CHAPTER XVII.
A SEA FIGHT
As soon as they had reached a distance of two or three hundred yardsfrom the shore Godfrey ceased paddling. "Now we can talk matters over,Luka. There is no occasion for hurry now. If these fellows in the canoesare disposed to fight we can't prevent them. They will certainly be outof the river before we could get back there; and even if we did passfirst they could easily overtake us, for those light craft of theirswould go two feet to our one unless we had wind for our sail. So we mayas well take things easy, and decidedly the first thing to do is to washand dress Jack's wound, and then to get some tea and something to eat.We have had nothing since we were caught yesterday between twelve andone o'clock.
"What a lucky thing it was we hid the canoe, Luka!" he went on, as theTartar pulled the boat up alongside the canoe and began to prepare tolight a fire. "The chances are we should not have been able to get heroff as well as the boat, and even if we had they would have taken outall our stores. The meat we might replace, but the loss of the tea andtobacco, and above all of the matches, would have been terrible;besides, they would have got our spare hatchets and knives, thefish-hooks and lines, and all our furs. We don't want the furs forwarmth now, but it would make a deal of difference to our comfort if wehad to sleep on hard boards. I do not know how to feel thankful enoughthat we hid the canoe away."
"We could not have gone without our things," Luka said. "We would havefought them all and killed them rather than lose our tea and tobacco."
Godfrey laughed at his companion's earnestness.
"I think that would have been paying too dearly for them, Luka. Still weshould have missed them badly."
Just as they had finished their meal they saw some black spots ahead ofthem close inshore. "I should not be surprised if they have been pickingup those fellows who followed us, Luka. No doubt the man who ran backwould tell them they could do nothing against our arms. But I don'tthink they will dare attack us in our boat even if they have got allthe men there. There were only twelve at first, not counting the old menwho were in their camp when we were brought there. You shot one of them,so there are only eleven, even if they have got on board those whofollowed us. I have always heard that they are plucky little fellows,but I do not think they would be fools enough to attack us on the water.I feel sure they can't have any intention of doing so. I expect theiroriginal idea was to hover about us night and day, and then, when wewent ashore to get food, to steal the boat and hunt us down. Now theyfind we have got a second boat they will see that it is a longer jobthan they expected, for they will guess that our real valuables are onboard the boat we hid, and that we may have enough provisions here tolast for some time."
The canoes, as they approached them, sheered off to a distance of aquarter of a mile, and then gathered together evidently in consultation.Then they turned and paddled rapidly back again, soon leaving the canoeand boat far behind.
"I wonder what they are up to now?" Godfrey said; "some mischief I haveno doubt."
"Perhaps more yourts on farther? They might send on a man with fastreindeer a long way ahead, so that they might attack us with forty orfifty canoes."
"So they might, Luka. That would be very awkward, and we should beafraid of landing anywhere. They may pass the news on from camp to campfor any number of miles. Yes, that is a very serious business. The onlything I see for it is to make right out beyond sight of land, and thenpush on as fast as we can. Fortunately they don't know anything aboutour sail, and as they left us so fast just now they will reckon that wecannot make much more than two miles an hour; while, when we get thewind, we can go six if we help with the paddles. We may as well keep onas we are at present, as if determined to keep near the land till, atany rate, we are some distance past the mouth of the river. There is notlikely to be another of their camps for some distance along, for, ofcourse, they would always be near a river, as they must have water forthemselves and their reindeer."
Paddling quietly, they continued on their course until they had passedthe mouth of the river. When they had gone half a mile they saw ninecanoes, each containing one man, come out from the river and followthem.
"They mean to stick to us," Godfrey said uneasily. "I'm afraid we aregoing to have a lot of trouble with them, Luka."
After paddling for another two hours they turned their heads seaward.The canoes did the same. In four hours more the land had almostdisappeared, but the clump of canoes still maintained their positionbehind them.
"It is of no use going out any further, Luka. We are a long way out ofsight of any one on shore now. Now let us head west again." An hourlater one of the canoes left the group and paddled rapidly towards theland.
"That is what their game is," Godfrey said. "They have sent off to telltheir friends ashore the course we are taking, and do what we will theywill keep them informed of it. We may have a fleet of canoes out at anymoment after us. Do you think we could leave them behind if we were tocast off the boat?"
Luka shook his head decidedly. "No; their canoes are very small; paddlequick, much quicker than we could."
"She is very fast, Luka."
"Yes; but too many things on board. If we threw over everything--food,and kettles, and dog, and furs--we might go as fast as they could; buteven then I think they would beat us."
"Well, we won't try that anyhow, Luka; I would rather risk a fight thanthat. I don't see anything to do but to wait for the wind. It is notoften calm like this long, and we have had it three or four daysalready. If we do get a wind we can certainly beat them by cutting loosethe boat."
"Beat them anyhow," Luka said. "With wind and paddles they might keep upwith us rowing very hard for a bit; but men tire, wind never tires. Wesure to beat them at last. I think we shall have wind before very long."
"I hope so, Luka; and not too much of it. Well, as we can't get awayfrom them by paddling, Luka, we may as well lower our lines. We haveonly got two or three days' provisions on board, and we may just as welllay in a stock while we can."
The hooks were baited with pieces of meat and lowered, and the paddleslaid in. Scarcely were the lines out when Godfrey felt a fierce tug."Hulloa!" he exclaimed, "I have got something bigger than usual." Hehauled up, and gave a shout of satisfaction as he pulled a cod of fullyten pounds weight from the water. Five minutes later Luka caught one ofequal size.
"That will do, Luka. I will throw mine into the boat, and we will keepyours on board. Now we have got among cod there is no fear of our notgetting plenty of food. I know they catch enormous quantities off thenorthern coast of Norway, and it is evident that they come as far asthese waters. It is some time since we tried this deep-sea fishing,which accounts for our not having caught any before."
"Are they good fish?" Luka asked. "I have never seen any like them."
"First-rate, Luka, especially if we had some oyster sauce to eat withthem; as we haven't we must do without. They are capital, and they arenot full of bones like the herrings. Now we will paddle on again. Youleave that fish alone, Jack; you shall have some of it for supper."
"There is a dark line on the water over there," Luka said presently,"wind coming."
"That is a comfort, Luka."
Half an hour later the breeze came up to them. "Shall I get up the sail,Godfrey?"
Godfrey did not reply for a minute or two. "Yes, I think we may as well,Luka. Whether we go fast or slow these fellows will be able to send wordon shore, and we may as well tire them a bit."
The sails were hoisted, Godfrey took the sheet and laid in his paddle."The wind may freshen," he said, "and it would not do to fasten thesheet."
Luka, who seemed tireless, continued paddling, and the boats wentthrough the water at a considerably faster pace than before. The effecton their pursuers was at once visible. Instead of paddling in aleisurely manner in a close group, the paddles could be seen to flashfaster and faster.
"They have to row pretty hard to keep up with us now," Luka said,looking over his shoulder at them. "Up to now they felt
comfortable,think everything right, and quite sure to catch us presently. Now theybegin to see it is not so easy after all." They maintained theirrelative positions till the sun was near the horizon.
"It is ten o'clock, Luka, the sun will set in half an hour. You lay yourpaddle in, and get us a cup of tea and a bit of that dry meat. You hadbetter boil the kettle over one of the candles. Then you lie down tosleep for four hours, after that I will take a turn. We are a dealbetter off than those fellows behind; they must keep on paddling allnight, and as they only have one man in each boat there is no relief forthem."
Luka did as he was ordered. After drinking his tea Godfrey lighted hispipe, and Luka lay down. Godfrey did not feel very sleepy, although hehad not closed his eyes the night before; but they had had a long boutof sleep when compelled to keep their tent by the fog, and theexcitement of the chase kept him up now. As it grew dusk he could seethat the canoes drew closer, but he had no hope, in any case, of givingthem the slip, for it was never perfectly dark. When, four hours later,he woke Luka the sky was brightening again.
"More wind come presently," the Tartar said, looking at the sky.
"I won't lie down just yet, Luka. It will be quite light in half anhour, and I want to have a good look towards the shore before I go tosleep."
Luka at once took the paddle. The wind was perceptibly freshening andthe canoe was slipping fast through the water.
"Now, Luka," Godfrey said presently, "stand up and have a look round. Becareful how you do it; it would not do to capsize her now."
Two minutes later Luka exclaimed, "I see them; a whole lot of canoes,twenty or thirty, over there," and he pointed towards the shore butsomewhat ahead of them.
"Sit down, Luka, and I will stand up and have a look. Yes, it is as muchas they will do to cut us off. They did not calculate on our comingalong so fast. I will luff up a little more, and we shall pass ahead ofthem however hard they paddle."
So saying he sat down, hauled in the sheet and headed nearer to thewind. "The fellows behind won't see them for some time," he said. "Thecanoes must be four miles away at least, and I don't suppose they couldsee each other more than half that distance, being so low in the water.If we had just a little more wind we should do it nicely."
Half an hour later the sheet was eased again, and the boat resumed herformer course, as Godfrey saw that he should pass well ahead of thecanoes coming out from the shore, and she moved faster with the windabeam than she did close-hauled. Even while sitting down the canoescould be seen now. The natives were paddling their hardest, and thelight craft danced over the surface of the water, which was nowbeginning to be ruffled by the breeze.
Half an hour later they joined the pursuers astern, and their yellscould be heard although they were half a mile away. Godfrey counted themas he passed ahead of the fleet, and there were thirty-three canoes,each with two paddlers.
"The yourts must be thick along the coasts here, Luka; they must havegathered up all those canoes from at least half a dozen camps. Now Iwill lend you a hand."
He eased the sheet still further, so that the boat should heel overless, and fastened it in a loose knot, which could be slipped in aninstant. Then he betook himself to his paddle.
"Those fellows behind have had a long row out against the wind, and haveno doubt been working their hardest ever since they caught sight of oursail. A stern-chase is a long chase. I fancy the wind has freshened alittle, but it is very little."
Occasionally he looked back over his shoulder.
"They are gaining slowly, Luka, but they are a good half mile behind usstill, and it will take them two or three hours to pick that up. I amquite sure now that if we cut the boat adrift we can forge ahead, handover hand, but that must be a last resource; it is almost a matter oflife and death to be able to keep it with us. Still it is a satisfactionto know that if the worse comes to the worst we can get away fromthem."
Jack fully entered into the excitement of the chase, taking his seat onthe covering near the stern, and barking defiance at their pursuers.Another hour's paddling and the space between the canoe and the nativeswas lessened by half.
"Now, Luka, I will send them a couple of bullets as a reminder that wehave got weapons."
Laying in his paddle he took his gun, turned round and knelt lookingastern, and fired both barrels at the fleet of canoes. He had not takenany particular aim, for the gun was of little use at a distanceexceeding a hundred yards, and the motion of the canoe would haveprevented anything like accuracy of shooting even with a rifle. Heintended to frighten rather than to hurt, and gave the gun aconsiderable elevation. He saw, however, the men in one of the canoescease paddling and drop behind the rest, and could make out that one ofits occupants was doing something.
"I hit one of the canoes, Luka; I fancy they are trying to patch up thehole." He loaded the gun again, this time with his largest-sized shot,laid it down and resumed his paddle.
"I have put in buck-shot this time, Luka; I don't want to kill any ofthe poor beggars, and the shot will spread. I have put in double chargesso as to give them a good dose as they come up. Small shot would be ofno use, it would not get through those thick leather coats of theirs.Now, then, let us send her along."
The wind was certainly freshening, for it was not until another four orfive miles had been traversed that the canoes had crept up to within ahundred yards' distance. At last Godfrey felt it was time to fire again,and waiting till the canoes were within about seventy yards' distance hefired both barrels, slightly shifting his aim between each shot. Aseries of yells arose from the canoes, four or five of them at oncedropped behind.
"Paddle your hardest, Luka, while I load again, the beggars are comingup fast now."
The natives with yells of fury were sending their canoes through thefoaming water, and were but fifty yards away when he again fired. Thistime five or six of the natives dropped their paddles, and two of thecanoes were upset. A volley of arrows fell thickly round the boat, andone or two spears skimmed along the water close to it. Godfrey seizedhis paddle again.
"Head towards the shore, Luka," he said; and as the boat headed round heslackened the sheet and so brought the wind nearly dead aft. The boatwas on an even keel now, and they could feel by the lessened strain onthe paddles that her speed was considerably increased. In two or threeminutes Godfrey looked round; the canoes were a hundred yards behind.
"We are gaining on them, Luka."
Another ten minutes and the interval was more than doubled.
"They are beginning to get tired," Godfrey said. "We are going a gooddeal faster, of course, now we have got the wind astern, but I do notthink they are going as fast as they did, and I expect that last dose ofbuck-shot took the heart out of them a good deal. They had reckoned thatwe should be only able to fire once or twice before they came up, andthat I should use bullets; but that handful of buck-shot evidentlypeppered a good many of them, and they know if they come up they willhave four more barrels at least among them. I think the fighting is allover now."
Another hour and the canoes were a mile astern, and the land was now butfour or five miles away. Godfrey thought that he could safely resume hiscourse west, especially as the wind had distinctly freshened.
"I will lay in my paddle now, Luka. I must give all my attention to thesail. I expect they will give it up. They will think when they see mecease paddling that we know we can get away from them whenever we like."
Godfrey's surmise turned out correct; the natives did not attempt tofollow, but held on their course straight for the land, paddling slowlynow. They were in two divisions, five or six of the canoes being a gooddeal astern of the others, those with single rowers that had followedthem so long having dropped behind to pick up the occupants of thecanoes that had capsized. In several of the canoes in this divisionGodfrey could make out that only one man was paddling, and guessed thatthe other was more or less disabled by the shot.
"I don't think we shall be troubled any more by them," he said; "theywill be a couple of hou
rs before they reach land, by which time we shallbe out of sight, and even reindeer will hardly take the news along theshore with all its deep indentations as quickly as we shall sail;besides, I fancy, they will come to the conclusion that the game is notworth the candle. Now lay in your paddle and let us have breakfastcomfortably. It is just twelve o'clock."
Day after day they coasted along, passed through Waigatz Straits,between the island of that name and the mainland, then touched at fourislands lying across the mouth of a large and deep bay, and then held onuntil they reached the mouth of the Petchora. The distance to this pointfrom the Kara River was, Godfrey calculated, about three hundred andfifty miles. It took them fifteen days to cover that distance, as theystopped and spent a day shooting several times, for they were notfortunate along here in catching many fish as they went. On passing oneof the islands Godfrey shot a seal, the flesh of which they found was byno means bad.
The weather continued very fine, but there was so little wind thatduring the whole distance they did not once put up their sail, butdepended entirely upon their paddles. Upon one of their shootingexpeditions Godfrey had the good luck to shoot a very fine black fox.They had had their meal and were stretched at full length by the fire.Luka had gone off to sleep. Godfrey was almost dozing when he heard aslight rustle in the grass, and opening his eyes saw a black foxstanding at a distance of ten paces. It had evidently been attracted bythe smell of some fish they had been frying, and stood with its nose inthe air sniffing. Godfrey's gun was lying beside him, the left-handbarrel he always kept loaded with ball. His hands stole quietly to it,and as he grasped it he sat up and fired a snap shot at the fox as itturned and darted away. To his surprise as well as delight it rolledover.
"There is a piece of luck, Luka," he said, as the latter sprang to hisfeet bow in hand at the report. "That is a pure fluke, for I firedwithout raising the gun or taking the least aim."
Luka examined the fox. "It is one of the largest I ever saw," he said,"and the fur is in splendid condition."
"Its skin will come in handy, Luka. We must put in and replenish ourstores at Droinik, at the mouth of the Petchora. We are running veryshort of tea and tobacco, we have been very extravagant lately, and wehave had no flour since those scamps robbed us. It is very lucky Jackwas so sound asleep. I often scold you, Jack, for being such a sleepylittle beggar, but for once it is lucky, for if you had heard the foxcoming he would have been off without my getting a shot at him."
Accordingly when they reached the mouth of the Petchora they landedthree miles from Droinik, and Luka, taking the fox-skin and those ofother smaller animals they had shot during their excursions, went intothe town, and returned with four pounds of tea, as much tobacco, fortypounds of flour, two large tin kettles, each capable of holding a gallonof water, to carry an extra supply, and sixty silver roubles.
"I am heartily glad you are back, Luka, for I have been nearly eatenalive; the mosquitoes are awful--worse, I think, than at any place wehave landed."
They had indeed entirely given up sleeping ashore since their forcedstay on the Gulf of Obi, always pushing off two or three hundred yardsfrom the shore and anchoring, for the mosquitoes were terrible; and upontheir hunting expeditions they always smeared their faces, necks, andhands thickly over with bears' fat, but even with this they sufferedseverely. Nowhere, indeed, are mosquitoes so great a scourge as alongthe shores of the Arctic Sea.
They had already determined that they would at any rate make for theKanin Peninsula, and would then be guided by the weather. If it stillremained calm and quiet, they would sail across the entrance to theWhite Sea, and coast along until they reached the frontier of Norway,which would be about four hundred miles from the point of the KaninPeninsula; if the weather showed signs of changing they would go up theWhite Sea to Archangel, which would be about the same distance.
Two days' paddling took them to the western mouth of the bay, the coursefrom here lay due west to Kolgueff Island, nearly two hundred milesaway. Godfrey did not hesitate to strike for it, as it was seventy oreighty miles saved, and there was no risk of missing it. Four long days'paddling took them there, and an equal time brought them to the westernpoint of the Kanin Peninsula. The weather continued still and clear, thesea was as smooth as glass, and there were no signs of change; butSeptember had begun, and every hour was of importance. They thereforedetermined now to abandon the boat, which made a considerable differencein their speed.
"Our candles will do for cooking. We have still forty pounds of driedflesh, and twenty of flour, and we may expect to get a few fish anyhow.Our three kettles will hold two gallons and a half of water, enough tolast us seven or eight days. In three days at most we ought to strikethe coast again, and we are sure to find some streams running down tothe sea in a very short time, so we will risk it. We know that the twoof us can send her along a good five miles an hour."
Accordingly the dried meat and flour were transferred to the canoe, thekettles were filled up with fresh water, and, after taking a long drinkand letting Jack lap as much as he could take, they took their seats inthe canoe again, threw off the tow-rope and started due west.
Accustomed as they now were to the work, and their muscles hardened byexercise, they sent the boat rapidly through the water.
"We mustn't exert ourselves too much, Luka," Godfrey said after thefirst quarter of an hour. "A long slow stroke is the one to send heralong, and we can keep that up for any time. We must do our very besttill we sight the coast again. After the way she behaved in that storm Iam not afraid of wind, but I am horribly afraid of fog. If we had but acompass it would not matter to us one way or other; but if a fog camedown when we are a good way off the land, there would be nothing to dobut to lay in our paddles and wait, even if it lasted for a fortnight.Still, as long as there is no change of weather, there does not seem anyreason why a fog should set in; but I shall not feel happy till we havegot the land alongside of us."
For three days the paddles were kept going, each taking alternately sixhours' sleep, and working together for twelve. Jack having nothing todo was the most uneasy of the party, sometimes lying down with his nosebetween his paws, sometimes getting up and giving a series of shortimpatient barks. Early on the second day they were fortunate in passingthrough a large shoal of herrings. Godfrey laid in his paddles andattended to the lines, and in half an hour had forty-five fish. Afterthat they paid no further attention to fishing, being now amply suppliedwith food. The herrings, too, required less water than the dried meat.They fried them over the candles, and whenever their mouths were parchedthey chewed a piece of raw herring and found great relief from it. Jackwas allowed two raw herrings a day; with that and a very small allowanceof water he did very well. On the third day a light southerly windsprang up, and they at once hoisted their sail and found that it easedtheir labour materially.
"I should think we ought to see the land to-night, Luka; three days ateighty miles a day is two hundred and forty miles. If we don't see it byevening, we must head a little more to the south. Of course we cannotdepend very accurately on our steering, and we may have been going atrifle north of west all this time. But it is all right, for the coastwe are making for keeps on trending north, and we are certain to hit itsooner or later."
At six o'clock they had a meal which Luka had been cooking, and thenGodfrey said, "Now I will have my six hours' sleep." He stood up tochange places and let Luka come astern to steer, when he exclaimed,"Look, is that a cloud ahead of us, or is it land?"
"Land!" Luka said after gazing at it attentively. "It is high land."
All idea of sleep was given up. Godfrey seized his paddle again, and infour hours they were within a mile of the land. It differed widely fromthe low coast they had so long been passing. Steep hills rose from thevery edge of the shore, clad in many places with pine forests. They werenot long before they found a suitable place to land, and soon had thecanoe ashore and the tent erected, for the nights were already becomingunpleasantly cold. Luka went into the woods, and soon retu
rned with somedried branches and a quantity of pine cones. Godfrey cut three sticksand made a tripod, from which the small kettle was suspended, and fishand meat were soon grilling over the fire. As soon as the kettle boileda handful of tea was dropped into it, and it was taken off the fire. Thethree companions made an excellent meal, then Luka and Godfrey lightedtheir pipes and sat smoking by the fire for half an hour, and then laydown in the tent for a sound sleep.
When Godfrey woke he found that Luka was already up. He had stirred upthe embers, put on fresh wood, filled the kettle and hung it over thefire, and had then evidently sauntered off into the wood. Godfrey, afterthe luxury of a rapid bathe, began to prepare breakfast, and by the timeit was ready Luka came down with a dozen squirrels he had shot.
"Lots of them in the wood," he said; "if stop here three or four days,get lots of skins."
"I don't think they would be much good to us, Luka, though those youshot will be useful for food; but I have been obliged to stand with myhead over the smoke of the fire to keep off these rascally mosquitoes,and my face was so swelled with their bites when I woke that I couldhardly see out of my eyes till I bathed my face with cold water. Thesooner we are off the better, if we don't want to be eaten alive."
Accordingly, as soon as the meal was finished they packed up andcontinued their voyage. After eight hours' paddling they came upon themouth of a river.
"This must be the Seriberka," Godfrey said. "That is the only rivermarked in the map anywhere about here. We will paddle a mile or two upand fill our kettles. If it is that river, we shall come upon an islanda few miles off the coast, in another twenty or thirty miles. See, Luka,how near we are getting to the end of the map. We are not very much morethan a hundred miles from this line; that is the division between Russiaand Norway. Once we land on the other side of that line we are free."
In seven or eight hours after leaving the river, Godfrey said, "There isKildina Island, Luka. We will land over there instead of upon thisshore. There may be some Laplanders about, and there is a Russian placecalled Kola about twenty miles up a river a little way past the island,and the natives might take us there if they came upon us, for they wouldnot understand either Ostjak or the Samoyede dialect, and I don'tsuppose they would talk Russian. Anyhow, we may as well be on the safeside. After coming seven or eight thousand miles we won't run any riskof a failure in the last hundred. I don't much like the look of the skyaway to the north. I fancy we are going to have a storm. Thank God itdid not come two days earlier."
They landed on the island, hauled up the boat, then Godfrey took sometime in finding a hollow where they could light a fire without risk ofits being seen on the mainland, as, if there were Lapps there, theymight cross in their canoes to see who had made it. They had no troublein collecting plenty of drift-wood along the shore, and carefullychoosing the driest, so as to avoid making a great smoke, they lit afire and erected the tent to leeward of it, so that the smoke might blowthrough it, and so keep out their enemies the mosquitoes. Godfrey'sprediction about the weather was speedily verified. The wind got upvery rapidly, and in two hours was blowing a gale from the north.
"No fear of canoes coming across," Luka said.
"No fear at all. I don't suppose there was any real risk of it in anycase, but I feel more nervous now than I have done all the time. At anyrate the storm has made it perfectly safe. There will soon be a sea onthat no canoe could face."
For three days the storm raged, and they were glad to resume their furjackets. Jack lay coiled up in the furs in the tent, and nothing couldpersuade him to move except for breakfast and dinner. They waited twelvehours after the gale ceased to allow the sea to go down and then startedagain, hoisting their sail as there was enough wind to help them.