Adrift in the Ice-Fields
Page 15
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CHAPEL BELL.--THE FIRST SEAL.--THE NORTH CAPE.--A SNOW-SQUALL.
The way was rough, and not without its dangers, for more than oncePeter, who led the file, sprang just in time to save himself, as thetreacherous crust above some yawning chasm between two heavy "Pans"crumbled under his feet; and once he fell headlong, clutching at afriendly spur, just in time to escape tumbling among a lot of jagged andflinty shards of young "crushed ice."
The wind was light at times, coming in puffs and squalls; and althoughthe day was bright, a mist here, snowy white, there crimson withsunbeams, again darkening into purplish blue, and elsewhere of a heavyand leaden obscurity, hung over the greater part of the sky, and made ita doubtful task to prognosticate, with any degree of certainty, thestate of the weather for even an hour in advance.
As they proceeded, a strangely solemn, though faint and distant, soundbroke the oppressive silence. The three halted and listened intently.Again, low as the moan of the dying surges on a distant bar, the soundcame thrilling over the icy sea to the southward, and each face flushedwith a new hope of speedy release from their wild prison-house.
"Hark!" said Orloff, raising his hand. "I hear the sound of a churchbell. We must be near the land."
"It must be from the tower of the Tignish Chapel, then," said La Salle,"for no other land save the North Cape lies in our course."
Again a blast came whistling among the defiles, and again a calmsucceeded. All listened in breathless silence, and again the wished-forsound which spoke of the proximity of human society and Christianworship, came pealing across the desolate wastes, deserted of everythinghaving life, and impressing the fancy of the beholder as does thedesolation of long-forgotten cities, or the shattered marbles of theunremembered dead.
"I know that place. That bell Tignish Chapel. Two year ago I camp onTignish Lun. Make basket, catch trout, shoot flover. Go hevery Sunday tomass,--that same place,--take squaw, papoose, boy, girl, all folks. Knowthat bell, sure. To-day Sunday, and folks going into chapel."
"He must be right," said La Salle, "but we are now near the berg, andfrom its top we shall see if we are indeed near the North Cape. Makehaste, Peter; perhaps we may get near enough to-day to make our way tothe shore."
A broad, level floe was all that intervened between the party and theberg which they sought. Running across it; although with some littledifficulty, for the ice was covered with slush concealed by a crustinsufficient to bear the weight of a man, they soon reached the berg. Itwas evidently of Arctic origin, for it was much larger than any of themany "pinnacles" in sight. It was composed of ice, which, wherever thesnow had failed to lodge, appeared hard, transparent, and prismatic inthe rays of the sun. Its sides were steep and precipitous, and at firstthe members of the party began to fear that they should be unable tomount the steep escarpment of eight or ten feet high, which formed itsbase, which was further defended by a moat of mingled sludge and roundedfragments, cemented by young ice.
Had the opposite bank been attainable, any of the party would havereadily leaped across, trusting to their speed to save themselves fromimmersion among the rolling fragments; but no one cared to risk thetreacherous footing beneath that inaccessible wall.
"I'm afraid we shall have to go back to our own lookout, and trust to ashift of the ice," said La Salle. "Can you think of any way of climbingthat pinnacle, Peter?"
"No way do that, unless cut a way into that hice, and then no safeplace to stan' on, sartain, this time," answered the Indian.
"Let me have that rope," said Regnar, quietly.
Taking the light Manilla painter, he proceeded to form a large loop, andgrasping it near the running knot, laid half a dozen turns across hishand. Then swinging the coil around his head, he launched the rope at agroup of jagged points, which projected just above the edge of thelowest part of the cliff. Again and again the noose came back unreeved,and again and again the patient boy, with rare strength and skill, flungthe ample noose over the slippery spires of ice. At last, however,success rewarded his efforts, and a strong pull, with the united weightof all three, failed to start the closely-drawn bowline. Taking the axeand bearing the most of his weight on the cord, Regnar crossed thebending surface and shifting fragments, and finding a precarious footingon the berg, wound the rope around his left arm, and with the right cutsteps into the brittle ice-wall.
In a few moments he ascended the cliff, and the others, leaving theirguns behind them, found little difficulty in following him. Leaving therope still fast, the three ascended the berg, which rose high above thesurrounding ice. Their first look was to the southward. For a moment thedistance and the ever-present snow deceived them; but the sun came frombehind a cloud, and they saw, afar off, the red sandstone face of thesnow-covered cliffs of the North Cape.
"They are now about twelve miles distant, and, as I judge, there can bebut little open water between us and the shore. Let us hasten back andget the boat ready, for if this wind only holds, and no snow or raincomes on, we shall soon be able to reach the shore."
At that moment something fell with a splash into a small, partially openpool, on the farther side of the berg, and all saw a huge form disappearunder the surface. Each started, felt mechanically for his weapons, andin brief monosyllables of Esquimaux, Micmac, and English, ejaculated thename of the animal whose presence none had even suspected.
"_Ussuk!_" whispered Regnar.
"_Nashquan_," murmured Peter.
"A seal," said La Salle.
Orloff slid down the berg, caught the firmly fastened cord, swunghimself over the ice-foot, skipped lightly over the yielding fragments,seized his gun, and returned in almost less time than it takes todescribe his movements. The seal, a huge male, had come to the surfaceamong the floating fragments at the farther side of the pool, some fiftyyards away, and now lay with his round head, protruding eyes, and stiffbristles, strikingly expressing anger, fear, and curiosity--the lastpredominating. Regnar threw his gun to his shoulder.
"What size shot have you?" said La Salle, laying his hand on hisshoulder.
"Two buckshot cartridge,--heavy enough for him. If he were old 'hood'now! Look! I show you something."
The lad took deliberate aim, and then, with the full force of hiscapacious lungs, gave a sharp, shrill whistle, which almost deafened hiscompanions, and was re-echoed from the icy walls on the farther side ofthe pool, in piercing reverberations.
Surprised and affrighted by the unusual sound, the huge ussuk rose halfhis length above the water, and looked around him. The icy cliffs echoedthe crashing volley, as both barrels poured forth their deadly hailalmost in unison, and the huge animal settled down amid incarnadinedwaters and ice crimsoned with his life-blood, shot to death through thebrain so skilfully that scarce a struggle or a tremor bore witness thatthe principle of life had departed.
Descending the berg, a small fragment of ice capable of bearing a manwas found, and Regnar, taking the end of his line, stepped upon it, andwith his gunstock paddled off to the dead seal, and affixing the line toone of its flippers, pulled himself ashore, and joined the others intowing the game to the berg. Landing it on a little shelf, La Salle andPeter began to speculate as to how the huge carcass, which must haveweighed five hundred pounds, could be hauled over the berg, and safelylanded. Regnar laughed at the idea.
"We want not the meat--only the skin, blubber, and liver. Why not skinhere? Save much work for nothin'. Here, Peter, give me knife."
Peter drew the long blade from his belt, and Regnar making a singleincision from chin to tail, the body seemed fairly to roll out of thethick, soft blubber coat which adhered to the skin. In less than twominutes Regnar had finished what La Salle had no doubt would take atleast a good half hour. With equal deftness the liver was extracted, anda few pounds of meat taken from the flanks.
Fastening the whole to the line, it was drawn to the top of the berg,and thence down the slope to the rude stairs. As the weight was nearlyhalf that of a man, Regnar merely placed the bi
ght of the rope aroundthe object on which it had caught. Its shape excited curiosity, and afew strokes of the axe cleared off its covering of ice.
"This ice from Greenland," said Regnar. "Here is the stone the Inuituses for pots--what you call soapstone."
"Well, I hope we shall not need it," said La Salle, "for the North Capeis now only ten miles away, and it is not yet noon. I want the blubberfor fuel, or I would not waste time with this skin even."
"We shall have all we want to get back to George. See how the cloudsclose in. Plenty snow right away now. Come, Peter, get across quick."
La Salle groaned in spirit, as, from the berg which he had reascended,he saw the distant red ledges shut out from view, and marked the firstscattering flakes fall silently through the now calm atmosphere. Lookingdown, he saw that Peter and Regnar had got safely across the chasm, andalmost despairing of the fate of his party, he followed down the rudesteps, and across the treacherous bridge.
Letting the line slacken a little, Regnar gave a deft whirl, which castoff the bight from the rock, and the party, dragging behind them theirprize, retraced their path amid what soon became a blinding snow-squall.Luckily their track had been through deep snow, and therefore not easilycovered up; for when they reached their own island of refuge, they couldsee scarce a rod in any direction.
Regnar dragged his prize to the little enclosure, and, pointing to thesnow-flake, said,--
"Soon they grow larger, softer, then turn to rain. Then this skin andour boat must cover us, for the snow-water will spoil our house."
At that moment a flaw from the westward bore on its wings a repetitionof the sounds they had heard in the morning, but nearer and moredistinct than before. Heavily, measured, and mournfully, came the tonesof the great bell, as the storm-vapors shut down closer, and the westwind blew fiercer across the icebound sea.
"They toll for the dead," said Regnar.