CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
RECORDS A WONDERFUL APPARITION BUT A FURIOUS NIGHT.
When the storm had passed, a profound calm once more settled down on theface of nature, as if the elements had been utterly exhausted by theconflict. Once more the sea became like a sheet of undulating glass, inwhich clouds and sun and boats were reflected vividly, and once againour voyagers found themselves advancing towards the north, abreast ofeach other, and rowing sociably together at the rate of about four milesan hour.
When advancing under oars they went thus abreast so as to conversefreely, but when proceeding under kites they kept in single file, so asto give scope for swerving, in the event of sudden change of wind, andto prevent the risk of the entanglement of lines.
"What is that?" exclaimed Benjy, pointing suddenly to an object aheadwhich appeared at regular intervals on the surface of the water.
"A whale, I think," said Leo.
"A whale usually spouts on coming up, doesn't it?" said Alf.
Chingatok uttered an unpronounceable Eskimo word which did not throwlight on the subject.
"What is it, Anders?" shouted the Captain.
"What you say?" asked the interpreter from Alf's boat, which was on theother side of the _Hope_.
"If these squawkin' things would hold their noise, you'd hear better,"growled the Captain before repeating the question.
His uncourteous remark had reference to a cloud of gulls which circledround and followed the boats with remonstrative cries and astonishedlooks.
"It's beast," shouted Anders, "not knows his name in Ingliss."
"Humph! a man with half an eye might see it is `beast,'" retorted theCaptain in an undertone.
As he spoke, the "beast" changed its course and bore down upon them. Asit drew near the Englishmen became excited, for the size of the creatureseemed beyond anything they had yet seen. Strange to say, the Eskimoslooked at it with their wonted gaze of calm indifference.
"It's the great sea-serpent at last," said Benjy, with something likeawe on his countenance.
"It does look uncommon like it," replied the Captain, with a perplexedexpression on his rugged visage. "Get out the rifles, lad! It's aswell to be ready. D'ye know what it is, Chingatok?"
Again the giant uttered the unpronounceable name, while Benjy got outthe fire-arms with eager haste.
"Load 'em all, Ben, load 'em all, an' cram the Winchester to themuzzle," said the Captain. "There's no sayin' what we may have toencounter; though I _have_ heard of a gigantic bit of seaweed bein'mistaken for the great sea-serpent before now."
"That may be, father," said Benjy, with increasing excitement, "butnobody ever saw a bit of seaweed swim with the activity of a giganticeel like _that_. Why, I have counted its coils as they rise and sink,and I'm quite sure it's a hundred and fifty yards long if it's an inch."
Those in the other boats were following the Captain's example,--gettingout and charging the fire-arms,--and truly there seemed some ground fortheir alarm, for the creature, which approached at a rapid rate,appeared most formidable. Yet, strange to say, the Eskimos paid littleattention to it, and seemed more taken up with the excitement of thewhite men.
When the creature had approached to within a quarter of a mile, itdiverged a little to the left, and passed the boats at the distance of afew hundred yards. Then Captain Vane burst into a sudden laugh, andshouted:--
"Grampuses!"
"What?" cried Leo.
"Grampuses!" repeated the Captain. "Why, it's only a shoal of grampusesfollowing each other in single file, that we've mistaken for onecreature!"
Never before was man or boy smitten with heavier disappointment than waspoor Benjy Vane on that trying occasion.
"Why, what's wrong with you, Benjy?" asked his father, as he looked athis woeful countenance.
"To think," said the poor boy, slowly, "that I've come all the way tothe North Pole for _this_! Why I've believed in the great sea-serpentsince ever I could think, I've seen pictures of it twisting its coilsround three-masted ships, and goin' over the ocean with a mane like alion, and its head fifty feet out o' the water! Oh! it's too bad, I'dhave given my ears to have seen the great sea-serpent."
"There wouldn't have been much of you left, Benjy, if you had given_them_."
"Well, well," continued the boy, not noticing his father's remark, "it'ssome comfort to know that I've all _but_ seen the great sea-serpent."
It is some comfort to us, reader, to be able to record the fact thatBenjy Vane was not doomed to total disappointment on that memorable day,for, on the same evening, the voyagers had an encounter with walruseswhich more than made up for the previous misfortune.
It happened thus:--
The three boats were proceeding abreast, slowly but steadily over thestill calm sea, when their attention was attracted by a sudden andtremendous splash or upheaval of water, just off what the Captain styledhis "port bow." At the same moment the head of a walrus appeared on thesurface like a gigantic black bladder. It seemed to be as large as thehead of a small elephant, and its ivory tusks were not less than twofeet long. There was a square bluntness about the creature's head, anda savage look about its little bloodshot eyes, which gave to it a veryhideous aspect. Its bristling moustache, each hair of which was sixinches long, and as thick as a crow quill, dripped with brine, and itraised itself high out of the water, turning its head from side to sidewith a rapidity and litheness of action that one would not have expectedin an animal so unwieldy. Evidently it was looking eagerly forsomething.
Catching sight of the three boats, it seemed to have found what itlooked for, and made straight at them. Leo quietly got ready hisWinchester repeater, a rifle which, as the reader probably knows, candischarge a dozen or more shots in rapid succession; the cartridgesbeing contained in a case resembling a thick ram-rod under the barrel,from which they are thrust almost instantaneously into their places.
But before the creature gained the boats, a second great upheaval ofwater took place, and another walrus appeared. This was the real enemyof whom he had been in quest. Both were bulls of the largest and mostferocious description. No sooner did they behold each other, than, witha roar, something betwixt a bark and a bellow, they collided, and afurious fight began. The sea was churned into foam around them as theyrolled, reared, spurned, and drove their tusks into each other's skullsand shoulders.
The boats lay quietly by, their occupants looking on with interest. TheEskimos were particularly excited, but no one spoke or acted. They allseemed fascinated by the fight.
Soon one and another and another walrus-head came up out of the sea, andthen it was understood that a number of cow walruses had come to witnessthe combat! But the human audience paid little regard to these, so muchwere they engrossed by the chief actors.
It might have been thought, from the position of their tusks, which aresimply an enlargement and prolongation of the canine teeth, that thesecombatants could only strike with them in a downward direction, but thiswas not so. On the contrary, they turned their thick necks with so muchease and rapidity that they could strike in all directions with equalforce, and numerous were the wounds inflicted on either side, as theblood-red foam soon testified.
We have said that the human spectators of the scene remained inactive,but, at the first pause, the Captain said he thought they might as wellput a stop to the fight, and advised Leo to give one of them a shot.
"We'll not be the worse for a fresh steak," he added to Benjy, as Leowas taking aim.
The effect of the shot was very unexpected. One of the bulls was hit,but evidently not in a deadly manner, for the motion of the boat haddisturbed Leo's aim. Each combatant turned with a look of wild surpriseat the interruptor, and, as not unfrequently happens in cases ofinterference with fights, both made a furious rush at him. At the samemoment, all the cows seemed to be smitten with pugnacity, and joined inthe attack. There was barely time to get ready, when the furiousanimals were upon them. Guns and rifles were pointed, a
xes and spearsgrasped, and oars gripped. Even the women seized each a spear, andstood on the defensive. A simultaneous volley checked the enemy for amoment, and sent one of the cows to the bottom; but with a furiousbellow they charged again.
The great anxiety of the defenders was to prevent the monsters fromgetting close to the boats, so as to hook on to them with their tusks,which would probably have overturned them, or penetrated the inflatedsides. In either case, destruction would have been inevitable, and itwas only by the active use of oar, axe, and spear that this wasprevented.
Twice did one of the bulls charge the Captain's boat, and on bothoccasions he was met by the tremendous might of Chingatok, who plantedthe end of an oar on his blunt nose, and thrust him off. On eachoccasion, also, he received a shot from the double barrel of Benjy, whofired the first time into his open mouth, and the second time into hiseye, but an angry cough from the one, and a wink from the other showedthat he did not mind it much. Meantime the Captain, with the Winchesterrepeater, was endeavouring--but vainly, owing to the motions of thegiant, and the swaying of the boat--to get a shot at the beast, whileToolooha, with an axe, was coquetting with a somewhat timid cow near thestern.
At last an opportunity offered. Captain Vane poured half a dozen ballsas quick as he could fire into the head of the bull, which immediatelysank.
Not less vigorously did the occupants of the other boats receive thecharge. Leo, being more active than the Captain, as well as more expertwith his repeater, slew his male opponent in shorter time, and with lessexpenditure of ammunition. Butterface, too, gained much credit by theprompt manner in which he split the skull of one animal with an axe.Even Oblooria, the timid, rose to the occasion, and displayedunlooked-for heroism. With a barbed seal-spear she stood up and inviteda baby walrus to come on--by looks, not by words. The baby accepted theinvitation--perhaps, being a pugnacious baby, it was coming on at anyrate--and Oblooria gave it a vigorous dab on the nose. It resented theinsult by shaking its head fiercely, and endeavouring to back off, butthe barb had sunk into the wound and held on. Oblooria also held on.Oolichuk, having just driven off a cow walrus, happened to observe thesituation, and held on to Oblooria. The baby walrus was secured, and,almost as soon as the old bull was slain, had a line attached to it, andwas made fast to the stern.
"Well done, little girl!" exclaimed Oolichuk in admiration, "you'realmost as good as a man."
Among civilised people this might have been deemed a doubtfulcompliment, but it was not so in Eskimo-land. The little maid wasevidently much pleased, and the title of the Timid One, which Oolichukwas wont to give her when in a specially endearing frame of mind, waschanged for the Brave One from that day. In a few more minutes the lastcharge of the enemy was repulsed, and those of them that remained alivedived back to that native home into which the slain had already sunk.
Thus ended that notable fight with walruses.
After consummating the victory with three cheers and congratulating eachother, the conquerors proceeded to examine into the extent of damagereceived. It was found that, beyond a few scratches, the _Faith_ andthe _Hope_ had escaped scathless, but the _Charity_ had sufferedconsiderably. Besides a bad rip in the upper part of the gunwale, asmall hole had been poked in her side below water, and her air-chamberwas filling rapidly.
"Come here, quick, uncle," cried Alf, in consternation, when hediscovered this.
To his surprise the Captain was not so much alarmed as he had expected.
"It won't sink you, Alf, so keep your mind easy," he said, whileexamining the injury. "You see I took care to have the boats made incompartments. It will only make you go lop-sided like a lame duck tillI can repair the damage."
"Repair it, uncle! how can--"
"Never mind just now, hand out a blanket, quick; I'll explain after; wemust undergird her and keep out as much water as we can."
This operation was soon accomplished. The blanket was passed under theboat and made fast. By pressing against the injured part it checked theinflow of water. Then the cargo was shifted, and part of it wastransferred to the other boats, and soon they were advancing aspleasantly, though not as quickly as before, while the Captain explainedthat he had brought a solution of gutta-percha for the express purposeof repairing damages to the boats, but that it was impossible to use ituntil they could disembark either on land or on an iceberg.
"We'll come to another berg ere long, no doubt, shan't we, Chingatok?"he asked.
The Eskimo shook his head and said he thought not, but there was a smallrocky islet not far from where they were, though it lay somewhat out oftheir course.
On hearing this the Captain changed his course immediately, and rowed inthe direction pointed out.
"There's wind enough up there, Benjy," remarked his father, looking upto the sky, where the higher clouds were seen rapidly passing the lowerstrata to the northward, "but how to get the kites set up in a dead calmis more than I can tell."
"There is a way out of the difficulty, father," said Benjy, pointingbehind them.
He referred to a slight breeze which was ruffling the sea into what arecalled cat's paws far astern.
"Right boy, right. Prepare to hoist your tops'ls, lads," shouted theCaptain.
In a few minutes the kites were expanded and the tow-lines attached.When the light breeze came up they all soared, heavily, it is true, butmajestically, into the sky. Soon reaching the upper regions, theycaught the steady breeze there, and towed the boats along at the rate ofeight or ten miles an hour.
In two hours they sighted the islet which Chingatok had mentioned, and,soon afterwards, had landed and taken possession of it, in the usualmanner, under the name of Refuge Island.