CHAPTER XIII.
HUNTING.
At the end of a fortnight one of the Ostjaks started with the largesledge for the huts, taking with him all the skins that had beencollected. These had mounted up to a considerable number, the Ostjaksconsidering their luck to have been extraordinary, and putting it downin a great degree to their white companion, for whom they began to havean almost superstitious respect, since the way he had supplied theirvillage with food for the winter seemed to them almost miraculous. Thereindeer with the light sledge would accomplish the return journey intwo days with ease, although the distance had taken them five days ontheir way out. It was to return with a fresh supply of provisions,especially for the dogs. The night after the sledge had left, the dogsbarked fiercely for some time. They slept in the tent. Some of theOstjaks made pillows of them, others allowed them to lie upon them, andthey helped to keep the tent warm; the din when they began barking wasprodigious.
"What is it all about?" Godfrey shouted in Luka's ear.
"I think it must be a bear," Luka shouted back.
"Why don't they let the dogs out?"
"They would drive the bears away, and it is too dark to see to shootthem. In the morning they will follow their track."
The dogs presently ceased barking and with low growls lay down again. Assoon as it was light the Ostjaks turned out and found great footmarksround the tent. Before starting from the huts Godfrey had exchanged theheads of their fishing-spears for the iron spear-heads they hadpurchased. Loading his gun with ball, Godfrey with Luka and four of theOstjaks started in pursuit, taking six of the dogs, and a sledge, withthem. On his long runners he would soon have left the Ostjaks behind;but Luka translated their warning that they must all keep together, foras there were two bears it would be dangerous to attack them in lessernumbers.
In about an hour they arrived at a dense thicket, and it was evidentthat this was the lair of the bears until they took up their permanentwinter quarters in a hollow tree. The dogs were urged to attack them,but could not be persuaded to enter far, confining themselves to barkingfiercely. "How are we going to get at them?" Godfrey asked.
The Ostjaks consulted together, and then they collected some dry pineneedles and twigs, and two of them went to the windward side of thethicket and made a fire, upon which, as soon as it was fairly alight,they threw some dead leaves mixed with snow.
"If they were to light the bushes themselves, it would drive them outquicker than that smoke," Godfrey said.
"Not good, not good," Luka said earnestly. "Once catch fire, big flamerun through forest, burn miles and miles."
"I did not think of that," Godfrey said. "That would be a foolishtrick."
However, the smoke had the desired effect, and in a minute or two, twobears burst out on the other side, growling angrily. The dogs rushed atthem, barking loudly but taking care to keep at a safe distance fromtheir paws. The bears both raised themselves on their haunches. TheOstjak bows twanged and Godfrey fired. One of the bears rolled over, theother charged at his assailants. Godfrey fired his second barrel, thendropping his gun and grasping his spear, stood ready to meet the charge.But the bear did not reach him, for as it rose on its hind-legs theOstjaks and Luka again shot their arrows, and the bear rolled over dead.The two animals were placed on the sledge, the reindeer harnessed, and,the Ostjaks taking ropes to aid it with its heavy burden, they returnedto the tent.
They had scarcely reached it when one of the other hunters returned withnews that they had come upon the track of an elk. The bears were at oncedragged into the tent, the entrance securely fastened to prevent apassing wolf or ounce from tearing them; then, taking with them thistime all the dogs and the three sledges, they started, and in half anhour came to where the chief and his remaining followers were awaitingthem.
"They came along here yesterday afternoon," the chief said to Luka."There is one big stag, and one young one, and three females."
After three hours' walking they came to a spot where the snow was muchtrampled, and there were marks of animals having lain down.
"That is where they slept," the chief said. "They are travelling south,but they will probably stop to feed before they have gone far; we maycatch them then." He ordered one of the men to stop with the sledges,and the rest proceeded onwards.
GODFREY BRINGS DOWN AN ELK.]
Not a word was spoken now, and as they went they took the greatest painsnot to brush against any branch or twig.
The Ostjaks were now walking their fastest, and Godfrey had to exerthimself to keep up with them. Their footfall was so light as to bescarce audible. After two hours' travelling they saw an opening amongthe trees, and here some young pines were growing thickly. The chiefpointed significantly towards them, and Godfrey understood that theanimals would probably be feeding there. They now went slowly, and thechief whispered orders that they were to make a circle round the openingand close round on the other side as noiselessly as possible. He himselfwould enter the thicket from the side on which he now was. The cracklingof the pine twigs would drive them out on the other side. Very quietlythey worked round and took up their stations, each standing behind afir-tree, and then waited.
They could hear the stamping of heavy hoofs and the occasional breakingof twigs. Presently there was a louder and more continuous sound ofbreaking bushes, and then with a sudden rush a great elk, followed byfour others, burst out of the thicket. As they came along the Ostjaksstepped out from their hiding-places and let fly their deadly arrows.The leading elk came close to the tree behind which Godfrey wasstanding, and as it passed he fired both barrels, hitting it just behindthe shoulder. The elk ran a few paces and then fell. Three out of theother four had been brought down by the Ostjak arrows; the young maleescaped. The satisfaction of the Ostjaks was great; for here, inaddition to the value of the skins, was food for themselves and the dogsfor some time to come.
A man was at once sent back for the sledges. While waiting for these therest set out on various tracks of ermine they had passed on the way, andthree of these and a marten were killed before the sledges came up. Thebig elk was placed on one sledge, one of the females on each of theothers. The fourth was skinned, cut up, and divided among the threesledges. Lightly as the sledges ran over the snow the men were allobliged to harness themselves to ropes to assist the deer, and it waslate in the evening before they arrived at the hut. The fire was lightedat once. Godfrey undertook the cooking, while the rest skinned the bearsand elk, cut them up, and hung up the carcasses on boughs beyond thereach of the dogs. These had a grand feast off the offal while the menwere regaling themselves with fresh elk steaks.
For two months the hunting was continued with much success, then theOstjaks said they would return home. Godfrey, however, was anxious tocontinue hunting; he had a small tent that had been made for him andLuka, and the Ostjak leader offered to leave one of the sledges with sixdogs that had been trained to draught work. As soon as the Ostjaks hadstarted on their return journey the tent, a store of provisions andfurs, were packed in the sledge, and a fresh start made, as they hadbeen in their present position for over a week. As they went along twoof the poles were arranged so that they made a deep groove in the snow,by which they could find their way back to the starting-point. Two days'journey took them into a hilly country. They established themselves in asheltered valley, and made that the centre from which they hunted.
They were now twelve days' journey from the Yenesei and well beyond therange of ordinary hunting parties. They had soon reason to congratulatethemselves on entering the more mountainous country, for here the gamewas much more abundant than it had been before. The dogs had by thistime become attached to them, for Godfrey was fond of animals, and hadpetted them in a manner to which they were quite unaccustomed from theirOstjak masters. One of them especially, a young dog, had taken regularlyto accompany Godfrey when hunting, and he found the animal of thegreatest utility, as it was able to follow the back track withundeviating certainty. This was of importance, for there was but
a shorttwilight each twenty-four hours, the sun being below the horizon exceptfor an hour or two at noon, and they were obliged to carry torches whilefollowing the tracks of the smaller animals.
Ermines were found in considerable numbers, and in the first week fourfine sables were killed, as well as two martens and a bear; the latterwas specially prized. They had brought a fortnight's provisions forthemselves and the dogs, but they were anxious to eke these stores outas long as possible, as they could no longer depend upon getting freshsupplies from home. The bodies of the ermines were but a mouthful forone of the dogs, while the sables and martens gave them a mouthful allround. The bear, however, contained a large quantity of excellent food,and setting aside the hams for their own consumption they hung up therest of the meat on a tree to serve out gradually among the dogs. Theysoon found, however, that they need be under no anxiety as to food, asfoxes abounded, principally red, though two of the valuable black foxesfell to Godfrey's gun. They found many paths in the woods completelytrodden down by animals. Here they used the Ostjak method of catchingthem: putting up a screen of branches across the track. Looking at theseobjects with suspicion, the animals invariably refused to try either tojump over or crawl through them, but went round at one end or the other.Here accordingly traps were fixed and many animals were taken.
Intense as the cold was Godfrey felt it even less than he hadanticipated. The wide-spreading woods broke the force of the winds, andwhile they could sometimes see the tops of the trees swaying beneath itsforce they scarcely felt a breath below. Luka knew nothing of theEsquimaux fashion of making snow-huts, and said he had never heard of itamong the Ostjaks or Samoyedes. At each of the halts, however, Godfreypiled the snow high over the low tent of reindeer-skin which he had gotthe women to make for him according to his own plan. It resembled a tent_d'abri_, or shelter tent, seven feet long and as much wide, waspermanently closed at one end, and had flaps crossing each other at theentrance. Instead of depending entirely upon the two uprights and theridge-pole between them, Godfrey when erecting it put eight or ten poleson each side, stretching from the ridge out to the side of the tent, soas to support the skin under the snow they piled over it.
The bottom was covered with a thick mat of furs, the sides were linedwith them, and others were hung across the entrance, so that the coldwas effectually kept out. A large fire was kept burning in front of thetent, and from this, from time to time, red embers were taken out andplaced in a cooking-pot inside. At night two or three lamps, fed by oilmelted down from the fat of the animals they killed, were kept alight,and in this way lying snugly in their sleeping-bags they felt perfectlywarm and comfortable, although the temperature outside was from forty tofifty degrees below zero. The dogs slept outside, with the exception ofthe one of which Godfrey had made a special pet, it being allowed toshare the tent with them. A high bank of snow was erected on each sideof the entrance to the tent. This served further to break the force ofthe wind and to retain and reflect back the heat of the fire. The dogstherefore, being provided with a good supply of meat from the proceedsof the chase, did very well.
One afternoon the sky was very thick and overcast, and Luka said hethought that they were going to have snow.
"In that case, Luka," Godfrey said, "we will set to work to make thingscomfortable. If there is a heavy fall we might be almost buried here.Ordinarily it is sheltered, but if there is a wind, and I can see thatit is blowing now, it might drift very deep in this hollow, and we mightfind ourselves completely snowed up. I think the tent is strong enoughto stand any pressure, but it does not contain much air. We will cutdown some strong poles and lay them side by side across the snow wallsin front of the tent. The smoke will find its way out through them, andif a deep snow comes on it will save the dogs from being snowed up;besides, it will give us a lot of additional air, which we may want. Twoor three hours will do it. The time won't be thrown away anyhow, for thebranches we cut off and the poles themselves will do for firewood."
The snow-flakes began to fall just as they finished the work--the resultbeing a sort of flat-roofed shelter with snow walls ten feet long andsix feet high, in front of the tent. A large quantity of firewood waspiled up at the entrance to the shelter.
"That is a capital idea, Luka," Godfrey said as they retired into thetent. "We can sit with the entrance of the tent open now if we like andget the benefit of the fire outside, for the air having to pass close byit on its way to us gets comparatively warm."
When they went out to build up the fire for the last time before lyingdown, snow was falling steadily, and was already deep in front of theentrance to the shelter. The dogs had been well fed and lay thicklyclustered round the fire, evidently greatly contented with the unusualluxury of a roof over them. Godfrey crawled into the tent again, closedthe flaps, hung up a skin before them, and getting into hissleeping-bag lay there comfortably smoking his pipe and talking to Luka.
"We are as snug here as if we were in a palace, Luka; but I should notlike to be caught out in the woods to-night. Have you ever heard of anyof the Ostjaks or Samoyedes being frozen to death?"
"Couldn't be frozen if they had a hatchet and matches with them," hereplied. "Can always chop down branches and make a hut and a fire in themiddle to keep it warm. Then snow comes and covers it up and keeps outthe wind. Out on the plains a man might get frozen if stupid, but heought never to be if he knew what to do. He should look for a hollowwhere the snow had drifted deep, then make a hole in the side of thedrift and crawl in. He ought to be quite warm there if furs are good.But they do not often get lost; they never go very far from huts whensnow in the sky. Directly it comes on they would make for home. Canalways get along in snow-shoes."
"The Isvostchiks are often frozen in St. Petersburg in their sledges atnight," Godfrey said.
"They can't build huts in a town," Luka remarked; "they can't find snowdeep enough to get into; town not good in winter."
"Are there many wolves here, Luka? Do they often attack people?"
"No, there is plenty of game in the woods. In Russia the game now, so Ihear, is scarce, so the wolves must take to eating men; but here thereis plenty of game, and so they do not often attack people. I have heardof hunters going out and never coming back again. Then people say wolveseat them, but not often so. May be killed by elk, or hurt by a fallingtree, or climb hills and fall down. I do not think it is often thewolves. Wolves great cowards."
"I am glad to hear it, Luka: I have heard them howl sometimes at nightand wondered whether they would come this way."
"Not come here," Luka said decidedly, "we keep plenty of big fire. Allbeasts afraid of fire. Then we have got dogs and guns. Much easier forwolves to attack elk; but even that they seldom do unless it is woundedor has injured itself."
"Well, I think I will go off to sleep; my pipe is out and the hot teahas made me sleepy."
After sleeping for some hours, Godfrey awoke with a strange feeling ofoppression. Outside he could hear the dogs whimpering.
"Wake up, Luka," he said, "it is very close in here. I fancy the snowmust have drifted very deep and covered us up completely. Let us get upand see about it."
It was quite dark outside, except that the embers of the fire threw adull red light on the snow. The shelter seemed but half its formerdimensions. The snow had drifted in at its entrance and lay in a bankpiled up to the roof.
"Bring your spear, Luka, and mine, and shove them up between thesepoles. We must make a few holes up through the snow if we can to let alittle air in."
The spears were pushed up and then worked a little to and fro to try toenlarge the hole. They were eight feet long, but Godfrey did not feel atall sure that they penetrated through the cover of snow. However, whenthey had made a dozen of these holes there was a distinct change in theair.
"They have gone nearly through, if not quite, and anyhow they are nearenough to the surface for the air to find its way out. Now we had betterset to work at once to dig a passage out. That is one advantage of thisshelter, there is a place
to throw the snow back into."
Going down on their hands and knees they soon scraped the snow awayuntil they reached the entrance to the shelter. Here the snow weightedby the pressure above was much denser and harder, and they could cut outblocks with their hatchets.
"Now," Godfrey said, "we must make a tunnel sloping upwards. It must beas steep as it can so that we are able to climb up, making steps to giveus foothold. I will begin, for we only just want it wide enough for one.I will hand the blocks down to you as I cut them, and you pile themregularly along the sides here. As we fill the shelter up you must drivethe dogs back into the tent. We shall want every inch of room for thesnow before we get out."
For hours they worked steadily, taking it by turns to cut and to pile.The last four feet were much more difficult than the first, the snow,being lighter and less packed, falling in upon them as they dug. OnceLuka was completely buried, and Godfrey had to haul him back by thelegs. The atmosphere inside, however, improved as they got upwards,being able to penetrate between the particles of the light snow. It wassix hours before they both struggled out, followed by the dogs in animpetuous rush. It took them another couple of hours to clear away andbeat down the snow sufficiently to make an easy entrance to the shelter.A fire was lighted outside and a meal cooked, for the lamps were quitesufficient to keep the tent sufficiently warm, and they would have beenwell-nigh stifled with smoke had they attempted to light the fire in theshelter. The snow was still falling and drifting, and the sky showed nosigns of change.
"The entrance will fill up again by to-morrow," Luka said, "and we shallhave more trouble than ever to get out."
"We must provide against that, Luka; we must build a sort of roof overthe entrance here, and then we shall only have to start from this pointagain. Let us set to work and chop down some poles at once."
After three hours' more work a cover was built over the entrance, androofed with pine branches so as to prevent the snow from drifting in.
"Now, Luka, there is one more job, and unfortunately a long one, but wemust do that. We must get the snow that we have packed in the shelterbelow out of the way, for if by any chance this passage fell through, weshould have nowhere to pile the snow; besides, we may have anotherpassage as deep as the present one to dig to-morrow, for the snow isdrifting down in clouds. It has deepened a couple of feet since we beganto make the roof over the entrance."
Luka, who was always ready to work, set to cheerfully, but the shorttwilight had faded into deep darkness before the work was completed.
"If we had had a couple of good shovels with us, Luka, we should havemade short work of this," Godfrey said as they retired below into theirtent. "We could do as much work in an hour as one can in five with thesetools. It is heart-breaking to shovel out snow with a hatchet. I am astired as a dog. This is harder work than the gold-mines at Kara by along way."
"Yes," Luka said, "but there is no man with a gun."
"No, that makes a difference, Luka, this is free work and the otherisn't; not that one can call it exactly free when we have no choice butto do it."
For another four days the snow continued to fall; but as the wind haddropped, and the snow no longer drifted, their work each morning wascomparatively easy.
"I wish it would stop," Godfrey said, "for we begin to want food for thedogs; our stock of dried fish has been exhausted since we were shut up.There is half a deer hanging to a branch of that tree close to the tent,but it is eight or ten feet below the snow, and as we can't calculatethe exact position now it would be a big job to try to get at it." Therewas, however, no change in the aspect of the weather on the followingmorning, and Luka announced that beyond the tea and a handful or two offlour there was nothing whatever for breakfast, while the dogs hadfasted on the previous day.
"Well, Luka, there is nothing to do but to try and get at that venison.I have been thinking that it will be easiest to try from below; it ismuch quicker work chopping out the solid snow than it is trying to makea hole in that loose stuff at the surface. The tree was just about in aline with the front of the tent, wasn't it? and we hung the deer on abranch that stretched out nearly as far as the tent. I should say wehung it about half-way along that branch and not above twelve feet fromthe tent."
Luka agreed as to the position.
"Very well, then, as we know exactly the direction, and as the distanceis but twelve feet, it ought not to take us very long to chop out apassage just big enough and high enough for one to crawl through. Whenwe get near the place where we think it is, we must make the tunnel agood bit higher, for the bottom of the meat was quite five feet from theground so that it should be well out of reach of the dogs. Now, will yougo first or shall I?"
"I will begin," Luka said. "We must make the passage wide enough to pushthe snow past us as we get it down."
"Certainly we must, Luka. Make it pretty wide at the bottom, and makethe top arched so as to stand the pressure from above."
It was easy enough work at first, but became more difficult every footthey advanced, as the one behind had to crawl backward each time withthe snow that the one at work passed back to him. At last the tunnel wasdriven twelve feet long, and the last four feet it had been given anupward direction, by which means less snow had to be removed than wouldhave been the case had the bottom remained level with the ground and theheight been increased.
"We are a good twelve feet in now, Luka, and certainly high enough.Which way do you think we had better try?"
Luka replied by calling one of the dogs and taking it with him to theend of the tunnel. The animal at once began to snuff about eagerly, andthen to scratch violently to the right.
"That will do," Luka said, pushing it back past him and taking itsplace. He had driven but a foot in the direction in which the dog wasscratching when the hatchet struck something hard. It required some careto dig round the meat and make a hole large enough for Luka to stand upbeside it and cut the cord by which it hung. The dogs yelped with joywhen he dragged it back to the other end of the passage. The fire wasmade now in the passage under the roof they had made at the end of thefirst day's work, for outside the snow fell so fast that it damped thefire greatly, and as the smoke made its way out through the entrance itwas no inconvenience to them below. A good-sized piece of raw meat waschopped off and given to each of the dogs. The ramrod was thrust throughanother large piece and held by Luka over the fire, and then Godfreycarried the rest of the joint outside and placed it in the fork of atree.
"It smells good, Luka," he said as he returned to the fire; "I wish itwould attract a bear."
Luka shook his head. "Bears are asleep, Godfrey; they are hunted insummer, and sometimes they may be found in the early part of the winter,but never when the snow is deep; they would die of hunger. There mightbe wolves, but we don't want them. Wolf skins fetch very little, andtheir flesh is only good for the dogs; we don't want wolves, but we mustbe on our guard. In such weather as this food is very scarce. Theymight come and attack us. Yesterday I heard howls once or twice. I thinkwhen we have done breakfast it will be better to take that meat downbelow."
"Why, they wouldn't smell it as much as this cooked meat, Luka."
"No, I was not thinking of that, but if they come we may want it."
"You mean they might besiege us, Luka?"
"Yes, shut us up here. Wolves very patient; wait a long time when theyscent food."
"Well, we will have the dogs sleep up here for the future. They will actas sentries, and there is none too much air down there. That reminds me,I will cut a long pole or two, fasten them together, and try and drivethem down through the snow to the roof of the shelter below."
Luka shook his head. "You might drive it down five or six feet, but youwould never get it down to the roof, and if you did you could never pullit up again."
"I don't know, Luka. I once saw them driving down some bars in toughclay when they were making a railway cutting at home. I think we mightdo it in the same way."
Godfrey after breakfast cut a pole,
chopping it off just below where twoor three small branches had shot from it, leaving a bulge. This bulge heshaped and smoothed very carefully with his knife, so that it was in theform of a peg-top.
"There," he said. "You see it is thicker here than it is anywhere else,so that the hole it makes will be a little larger than the pole itself,and instead of the snow holding the pole all the way down it will touchit only on this shoulder."
This succeeded admirably. It was six feet long. They had cleared awaythe loose snow to a depth of eighteen inches, and both holding it wereable to force the pole down as much more; then they hammered it with abillet of wood until only a foot showed; then they spliced another toit, and working it up and down jumped it in until they could again usethe mallet, and at last struck on something solid, which could only beone of the beams forming the roof of the hut. Godfrey went below, andsoon discovered the spot where the pole came down, and with his knifemanaged to clear away the snow round it. Then he went up and assistedLuka to withdraw the pole, which left a hole of about three inches indiameter.
"That is a capital chimney," he said. "Now we will throw a few firbranches over it, to prevent the dogs treading here and shutting it up.I think the air looks rather lighter, Luka, and that the storm is nearlyover. There is a howl again. I am afraid that we are going to havetrouble with the wolves. Is there anything we can do?"
Luka shook his head. "We might get up into trees," he said. "We shouldbe safe there, but then we should lose the dogs."
"That would never do, Luka; we should have to haul the sledge back ahundred and fifty miles. No, I'll tell you what we will do: we will cutdown some young trees and block up our tunnel with beams, leaving threeor four inches between each to fire through or use our spears."
"That is a very good plan," Luka said. "We should be quite safe then."
It took them some hours' work to carry out the idea. The middle of thetunnel was closed by a row of pointed stakes, some four inches indiameter, driven deep into the snow and reaching up to the roof of theshelter. An opening of a foot wide was left in the middle, another stakebeing placed beside it in readiness to fill it up if required. Theoperation was completed by the light of the fire, as it was pitch darkby the time it was done. Then another meal was cooked and eaten, and thebrands carried below, where, at the bottom of the descent, the fire wasnow kindled. The dogs had for some time been growling angrily in theupper passage, and the fire was no sooner alight below than they brokeinto a chorus of fierce barking.
"We had better bring them down here, Luka, and fill up the opening. Ithink the wolves must be gathering in numbers."
Going up again they sent the dogs down, firmly lashed two cross-bars tothe others, and to these lashed the pole they had left in readiness,thus completing the grating across the tunnel. As they worked the smokefrom the fire below curled up round them. A few months before Godfreywould have found it almost insupportable, but by this time he had, likethe natives, become so accustomed to it that it affected him verylittle. Still he said to Luka: "You had better break off the hot ends ofthe sticks so as to have a red fire only for the present, the smokemakes my eyes water so that I can scarcely see. Now the sooner thosefellows come to get their first lesson the better."
Kneeling by the grating, with his gun in his hand and his spear besidehim, Godfrey gazed out, and could presently distinguish the outline of anumber of moving figures.
"I can see their eyes at the entrance," he said. "Shall I give them ashot, or will you send an arrow into them?"
"You fire," Luka replied. "Bow makes no noise, gun will frighten them;besides, I have only twenty arrows and they would get broken. Betterkeep them till there is need."
Godfrey levelled his gun, which was charged with buck-shot, and firedboth barrels. Terrific yells and howls followed, and the opening wasclear in a moment, though Godfrey could see two or three dark figures onthe snow. There was a sound of whimpering and snarling, and then of afierce fight outside.
THE SLAUGHTERED WOLVES.]
"They are killing and eating the wounded," Luka said; "when they havedone that they will come again. Let them get close up next time."
In a few minutes the entrance to the tunnel was darkened again, and thencleared. The dead wolves had been pulled away. Another quarter of anhour and the animals reappeared. As all was silent they graduallyapproached. Godfrey could hear their panting, and presently heard anoise against the bars. A moment later there was a rush and an outburstof snarling growls, then he and Luka drove their spears again and againbetween the bars, yells of pain following each stroke. The animals infront were unable to retreat, and the others behind crowded in uponthem, maddened with the smell of blood, and all trying to get first attheir prey. They quarrelled and fought among themselves, while theircries and growls were answered by the furious barking of the dogs in theshelter below.
In two or three minutes Godfrey, who had reloaded his gun, fired bothbarrels into the mass, and at the flash and sound the wolves again fled.This time they did not venture to re-enter the passage. Occasionally oneshowed itself, and was instantly shot by Godfrey or Luka, who took turnson watch throughout the night. As soon as the dim light broke theyremoved the bar and issued out with the dogs. A dozen wolves lay deadoutside the bars, seven were scattered round the entrance. Godfrey shottwo more who were lurking under the trees, while Luka sent an arrowthrough another.
"There are plenty of them about still," Godfrey said. "Let us get threeor four of the dead ones upon a branch out of their reach as food forthe dogs, drag the rest away from the entrance to the tunnel, and bringthe others up from below. That will give them, with the three we haveshot now, enough for a big meal. Then I should think they would moveoff."
This was accordingly done, and they went below and cooked breakfast,while the dogs feasted on a dead wolf. Then they lay down for threehours' sleep. When they went up again the dead wolves had disappeared,only a few bones and the blood-marked snow showing where they had lain.Godfrey fired a couple of shots to scare away any that might belingering in the neighbourhood, and then replacing the bars they wentout hunting, and from that time heard no farther of the wolves.
They continued their hunting, shifting their camp occasionally until itwas time to rejoin the Ostjaks, and then travelled east. They struck theriver some thirty miles below the camp, crossed at once and travelled upthe other side until they arrived at the huts. They were heartilywelcomed by the natives, and remained there for three days to rest thedogs. They were very glad of getting a supply of fish again. These theOstjaks had in abundance, as they kept their frozen piles for food whenthe keenness of the wind rendered the cold so bitter that they wereforced to remain in their huts. At other times they fished bytorch-light at holes that they kept broken in the ice, spearing thefish, which were attracted by the light. The Ostjaks were surprised atthe large number of skins, some of them of the most valuable kind, thatGodfrey had brought back, and were impatient for a fresh start. Theywere this time absent for only six weeks, returning at the beginning ofMay. The hunt was marked by no adventure. They did fairly well, but werenot fortunate in securing any skins of the black fox and but few of thesable.
Upon their return the furs that had been taken during the two hunts withthe Ostjaks were fairly divided, and Godfrey added his and Luka'sshares to those they had themselves obtained. There were over fifty inall, including three black foxes, six sables, and ten martens, the restbeing of inferior value. Then a list was made of the necessaries thatLuka was to purchase at Turukhansk. These included ten pounds of bricktea, some copper nails if he could obtain them, a store of ammunition,some more fish-hooks, the largest kettle he could buy, a frying-pan, afew pounds of sugar, ten pounds of salt, some stout sheeting, thirtyyards of duck canvas, three blocks, a coil or two of rope, needles andtwine, a saw, a couple of chisels, and some other tools.
"You must make the best bargain you can for the skins, Luka; I have noidea how much they are worth."
The Ostjaks were, however, able to tell them the
prices the traders payfor the skins of each animal, provided that they were fine specimens andin good condition. The black foxes were worth from fifty to a hundredroubles, the sables from thirty to fifty, the martens some ten roublesless; the other skins were worth from fifteen to thirty roubles.
Luka took the sledge and a reindeer and started alone, having gone overthe list of things required again and again until Godfrey was convincedthat he was perfect. He took his sleeping-bag but no tent. He calculatedthat he should be away five days, as it would take him two to drive toTurukhansk, and a day there to make his purchases.
On the fifth evening he returned, with everything he had been ordered toget, and a few other things that he thought would be useful. He hadobtained in all six hundred and fifty roubles as the result of their sixmonths' hunting, and of these had expended a hundred and seventyroubles.
"We are well set up for money now, Luka," Godfrey said, as he added thenotes to those he before possessed. "I have still four hundred roublesout of what I received from the Buriat, so we have now nearly ninehundred, which will be enough to pay our way to England from any pointwe may land at."