CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
OUTPOST-BUILDING--FORT CHIMO--AN UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL, WHICH CAUSES MUCHJOY.
The band of fur-traders now set earnestly about the erection of theirwinter dwelling. The season was so far advanced that the men could nolonger be spared from the work to hunt or fish in the mountains, so thatthey lived chiefly on the produce of the stake-nets in front of thecamp, and a small allowance of the provisions with which they hadstarted from Moose Fort. Occasionally Frank sallied forth and returnedwith the best parts of a deer on his shoulders; but these excursionswere rare, as both he and Stanley worked with the men in the erection ofthe fort. No one was idle for a moment, from the time of rising--shortly after daybreak--to the time of going to rest at night. Evenlittle Edith found full occupation in assisting her mother in theperformance of a host of little household duties, too numerous torecapitulate. The dog Chimo was the only exception to the general rule.He hunted the greater part of the forenoon, for his own specialbenefit, and slept when not thus occupied, or received withphilosophical satisfaction the caresses of his young mistress.
The future fort was begun on the centre of the level patch ofgreen-sward at the foot of the flat rock by the spring, where the partyhad originally encamped. A square was traced on the ground to indicatethe stockade; and within this, Stanley marked off an oblong patch, closeto the back stockade, for the principal dwelling-house, facing theriver. Two other spaces were on either side of this--one for a store,the other for a dwelling for the men. When finished, the fort wouldthus have the form of three sides of a square surrounded by a stockade.In the centre of this, and the first thing that was erected, was aflag-staff, on which the H.B.C.--Hudson's Bay Company--flag was hoisted,and saluted with three cheers as its crimson folds fluttered out in thebreeze for the first time. The plan on which the houses wereconstructed was that on which all the dwellings of the fur-traders arebuilt--namely, a framework of timber, the interstices of which arefilled up with logs sliding into grooves cut in the main posts andbeams. This manner of building is so simple that a house can be erectedwithout any other instruments than an axe, an auger, and a large chisel;and the speed with which it is put up would surprise those whose notionsof house-building are limited to stone edifices.
The axes of the wood-cutters resounded among the gullies and ravines ofUngava, and awakened the numerous echoes of the mountains. Theencampment no longer presented a green spot, watered by a tiny rill, butwas strewn with logs in all stages of formation, and chips innumerable.The frameworks of the dwelling-houses began to rise from the earth,presenting, in their unfinished condition, a bristling, uncomfortableappearance, suggesting thoughts in the beholder's mind highlydisparaging to art, and deeply sympathetic with outraged nature. Thetents still stood, and the campfire burned, but the superior proportionsof the rising fort threw these entirely into the shade. A rude wharf ofunbarked logs ran from the beach into the river. It had been begun andfinished in a couple of days, for the convenience of Gaspard whilevisiting his nets, as he sometimes did before the water left them.Everything, in short, bore evidence of the most bustling activity andpersevering energy; and in a few weeks from the time of their firstlanding, the dwelling-houses were sufficiently weather-tight to behabitable, and the other portions of the establishment in an advancedcondition.
The openings between the logs of the houses were caulked with a mixtureof mud and moss, and left in that condition in the meantime, until thepit-saw could be set to work to produce boards for the better protectionof the walls without and within. The window and door frames were alsomade, and covered temporarily with parchment, until the arrival of theship should enable them to fill the former with glass and the latterwith broad panels.
The effect of the parchment-covered door, however, was found to besomewhat troublesome. Being large, and tightly covered, it sounded,when shut violently, with a noise so strongly resembling the report of adistant cannon that, during the first day after its erection, the menmore than once rushed down to the beach in the expectation of seeing thelong and ardently wished-for ship, which was now so much beyond the timeappointed for her arrival that Stanley began to entertain seriousapprehensions for her safety. This ship was to have sailed from YorkFort, the principal depot of the fur-traders in Hudson's Bay, withsupplies and goods for trade with the Esquimaux during the year. Shewas expected at Ungava in August, and it was now September. The frostwas beginning, even at this early period, to remind the expedition ofthe long winter that was at hand, and in the course of a very few weeksHudson's Straits would be impassable; so that the anxiety of the traderswas natural.
Just before the partitions of the chief dwelling-house were completed,Stanley went to the tent in which his wife and child were busilyemployed in sewing.
"Can you spare Edith for a short time, wife?" said he, as his partnerlooked up to welcome him.
"Yes, for a short time; but she is becoming so useful to me that Icannot afford to spare her long."
"I'm afraid," said Stanley, as he took his child by the hand and led heraway, "that I must begin to put in my claim to the services of thislittle baggage, who seems to be so useful. What say you, Eda; will youallow me to train you to shoot, and fish, and walk on snow-shoes, and somake a trader of you?"
"I would like very much, papa, to learn to walk on snowshoes, but Ithink the gun would hurt me--it seems to kick so. Don't you think I amtoo little to shoot a gun off?"
Stanley laughed at the serious way in which the child received theproposal.
"Well, then, we won't teach you to shoot yet, Eda; but, as you say, thesnow-shoe walking is worth learning, for if you cannot walk on the longshoes when the snow falls, I fear you'll not be able to leave the fortat all."
"Yes, and Francois has promised to make me a pair," said Edith gaily,"and to teach me how to use them; and mamma says I am old enough tolearn now. Is it not kind of Francois? He is always very good to me."
"Indeed it is very kind of him, my pet; but all the men seem to be verygood to you--are they not?"
"Oh yes!--all of them. Even Gaspard is kind now. He never whips Chimo,and he patted me on the head the other day when I met him alone in theravine--the berry ravine, you know, where I go to gather berries. Iwonder if there are berries in all the other ravines?--but I don't caremuch, for there are thousands and thousands of all kinds in my ownravine, and--where are you going, papa?"
This abrupt question was caused by her father turning into the square ofthe new fort, in which the most of the men were at work.
"I'm going to show you our house, Eda, and to ask you to fix on thecorner you like best for your own room. The partitions are going to beput up, so we must fix at once."
As he spoke they passed through the open doorway of the new dwelling,which was a long, low building; and, placing his little daughter in thecentre of the principal hall, Stanley directed her to look round andchoose a corner for herself.
For a few minutes Edith stood with an expression of perplexity on herbright face; then she began to examine the views from each of the cornerwindows. This could only be done by peeping through the bullet-hole inthe parchment skins that in the meantime did duty for glass. The twowindows at the back corners looked out upon the rocky platform, behindwhich the mountains rose like a wall, so they were rejected; but Edithlingered at one of them, for from it she saw the spring at the foot ofthe rock, with its soft bed of green moss and surrounding willow-bushes.From the front corner on the left hand Cross Island and the valley ofthe river beyond were visible; but from the window on the right the viewembraced the whole sweep of the wide river and the narrow outlet to thebay, which, with its frowning precipices on either side, and its boldflanking mountains, seemed a magnificent portal to the Arctic Sea.
"I think this is the nicest corner," said Edith, turning with a smile toher father.
"Then this shall be yours," said Stanley.
"But," exclaimed Edith, as a sudden thought occurred to her, "perhapsFrank would like this corner. I w
ould not like to have it if Frankwants it."
"Frank doesn't want it, and Frank shan't have it. There now, run toyour mother, you little baggage; she can't get on without you. Off yougo, quick!"
With a merry laugh Edith bounded through the doorway, and disappearedlike a sunbeam from the room.
On the 25th of September, Stanley was standing on the beach, oppositethe fort, watching with a smile of satisfaction the fair, happy face ofhis daughter, as she amused herself and Chimo by throwing a stick intothe water, which the latter dutifully brought out and laid at her feetas often as it was thrown in. Frank was also watching them.
"What shall we call the fort, Frank?" said his companion. "We have aFort Good Hope, and a Fort Resolution, and a Fort Enterprise already.It seems as if all the vigorous and hearty words in the English languagewere used up in naming the forts of the Hudson's Bay Company. Whatshall we call it?"
"Chimo! Chimo! Chimo!" shouted Edith to the dog, as the animal boundedalong the beach.
Both gentlemen seemed to be struck with the same idea simultaneously.
"There's an answer to your question," said Frank; "call the fort`Chimo.'"
"The very thing!" replied Stanley; "I wonder it did not occur to mebefore. Nothing could be more appropriate. I salute thee, Fort Chimo,"and Stanley lifted his cap to the establishment.
In order that the peculiar appropriateness of the name may appear to thereader, it may be as well to explain that Chimo (the _i_ and _o_ ofwhich are sounded long) is an Esquimau word of salutation, and is usedby the natives when they meet with strangers. It signifies, _Are youfriendly_? by those who speak first, and seems to imply, _We arefriendly_, when returned as an answer. So well known is the word to thefur-traders who traffic with the natives of Hudson's Straits that theyfrequently apply it to them as a name, and speak of the Esquimaux asChimos. It was, therefore, a peculiarly appropriate name for a fortwhich was established on the confines of these icy regions, for thedouble purpose of entering into friendly traffic with the Esquimaux, andof bringing about friendly relations between them and their old enemies,the Muskigon Indians of East Main.
After playing for some time beside the low wharf, Edith and her dog leftthe beach together, and rambled towards a distant eminence, whence couldbe obtained a commanding bird's-eye view of the new fort. She had notsat many minutes here when her eye was arrested by the appearance of anunusual object in the distance. Frank, who was yet engaged inconversation with Stanley on the beach, also noticed it. Laying hishand on the arm of his companion, he pointed towards the narrows, wherea small, white, triangular object was visible against the dark cliff.As they gazed, a second object of similar form came into view; then afore and top sail made their appearance; and, in another second, aschooner floated slowly through the opening! Ere the spectators of thissilent apparition could give utterance to their joy, a puff of whitesmoke sprang from the vessel's bow, and a cannon-shot burst upon themountains. Leaping on from cliff to crag, it awakened a crash ofmagnificent echoes, which, after prolonged repetitions, died away in lowmutterings like distant thunder. It was followed by a loud cheer fromthe schooner's deck, and the H.B.C. flag was run up to the main, whilethe Union Jack floated at the peak.
"Now, Frank, give the word," cried Stanley, taking off his cap, whilethe men ran down to the beach _en masse_.
"Hip, hip, hurrah!"
"Hurrah!" echoed the men, and a cheer arose among the cliffs that movedto the very centre the hearts of those who heard and gave it.
Again and again the stirring shout arose from the fort, and was repliedto from the schooner. It was no matter of form, or cheer of ceremony.There was a deep richness and a prolonged energy in the tone, whichproved that the feelings and lungs of the men were roused to theuttermost in its delivery. It told of long gathering anxieties sweptentirely away, and of deep joy at seeing friendly faces in a sterileland, where lurking foes might be more likely to appear.
At all times the entrance of a ship into port is a noble sight, and onewhich touches the heart and evokes the enthusiasm of almost every humanbeing; but when the ship arriving is almost essential to the existenceof those who watch her snowy sails swelling out as they urge her to theland--when her keel is the first that has ever ploughed the waters oftheir distant bay--and when her departure will lock them up in solitudefor a long, long year--such feelings are roused to their utmost pitch ofintensity.
Cheer upon cheer rose and fell, and rose again, among the mountains ofUngava. Even Edith's tiny voice helped to swell the enthusiastic shout;and more than one cheer was choked by the rising tide of emotion thatforced the tears down more than one bronzed cheek, despite the ironwills that bade them not to flow.