CHAPTER TWENTY.
BENJY'S ENJOYMENTS INTERRUPTED, AND POLOELAND OVERWHELMED WITH ACATASTROPHE.
One pleasant morning, towards the end of summer, Benjamin Vane went outwith his gun in the water-tramp on the large lake of Paradise Isle.
Leo and he had reached the isle in one of the india-rubber boats. Theyhad taken Anders with them to carry their game, and little Oblooria toprepare their dinner while they were away shooting; for they dislikedthe delay of personal attention to cooking when they were ravenous!After landing Benjy, and seeing him busy getting himself into theaquatic dress, Leo said he would pull off to a group of walruses, whichwere sporting about off shore, and shoot one. Provisions of fowl andfish were plentiful enough just then at the Eskimo village, but he knewthat walrus beef was greatly prized by the natives, and none of the hugecreatures had been killed for some weeks past.
About this time the threatened war with the northern Eskimos hadunfortunately commenced.
The insatiable Grabantak had made a descent on one of Amalatok's smallerislands, killed the warriors, and carried off the women and children,with everything else he could lay hands on. Of course Amalatok madereprisals; attacked a small island belonging to Grabantak, and did asmuch general mischief as he could. The paltry islet about which the warbegan was not worthy either of attack or defence!
Then Amalatok, burning with the righteous indignation of the man who didnot begin the quarrel, got up a grand muster of his forces, and wentwith a great fleet of kayaks to attack Grabantak in his strongholds.
But Grabantak's strongholds were remarkably strong. A good deal ofkilling was done, and some destruction of property accomplished, butthat did not effect the conquest of the great northern Savage. Neitherdid it prove either party to be right or wrong! Grabantak retired toimpregnable fastnesses, and Amalatok returned to Poloeland "covered withglory,"--some of his followers also covered with wounds, a few of whichhad fallen to his own share. The success, however, was not decided. Onthe whole, the result was rather disappointing, but Amalatok was braveand high-spirited, as some people would say. _He_ was not going to givein; not he! He would fight as long as a man was left to back him, andbring Grabantak to his knees--or die! Either event would, of course,have been of immense advantage to both nations. He ground his teeth andglared when he announced this determination, and also shook his fist,but a sharp twinge of pain in one of his unhealed wounds caused him tocease frowning abruptly.
There was a sound, too, in the air, which caused him to sit down andreflect. It was a mixed and half-stifled sound, as if of women groaningand little children wailing. Some of his braves, of course, had fallenin the recent conflicts--fallen honourably with their faces to the foe.Their young widows and their little ones mourned them, and refused to becomforted, because they were not. It was highly unpatriotic, no doubt,but natural.
Amalatok had asked the white men to join him in the fight, but they hadrefused. They would help him to defend his country, if attacked, theysaid, but they would not go out to war. Amalatok had once threatenedBlackbeard if he refused to go, but Blackbeard had smiled, andthreatened to retaliate by making him "jump!" Whereupon the old chiefbecame suddenly meek.
This, then, was the state of affairs when Benjy and Leo went shooting,on the morning to which we have referred.
But who can hope to describe, with adequate force, the joyful feelingsof Benjamin Vane as he moved slily about the lakelets of Paradise Islein the water-tramp? The novelty of the situation was so great. Thesurrounding circumstances were so peculiar. The prolonged calms of thecircumpolar basin, at that period of the year, were so new to oneaccustomed to the variable skies of England; the perpetual sunshine, theabsence of any necessity to consider time, in a land from which nightseemed to have finally fled; the glassy repose of lake and sea, sosuggestive of peace; the cheery bustle of animal life, so suggestive ofpleasure--all these influences together filled the boy's breast with astrong romantic joy which was far too powerful to seek or find relief inthose boisterous leaps and shouts which were his usual safety-valves.
Although not much given to serious thought, except when conversing withhis father, Benjy became meditative as he moved quietly about at theedge of the reeds, and began to wonder whether the paradise above_could_ exceed this paradise below!
Events occurred that day which proved to him that the sublunary paradisewas, at least, woefully uncertain in its nature.
"Now, just keep still, will you, for one moment," muttered Benjy,advancing cautiously through the outer margin of reeds, among the stemsof which he peered earnestly while he cocked his gun.
The individual to whom he spoke made no reply, because it was a goose--would that it were thus with all geese! It was a grey goose of thelargest size. It had caught a glimpse of the new and strange creaturethat was paddling about its home, and was wisely making for the shelterof a spot where the reeds were more dense, and where Benjy would nothave dared to follow. For, it must be remembered that our youngsportsman was sunk to his waist in water, and that the reeds rose highover his head, so that if once lost in the heart of them, he might havefound it extremely difficult to find his way out again.
Anxious not to lose his chance, he gave vent to a loud shout. This hadthe effect of setting up innumerable flocks of wild-fowl, which,although unseen, had been lurking listeners to the strange though gentlesound of the water-tramp. Among them rose the grey goose with one ortwo unexpected comrades.
Benjy had not at that time acquired the power of self-restraintnecessary to good shooting. He fired hastily, and missed with the firstbarrel. Discharging the second in hotter haste, he missed again, butbrought down one of the comrades by accident. This was sufficientlygratifying. Picking it up, he placed it on the boat-buoy in front ofhim to balance several ducks which already lay on the part in rear. Hemight have carried a dozen geese on his novel hunting-dress, if therehad been room for them, for its floating power was sufficient to haveborne up himself, and at least four, if not five, men.
Pursuing his way cautiously and gently, by means of the webbed feetalone, the young sportsman moved about like a sly water-spirit among thereeds, sometimes addressing a few pleasant words, such as, "how d'ye do,old boy," or, "don't alarm yourself, my tulip," to a water-hen or acoot, or some such bird which crossed his path, but was unworthy of hisshot; at other times stopping to gaze contemplatively through the reedstems, or to float and rest in placid enjoyment, while he tried toimagine himself in a forest of water-trees.
Everywhere the feathered tribes first gazed at him in mute surprise;then hurried, with every variety of squeak, and quack, and flutteringwing, from his frightful presence.
Suddenly he came in sight of a bird so large that his heart gave aviolent leap, and the gun went almost of its own accord to his shoulder,but the creature disappeared among the reeds before he could take aim.Another opening, however, again revealed it fully to view! It was aswan--a hyperborean wild swan!
Just as he made this discovery, the great bird, having observed Benjy,spread its enormous wings and made off with an amazing splutter.
Bang! went Benjy's gun, both barrels in quick succession, and down fellthe swan quite dead, with its head in the water and its feet pointing tothe sky.
"What a feast the Eskimos will have to-night!" was Benjy's first thoughtas he tramped vehemently towards his prize.
But his overflowing joy was rudely checked, for, having laid his gundown in front of him, for the purpose of using the paddle with bothhands, it slipped to one side, tilted up, and, disappearing like anarrow in the lake, went to the bottom.
The sinking of Benjy's heart was not less complete. He had the presenceof mind, however, to seize the reeds near him and check his progress atthe exact spot. Leaning over the side of his little craft, he beheldhis weapon quivering, as it were, at the bottom, in about eight feet ofwater. What was to be done? The energetic youth was not long in makingup his mind on that point. He would dive for it. But diving in thewater-tr
amp was out of the question. Knowing that it was all butimpossible to make his way to the shore through the reeds, he resolvedto reach the opposite shore, which was in some places free fromvegetation. Seizing one of the reeds, he forced it down, and tied itinto a knot to mark the spot where his loss had happened. He treatedseveral more reeds in this way till he gained the open water outside,thus marking his path. Then he paddled across the lake, landed,undressed, and swam out again, pushing the empty dress before him,intending to use it as a resting-place.
On reaching the spot, he dived with a degree of vigour and agilityworthy of a duck, but found it hard to reach the bottom, as he was notmuch accustomed to diving. For the same reason he found it difficult toopen his eyes under water, so as to look for the gun. While trying todo so, a desperate desire to breathe caused him to leap to the surface,where he found that he had struggled somewhat away from the exact spot.After a few minutes' rest, he took a long breath and again went down;but found, to his dismay, that in his first dive he had disturbed themud, and thus made the water thick. Groping about rendered it thicker,and he came to the surface the second time with feelings approaching todespair. Besides which, his powers were being rapidly exhausted.
But Benjy was full of pluck as well as perseverance. Feeling that hecould not hold out much longer, he resolved to make the next attemptwith more care--a resolve, it may be remarked, which it would have beenbetter to have made at first.
He swam to the knotted reed, considered well the position he hadoccupied when his loss occurred, took an aim at a definite spot with hishead, and went down. The result was that his hands grasped the stock ofthe gun the moment they reached the bottom.
Inflated with joy he leaped with it to the surface like a bladder; laidit carefully on the water-dress, and pushing the latter before him soonsucceeded in getting hold of the dead swan. The bird was too heavy tobe lifted on the float, he therefore grasped its neck with his teeth,and thus, heavily weighted, made for the shore.
It will not surprise the reader to be told that Benjy felt hungry aswell as tired after these achievements, and this induced him to lookanxiously for Leo, and to wonder why the smoke of Oblooria'scooking-lamp was not to be seen anywhere.
The engrossing nature of the events just described had prevented ourlittle hero from observing that a smart breeze had sprung up, and thatheavy clouds had begun to drive across the hitherto blue sky, whileappearances of a very squally nature were gathering on the windwardhorizon. Moreover, while engaged in paddling among the reeds he had notfelt the breeze.
It was while taking off the water-tramp that he became fully alive tothese facts.
"That's it," he muttered to himself. "They've been caught by thisbreeze and been delayed by having had to pull against it, or perhaps thewalruses gave them more trouble than they expected."
Appeasing his appetite as well as he could with this reflection, he leftthe water-tramp on the ground, with the dripping gun beside it, andhurried to the highest part of the island. Although not much of anelevation, it enabled him to see all round, and a feeling of anxietyfilled his breast as he observed that the once glassy sea was ruffled tothe colour of indigo, while wavelets flecked it everywhere, and no boatwas visible!
"They may have got behind some of the islands," he thought, andcontinued his look-out for some time, with growing anxiety andimpatience, however, because the breeze was by that time freshening to agale.
When an hour had passed away the poor boy became thoroughly alarmed.
"Can anything have happened to the boat?" he said to himself. "Theindia-rubber is easily cut. Perhaps they may have been blown out tosea!"
This latter thought caused an involuntary shudder. Looking round, heobserved that the depression of the sun towards the horizon indicatedthat night had set in.
"This will never do," he suddenly exclaimed aloud. "Leo will be lost.I _must_ risk it!"
Turning as he spoke, he ran back to the spot where he had left thewater-dress, which he immediately put on. Then, leaving gun and game onthe beach, he boldly entered the sea, and struck out with feet andpaddle for Poloeland.
Although sorely buffeted by the rising waves, and several timesoverwhelmed, his waterproof costume proved well able to bear him up, andwith comparatively little fatigue he reached the land in less than twohours. Without waiting to take the dress off, he ran up to the Eskimovillage and gave the alarm.
While these events were going on among the islets, Captain Vane andAlphonse Vandervell had been far otherwise engaged.
"Come, Alf," said the Captain, that same morning, after Leo andhis party had started on their expedition, "let you and mego off on a scientific excursion,--on what we may style abotanico-geologico-meteorological survey."
"With all my heart, uncle, and let us take Butterface with us, andOolichuk."
"Ay, lad, and Ivitchuk and Akeetolik too, and Chingatok if you will, forI've fixed on a spot whereon to pitch an observatory, and we must set towork on it without further delay. Indeed I would have got it intoworking order long ago if it had not been for my hope that the cessationof this miserable war would have enabled us to get nearer the North Polethis summer."
The party soon started for the highest peak of the island of Poloe--orPoloeland, as Alf preferred to call it. Oolichuk carried on his broadshoulders one of those mysterious cases out of which the Captain was sofond of taking machines wherewith to astonish the natives.
Indeed it was plain to see that the natives who accompanied them on thisoccasion expected some sort of surprise, despite the Captain's earnestassurance that there was nothing in the box except a few meteorologicalinstruments. How the Captain translated to the Eskimos the wordmeteorological we have never been able to ascertain. His ownexplanation is that he did it in a roundabout manner which they failedto comprehend, and which he himself could not elucidate.
On the way up the hill, Alf made several interesting discoveries ofplants which were quite new to him.
"Ho! stop, I say, uncle," he exclaimed for the twentieth time that day,as he picked up some object of interest.
"What now, lad?" said the Captain, stopping and wiping his heated brow.
"Here is another specimen of these petrifactions--look!"
"He means a vegetable o' some sort turned to stone, Chingatok,"explained the Captain, as he examined the specimen with an interestedthough unscientific eye.
"You remember, uncle, the explanation I gave you some time ago," saidthe enthusiastic Alf, "about Professor Heer of Zurich, who came to theconclusion that primeval forests once existed in these now treelessArctic regions, from the fossils of oak, elm, pine, and maple leavesdiscovered there. Well, I found a fossil of a plane leaf the otherday,--not a very good one, to be sure--and now, here is a splendidspecimen of a petrified oak-leaf. Don't you trace it quite plainly?"
"Well, lad," returned the Captain, frowning at the specimen, "I dobelieve you're right. There does seem to be the mark of a leaf there,and there is some ground for your theory that this land may have beenonce covered with trees, though it's hard to believe that when we lookat it."
"An evidence, uncle, that we should not be too ready to judge byappearances," said Alf, as they resumed their upward march.
The top gained, a space was quickly selected and cleared, and a simplehut of flat stones begun, while the Captain unpacked his box. Itcontained a barometer, a maximum and minimum self-registeringthermometer, wet and dry bulb, also a black bulb thermometer, aone-eighth-inch rain-gauge, and several other instruments.
"I have another box of similar instruments, Alf, down below," said theCaptain, as he laid them carefully out, "and I hope, by comparing theresults obtained up here with those obtained at the level of the sea, tocarry home a series of notes which will be of considerable value toscience."
When the Captain had finished laying them out, the Eskimos retired to alittle distance, and regarded them for some minutes with anxiousexpectancy; but, as the strange things did not burst, or go up likesky-rockets, t
hey soon returned with a somewhat disappointed look totheir hut-building.
The work was quickly completed, for Eskimos are expert builders in theirway, and the instruments had been carefully set up under shelter whenthe first symptoms of the storm began.
"I hope the sportsmen have returned," said the Captain, looking gravelyround the horizon.
"No doubt they have," said Alf, preparing to descend the mountain. "Leois not naturally reckless, and if he were, the cautious Anders would bea drag on him."
An hour later they regained the Eskimo village, just as Benjy camerunning, in a state of dripping consternation, from the sea.
Need it be said that an instant and vigorous search was instituted? Notonly did a band of the stoutest warriors, headed by Chingatok, set offin a fleet of kayaks, but the Captain and his companions started withoutdelay in the two remaining india-rubber boats, and, flying their kites,despite the risk of doing so in a gale, went away in eager haste overthe foaming billows.
After exerting themselves to the uttermost, they failed to discover theslightest trace of the lost boat. The storm passed quickly, and a calmsucceeded, enabling them to prosecute the search more effectively withoar and paddle, but with no better result.
Day after day passed, and still no member of the band--Englishman orEskimo--would relax his efforts, or admit that hope was sinking. Butthey had to admit it at last, and, after three weeks of unremittingtoil, they were compelled to give up in absolute despair. The mostsanguine was driven to the terrible conclusion that Leo, Anders, andtimid little Oblooria were lost.
It was an awful blow. What cared Alf or the Captain now for discovery,or scientific investigation! The poor negro, who had never at any timecared for plants, rocks, or Poles, was sunk in the profoundest depths ofsorrow. Benjy's gay spirit was utterly broken. Oolichuk's hearty laughwas silenced, and a cloud of settled melancholy descended over theentire village of Poloe.