Ungava

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

  SILENT CONVERSATION--RAW FOOD--FEMALE TAILS--A TERRIBLE BATTLETERMINATED BY THE INTERPOSITION OF A GIANT.

  Of all the people at Fort Chimo no one was more interested in theEsquimaux than little Edith. She not only went fearlessly among them,and bestowed upon them every trinket she possessed, but, in herchildlike desire for the companionship and sympathy of human beings ofher own age and sex, she took forcible possession of two little girlswho happened to be cleaner, and, therefore, prettier than the others,and led them away to her own ravine, where she introduced them to herfavourite berries and to her dog Chimo. At first the dog did not seemto relish the intrusion of these new favourites, but seeing that theydid not induce his mistress to caress him less than before, heconsiderately tolerated them. Besides, the Esquimaux had brought theirdogs along with them; and Chimo, being of an amicable disposition, hadentered into social fellowship with his own kind. We have said thatChimo was sagacious, and it is quite possible he may have felt thepropriety of granting to Edith that liberty which he undoubtedly claimedfor himself.

  But Edith's intercourse with her little Esquimau _protegees_ wasnecessarily confined to looks--the language of the eye making up for theabsence of that of the tongue. There were many things, however, inwhich language was not required as a medium of communication between thechildren. When the berries were good, the brightening eyes and smackinglips spoke a language common to all the human race. So, also, when theberries were sour or bitter, the expression of their faces waspeculiarly emphatic. The joyous shout, too, as they discovered a newscene that pleased their eyes, while they roved hand in hand through theravines, or the shrinking glance of fear as they found themselvesunexpectedly on the edge of a precipice, was sufficiently intelligibleto the trio. The little friends presented a striking and grotesquecontrast. It would have been difficult to say whether the littleEsquimaux were boys or girls. If anything, the costume seemed more toindicate the former than the latter. Like their mothers, they woreloose deerskin shirts with the hair on the outside, which gave them around, soft, burly appearance--an appearance which was increased bytheir little boots, which were outrageously wide, and quite as long astheir legs. The frocks or shirts had hoods and tails, which latter,according to fashion, were so long that they trailed on the ground. Theinconvenience of the tail is so great that the women, while travellingon a journey, get rid of it by drawing it between their legs, and,lifting up the end, fastening it in front to a button sewed to theirfrock for the purpose. In travelling, therefore, Esquimau women seem tobe destitute of this appendage; but, on arriving at camp, they undo thefastening, and walk about with flowing tails behind them!

  Edith's costume consisted of a short frock made of dark blue cloth, anda head-dress peculiar to the Indian women among the Crees. It waspreferred by the little wearer to all other styles of bonnet, on accountof the ease with which it could be thrown off and on. She also woreornamented leggings and moccasins. Altogether, with her gracefulfigure, flaxen curls, and picturesque costume, she presented a strongcontrast to the fat, dark, hairy little creatures who followed her bybrook and bush and precipice the livelong day.

  One morning, about two weeks after the arrival of the Esquimaux, Edithwent down to the camp after breakfast, and found her two companionsengaged in concluding their morning meal. The elder, whose name wasArnalooa, was peering with earnest scrutiny into the depths of amarrowbone, from which she had already extracted a large proportion ofthe raw material. The younger, Okatook, seized a lump of raw seal'sflesh, as Edith entered their hut, and, cutting therefrom a savourymorsel, put it into her mouth as she rose to welcome her visitor.

  "Oh! how _can_ you?" said Edith, with a look of disgust at this ravenousconduct on the part of her friend. But Edith had said, "Oh! how _can_you?" and "Oh! shocking!" and "Oh! why don't you give up eating it raw?"and "Oh! why _won't_ you have it cooked?" nearly every day for the lasttwo weeks, without producing any other effect than a gleeful laugh fromthe little Esquimaux; for, although they did not comprehend her words,they clearly understood her looks of disapproval. But although theywould not give up the habit of eating raw flesh, which they had beenaccustomed to from their infancy, they were prevailed on so far to breakthrough the habits of their people as to wash their hands and facesbefore going out to play. This they did because Edith positivelyrefused to go with them unless they did so.

  Lifting up the end of her tail and wiping her mouth therewith, Arnalooasmiled at Edith's look of reproach, and ran laughing towards the shore,where she and Okatook washed their hands, after which they followedEdith and Chimo to their favourite ravine. Although she knew that theydid not understand a word of what she said, Edith invariably kept up arunning fire of small talk, in reference chiefly to the objects ofnature by which they were surrounded. To this the little hairycreatures listened intently with smiling faces, and sometimes theylaughed prodigiously, as though they understood what was said, so thattheir companion felt as if she were really conversing with them,although she was sadly perplexed at the utter impossibility of obtainingan intelligible reply to a question when she chanced to put one.

  "Oh, what a lovely glen!" cried Edith, her eyes beaming with delight,as, on turning the point of a projecting crag, she and her companionsfound themselves in a spot which they had not before seen during theirrambles. It was a wild, savage gorge, full of fallen rocks, hemmed inwith high cliffs, fringed here and there with willows and mosses, amongwhich were a few brilliant wild-flowers. The lights and shadows of thespot were thrown into powerful contrast by a gleam of sunshine whichflashed down among the rugged masses, lighting up peaks and sharp edgesin some spots, while in others they were thrown into the profoundestgloom.

  "Oh! is it not a delightful place?" cried Edith, as she bounded up therugged path, followed by Chimo, while the two Esquimau girls buttoned uptheir tails, and followed her as fast as their more cumbrous habilimentswould permit.

  For a quarter of an hour the party toiled up the steep ascent, pausingnow and then to pluck a flower, or to look back on the wild path bywhich they had come, until they reached a ridge of rock, beyond whichlay a small lake or pool. So dark and still did it lie within theshadow of the overhanging cliffs that it resembled a pool of ink. Herethe adventurous explorers sat down to recover breath, and to gaze inchildish delight, not unmixed with awe, at the wild scene around them.

  The peculiar wildness of the spot seemed to exercise an unusualinfluence over the dog; for, instead of lying down, as it was wont todo, at the feet of its young mistress, it moved about uneasily, and onceor twice uttered a low growl.

  "Come here, Chimo," said Edith, when these symptoms of restlessness hadattracted her attention; "what is the matter with you, my dear dog?Surely you are not frightened at the appearance of this wild place!Speak, dog; see, Arnalooa is laughing at you."

  Edith might have said with more propriety that Arnalooa was laughing atherself, for the little Esquimau was much amused at the serious mannerin which her Kublunat friend spoke to her dog. But Chimo refused to becomforted. He raised his snout, snuffed the air once or twice, andthen, descending the gorge a short distance, put his nose close to theground and trotted away.

  "That is very odd of Chimo," said Edith, looking into Arnalooa's facewith an expression of perplexity.

  As she spoke Okatook pointed, with an eager glance, up the ravine.Turning her eyes hastily in the direction indicated, Edith beheld a deerbounding towards them. It was closely followed by a savage wolf. Thedeer seemed to be in the last stage of exhaustion. Its flanks were wetwith moisture, its eyes starting from their sockets, and its breathissued forth in deep sobs, as it bounded onwards, seemingly more by theforce of its impetus than by any voluntary exertion. More intent on thedanger behind than on that which lay before it, the deer made straightfor the pass in which the three girls stood, and scarcely had they timeto spring to the sides of the cliff, when it swept by like an arrow.Instantly after, and ere it had taken two bounds past them,
the wolfsprang forward; caught it by the throat, and dragged it to the ground,where in a few seconds it worried the noble animal to death. It isprobable that the chase now terminated had begun at early dawn that day,for deer being fleeter than wolves they prolong the chase until overcomeby the superior strength and dogged perseverance of their ravenousenemies. Over mountain and hill they had bounded along together,through glen and gorge, across river and lake, bursting headlong throughbush and brake, or under the shadow of frowning cliffs, and toiling, ata foot pace and with panting sides, up the steep hills, in the fierceblaze of the sun, the one impelled by hunger, the other by fear, untilat length the scene closed in the wild pass, almost at the feet of thethree children.

  But retribution was in store for the savage destroyer. Ere yet thelife's blood had teased to flow from the throat of the dying deer, andwhile the wolf's fangs were still dripping with its gore, a fierce bark,followed by a terrific growl, rang among the cliffs, and Chimo, with hisears laid back and his formidable row of teeth exposed, rushed up thegorge and seized the wolf by the neck! Thus assailed, the wolf returnedthe bite with interest, and immediately a fight of the most energeticcharacter ensued.

  The wolf was much larger and more powerful than Chimo, but was greatlyexhausted by its long chase, while the dog was fresh and vigorous. Onceor twice Chimo tossed his huge adversary by main strength, but as oftenhe was overturned and dreadfully shaken, while the long fangs of thewolf met in his neck, and mingled the blood of the deer, whichbespattered his black muzzle, with the life's blood that began to flowcopiously from Chimo's veins. At this moment a shout was heard fartherup the ravine. The three girls turned hastily, and saw, on a point ofrock which projected from the mountain side and overhung the dark pool,the figure of a man, of such immense proportions that they instinctivelyshrank back with terror. The position in which he stood made him appearlarger than he really was. The scattered gleams and slant rays ofsunshine that played around the spot invested him as with a supernaturalhalo, while a bright glow of light on the cliff behind detached himprominently from the surrounding shadows. He poised a spear in hisright hand, and, while Edith gazed at him in terror, the weapon flewwhistling through the air and was buried in the side of the wolf. Butso close did the spear pass, that Edith involuntarily stepped back asshe heard it whiz. In doing so she lost her balance and fell over thecliff. Fortunately, Arnalooa caught her by the dress and partiallybroke her fall, but the descent was sufficiently steep and rugged torender the child insensible.

  When Edith recovered consciousness, her first emotion was that ofterror, on beholding a large, dark-bearded face bending over her; but asecond glance showed her that the eyes of the stranger gazed upon herwith a look of tenderness, and that Arnalooa and Okatook were kneelingbeside her with an expression of anxiety. Had anything further beenwanting to allay her fears, the sight of Chimo would have done it. Itis true the sturdy dog panted heavily, and occasionally licked hiswounds, as he sat on his haunches at her feet; but he was wonderfullycalm and collected after his recent mortal conflict, and regarded hisyoung mistress from time to time with an air of patronising assurance.

  As Edith opened her eyes, the stranger muttered some unintelligiblewords, and, rising hastily, went to a neighbouring spring, at which hefilled a rude cup with water. In doing this, he revealed the hugeproportions of the gigantic Esquimau whom we introduced to our reader ina former chapter. He was dressed in the same manner as when we firstsaw him, but his face was somewhat altered, and his black eyebrows weremarked by that peculiar curve which is expressive of deep melancholy.Returning quickly from the spring, he kneeled beside the little girl,and, raising her head on his broad hand, held the goblet to her lips.

  "Thank you," said Edith faintly, as she swallowed a few drops; "I thinkI had better go home. Is Chimo safe? Chimo!" She started up as therecollection of the fight with the wolf flashed upon her; but the fallhad stunned her rather severely, and scarcely had she risen to her feetwhen she staggered and fell back into the arms of the Esquimau.

  Seeing that she was quite unable to walk, he raised her in his powerfularm as if she had been a young lamb. Catching the dead wolf by the neckas he passed, and springing from rock to rock with catlike agility, hebore his burden down the ravine, and strode towards the fort under theguidance of Okatook and Arnalooa.