The Giant of the North: Pokings Round the Pole

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

  A GLORIOUS REGION CONTEMPLATED, AND A GLORIOUS CHASE PLANNED.

  Leo did not slumber long. Very early in the morning he awoke with thatsensation about him which told that at that time further repose was notattainable. He therefore rose, donned the few garments which he had putoff on lying down, crept through his tunnel, and emerged into the openair.

  And what a vision of glorious beauty met his enraptured eyes, while thefresh sea-breeze entered, like life, into his heaving chest! It wasstill a profound calm. Earth, air, water, sky, seemed to be uniting ina silent act of adoration to their great Creator, while the myriadcreatures therein contained were comparatively quiet in the enjoyment ofHis rich and varied bounties. It seemed as if the hour were too earlyfor the strife of violent passions--too calm for the stirrings of hatredor revenge. Everything around spoke only of peace. Sitting down withhis back to a sun-bathed rock, and his face to the silver sea, Leo drewout his Bible and proceeded to read the records of the Prince of Peace.

  As he lifted his eyes from the words, "marvellous are thy works, andthat my soul knoweth right well," to the vision of beauty and life thatlay before him, Leo made the words and the thought, for the first time,_his own_.

  The prospect embraced innumerable islands of all sizes, studding likegems the gently-heaving sea. Over these, countless millions ofsea-birds flew or sailed to and fro; some with the busy fluttering ofactivity, as if they had something to do and a mind to do it; othersloitering idly on the wing, or dipping lightly on the wave, as if to bidtheir images good-morning. Burgomaster, yellow-legged, and pink-beakedgulls, large and small, wheeled in widening circles round him.Occasional flocks of ptarmigan, in the mixed brown and white plumage ofsummer, whirred swiftly over him and took refuge among the rocky heightsof the interior, none of which heights rose above three hundred feet.Eider-ducks, chattering kittiwakes, and graceful tern, auks, guillemots,puffins, geese, and even swans, swarmed on the islands, far and near,while seals, whales, narwhals, dolphins, and grampuses, revelled in thesea, so that the Arctic world appeared almost overcharged with animallife.

  Of course the noise of their cries and evolutions would have been greathad not distance lent enchantment to sound as well as view. To Leothere seemed even a sort of restfulness in the voices of the innumerablewild-fowl. They were so far off, most of them, that the sounds fell onhis ear like a gentle plaint, and even the thunderous plash of the greatGreenland whale was reduced by distance to a ripple like that which fellon the shore at his feet.

  While he was meditating, Anders joined him and responded heartily to hissalutation, but Anders was not in a poetical frame of mind that morning.His thoughts had been already turned to an eminently practical subject.

  "I'm tole," said he, seating himself beside our hero, "dat Grabantakholds a talk 'bout fighting."

  "And a council of war," said Leo. "I know what the result of that willbe. When leaders like Grabantak and Amalatok decide for war, most ofthe people follow them like a flock of sheep. Although most of thepeople never saw this miserable island--this Puiroe--and know, and care,nothing about it, you'll see that the Flatlanders will be quiteenthusiastic after the council, and ready to fight for it to the bitterend. A very bitter end it is, indeed, to see men and women make foolsof themselves about nothing, and be ready to die for the same! WillGrabantak allow us to be present at the council, think you?"

  "Ho yis. He send me to say you muss come."

  Leo was right. Nothing could surpass the impetuosity of Grabantak,except the anxiety of many of the Flatlanders to be led by the nose.Was not the point in question one of vital importance to the wellbeingof the community--indeed of the whole Arctic world? Teyma mildly askedthem what _was_ the point in question, but not a soul could tell, untilGrabantak, starting up with furious energy, manufactured a "point," andthen explained it in language so intricate, yet so clear, that the wholecouncil stood amazed at their never having seen it before in that light,and then said, more or less emphatically, "There, that's what we thoughtexactly, only we could not state it so well as the great Grabantak!"

  After this there was no chance for Teyma and his party--and he had aparty, even among northern savages,--who believed in men working hard attheir own affairs and letting other people alone, as far as that waspossible. But the peace-party in Arctic land was in a minority at thattime, and the council broke up with shouts for Grabantak, anddenunciations of death and destruction to the men of Poloeland.

  But things do not always turn out as men--even wise men--arrange them.From that day, during the brief period of preparation for the settingout of an expedition to visit Makitok of Great Isle, Leo received dailyvisits from the Prime Minister, who was deeply interested andinquisitive about the strange "_thing_," as he styled the Bible, whichtold the Kablunets about God and the Prince of Peace. Of course Leo waswilling and happy to give him all the information he desired, and, indoing so, found a new and deep source of pleasure.

  Teyma was not the man to hide his light under a bushel. He was afearless outspoken counsellor, and not only sought to advance thepacific views he held, by talking to the men of his own party inprivate, but even propounded them in public to Grabantak himself, who,however, could not be moved, though many of his men quietly changedsides.

  With all this Teyma was loyal to his chief. Whatever he did was in theway of fair and open argument. He was too loyal to help Leo when hemade a certain proposal to him one day.

  "Teyma," said Leo, on that occasion, "you have been very friendly to me.Will you do me a great favour? Will you send a young man in a kayak toPoloeland with a message from me to my people? They must think I amdead. I wish them to know that I am here, and well."

  "No," replied Teyma promptly; "that would let the men of Poloe know thatwe talk of going to attack them. I do not love war. I wish to let ourenemies alone, but if my chief decides for war, it is my duty to help,not to frustrate him. If we go to war with Poloeland, we must take themen of Poloe by surprise. That could not be if a young man went withyour message."

  Leo saw the force of this, and respected Teyma's disinterested loyaltyto his chief; but felt inclined to argue that, fidelity to the bestinterests of his country stood higher than loyalty to a chief. Herefrained, however, from pressing the matter at that time.

  Not so Anders. When that worthy saw that Teyma would not act, and thatLeo from some inexplicable reason hesitated, he quietly took the matterinto his own hands, and so wrought on the feelings of a weak but amiableyouth of the tribe, that he prevailed on him to carry a message to theenemy, explaining to him earnestly that no evil, but the reverse, wouldresult from his mission; that the Kablunets were men of peace, who wouldimmediately come over to Flatland and put everything right in apeaceable and satisfactory manner.

  "Tell the white men," said Anders, "that we are prisoners in Flatland--alive and well--but they must come to help us quickly."

  No difficulty was experienced in sending the messenger away. There wasunlimited personal freedom in Flatland. Young men frequently went offto hunt for days together at a time, without saying anything about theirintentions, unless they chose; so the secret messenger set out. Thusthe interpreter lighted the fuse of a mine which was eminentlycalculated to blow up the plans of Grabantak.

  But another fuse had been lighted which, in a still more effectualmanner, overturned the plans of that warlike chief.

  It chanced at this time that the Flatlanders ran short of meat. Theirhabit was to go off on a grand hunt, gather as much meat as they could,and then come home to feast and rejoice with their families untilscarcity again obliged them to hunt. Of course there were many amongthem whose natural activity rebelled against this lazy style of life,but the exertions of these did not suffice to keep the whole tribesupplied. Hence it came to pass, that they often began to be in wantwhile in the midst of plenty. A grand hunt was therefore organised.

  They were tired, they said, of ducks and geese and swans. They wanted ach
ange from seals and bears, walruses and such small fry. Nothing shortof a whale would serve them!

  Once stirred up to the point of action, there was no lack of energyamong these northern Eskimos. Kayaks, lines, and spears were got ready,and oomiaks were launched; for women and children loved to see thesport, though they did not join in it. Everywhere bustle and excitementreigned, and the hubbub was not a little increased by the agitated dogs,which knew well what was a-foot, and licked their lips in anticipation.

  Of course Leo and Anders prepared to go and see the fun. So didOblooria. It was arranged that Leo and the latter were to go in theindia-rubber boat.

  That vessel had been the source of deep, absorbing interest andcuriosity to the natives. When our travellers landed, it had beenconveyed to the side of the hut assigned them, and laid gently on theturf, where it was stared at by successive groups all day. They wouldhave stayed staring at it all night, if they had not been forbidden byGrabantak to approach the Kablunets during the hours of repose. Leoexplained its parts to them, but made no reference to its expansive andcontractile properties. He also launched it and paddled about togratify the curiosity of his new friends, but did not show them thekite, which, folded and in its cover, he had stowed away in the hut.

  One night, fearing that the sun might injure the boat, Leo had squeezedthe air out of it, folded it, and stowed it away in the hut beside thekite. The astonishment of the natives, when they came out next morningto stare and wonder, according to custom, was very great. Leo resolvedto make a mystery of it, looked solemn when spoken to on the point, andgave evasive replies.

  When, however, the time came for setting off on this grand hunt, hecarried his boat, still bundled up in skins, down to the water's edge,where kayaks and oomiaks in hundreds lay ready to be launched.

  The news spread like wild-fire that the Kablunet was going to "actwonderfully!"

  Every man, woman, and child in the place hurried to the spot.

  "It is destroyed!" exclaimed Grabantak, sadly, when he saw the boatunrolled, flat and empty, on the sand.

  We shall not describe the scene in detail. It is sufficient to say thatLeo did not disappoint the general expectation. He did indeed "actwonderfully," filling the unsophisticated savages with unboundedsurprise and admiration, while he filled the boat with air and launchedit. He then stepped into it with Anders, gallantly lifted Oblooria onboard, and, seizing the oars, rowed gently out to sea.

  With shouts of delight the Eskimos jumped into their kayaks andfollowed. Their admiration was, however, a little calmed by thediscovery that the kayaks could beat the Kablunet boat in speed, thoughthe women in their oomiaks could not keep up with it. There was noemulation, however; Leo carefully refrained from racing.

  He had been supplied with a long lance and a couple of spears, to whichlatter were attached, by thongs of walrus hide, two inflated sealskinsto act as buoys. These Leo had been previously instructed how to use.

  He took the kite with him on this occasion, without, however, havingmuch expectation of being able to use it, as the calm still prevailed.It was folded of course, and fixed in its place in the bow. The nativesthought it must be a spear or harpoon of strange form.

  It was not long before a whale was sighted. There were plenty of thesemonsters about, some coming lazily to the surface to blow, others lyingquite still, with their backs out of the water as if sunning themselves,or asleep.

  Soon the spirit of the hunter filled each Eskimo bosom. What appearedto be an unusually large whale was observed on the horizon. Kablunets,india-rubber boats, and all less important things, were forgotten forthe moment; paddles were plied with energy, and the chase began.