Red Rooney: The Last of the Crew

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER FOUR.

  OKIOK BECOMES SIMPLE BUT DEEP, AND THE WIZARD TRIES TO MAKE CAPITAL OUTOF EVENTS.

  Of course Ujarak, wise man though he was esteemed to be, could not helpbeing struck dumb by the unexpected sight of the gaunt foreigner.Indeed, having so long held supposed intercourse with familiar spirits,it is not improbable that he imagined that one of them had at last come,without waiting for a summons, to punish him because of his deceptivepractices, for he turned pale--or rather faintly green--and breathedhard.

  Perceiving his state, it suddenly occurred to the sailor to say--"Don'tbe afraid. I won't hurt you." He inadvertently said it in English,however, so that Ujarak was none the wiser.

  "Who is he?" demanded the angekok--perhaps it were more correct to callhim wizard.

  Okiok, expecting Rooney to reply, looked at him, but a spirit of silenceseemed to have come over the stranger, for he made no reply, but shuthis eyes, as if he had dropped asleep.

  "He is a Kablunet," said Okiok.

  "I could see that, even if I had not the double sight of the angekok,"replied the other, with a touch of sarcasm, for Eskimos, although by nomeans addicted to quarrelling, are very fond of satire. They are alsoprone to go straight to the point in conversation, and although fond ofsimiles and figurative language, they seldom indulge in bombast.

  With much solemnity Okiok rejoined that he had no doubt of Ujarak'sbeing aware that the man was a Kablunet.

  "And I am glad you have come," he added, "for of course you can alsotell me where the Kablunet has come from, and whither he is going?"

  The angekok glanced at his host quickly, for he knew--at least hestrongly suspected--that he was one of that uncomfortable class ofsceptics who refuse to swallow without question all thatself-constituted "wise men" choose to tell them. Okiok was gazing athim, however, with an air of the most infantine simplicity anddeference.

  "I cannot tell you that," replied the wizard, "because I have notconsulted my torngak about him."

  It must be explained here that each angekok has a private spirit, orfamiliar, whose business it is to enlighten him on all points, andconduct him on his occasional visits to the land of spirits. Thisfamiliar is styled his "torngak."

  "Did your torngak tell you that he was a Kablunet?" asked Okiok simply--so simply that there was no room for Ujarak to take offence.

  "No; my eyes told me that."

  "I did not know that you had ever seen a Kablunet," returned the other,with a look of surprise.

  "Nor have I. But have I not often heard them described by the men ofthe south? and has not my torngak showed them to me in dreams?"

  The wizard said this somewhat tartly, and Okiok, feeling that he hadgone far enough, turned away his sharp little eyes, and gazed at thelamp-smoke with an air of profound humility.

  "You have got seal-flesh?" said Ujarak, glad to change the subject.

  "Yes; I killed it yesterday. You are hungry? Nuna will give you some."

  "No; I am not hungry. Nevertheless I will eat. It is good to eat atall times."

  "Except when we are stuffed quite full," murmured Okiok, casting atNunaga a sly glance, which threw that Eskimo maiden into what stronglyresembled a suppressed giggle. It was catching, for her brothers Norrakand Ermigit were thrown into a similar condition, and even the babycrowed out of sympathy. Indeed Red Rooney himself, who only simulatedsleep, found it difficult to restrain his feelings, for he began tounderstand Okiok's character, and to perceive that he was more than amatch for the wizard with all his wisdom.

  Whatever Ujarak may have felt, he revealed nothing, for he possessedthat well-known quality of the Eskimo--the power to restrain and concealhis feelings--in a high degree. With a quiet patronising smile, he bentdown in quite a lover-like way, and asked Nunaga if the seal-flesh wasgood.

  "Yes, it is good; _very_ good," answered the maiden, looking modestlydown, and toying with the end of her tail. You see she had noscent-bottle or fan to toy with. To be sure she had gloves--thicksealskin mittens--but these were not available at the moment.

  "I knew you had a seal," said the angekok, pausing between bites, afterthe edge of his appetite had been taken off; "my torngak told me you hadfound one at last."

  "Did he tell you that I had also found a bear?" asked Okiok, with deepersimplicity than ever.

  The wizard, without raising his head, and stuffing his mouth full toprevent the power of speech, glanced keenly about the floor. Observingthe fresh skin in a corner, and one or two ribs, he bolted the bite, andsaid--

  "O yes. My torngak is kind; he tells me many things without beingasked. He said to me two days ago, `Okiok is a clever man. Though allthe people are starving just now, he has killed a seal and a bear.'"

  "Can torngaks make mistakes?" asked Okiok, with a puzzled look. "It was_yesterday_ that I killed the seal and the bear."

  "Torngaks _never_ make mistakes," was the wizard's prompt and solemnreply; "but they see and know the future as well as the past, and theysometimes speak of both as the present."

  "How puzzling!" returned the other meekly. "He meant you, then, tounderstand that I was _going_ to kill a seal and a bear. Glad am I thatI am not an angekok, for it would be very difficult work for a stupidman,--enough almost to kill him!"

  "You are right. It is difficult and hard work. So you see the torngaktold me go feast with Okiok, and at his bidding of course I have come,on purpose to do so."

  "That's a lie. You came to see my Nunaga, and you hope to get her; butyou never will!" said Okiok. He said it only to himself, however, beingfar too polite to say it to his guest, to whom he replieddeferentially--

  "If they are starving at your village, why did you not bring your motherand your father? They would have been welcome, for a seal and a bearwould be enough to stuff us all quite full, and leave something to sendto the rest."

  For some minutes the wizard did not reply. Perhaps he was meditating,perchance inventing.

  "I brought no one," he said at last, "because I want you and your familyto return with me to the village. You know it is only two days distant,and we can take the seal and the bear with us. We are going to have agreat feast and games."

  "Did you not say the people were starving?" asked Okiok, with a look ofgentle surprise.

  "They _were_ starving," returned Ujarak quickly; "but two walruses andfour seals were brought in yesterday and my torngak has told me that hewill point out where many more are to be found if I consult him on thenight of the feast. Will you come back with me?"

  Okiok glanced at the Kablunet.

  "I cannot leave my guest," he said.

  "True, but we can take him with us."

  "Impossible. Do you not see he is only bones in a bag of skin? He mustrest and feed."

  "That will be no difficulty," returned the wizard, "for the feast is notto be held for twice seven days. By that time the Kablunet will bewell, and getting strong. Of course he must rest and be well stuffedjust now. So I will go back, and say that you are coming, and tell themalso what you have found--a Kablunet. Huk!"

  "Yes; and he speaks our language," said Okiok.

  "That was not our language which he spoke when I came in."

  "No; yet he speaks it."

  "I should like to hear him speak."

  "You must not wake him," said Okiok, with an assumed look of horror."He would be sure to kill you with a look or a breath if you did. See;he moves!"

  Rooney certainly did move at the moment, for the conversation hadtickled him a good deal, and the last remark was almost too much forhim. Not wishing, however, to let the angekok go without someconversation, he conveniently awoke, yawned, and stretched himself. Inthe act he displayed an amount of bone and sinew, if not flesh, whichmade a very favourable impression on the Eskimos, for physical strengthand capacity is always, and naturally, rated highly among savages.

  Our shipwrecked hero had now heard and seen enough to understandsomething of the character of the men with whom he had to dea
l. He wenttherefore direct to the point, without introduction or ceremony, byasking the angekok who he was and where he came from. After catechisinghim closely, he then sought to establish a kind of superiority over himby voluntarily relating his own story, as we have already given it, andthus preventing his being questioned in return by the wizard.

  "Now," said Red Rooney in conclusion, "when you go home to your village,tell the people that the Kablunet, having been nearly starved, must havesome days to get well. He will stay with his friend Okiok, and resttill he is strong. Then he will go to your village with his friends,and join in the feast and games."

  There was a quiet matter-of-course tone of command about the seaman,which completely overawed the poor angekok, inducing him to submit atonce to the implied superiority, though hitherto accustomed to carrymatters with a high hand among his compatriots. His self-esteem,however, was somewhat compensated by the fact that he should be thebearer of such wonderful news to his people, and by the considerationthat he could say his torngak had told him of the arrival of theKablunet--an assertion which they would believe all the more readilythat he had left home with some mysterious statements that somethingwonderful was likely to be discovered. In truth, this astute wizardnever failed to leave some such prediction behind him every time hequitted home, so as to prepare the people for whatever might occur; and,should nothing occur, he could generally manage to colour some event orincident with sufficient importance to make it fulfil the prediction, atleast in some degree.

  When at last he rose to depart, Ujarak turned to Nunaga. As her fatherhad rightly guessed, the wizard, who was quite a young man, had comethere on matrimonial views intent; and he was not the man to leave themain purpose of his journey unattempted.

  "Nunaga," he said, in a comparatively low yet sufficiently audiblevoice, "my sledge is large. It is too large for one--"

  He was interrupted suddenly at this point by Rooney, who saw at oncewhat was coming.

  "Okiok," he said, "I want Nunaga to mend and patch my torn garments forthe next few days. Her mother has enough to do with cooking and lookingafter the house. Can you spare her for that work?"

  Yes, Okiok could spare her; and was very glad to do all that he could toaccommodate the foreigner.

  "Will Ujarak carry a message from the Kablunet to his village?" askedRooney, turning to the wizard.

  "He will," replied the latter somewhat sulkily.

  "Does he know the angekok named Angut?"

  It is doubtful whether anger or surprise was most strongly expressed inthe countenance of the Eskimo as he replied sternly, "Yes."

  "Then tell him that the Kablunet will stay in his hut when he visitsyour village."

  Having delivered this message, he turned his face to the wall, and,without awaiting a reply, coolly went to sleep, or appeared to do so,while Ujarak went off, with a storm of very mingled feelings harrowinghis savage breast.

  When he was gone Red Rooney raised himself on one elbow, and looked overhis shoulder at Okiok with a broad grin. Okiok, who felt grave enoughat the moment, and somewhat perplexed, opened his eyes gradually, andreciprocated the smile with interest. By degrees he closed the eyes,and allowed the smile to develop into a high falsetto chuckle whichconvulsed his broad hairy shoulders for full five minutes.

  From that hour Okiok and the Kablunet were united! They understood eachother. The chords of sympathetic humour had vibrated within them inharmony. They were thenceforward _en rapport_, and felt towards eachother like brothers, or rather like father and son, for Okiok wasforty-five years of age at least, while Rooney was not yet thirty.

  "He's a very bad man, is he not?" asked the seaman, when the heaving ofthe shoulders had subsided.

  "Ho! yes. Bad, bad! _very_ bad! He lies, and steals, and cheats, andtalks nonsense, and wants Nunaga for a wife."

  "And you don't want him for a son?"

  "No!"--very decidedly.

  Rooney laughed, and, turning away with a wink and a nod, lay down tosleep--this time in earnest. Okiok responded with a falsetto chuckle,after which he proceeded to solace himself with a mass of half-cookedblubber. Observing that Tumbler was regarding him with longing looks,he good-naturedly cut off part of the savoury morsel, and handed it tothe child. It is well-known that the force of example is strong--stronger than that of precept. In a few minutes the entire family setto work again on the viands with as much gusto as though they had eatenlittle or nothing for a week.

  Leaving them thus pleasantly and profitably occupied, let us followUjarak to his village.

  Every man and woman of superior intelligence in this world has probablyone blind worshipper, if not more--some weak brother who admires,believes in, perhaps envies, but always bows to the demigod. Such aworshipper had Ujarak in Ippegoo, a tall young man, of weak physicalframe, and still weaker mental capacity.

  Ippegoo was not malevolent, like his master, but he was sufficientlywicked to laugh at his evil doings, and to assist him in his variousplans, in the implicit belief that he was aiding a great and wise man.He did so all the more readily that he himself aimed at the high anddignified office of an angekok, an aspiration which had at first beenplanted in him, and afterwards been carefully encouraged by hisdeceiver, because it made his dupe, if possible, a blinder and morewilling tool.

  "Ippegoo," said Ujarak, on drawing near to the outskirts of his village,and coming unexpectedly on his satellite, who was in the act of dragginghome a seal which he had just killed, "I meet you in the nick of time--but that is no wonder, for did not my torngak tell me he would cause youto meet me near the village? I want your assistance just now."

  "I am glad, then, that we have met," said Ippegoo, with a cringingmotion not unlike a bow--though of the ceremonial bow the Eskimos haveno knowledge.

  "Yes, strange things have happened," continued the angekok, rolling hiseyes impressively. "Did I not tell you before I started to visit Okiokthat strange things would happen?"

  Ippegoo, who had a good deal of straightforward simplicity in hisnature, looked puzzled, and tried hard to recollect what Ujarak had toldhim.

  "You will never make an angekok," said Ujarak, with a look ofdispleasure, "if you do not rouse up your memory more. Do you notremember when I whispered to you in a dream last night that strangethings were going to happen?"

  "O ye-e-es,--in a dream; yes, I remember now," returned the satellite insome confusion, yet with a good deal of faith, for he was a heavyfeeder, and subject to nightmares, so that it was not difficult toimagine the "whisper" which had been suggested to him.

  "Yes, you remember now, stupid walrus! Well, then, what was the strangething like?" Ujarak looked awfully solemn while he put this question.

  "What was it like?" repeated the poor youth with hesitation, and anuneasy glance at the sky, as if for inspiration. "What--was--it--oh, Iremember; it was big--big; very big--so high," (holding his hand upabout seven feet from the ice).

  "No, Ippegoo, not _so_ big. He was about my size. Don't you remember?and he was pale, with hair twisted into little rings all over his head,and--"

  "Yes, yes; and a nose as long as my leg," interrupted the eager pupil.

  "Not at all, stupid puffin! A nose no longer than your own, and muchbetter-shaped."

  The angekok said this so sternly that the too willing Ippegoo collapsed,and looked, as he felt, superlatively humble.

  "Now go," resumed Ujarak, with an unrelaxed brow; "go tell your story tothe people assembled in the big hut. They feast there to-night, I know.Tell them what your dream has revealed. Tell them how I spoke to youbefore I left the village--but don't be too particular in yourdescription. Let that be--like your own mind--confused, and then itwill be true to nature. Tell them also that you expect me soon, but saynot that you have met me to-day, for that might displease my torngak,whom I go to consult."

  Without giving his pupil time to reply, the wizard strode off, anddisappeared among the ice hummocks, as a bad actor might strut behindthe side scenes.

&
nbsp; Deeply impressed with the solemnity of the whole affair, and with theimportance of his mission, the young Eskimo went off to the village,dragging his seal behind him, and wondering what new discovery had beenmade by his mysterious patron.

  That something of unusual import had occurred he never doubted, foralthough he had often seen Ujarak, with unbounded admiration, wriggleout of unfulfilled prophecy like an eel, he had never seen him give wayto demonstrations such as we have described without something real andsurprising turning up ere long.

  Strong in this faith, he ran into the large hut where a considerableparty of his tribe were feasting on a recently captured walrus, and toldthem that something tremendous, something marrow-thrilling, had occurredto the great angekok Ujarak, who, before leaving the village, had toldhim that he was going off to find a--a--something--he knew not exactlywhat--with rings of hair all over its body, pale as the ice-floe, morewonderful than the streaming lights--incomprehensible!--immense!

  At this point he glared, and became dumb. Not knowing well what to saynext, he judiciously remained silent, then sat down and gasped, whilethe united company exclaimed "Huk!" with unusual emphasis.

  The consultation which Ujarak had with his torngak was somewhatpeculiar. It consisted chiefly in a wild run at full speed out upon thefloes. Having pretty well exhausted himself by this device, and broughton profuse perspiration, he turned homewards. Drawing near to thevillage, he flung back his hood, ran his fingers through his long blackhair until it was wildly dishevelled, then, springing suddenly into themidst of the festive party, he overturned feasters right and left, as hemade his way to the part of the edifice furthest from the door.

  A close observer might have noted, however, that there was method in hismadness, for he overturned only women and children, and kept carefullyclear of men--at least of such men as he knew would resent hisroughness.

  Wheeling suddenly round, and facing the solemnised assembly, headdressed it, as if with difficulty, in a low-toned, awesome voice.