CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
EDITH BECOMES A HEROINE INDEED.
The shock which Edith received on beholding the bloodstained countenanceof her companion completely paralysed her at first, but only for a fewminutes.
The feeling of certainty that Frank would perish if assistance were notrendered tended to restore her scattered faculties, and nerve her heartfor the duties now required of her; and she rose with a feeling ofdetermination to save her companion or die beside him. Pour child! shelittle knew the extent of her own feebleness at that moment; but shebreathed an inward prayer to Him who can, and often does, achieve themightiest results by the feeblest means.
Raising Frank's head from the snow, she placed it in her lap, and withher handkerchief removed the blood from his forehead. In doing this sheobserved, to her inexpressible relief, that he breathed freely, andseemed rather to be in a state of stupor than insensibility. The placewhere he lay was a dark rent or split in the mountain, the precipices ofwhich rose on either side to a height of between thirty and forty feet.The top of this chasm was entirely covered over with a crust of snow,through which there was a large gap immediately above the spot whereFrank lay, revealing at once the cause of his present sad condition. Hehad evidently been crossing the ravine by means of the deceptiveplatform of snow, unaware of the danger of his position, and had beensuddenly precipitated to the bottom. In descending, his head had struckthe side of the cliff, which cut it severely; but the softness of thesnow into which he fell saved him from further injury, except thestunning effect of the fall. How long he had lain in this state Edithhad no means of knowing, but it must have been a considerable time, asChimo could not have left him until after his fall. Fortunately thewolf had not touched him, and the wound in his head did not appear to bevery deep. Observing that parts of his face were slightly frostbitten,Edith commenced to rub them vigorously, at the same time calling uponhim in the most earnest tones to speak to her. The effect of thisroused him a little. In a few minutes he opened his eyes, and gazedlanguidly into the child's face.
"Where am I, Eda?" he said faintly, while a gentle smile played abouthis lips.
"You are in the mountains, Frank. Dear Frank! do open your eyes again.I'm so glad to hear your voice! Are you better now?"
The sound of his voice attracted Chimo, who had long ago abandoned thepursuit of the wolf, and was seated beside his master. Rising, heplaced his cold nose on Frank's cheek. The action seemed to rouse himto the recollection of recent events. Starting up on his knees, with anangry shout, Frank seized the gun that lay beside him and raised it asif to strike the dog; but he instantly let the weapon fall, andexclaiming, "Ah, Chimo, is it you, good dog?" he fell back again intothe arms of his companion.
Edith wept bitterly for a few minutes, while she tried in vain to awakenher companion from his state of lethargy. At length she dried her tearshastily, and, rising, placed Frank's head on her warm cloak, which shewrapped round his face and shoulders. Then she felt his hands, which,though covered with thick leather mittens, were very cold. Making Chimocouch at his feet, so as to imbue them with some of his own warmth, sheproceeded to rub his hands, and to squeeze and, as it were, shampoo hisbody all over, as vigorously as her strength enabled her. In a fewminutes the effect of this was apparent. Frank raised himself on hiselbow and gazed wildly round him.
"Surely I must have fallen. Where am I, Edith?" Gradually hisfaculties returned. "Edith, Edith!" he exclaimed, in a low, anxiousvoice, "I must get back to the igloo. I shall freeze here. Fasten thelines of my snowshoes, dear, and I will rise."
Edith did as she was desired, and immediately Frank made a violenteffort and stood upright; but he swayed to and fro like a drunken man.
"Let me lean on your shoulder, dear Eda," he said in a faint voice. "Myhead is terribly confused. Lead me; I cannot see well."
The child placed his hand on her shoulder, and they went forward a fewpaces together--Edith bending beneath the heavy weight of her companion.
"Do I lean heavily?" said Frank, drawing his hand across his forehead."Poor child!"
As he spoke he removed his hand from her shoulder; but the instant hedid so, he staggered and fell with a deep groan.
"O Frank! dear Frank! why did you do that?" said Edith, anxiously. "Youdo not hurt me. I don't mind it. Do try to rise again."
Frank tried, and succeeded in walking in a sort of half-sleeping,half-waking condition for about a mile--stumbling as he went, and oftenunwittingly crushing his little guide to the ground. After this he fellonce more, and could not again recover his upright position. Poor Edithnow began to lose heart. The utter hopelessness of getting the woundedman to advance more than a few yards at a time, and her own graduallyincreasing weakness, induced the tears once more to start to her eyes.She observed, too, that Frank was sinking into that state of lethargywhich is so dangerous in cold climates, and she had much difficulty inpreventing him from falling into that sleep which, if indulged in, isindeed the sleep of death. By persevering, however, she succeeded inrousing him so far as to creep a short distance, now and then, on hishands and knees--sometimes to stagger a few paces forward; and atlength, long after the cold moon had arisen on the scene, they reachedthe margin of the lake.
Here Frank became utterly powerless, and no exertion on the part of hiscompanion could avail to rouse him. In this dilemma, Edith once morewrapped him in her warm cloak, and causing Chimo to lie at his feet,hastened over the ice towards the igloo. On arriving she lighted thelamp and heated the tea which she had made in the morning. This took atleast a quarter of an hour to do, and during the interval sheendeavoured to allay her impatience by packing up a few mouthfuls ofpemmican and biscuit. Then she spread the deerskins out on the couch;and when this was done, the tea was thoroughly heated. The snow on theriver being quite hard, she needed not to encumber herself withsnow-shoes; but she fastened the traces of her own little sledge overher shoulders, and, with the kettle in her hand, ran as fast as her feetcould carry her to the place where she had left Frank and Chimo, andfound them lying exactly as they lay when she left them.
"Frank! Frank! here is some hot tea for you. Do try to take some."
But Frank did not move, so she had recourse to rubbing him again, andhad soon the satisfaction of seeing him open his eyes. The instant hedid so, she repeated her earnest entreaties that he would take some tea.In a few minutes he revived sufficiently to sit up and sip a little ofthe warm beverage. The effect was almost magical. The blood began tocourse more rapidly through his benumbed limbs, and in five minutes morehe was able to sit up and talk to his companion.
"Now, Frank," said Edith, with an amount of decision that in othercircumstances would have seemed quite laughable, "try to get on to mysled, and I'll help you. The igloo is near at hand now."
Frank obeyed almost mechanically, and creeping upon the sled withdifficulty, he fell instantly into a profound sleep. Edith's chiefanxiety was past now. Harnessing Chimo to the sled as well as shecould, she ran on before, and a very few minutes brought them to thesnow-hut. Here the work of rousing Frank had again to be accomplished;but the vigour which the warm tea had infused into his frame rendered itless difficult than heretofore, and soon afterwards Edith had thesatisfaction of seeing her companion extended on his deerskin couch,under the sheltering roof of the igloo. Replenishing the lamp andclosing the doorway with a slab of snow, she sat down to watch by hisside. Chimo coiled himself quietly up at his feet; while Frank, underthe influence of the grateful warmth, fell again into a deep slumber.As the night wore on, Edith's eyes became heavy, and she too, restingher head on the deerskins, slept till the lamp on the snow-shelf expiredand left the hut and its inmates in total darkness.
Contrary to Edith's expectations, Frank was very little better when heawoke next day; but he was able to talk to her in a faint voice, and torelate how he had fallen over the cliff, and how afterwards he had toexert his failing powers in order to defend himself from a wolf. In allthese
conversations his mind seemed to wander a little, and it wasevident that he had not recovered from the effects of the blow receivedon his head in the fall. For two days the child tended him with theaffectionate tenderness of a sister, but as he seemed to grow worseinstead of better, she became very uneasy, and pondered much in her mindwhat she should do. At last she formed a strange resolution. Supposingthat Maximus must still be at the Esquimau village at the mouth of FalseRiver, and concluding hastily that this village could not be very faraway, she determined to set out in search of it, believing that, if shefound it, the Esquimau would convey her back to the igloo on the lake,and take Frank up to Fort Chimo, where he could be properly tended andreceive medicine.
Freaks and fancies are peculiar to children, but the carrying of theirfreaks and fancies into effect is peculiar only to those who areprecocious and daring in character. Such was Edith, and no sooner hadshe conceived the idea of attempting to find the Esquimau camp than sheproceeded to put it in execution. Frank was in so depressed a conditionthat she thought it better not to disturb or annoy him by arousing himso as to get him to comprehend what she was about to do; so she wasobliged to commune with herself, sometimes even in an audible tone, indefault of any better counsellor. It is due to her to say that, inremembrance of her mother's advice, she sought the guidance of herheavenly Father.
Long and earnest was the thought bestowed by this little child on thesubject ere she ventured to leave her companion alone in the snow-hut.Frank was able to sit up and to assist himself to the articles of foodand drink which his little nurse placed within his reach, so that shehad no fear of his being in want of anything during the day--or two atmost--that she expected to be absent; for in her childlike simplicityshe concluded that if Maximus could travel thither in a few hours, shecould not take much longer, especially with such a good servant as Chimoto lead the way. Besides this, she had observed the way in which theEsquimau had set out, and Frank had often pointed out to her thedirection in which the camp lay. She knew also that there was no dangerfrom wild animals, but determined, nevertheless, to build up the door ofthe igloo very firmly, lest they should venture to draw near. She alsoput Frank's loaded gun in the spot where he was wont to place it, so asto be ready to his hand.
Having made all her arrangements, Edith glided noiselessly from the hut,harnessed her dog, closed the door of the snow-hut, and jumping into thefurs of her sledge, was soon far away from the mountain lake. At firstthe dog followed what she thought must be the track that Maximus hadtaken, and her spirits rose when, after an hour's drive, she emergedupon a boundless plain, which she imagined must be the shores of thefrozen sea where the Esquimaux lived. Encouraging Chimo with her voice,she flew over the level surface of the hard frozen snow, and lookedround eagerly in all directions for the expected signs of natives.
But no such signs appeared, and she began to fear that the distance wasgreater than she had anticipated. Towards the afternoon it began tosnow heavily. There was no wind, and the snow fell in large flakes,alighting softly and without any sound. This prevented her seeing anygreat distance, and, what was worse, rendered the ground heavy fortravelling.
At length she came to a ridge of rocks, and supposing that she might seeto a greater distance from its summit, she got out of the sledge andclambered up, for the ground was too rough for the sledge to pass. Herethe view was dreary enough--nothing but plains and hummocks of ice andsnow met her view, except in one direction, where she saw, or fanciedthat she saw, a clump of willows and what appeared to be a hut in themidst of them. Running down the rugged declivity, she crossed the plainand reached the spot; but although the willows were there, she found nohut. Overcome with fatigue, fear, and disappointment, she sat down on awreath of snow and wept. But she felt that her situation was much tooserious to permit of her wasting time in vain regrets, so she started upand endeavoured to retrace her steps. This, however, was now a matterof difficulty. The snow fell so thickly that her footsteps were almostobliterated, and she could not see ten yards before her. Afterwandering about for a few minutes in uncertainty, she called aloud toChimo, hoping to hear his bark in reply. But all was silent.
Chimo was not, indeed, unfaithful. He heard the cry and responded to itin the usual way, by bounding in the direction whence it came. Hisprogress, however, was suddenly arrested by the sledge, which caughtupon and was jammed amongst the rocks. Fiercely did Chimo strain andbound, but the harness was tough and the sledge immovable. Meanwhilethe wind arose, and although it blew gently, it was sufficient toprevent Edith overhearing the whining cries of her dog. For a time thechild lost all self-command, and rushed about she knew not whither, inthe anxious desire to find her sledge; then she stopped, and restrainedthe pantings of her breath, while with both hands pressed tightly overher heart, as if she would fain stop the rapid throbbing there, shelistened long and intently. But no sound fell upon her ear except thesighing of the cold breeze as it swept by, and no sight met her anxiousgaze save the thickly falling snow-flakes.
Sinking on her knees, Edith buried her face in her hands and gave fullvent to the pent-up emotions of her soul, as the conviction was atlength forced upon her mind that she was a lost wanderer in the midst ofthat cold and dreary waste of snow.