CHAPTER XXII
FRED'S TURN
At the moment Rob Carrol wheeled to run the foremost of the musk oxenwas upon him.
This animal was the largest of the herd, after the fall of the leader,whose place he had undoubtedly taken by the unanimous wish of thesurvivors.
Perhaps he was eager to prove to his companions his worthiness to fillthe shoes of the late lamented commander, for, although one of themost dreaded of enemies stood directly in his path, and had justemptied his gun at him, he charged upon him like a cyclone.
Meanwhile, Fred Warburton, having darted behind the rocks, lost notime in slipping another cartridge in his gun. He would have assumedany risk before permitting harm to come to his friend, but, somehow orother, he yearned for the chance of saving him from just such adisaster as was now upon him.
THE OX BOUNDED DIRECTLY OVER HIS BODY
(See page 199)]
Had Rob started a moment sooner he would have escaped, but in hisdesperate haste he fell headlong, and the ox bounded directly over hisbody, fortunately, without touching him.
The other animals were unequal to the draught upon their courage, anddiverged sharply, some to the right and the rest to the left, circlingback over the plateau on whose margin Jack Cosgrove and Docak werewaiting until they came within certain range.
"Fred, fire quick! my gun's unloaded!" called Rob from where he lay onthe ground; "don't wait a second or it'll be too late!"
Fred did fire, sending the bullet with such accuracy that it wound upthe business. Precisely the same catastrophe, described by theEsquimau to the sailor took place. The ox, coming with such desperatespeed, was carried forward by its own terrific momentum. It may besaid that he was dead before he could fall; he certainly wasunconscious of what he was doing, for he crashed against the rocks, asif driven from an enormous catapult and then collapsed, in a senselessheap, with his flat horns smashed and broken to fragments.
Fred Warburton saw that his "turn" had arrived, and he made the mostof it. Rob had been merciless to him, and he was now ready to pay himoff in his own coin.
"I wouldn't lie down there, Rob," he said, gravely, "for the groundmust be cold."
"It does seem rather chilly--that's a fact," replied his friend, who,knowing what was coming, slowly climbed to his feet; "I didn't thinkof that when I lay down."
"What made you lie down at all?"
"You see I noticed that the creature didn't mean to turn about andtravel the other way as yours did; there was the difference. Then Iknew, too, that he must be tired from running so hard, and it struckme as a kind thing to do to serve as a rug or carpet for him."
"You did so, and no mistake. If I'm not in error," continued Fred,with a quizzical expression, "I heard you call out a minute agosomething about my hurrying up and firing so as to save your life."
"I say anything like that! What put such an idea in your head? It musthave been the echo of your voice, when you were running away from theox that was running away from you."
And Rob assumed an expression of innocent surprise that would haveconvinced any one else than Fred of his mistake.
"It is singular, but no doubt I am in error," said he, resignedly. "Itmust have been some one else that sprawled on the ground, and beggedme to shoot quick or he was a goner; it must have been anothervaunting young man, who looked up so pityingly, and was too scared totry to get on his feet until I shot the ox for him, just as I did thepolar bear, when another minute would have finished him; but I'd liketo see that other fellow," added Fred, looking around, as if in questof him.
"I'll help you search," said Rob, in the same serious manner; "and assoon as I run across him I'll introduce you two. You'll be congenialto each other. Until then suppose we let the matter rest."
"I won't promise that," returned Fred, following up his advantage; "itdepends on whether certain other matters are referred to."
Rob now laughed outright and offered his hand, which his friendreadily took.
The words were uttered hurriedly, for it was hardly the time or placefor conversation. The popping of rifles was renewed from another partof the plateau, and several other musk oxen had tumbled to the ground.A half-dozen survivors managed to get it through their heads that theyhad enemies on both sides, and, seeing an opening, they plungedthrough it and were seen no more.
The boys devoted some minutes to inspecting the two animals that hadfallen by the rifle of Fred Warburton. They were a couple of thelargest specimens of their kind, but the description already givenrenders anything like a repetition unnecessary.
Although it was the favorable season of the year, the youths detecteda slight musky odor exhaling from the bodies, which was anything butpleasant.
Docak and Jack were observed approaching across the plateau. Both werein high spirits over the success that had marked this essay in huntingthe musk ox, and the Esquimau assured them that despite the odor towhich they objected, he would furnish them with one of the bestsuppers they had ever eaten. The lads, however, could not feel quiteassured on that point.
It may as well be stated in this place that the spot where the animalswere shot was about thirty miles inland from the home of Docak, anda great many leagues south of Upernavik, the most northernmostsettlement on the Greenland coast. It is beyond this quaint Arctictown, in the neighborhood of Melville Bay, that the musk ox has histrue _habitat_. There, although the animals are diminishing innumber, he may be found by any one who chooses to hunt for him.
The fact that Docak had met them so far south was extraordinary, and,up to the previous year, he had never known of such a thing, nor didhe believe there were any besides this particular herd within hundredsof miles of the spot, nor that they were likely ever to be seen thereagain.
It took our friends two days and a part of a night to reach thisportion of the Arctic highlands. They had looked for foxes, reindeer,ptarmigan, hares, and other game on the way, but failed to run acrossany game until they came upon the musk oxen. Had not the Esquimau beenthoughtful enough to bring a lunch of cold fish, they would havesuffered from hunger. As it was, all felt the need of food, and theprospect of a dinner upon the game at their feet was inviting, indeed.
The Esquimau would not have bothered with the cooking had he beenalone, but, out of deference to his friends, he prepared to make ameal according to their tastes.
Inasmuch as so much game had been bagged, they could afford to bechoice. They cut the tongues from the animals, together with someslices from the tenderest portion of their bodies, and had sufficientto satisfy all their appetites and leave something over.
No better place for camping was likely to be found than these hills,but a shelter was desirable, and Docak set out to lead the way furtheramong them. His manner showed that he was familiar with the section,for he did not go far before he came upon the very place for whichFred Warburton longed when making his desperate flight from the bullthat he supposed was at his heels.
It was a cavern among the rocks, as extensive as his own living roomat home, and approached by an entrance, which if not so extended ashis own entry, was of still less dimensions, causing them to stoop andcreep for part of the way.
"Me be here 'fore," said he; "like de place?"
"I should say we did," replied the pleased Rob, echoing the sentimentsof his friends; "but we shall need some fuel to cook the food and keepwarm, and wood isn't very abundant in this part of the world."
"We git wood," was the rather vague reply, whose meaning was notunderstood until they had penetrated into the cavern, which waslightened by a crevice on one side of the entrance. This permittedenough daylight to enter to reveal the interior quite plainly. It tookthe boys a few minutes to accustom their eyes to the gloom, but whenthey did so they were no less pleased than surprised at what they saw.
Among the Esquimaux; or, Adventures under the Arctic Circle Page 23
