Wild Adventures round the Pole
Page 29
the island of Jan Mayen, and made fast to afloe. She was next heeled over and the repairs completed. The_Arrandoon_ spared them a few spars, and plenty of willing hands tohoist them, so that in a few days the Greenland sealer was as strong asever.
Silas Grig was a very happy man now. The unfortunate wretches who hadflown to meet their fate were sunk in the dark waters of the sea of ice,but this rough but kindly-hearted skipper never let one upbraiding wordescape him towards his men, and the men knew they were forgiven, andliked their skipper none the less for his extreme forbearance.
"Do you know what I have done?" said Silas to McBain.
"You have forgiven your men, haven't you?" replied McBain.
"Ay, that I have," said Silas, "but I have staved every cask of rum onboard, and black-jack is thrown overboard."
All along the west coast or shore of the island of Jan Mayen our heroes,on their re-arrival there, found that the water was comparatively clear,the bergs having been driven away out to sea on the wings of the wind,so that by breaking the light bay ice the boats could approach quiteclose to the snow-clad cliffs.
Our three boys--for boys we must continue to call them for the sake ofthe days of "auld lang syne"--were glad to set foot on shore again, andwith them went old Seth and the doctor. Freezing Powders was alsoinvited, but his reply was, "No, sah! thank you all de same. But onlydis chile not want anoder bad winter wid a yellow bear!"
"`Adventure' you mean, don't you?" said Rory.
"Dat is him, sah!" replied the boy. "I not want no more dancin' for dedear life."
"But the yellow bear was killed, Freezing Powders," persisted Allan.
"But him's moder not killed," said the lad, with round, open eyes. "Youseem to hab 'tirely forgotten dat, sah; and p'raps de moder is muchworse dan de son."
So they went without him. Well armed were they, and provisioned for aday at all events.
Somewhat to their surprise, they found smoke issuing from the oncedeserted huts, while a whole pack of dogs started up from where they hadbeen lying and attempted to bar their progress. But the same two hardychiefs of the Eskimos whom we last saw speeding along over the sea ofice, with the snow-wind roaring around them, came forth, quieted thedogs, and bade them kindly welcome.
In their broken English they told them the tale of their adventurousjourney across the pack from the far-off western land of Greenland, andof the narrow escape they had had from the violence of the sudden storm.
Then they led the way, not into one of the small huts, but into thelarge central one.
"We are making him fit and warm and good," they explained, "for our big'Melican masta. He come directly. To-day we see his boat not far off--a two-stick boat, with plenty mooch sail."
The "two-stick boat" which the chiefs referred to was a saucy littleYankee yacht, that on this very morning was cruising off the island.
Our heroes spent several hours in the hut, seated by the blazing logs,listening delightedly to a description of the strange country thesechiefs called their home--a country that few white men have ever yetvisited, and where certainly none have ever wintered.
But I cannot repeat all the strangers told them about the manners andcustoms of their countrymen, the dress of the men and women, theirfishing and hunting exploits, their fierce though petty wars with othertribes, and the wonderful life they lead throughout the summer andduring the long, drear, sunless season of winter.
"Ah!" said Rory, with a bit of a sigh, "I do like to hear these men talkabout their wild land in the Far West. We must come again and make themtell us a deal more. I've half a mind to set out with them when theyreturn, and live among them for some months. I say, Ray, wouldn't it beglorious to go surging over the ice-fields drawn by a hundredfleet-footed hounds?"
"Drawn by a hundred hounds!" cried Allan, laughing. "Draw it mild,Rory."
"Well," said Rory, "more or less, you know."
"Besides," Ralph put in, "these are not hounds, Rory; there is more ofthe wolf about them than the hound."
"Och, botheration?" replied Rory; "you're too particular. But if I wentwith these men, and dwelt among their tribes for a time, then I'd go topress when I came back to old England."
"A book of adventure?" said Allan.
"Ah, yes!" said Rory; "a book, if you please, but not dry-as-dust prose,my boys! I'd write an epic poem."
Talking thus, away they went on an exploring expedition, Rory riding thehigh horse, building any number of castles in the air, and giving thereins to his wonderful imagination.
"I reckon, Mr Rory," said Seth, "that you'd make the fortune of anypublisher that liked to take you up. You try New York, I guess that'dsuit you; and, if you like, you shall write the life of old trapperSeth."
"Glorious!" cried Rory; "`A Life in the Forests of the Far West.'Hurrah! I'll do it! You wait a bit. Look, look! What is that?"
"It's a white fox," said Seth, bowling the animal over before the othershad time to draw a bead on it.
But that white fox, with a few loons, and five guillemots--which, by theway, when skinned, are excellent eating--were all they bagged that day.
McBain and Stevenson had better luck though, they had seen a giganticbear prowling around among the rough ice beneath the cliffs, and hadcalled away a boat and gone after it.
"O! sah!" cried Freezing Powders, running up to McBain as he was goingover the side. "Don't go, sah! I can see de yellow bear's moder andtwo piccaninnies on de ice. She is one berry bad woman. She make youdance to please de piccaninnies, den she gobble your head off. Don'tyou go, sah! You not look nice widout a head. Dat am my impression,sah."
There was nothing of the sensational about McBain's adventure with thebear, but something of the sad. The captain of the _Arrandoon_ was notthe man to take the life of even a bear while in company of her youngones, but he well knew how terrible and how bloodthirsty such an animalis, and how cunning in her ferocity. He shuddered as he thought ofAllan or Rory heedlessly passing the cave or crevasse in the rocks whereshe lay concealed, and being pounced upon and dragged in to be torn limbfrom limb. So he determined she must die.
Once landed, they almost immediately sighted her, and gave chase. Aloneshe might have escaped; but in dread terror the young ones leapt on herback and thus hampered her movements. [She-bears with young ones areeasily got up to and killed on this account.] She then turned fiercelyat bay, coming swiftly on to the attack, bent upon a fearful vengeanceif she could only accomplish it.
"Stand by, Stevenson," cried McBain, dropping on one knee, "to fire if Idon't kill at once."
The monster held her head low as she advanced, and a less experiencedhunter would have made this the target. McBain knew better. He aimedat the lower part of the neck, and the bear fell pierced through thegreat artery of the heart. Yet so near had he allowed the animal tocome before firing, that Stevenson, trembling for his safety, hadbrought his own rifle to the shoulder.
Then those two poor young bears stood up to fight for their dead dam,giving vent to growls of grief and rage.
"We can take them alive, sir," said Stevenson. "Come along, lads."This last sentence was addressed to the boat's crew. "Come along quick,and bring the ropes."
Had old Seth been there, these young Bruins would soon have beenlassoed. But McBain's men were not over expert at such work. They didmanage to rope one in a few minutes, but the other gave them a deal oftrouble--sport one man erroneously called it. He invariably flew at theman who tried to throw the rope, and the man invariably made his feethis friends, thus giving another man a chance to try his skill. If hefailed he had to run next, and so on until at long last one more adroitor more fortunate than his fellow succeeded in throwing the lasso overthe young bear's neck, and brought it half strangled to the ice.
"A present for you, Captain Grig," cried McBain, pulling alongside the_Canny Scotia_ with his double capture.
Silas was delighted when he saw the two live bears. "Heaven bless you,sir!" he exclaimed. "Why, sir, they'll fet
ch forty pounds each in theLondon _too_. Forty pounds, sir! Think o' that. Eighty pounds for thetwo o' them. Keep my little wife and all the family for a month o'Sundays. Hurrah! matie, luck's turned."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
A NEW ARRIVAL--THE DOGS--TRAPPER SETH BECOMES KENNEL-MAN--PREPARATIONSFOR A GREAT SEAL HUNT--THE GREENLAND BEAR.
On the very day that McBain shot the great she-bear--for it was one ofthe largest that ever fell before a sportsman's gun--on that day, and onthe afternoon of that day, just as our heroes were about to leave theisland and re-embark on the _Arrandoon_, there landed from off