Ungava

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

  SAVAGE LOVE--A WIFE PURCHASED--THE ATTACK--THE FLIGHT--THE ESCAPE--THEWOUNDED MAN.

  Scarcely had the stout Esquimau proceeded a few steps along the shore,when he was met by a young girl who laid her hand on his arm. Takingher gently by the shoulders, he drew her towards him and kissed her onboth cheeks--an action which caused her to blush deeply as, with a halfsmile half frown on her face, she pushed him away.

  Love is the same all the world over, whether it glows beneath thebroad-cloth and spotless linen of a civilised gentleman, or under thedeerskin coat of a savage. And its expression, we suspect, is somewhatsimilar everywhere. The coy repulse of pretended displeasure came asnaturally from our plump little arctic heroine as it could have donefrom the most civilised flirt, and was treated with well-simulatedcontrition by our arctic giant, as they walked slowly towards the huts.But the Esquimau had other matters than love in his head just then, andthe girl's face assumed a grave and somewhat anxious look as hecontinued to whisper in her ear.

  At the little hamlet they separated, and the maiden went to hergrandfather's abode; while her lover, lifting the skin-curtain door of arudely-constructed hut, entered his own humble dwelling. The room wasempty, and its owner did not seem as if he meant to cheer it with hispresence long. In one corner lay a pile of miscellaneous articles,which he removed, and, taking the tusk of a walrus which lay near hishand, began to dig with it in the sand. In a few seconds it struck ahard substance, and the Esquimau, putting his hand into the hole, drewforth a glittering axe, upon which he gazed with supreme satisfaction.

  Now be it known to you, reader, that among the Esquimaux of the frozennorth iron is regarded with about as much delight as gold is byourselves. And the reason is simple enough. These poor people liveentirely upon the produce of the chase. Polar bears, seals, walruses,and whales are their staff of life. To procure these animals, spearsare necessary; to skin and cut them up, knives are needful. But boneand stone make sorry knives and spears; so that, when a bit of iron, nomatter how poor its quality or small its size, can be obtained, it islooked on as the most valuable of possessions; and the ingenuitydisplayed by Esquimaux in fashioning the rudest piece of metal into themost useful of implements is truly astonishing, proving, in the mostsatisfactory way, that necessity is indeed the mother of invention. Theprecious metal is obtained in two ways: by the discovery of a wreck,which is extremely rare; and by barter with those tribes which sometimesvisit the Moravian settlements of Labrador. But neither source is veryproductive. Even a nail is treasured as a blessing, while an axe is afortune! When our giant, therefore, drew forth the shining implement,and gazed with delight at its keen edge, he experienced as greatsatisfaction as a miser does when gloating over his banker's book!

  Having satisfied himself that the axe was free from all approximation torust, he stuck it into a belt of raw hide, which he put on for theexpress purpose of sustaining it, as Esquimaux do not generally wearbelts. He then sallied forth, and walked with the air of a man whowears the grand cross of the Legion of Honour. As he went to the hut inwhich lived the oldest man of the tribe, the shade of anxiety, which hadclouded his brow more than once during the day, again rested on hisface. On entering, he observed the old Esquimau listening with anxiouscountenance to the young girl whom we have already introduced to thereader.

  Now this girl--Aneetka by name--was by no means an angel in Esquimauhabiliments. Among civilised folk probably she would not have beendeemed even pretty. Nevertheless, in the eyes of her lover she was mostdecidedly beautiful, and round, and fat, and rosy, and young, awkward,and comfortable! And the giant loved her--never so strongly, perhaps,as when he saw her striving to allay the fears of her old grandfather.But this same grandfather was obstinate. He wanted her to become thewife of an Esquimau who lived far to the westward, and who once haddealings with the fur-traders, and from whom he expected to deriveconsiderable advantages and gifts of bits of hoop-iron and nails. But_she_ wanted to become the giant's wife; so there the matter stood.

  "The spirits o' the wind and sea protect us, and may the god o' the mistcover us!" said the old man, as the young Esquimau sat down on a deadseal beside him. "Is it true that you saw the men of fire?"

  This was, of course, said in the language of the Esquimaux, and werender it as literally as possible.

  "Yes, it is true," replied the young man. "I saw them at the rapidwater in Caniapuscaw, and I took kayak to bring the news."

  Various exclamations of mingled surprise and anger escaped from thecompressed lips of several stalwart natives, who had crowded into thetent on hearing of the arrival of their comrade.

  "Yes," continued the young man, "we must go away this night. They hadfire-tubes, and there were thirty men. We have only ten."

  Again a murmur ran through the listeners, but no one spoke for a fewseconds.

  "Did they see you?" asked the old man anxiously.

  "No. I came on them suddenly, when I was chasing deer, and almost raninto their camp; but I saw, and fell in the grass. I thought the chiefraised his head quickly when I fell; but he looked down again, and Icrawled away."

  In this the young Esquimau was mistaken. He knew little of the craftand the quickness of the Red Indian, and easily fell into the snare ofhis savage enemy, who, having been momentarily startled by the suddensound of the Esquimau approach, had endeavoured to throw him off hisguard, by pretending that although he heard the sound he thought nothingof it. But no sooner had the Esquimau retired than he was closelyfollowed and watched by the whole party. They could have easily shothim, but refrained from doing so, that he might unwittingly be theirguide to the habitations of his people. The rapid flight of his kayakdistanced his pursuers at first, but they made up for this during anhour or two in the night, when the tired Esquimau allowed himself ashort season of repose to recruit his energies for the following day'sjourney. During this period the Indians shot far ahead of him, and whenhe arrived at the coast next day they were not much in the rear.

  "And now, old man," said our young Esquimau, "it is time that I shouldhave my wife. If the Allat [see note 1] come here to-night, as I knowthey will, I want to have a right to defend her, and carry her away whenwe flee. Are you willing?"

  The young giant said this with a degree of roughness and decision thatat any other time would have made the obstinate old grandfather refusepoint blank; but as there was every probability of having to flee forhis life ere the break of another day, and as his old heart trembledwithin him at the thought of the dreaded guns of the Indians, he merelyshook his head and pondered a little.

  "What will you give me?" he said, looking up.

  The young man answered by drawing the axe from his belt and laying it onthe ground before him. The old man's eyes glistened with pleasure as hesurveyed the costly gift.

  "Good; that will do. Take her and go."

  A second bidding was not needed. The young man arose hastily, took hisblushing bride by the hand, and led her from the tent of her grandfathertowards his own. Here she set to work instantly to assist her husbandin hurriedly packing up their goods and chattels; and, immediatelyafterwards, the little village became a perfect Babel of confusion, asthe alarmed inhabitants, on learning the threatened danger, prepared forinstant flight. In less than an hour the most of them were ready. Themen launched their kayaks, while the women, having loaded their oomiakswith their goods, tossed their dogs and children on the top of them.

  The oomiak, or women's boat, is quite a different affair from the kayak,in which the men travel singly. It is usually made large and capacious,in order to hold the entire household of the Esquimau. Like the kayakit is made of skin, but has no covering above, and is propelled by meansof short single-bladed paddles, which are worked by the women, upon whomdevolves the entire care and management of the oomiak. It is a clumsyaffair to look at, but, like the boats of savages generally, it isuncommonly useful and a good sea-boat.

  While the Esquimaux were bus
ied in completing their arrangements, one ofthe dogs rushed towards the bushes that lined the shore just behind thevillage, and barked vociferously. Instantly it was joined by the wholepack, and the Esquimaux, who, ever since they had heard of the proximityof their Indian foes, were in a state of the utmost trepidation, made ageneral rush towards their canoes. Before they reached them, however, avolley of musketry was fired from the bushes, and three of theirnumber--a man and two women--filled the air with their death-shriek, asthey fell dead upon the beach; while the Indians sprang from theirconcealment, and, brandishing their knives and tomahawks, rushed with afearful yell upon the terror-stricken Esquimaux.

  Shrill and terrible though the Indian war-cry is proverbially known tobe, it was excelled in appalling wildness by the shriek which arose fromthe Esquimaux, as they hurried tumultuously into their canoes and putoff to sea. These poor creatures were naturally brave--much more so,indeed, than their assailants; but the murderous effects of the terriblegun caused the sternest brow among them to blanch and the stoutest heartto quail. The arrow and the spear, however rapid, could be avoided, ifobserved in time; but this dreaded implement of destruction was somysterious to them, and its death-dealing bullet so quick, and thesmoke, the fire, and the loud report so awful, that they shuddered evenwhen they thought of it. No wonder, then, that they uttered adespairing cry when it actually sounded in their ears.

  When the dogs first gave tongue, our tall Esquimau was alone in his hut,having just sent his wife down with a bundle to the oomiak. When thevolley rang in his ears, he rushed towards the beach, supposing that shewas there before him. This was not the case, however. Aneetka had gonetowards her grandfather's hut, and when the Indians fired she rushed into assist him to fly. But the old man was already gone. Turninginstantly, she sprang nimbly towards the shore. At that moment a singleshot was fired, and she saw her husband stumble forward and fallheadlong to the earth, where he lay motionless. Her first impulse wasto run towards the body and throw herself upon it; but this intentionwas effectually checked by a strong, dark-skinned arm which encircledher waist, and, despite her cries and struggles, bore her away into thebushes. Her captor was the Indian whose gun once before on that day hadbeen levelled at her lover's head.

  When the young Esquimau fell, as already related, he was so close to thewater that he stumbled into it, and, fortunately, not a yard distantfrom an oomiak which the women were frantically thrusting into the sea.They had no time to lift so heavy a weight on board, but, as the lightcraft darted from the shore, an old woman, who had often received kindattentions from the good-natured youth, leant over the stern and seizedhim by the hair. In this manner he was dragged through the water untilthey were out of gun-shot, when he was lifted inside and laid beside thedogs and children.

  Meanwhile the Indians had rushed into the water up to their middle, inthe hope of catching the last of the little fleet, but without success.Mad with disappointed rage, they waded back to the shore, and, standingin a line along the edge of the waves, reloaded their guns with theutmost rapidity. The poor Esquimaux knew well what would follow, andstrained every nerve to increase their distance. Once more the gunsbelched forth their leaden shower, which went skipping over the watertowards the flotilla. Only one kayak was hit by the discharge. It wasthat of the old grandfather already mentioned. The ball ripped up theside of the canoe, which filled and upset, and the poor old man wouldcertainly have been drowned but for the opportune coming up of theoomiak containing his wounded grandson. The old woman who had alreadysaved the life of the young giant of the tribe, again put forth herskinny hand and grasped the patriarch, who was soon hauled on board insafety. A few minutes more placed the whole party out of danger.

  In the meantime, the Indians, furious with disappointment, scalped thethree dead bodies and tossed them into the sea; after which they wentinto the huts in order to collect all the valuables that might have beenleft behind. Very little, however, was to be found, as the entireproperty of an Esquimau is not worth much to a red man. The most usefulthing they laid hands on was the axe which the old grandfather had leftbehind in his hurried flight. Having taken all they could carry, thesavages destroyed the rest; and then, setting fire to the village, theyreturned to the bush. Here a fire was made, and a council of war held.

  When the Indian who had captured the Esquimau girl led her forwardtowards the fire, there was a general yell of indignation. Tomahawkswere grasped, and more than one knife was unsheathed. But the chiefcommanded silence.

  "What does White Heart mean to do with the Eater-of-raw-flesh?" heinquired, turning to the young man.

  "He will take her to the hunting-grounds of the Crees."

  "That cannot be," said the chief. "The girl must die, and White Heartmust kill her."

  The young man made no reply.

  "If," continued the chief sarcastically, "White Heart is afraid to seeblood on his knife, another warrior will show him how to do it!"

  As he spoke, a dark-visaged savage drew his scalping-knife, and, withone stride, stood beside the trembling girl, who, during theconsultation of the savages, had stood silently beside her captorlistening intently to the words which she did not comprehend.

  Seizing her by the shoulder, the savage plunged his knife at her bosom;but, ere the keen point reached it, the arm was caught by the youngIndian, and the scowling savage was hurled violently back. With dilatedeye and expanded nostril, the young man, not deigning to bestow a glanceupon his fallen comrade, turned to his chief and said--

  "Did not I take her? The girl is mine. I will carry her to my tent andmake her my _wife_."

  "Be it so," replied the chief abruptly. Then turning to his followers,he gave orders to start immediately.

  In a few minutes all was ready. The chief led the way into the bush.The Esquimau girl and her captor followed; and the whole band, silentlyand in single file, commenced to retrace their steps to the far distanthunting-grounds of the Cree Indians.

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  Note 1. Esquimau name for Indians.