The Giant of the North: Pokings Round the Pole

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER TWO.

  UNEXPECTED MEETINGS, ALARMS, AND CONFIDENCES.

  "Mother, I have been thinking," said Chingatok, as he crept into his hutand sat down on a raised bench of moss.

  "That is not news, my son; you think much. You are not like other men.They think little and eat much."

  The stout little woman looked up through the smoke of her cooking-lampand smiled, but her big son was too much absorbed in his thoughts toobserve her pleasantry, so she continued the cooking of a walrus chop insilence.

  "The Kablunets are not to be seen, mother," resumed Chingatok. "I havelooked for them every day for a long time, and begin to weary. Mythought is now to launch my kayak when we come to open water, load itwith meat, take four spears and more lines than a strong hunter needsfor a whole season; then paddle away south to discover the land of theKablunets. They must be poor; they may be starving. I will guide themto our home, and show them this land of plenty."

  He paused abruptly, and looked at his mother with solemn anxiety, for hewas well aware that he had given her food for profound reflection.

  We feel tempted here to repeat our remark about the strong resemblancebetween different members of the human family, but refrain.

  This untutored woman of the Arctic lands met her son's proposition withthe well-known reply of many civilised persons.

  "Of what use would it be, my son? No good can come of searching outthese poor lands. You cannot benefit the miserable Kablunets. Perhapsthey are savage and fierce; and you are sure to meet with dangers by theway. Worse--you may die!"

  "Mother," returned Chingatok, "when the white bear stands up with hisclaws above my head and his mouth a-gape, does my hand tremble or myspear fail?"

  "No, my son."

  "Then why do you speak to me of danger and death?"

  Toolooha was not gifted with argumentative powers. She relapsed intosilence and lamp-smoke.

  But her son was not to be so easily dissuaded. He adopted a line ofreasoning which never failed.

  "Mother," he said, sadly, "it may be that you are right, and I am of toofearful a spirit to venture far away from you by myself; I will remainhere if you think me a coward."

  "Don't say so, Chingatok. You know what I think. Go, if you must go,but who will hunt for your poor old mother when you are gone?"

  This was an appeal which the astute little woman knew to be verypowerful with her son. She buried her head in the smoke again, and leftthe question to simmer.

  Chingatok was tender-hearted. He said nothing, but, as usual, hethought much, as he gazed in a contemplative manner at his oily parent,and there is no saying to what lengths of self-sacrifice he would havegone if he had not been aroused, and his thoughts scattered to thewinds, by a yell so tremendous that it might well have petrified him onthe spot. But it did nothing of the kind. It only caused him to dropon his knees, dart through the tunnel like an eel, spring into the openair like an electrified rabbit from its burrow, and stand up with a lookof blazing interrogation on his huge countenance.

  The cry had been uttered by his bosom friend and former playmateOolichuk, who came running towards him with frantic gesticulations.

  "The Kablunets!" he gasped, "the white-faces have come!--on a floatingisland!--alive!--smoking!--it is all true!"

  "Where?" demanded our giant, whose face blazed up at once.

  "There!" cried Oolichuk, pointing seaward towards the ice-hummocks withboth hands, and glaring up at his friend.

  Without another word Chingatok ran off in the direction pointed out,followed hotly by his friend.

  Oolichuk was a large and powerful man, but, his legs were remarkablyshort. His pace, compared with that of Chingatok, was as that of asparrow to an ostrich. Nevertheless he kept up, for he was agile andvigorous.

  "Have you seen them--have you spoken?" asked the giant, abruptly.

  "Yes, all the tribe was there."

  "No one killed?"

  "No, but terribly frightened; they made me run home to fetch you."

  Chingatok increased his speed. So did Oolichuk.

  While they run, let us leap a little ahead of them, reader, and see whathad caused all the excitement.

  The whole party had gone off that morning, with the exception ofChingatok and his mother, to spear seals in a neighbouring bay, wherethese animals had been discovered in great numbers. Dogs and sledgeshad been taken, because a successful hunt was expected, and the ice wassufficiently firm.

  The bay was very large. At its distant southern extremity there rose agreat promontory which jutted far out into the sea. While the men werebusy there making preparations to begin the hunt, Oblooria, Chingatok'slittle sister, amused herself by mounting a hummock of ice about thirtyfeet high.

  When there, she chanced to look towards the promontory. Instantly sheopened her eyes and mouth and uttered a squeal that brought her friendsrunning to her side.

  Oolichuk was the first to reach her. He had no need to ask questions.Oblooria's gaze directed his, and there, coming round the promontory, hebeheld an object which had never before filled his wondering eyes. Itwas, apparently, a monstrous creature with a dark body and toweringwings, and a black thing in its middle, from which were vomited volumesof smoke.

  "Kablunets! white men!" he yelled.

  "Kablunets!--huk! huk!" echoed the whole tribe, as they scrambled up theice-hill one after another.

  And they were right. A vessel of the pale-faces had penetrated thesenorthern solitudes, and was advancing swiftly before a light breezeunder sail and steam.

  Despite the preparation their minds had received, and the fact that theywere out in search of these very people, this sudden appearance of themfilled most of the Eskimos with alarm--some of them with absoluteterror, insomuch that the term "pale-face" became most appropriate tothemselves.

  "What shall we do?" exclaimed Akeetolik, one of the men.

  "Fly!" cried Ivitchuk, another of the men, whose natural courage was nothigh.

  "No; let us stay and behold!" said Oolichuk, with a look of contempt athis timid comrade.

  "Yes, stay and see," said Eemerk sternly.

  "But they will kill us," faltered the young woman, whom we have alreadymentioned by the name of Tekkona.

  "No--no one would kill _you_," said Eemerk gallantly; "they would onlycarry you off and keep you."

  While they conversed with eager, anxious looks, the steam yacht--forsuch she was--advanced rapidly, threading her way among the ice-fieldsand floes with graceful rapidity and ease, to the unutterable amazementof the natives. Although her sails were spread to catch the lightbreeze, her chief motive power at the time was a screw-propeller.

  "Yes, it must be alive," said Oolichuk to Akeetolik, with a look ofsolemn awe. "The white men do not paddle. They could not lift paddlesbig enough to move such a great oomiak," [see Note 1], "and the wind isnot strong; it could not blow them so fast. See, the oomiak has atail--and wags it!"

  "Oh! _do_ let us run away!" whispered the trembling Oblooria, as shetook shelter behind Tekkona.

  "No, no," said the latter, who was brave as well as pretty, "we need notfear. Our men will take care of us."

  "I wish that Chingatok was here!" whimpered poor little Oblooria,nestling closer to Tekkona and grasping her tail, "he fears nothing andnobody."

  "Ay," assented Tekkona with a peculiar smile, "and is brave enough tofight everything and everybody."

  "Does Oblooria think that no one can fight but the giant?" whisperedOolichuk, who stood nearest to the little maid.

  He drew a knife made of bone from his boot, where it usually layconcealed, and flourished it, with a broad grin. The girl laughed,blushed slightly, and, looking down, toyed with the sleeve of Tekkona'sfur coat.

  Meanwhile the yacht drew near to the floe on which our Eskimos weregrouped. The ice was cracked right across, leaving a lane of open waterabout ten feet wide between its inner edge and the shore ice. TheEskimos stood on the land side of this crack, a hundred yard
s or so fromit. On nearing the floe the strange vessel checked her speed.

  "It moves its wings!" exclaimed Eemerk.

  "And turns its side to us," said Akeetolik.

  "And wags its tail no more," cried Oolichuk.

  "Oh! do, _do_ let us run away," gasped Oblooria.

  "No, no, we will not run," said Tekkona.

  At that moment a white cloud burst from the side of the yacht.

  "Hi! hee! huk!" shouted the whole tribe in amazement.

  A crash followed which not only rattled like thunder among thesurrounding cliffs, but went like electric fire to the central marrow ofeach Eskimo. With a united yell of terror, they leaped three feet intothe air--more or less--turned about, and fled. Tekkona, who was activeas a young deer, herself took the lead; and Oblooria, whose limbstrembled so that she could hardly run, held on to Oolichuk, whogallantly dragged her along. The terror was increased by a prolongedscreech from the steam-whistle. It was a wild scramble in sudden panic.The Eskimos reached their sledges, harnessed their teams, left theirspears on the ice, cracked their whips, which caused the dogs to join inthe yelling chorus, and made for the land at a furious gallop.

  But their fear began to evaporate in a few minutes, and Oolichuk was thefirst to check his pace.

  "Ho! stop," he cried.

  Eemerk looked back, saw that they were not pursued, and pulled up. Theothers followed suit, and soon the fugitives were seen by those on boardthe yacht grouped together and gazing intently at them from the top ofanother ice-hummock.

  The effect of the cannon-shot on board the yacht itself was somewhatstartling. The gun had been loaded on the other side of the promontoryfor the purpose of being fired if Eskimos were not visible on the coastbeyond, in order to attract them from the interior, if they shouldchance to be there. When, however, the natives were discovered on theice, the gun was, of course, unnecessary, and had been forgotten. Ittherefore burst upon the crew with a shock of surprise, and caused theCaptain, who was in the cabin at the moment, to shoot up from thehatchway like a Jack-in-the-box.

  "Who did that?" he demanded, looking round sternly.

  The crew, who had been gazing intently at the natives, did not know.

  "I really cannot tell, sir," said the chief mate, touching his cap.

  Two strapping youths--one about sixteen, the other eighteen--leaned overthe side and paid no regard to the question; but it was obvious, fromthe heaving motion of their shoulders, that they were not so muchabsorbed in contemplation as they pretended to be.

  "Come, Leo, Alf, you know something about this."

  The Captain was a large powerful man of about forty, with bushyiron-grey curls, a huge beard, and an aquiline nose. The two youthsturned to him at once, and Leo, the eldest, said respectfully, "We didnot see it done, uncle, but--but we think--"

  "Well, what do you think?"

  At that moment a delicate-looking, slender lad, about twelve years ofage, with fair curly hair, and flashing blue eyes, stepped out frombehind the funnel, which had hitherto concealed him, and said boldly,though blushingly--

  "I did it, father."

  "Ha! just like you; why did you do it? eh!"

  "I can hardly tell, father," said the boy, endeavouring to choke alaugh, "but the Eskimos looked so funny, and I--I had a box of matchesin my pocket, and--and--I thought a shot would make them look so verymuch funnier, and--and--I was right!"

  "Well, Benjamin, you may go below, and remain there till furtherorders."

  When Captain Vane called his son "Benjamin," he was seriouslydispleased. At other times he called him Benjy.

  "Yes, father," replied the boy, with a very bad grace, and down he wentin a state of rebellious despair, for he was wildly anxious to witnessall that went on.

  His despair was abated, however, when, in the course of a few minutes,the yacht swung round so as to present her stern to the shore, andremained in that position, enabling him to observe proceedings from thecabin windows almost as well as if he had been on deck. He was notaware that his father, knowing his son's nature, and wishing to temperdiscipline with mercy, had placed the vessel in that position for hisspecial benefit!

  The difficulty now was, how to attract the natives, and inspire themwith confidence in the good intentions of their visitors. In any casethis would have been a difficult matter, but the firing of that unluckygun had increased the difficulty tenfold. When, however, Captain Vanesaw the natives cease their mad flight, and turn to gaze at the vessel,his hopes revived, and he set about a series of ingenious efforts toattain his end.

  First of all, he sent a boat in charge of his two nephews, Leonard andAlphonse Vandervell, to set up a small table on the ice, on which weretemptingly arranged various presents, consisting of knives, beads,looking-glasses, and articles of clothing. Having done this, theyretired, like wary anglers, to watch for a bite. But the fish would notrise, though they observed the proceedings with profound attention fromthe distant hummock. After waiting a couple of hours, the navigatorsremoved the table and left an Eskimo dog in its place, with a string ofblue beads tied round its neck. But this bait also failed.

  "Try something emblematic, uncle," suggested Leonard, the elder of thebrothers before mentioned.

  "And get Benjy to manufacture it," said Alphonse.

  As Benjy was possessed of the most fertile imagination on board, he wasreleased from punishment and brought on deck. The result of his effortof genius was the creation of a huge white calico flag, on which werepainted roughly the figure of a sailor and an Eskimo sitting on aniceberg, with a kettle of soup between them. On one side were a pair ofhands clasped together; on the other a sprig of heath, the only shrubthat could be seen on the shore.

  "Splendid!" exclaimed Leo and Alf in the same breath, as they held theflag up to view.

  "You'll become a Royal Academician if you cultivate your talents,Benjy," said the Captain, who was proud, as well as fond, of this hisonly child.

  The boy said nothing, but a pleased expression and a twinkle in his eyesproved that he was susceptible to flattery, though not carried off hislegs by it.

  The banner with the strange device was fixed to a pole which was erectedon an ice-hummock between the ship and the shore, and a bag containingpresents was hung at the foot of it.

  Still these Eskimo fish would not bite, though they "rose" at the flag.

  Oolichuk's curiosity had become so intense that he could not resist it.He advanced alone, very warily, and looked at it, but did not dare totouch it. Soon he was joined by Eemerk and the others. Seeing this,Captain Vane sent to meet them an interpreter whom he had procured atone of the Greenland settlements in passing. Just as this man, whosename was Anders, stepped into the boat alongside, it occurred to theEskimos that their leader should be sent for. Oolichuk undertook tofetch him; he ran back to the sledges, harnessed a small team, and setoff like the wind. Thus it came to pass that Chingatok and his motherwere startled by a yell, as before mentioned.

  Meanwhile Anders was put on the ice, and advanced alone and unarmedtowards the canal, or chasm, which separated the parties. He carried asmall white flag and a bag containing presents. Innocent-looking anddefenceless though he was, however, the Eskimos approached him withhesitating and slow steps, regarding every motion of the interpreterwith suspicion, and frequently stooping to thrust their hands into theirboots, in which they all carried knives.

  At last, when within hearing, Anders shouted a peaceful message, andthere was much hallooing and gesticulation among the natives, butnothing comprehensible came of it. After a time Anders thought herecognised words of a dialect with which he was acquainted, and to hissatisfaction found that they understood him.

  "Kakeite! kakeite!--come on, come on," he cried, holding up the present.

  "Nakrie! nakrie!--no, no, go away--you want to kill us," answered thedoubtful natives.

  Thereupon Anders protested that nothing was further from his thoughts,that he was a man and a friend, and had a mother like themselve
s, andthat he wanted to please them.

  At this Eemerk approached to the edge of the canal, and, drawing a knifefrom his boot, said, "Go away! I can kill you."

  Nothing daunted, Anders said he was not afraid, and taking a goodEnglish knife from his bag threw it across the canal.

  Eemerk picked it up, and was so pleased that he exclaimed, "Heigh-yaw!heigh-yaw!" joyously, and pulled his nose several times. Anders,understanding this to be a sign of friendship, immediately pulled hisown nose, smiled, and threw several trinkets and articles of clothing tothe other natives, who had by that time drawn together in a group, andwere chattering in great surprise at the things presented. Ivitchuk wasperhaps the most excited among them. He chanced to get hold of a roundhox, in the lid of which was a mirror. On beholding himself looking athimself, he made such an awful face that he dropt the glass and sprangbackward, tripping up poor Oblooria in the act, and tumbling over her.

  This was greeted with a shout of laughter, and Anders, now believingthat friendly relations had been established, went to the boat for aplank to bridge the chasm. As Leo and Alf assisted him to carry theplank, the natives again became grave and anxious.

  "Stop!" shouted Eemerk, "you want to kill us. What great creature isthat? Does it come from the moon or the sun? Does it eat fire andsmoke?"

  "No, it is only a dead thing. It is a wooden house."

  "You lie!" cried the polite Eemerk, "it shakes its wings. It vomitsfire and smoke. It has a tail, and wags it."

  While speaking he slowly retreated, for the plank was being placed inposition, and the other natives were showing symptoms of an intention tofly.

  Just then a shout was heard landwards. Turning round they saw adog-sledge flying over the ice towards them, with Oolichuk flourishingthe long-lashed whip, and the huge form of their leader beside him.

  In a few seconds they dashed up, and Chingatok sprang upon the ice.Without a moment's hesitation he strode towards the plank and crossedit. Walking up to Anders he pulled his own nose. The interpreter wasnot slow to return the salutation, as he looked up at the giant withsurprise, not unmingled with awe. In addition, he grasped his hugehand, squeezed, and shook it.

  Chingatok smiled blandly, and returned the squeeze so as to cause theinterpreter to wince. Then, perceiving at once that he had gotpossession of a key to the affections of the strangers, he offered toshake hands with Leonard and his brother, stooping with regal urbanityto them as he did so. By this time the Captain and first mate, withBenjy and several of the crew, were approaching. Instead of exhibitingfear, Chingatok advanced to meet them, and shook hands all round. Hegazed at Captain Vane with a look of admiration which was not at firstquite accountable, until he laid his hand gently on the Captain'smagnificent beard, and stroked it.

  The Captain laughed, and again grasped the hand of the Eskimo. Theyboth squeezed, but neither could make the other wince, for Captain Vanewas remarkably powerful, though comparatively short of limb.

  "Well, you _are_ a good fellow in every way," exclaimed the Captain.

  "Heigh, yah!" returned Chingatok, who no doubt meant to becomplimentary, though we confess our inability to translate. It wasobvious that two sympathetic souls had met.

  "Come across," shouted Chingatok, turning abruptly to his companions,who had been gazing at his proceedings in open-mouthed wonder.

  The whole tribe at once obeyed the order, and in a few minutes they werein the seventh heaven of delight and good-will, receiving gifts andhandshakings, each pulling his own nose frequently by way of expressingsatisfaction or friendship, and otherwise exchanging compliments withthe no less amiable and gratified crew of the steam yacht _Whitebear_.

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  Note. The oomiak is the open boat of skin used by Eskimo _women_, andis capable of holding several persons. The kayak, or man's canoe, holdsonly one.