becoming gravity.
there is reason to believe that he rather liked the earnest attention with which all his movements were closely and openly scrutinised; at all events he proceeded with his meal as calmly as if he had been alone, and in his own wigwam with none but the faithful isquay and amiable adolay to observe him.
staring, as we have already said, is not considered rude among the eskimos; they therefore sat open-mouthed and eyed, taking mental notes in silence, till breakfast was over, when nazinred, according to custom, opened his fire-bag, took out his pipe, and began to fill it.
this created a sensation which was expressed by hard breathing and eloquent looks. they had been waiting for this. of course cheenbuk had often descanted to them on the subject of smoking, besides showing them how the thing was done, but now they were going to see the amazing thing done, in the right way, by the real simon pure—a live fire-spouter!
“my father,” said cheenbuk at this point, “the igloe is hot, and there are many more who wish to see you do that thing. will you come outside?”
with a condescending smile the indian rose.
it was somewhat destructive of his dignity that he was obliged to go down on hands and knees, and creep out through the short snow tunnel, but as there was no other mode of egress he had to submit, and did it with the best grace possible, making up for the brief humiliation by raising himself when outside with ineffable dignity, and throwing his deerskin robe over one shoulder à la roman toga.
he was greeted with something like a british cheer by the entire community of men, women, children, and even dogs, who were waiting outside for him.
sitting down on a snow-clad rock he went through the process of filling the pipe, striking a light and beginning to smoke, to the unutterable delight of the natives. this delight became not only utterable but obstreperous when cheenbuk gravely took out the pipe which adolay had given him and began to keep him company, at the same time bestowing a look—a wink not yet being known to him—on anteek, who forthwith went off into uncontrollable laughter and was promptly hustled out of the crowd.
the interest aroused by the pipe, however, was as nothing compared with that bestowed on the fire-spouter. for there was a mystery, noise, and deadliness about the latter which tended to evoke feelings of awe rather than amusement.
“i don’t like to trouble your father too much, adolay,” whispered cheenbuk; “would you say to him that we wish very much to see him use the spouter?”
nazinred was an amiable man. he at once consented, and went back to the hut for his gun, which, remembering the tendency of the boys to meddle, he had kept close beside him all night.
loading it inside, he re-appeared with it ready. taking up a lump of ice about the size of one’s hand, he set it up on a hummock, and retired to a distance of about thirty yards.
“tell them all to keep back, out of the way of that, cheenbuk,” said nazinred.
the excitement and nervous expectation of the eskimos had been worked up considerably by these preparations, so that they not only retired to a safe distance, but some of them even took refuge behind the igloes, and all held their breath while their guest took aim.
he had loaded with shot, and when the explosion took place the piece of ice vanished, having been blown to atoms. of course a yell of admiration greeted the result, and all the dogs of the tribe fled on the wings—or paws—of terror, while attim sat quietly looking on with somewhat of his master’s dignity.
but the curiosity of the eskimos was only whetted by this. they immediately began to clamour for explanations, so that the indian found himself at last obliged to undertake a lecture on gunnery, as far as he understood it.
“my father,” said cheenbuk, whose respect for the indian was rapidly deepening, “some of my people want to know if you can kill bears with the spouter.”
“yes, it will kill bears. i killed a white one not long before you found me.”
“and will it kill the walrus too?”
“yes; it will kill the walrus. it kills anything that has life.”
there was an expression of great astonishment at this. some even ventured to doubt it. then there was a noisy consultation for a few minutes, after which cheenbuk was told to ask if their guest would go with them then and there to hunt for a walrus.
“oh yes;” the indian was quite ready to go, whereupon the men scattered to harness the dogs and make preparation for an immediate hunt.
“go and get my sledge ready,” said cheenbuk to anteek.
the boy was only too glad to obey, for the mission implied that he should have a place on the sledge along with the fire-spouter.
in a very short time several sledges were ready. nazinred seated himself on one. cheenbuk and the others jumped in, the whips cracked, and away they went amid the shouting of the drivers and the yells of children and women left behind.
it did not take long to find one of those giants of the frozen seas. some miles out on the ice they came to a place which the walruses had kept open as a breathing-hole. at the time of their arrival it had not been disturbed for some hours, for the water was covered by a coat of young ice, which was quite able to bear the weight of the men singly, though scarcely sufficiently strong for the sledges.
just as they arrived a walrus took it into its very thick head to crash up through the young ice and have a gambol. the party retired behind a hummock and prepared for action.
“will the man-of-the-woods go first and try the spouter?” asked cheenbuk.
“no,” replied nazinred; “the man-of-the-woods prefers to watch how the men-of-the-ice do their work. after that he will use the spouter, which we call pasgissegan. the white traders call it gun.”
harpoons and lances were at once got ready.
“come, anteek, with me; bring a harpoon and a coil with you. we will show the man-of-the-woods what we can do.”
he said this with a look of self-confidence, for cheenbuk, being a noted hunter among his fellows, was naturally rather proud of his powers.
waiting until the walrus dived, the eskimo and his companion ran towards the hole of open water, and then suddenly lay down, for they knew the habits of the brute, and that he would soon reappear. this, in fact, happened before they had lain more than a few minutes. after another gambol the ungainly animal dived again. up got the two eskimos and ran at full speed to the very edge of the hole. on rising the third time the walrus found cheenbuk standing with the harpoon raised. one look of huge astonishment it gave at the man, who instantly drove the harpoon deep into its side, and then ran from the hole as fast as he could, uncoiling the long line of hide until he was some distance off. then he struck a piece of bone, sharp-pointed, into the ice, and put the loop at the end of the line over it. this checked the dive of the walrus, which in furious rage came up and smashed another hole in the ice, looking fiercely around as if in search of its persecutor. anteek’s opportunity had now come. he ran towards the creature, which, so far from being afraid, smashed up the ice in vain attempts to get upon it. another harpoon was deftly driven into it, and the boy, running back, fixed his line as the man had done.
these two now began to “play” the walrus, easing off and tightening their lines as required.
meanwhile the other eskimos ran forward, and, taking advantage of the creature’s combative disposition, fixed several more harpoons in it, besides giving it many severe thrusts with their lances. but the hide of a walrus is nearly an inch thick, and it was not easy to pierce it with an effective thrust. at last, however, they succeeded in killing it after a battle of over three hours.
“that is hard work,” observed nazinred to cheenbuk, as they stood watching the cutting up and packing of their prize on the sledges, “and takes a long time.”
“come, now, let my father show us what the—the pass—pass-gi—spouter—gun can do,” said cheenbuk, pointing to his sledge, which anteek had got ready. “there are more walruses yonder.”
he pointed to another hole, not far off, where several were seen rolling about in the water. the indian stepped on the sledge, the others followed, and in a short time the whole party was concealed behind a hummock close to the hole.
nazinred now loaded his gun with ball.
“you must first throw a harpoon for fear it should sink,” he said, when ready to start.
without a word cheenbuk grasped his harpoon and coil and ran forward, for the walrus had dived at that moment. anteek followed, and nazinred kept close to both. once they lay down to let the animal come up and dive again. the moment it did so they ran at full speed as before to the edge of the hole and waited.
“send it deep in,” muttered the indian.
“i will,” replied the eskimo.
“so will i,” thought the boy, but he was too modest to say so.
the thought had barely passed when the walrus came up with a puff and snort that might have been heard a mile off. cheenbuk’s weapon was successfully launched in a moment. so was that of anteek, though he missed the animal’s side, but hit in the neck. nazinred took quick but sure aim at one of its glaring eyes, and before the smoke of the shot had cleared away the walrus fell over dead with a bullet in its brain.
