CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
A DARK CLOUD OF SORROW ENVELOPS FORT CHIMO.
Three days after the events narrated in the last chapter the fort of thefur-traders became a place of weeping; for on the morning of that dayMaximus arrived with the prostrate form of Frank Morton, whom he haddiscovered alone in the igloo on the lake, and with the dreadful newsthat little Edith Stanley was nowhere to be found!
It may be more easily imagined than described the state of mind intowhich the parents of the child were thrown; but after the first burst ofemotion was past, Stanley felt that a thorough and immediate search wasthe only hope that remained to him of finding his little one alive.Still, when he considered the intensity of the cold to which she musthave been exposed, and the length of time which had already elapsedsince she was missed, his heart sank, and he could scarcely frame wordsof comfort to his prostrated partner. Maximus had examined theimmediate neighbourhood of the lake, in the hope of finding the tracksof the lost one; but a heavy fall of snow had totally obliterated these,and he wisely judged that it would be better to convey the sick man tothe fort as quickly as possible and give the alarm, so that partiesmight be sent out to scour the country in all directions.
Frank was immediately put to bed on his arrival, and everything done inorder to restore him. In this attempt they succeeded so far as toobtain all the information he could give concerning his fall; but heremembered nothing further than that Edith had been the means ofbringing him to the snow-hut, where he lay in a deep, torpid slumber,until the voice and hand of Maximus awakened him. When Frank was toldthat Edith was lost, he sprang from his bed as if he had received anelectric shock. The confusion of his faculties seemed swept away, andhe began to put on his garments with as much vigour as if he were welland strong; but ere he belted on his leather coat his cheek grew pale,his hand trembled, and he fell in a swoon upon the bed. This convincedhim of the impossibility of doing anything in the search, and he wasprevailed on, after two or three similar failures, to leave the work toothers.
Meanwhile the mountains and valleys of Ungava were traversed far andnear by the agonised father and his men. The neighbourhood of the lakewas the first place searched, and they had not sought long ere theydiscovered the little sledge sticking fast among the rocks of thesea-coast, and Chimo lying in the traces almost dead with cold andhunger. The dog had kept himself alive by gnawing the deerskin of whichthe traces were made. Around this spot the search was concentrated, andthe Esquimaux of the neighbouring camp were employed in traversing thecountry in all directions; but, although scarce a foot of ground escapedthe eager scrutiny of one or other of the party, not a vestige of Edithwas to be seen--not so much as a footprint in the snow.
Days and nights flew by, and still the search was continued. Frankquickly recovered under the affectionate care of the almost heartbrokenmother, who found some relief from her crushing sorrow in ministering tohis wants. But the instant he could walk without support, and longbefore it was prudent to do so, Frank joined in the search. At first hecould do little, but as day after day passed by his strength returned sorapidly that the only symptoms that remained to tell of his lateaccident were his pale cheek and the haggard expression of hiscountenance. But the mysterious disappearance of Edith had more to dowith the latter than illness.
Weeks passed away, but still the dark cloud of sorrow hung over FortChimo, for the merry young voice that was wont to awake the surroundingechoes was gone. The systematic search had now been given up, for everynook, every glen, and gorge, and corrie within fifteen miles of the spotwhere they had found the little sledge, had been searched again andagain without success. But hope clung with singular tenacity to theparents' hearts long after it had fled from those of the men of the fortand of the Esquimaux. Every alternate day Stanley and Frank salliedforth with heavy steps and furrowed brows to explore more carefullythose places where the child was most likely to have strayed, expecting,yet fearing, to find her dead body. But they always returned to thebereaved mother with silent lips and downcast looks.
They frequently conversed together about her, and always in a hopefultone, each endeavouring to conceal from the other the real state of hisown mind. Indeed, except when necessity required it, they seldom spokeon any other subject.
One day Stanley and Frank were seated by the blazing stove in the hallconversing as usual about the plan of the search for that day. MrsStanley was busied in preparing breakfast.
"'Tis going to blow hard from the north, Frank," said Stanley, risingand looking out of the window; "I see the icebergs coming into the riverwith the tide. You will have a cold march, I fear."
Frank made no reply, but rose and approached the window. The view fromit was a strange one. During the night a more than usually severe frosthad congealed the water of the lake in the centre, and the icebergs thatsailed towards the Caniapuscaw River in stately grandeur went crashingthrough this young ice as if it had been paper, their slow but steadyprogress receiving no perceptible check from its opposition. Some ofthese bergs were of great size, and in proceeding onwards they passed soclose to the fort that the inhabitants feared more than once that afalling pinnacle might descend on the stores, which were built near tothe water's edge, and crush them. As the tide gradually rose it rushedwith violence into the cavities beneath the solid ice on the oppositeshore, and finding no escape save through a few rents and fissures, sentup columns or spouts of white spray in all directions, which roared andshrieked as they flew upwards, as if the great ocean were maddened withanger at finding a power strong enough to restrain and curb its might.At intervals the main ice rent with a crash like the firing ofartillery; and as if nature had designed to carry on and deepen thissimile, the shore was lined with heaps of little blocks of ice which theconstantly recurring action of the tide had moulded into the shape andsize of cannon balls.
But such sights were common to the inhabitants of Fort Chimo, and hadlong ago ceased to call forth more than a passing remark.
"May it not be possible," murmured Stanley, while he leant his brow onhis hand, "that she may have gone up False River?"
"I think not," said Frank. "I know not how it is, but I have a strangeconviction that she is yet alive. If she had perished in the snow, weshould certainly have found her long ago. I cannot explain my feelings,or give a reason for them, but I feel convinced that darling Eda isalive."
"Oh, God grant it!" whispered Stanley in a deep voice, while his wifehastened from the room to conceal the tears which she could notrestrain.
While Frank continued to gaze in silence on the bleak scene without, afaint sound of sleigh-bells broke upon his ear.
"Hark!" he cried, starting, and opening the door.
The regular and familiar sound of the bells came floating sweetly on thebreeze. They grew louder and louder, and in a few seconds a team ofdogs galloped into the fort, dragging a small sled behind them. Theywere followed by two stalwart Indians, whose costume and manner toldthat they were in the habit of associating more with the fur-tradersthan with their own kindred. The dogs ran the sled briskly into thecentre of the fort, and lay down panting on the snow, while the two menapproached the hall.
"'Tis a packet," cried Stanley, forgetting for the moment his sorrow inthe excitement of this unexpected arrival.
In a moment all the men at the fort were assembled in the square.
"A packet! Where come you from?"
"From Moose Fort," replied the elder Indian, while his comradeunfastened from the sled a little bundle containing letters.
"Any news? Are all well?" chorused the men.
"Ay, all well. It is many day since we left. The way is very rough,and we did not find much deer. We saw one camp of Indian, but they'fraid to come. I not know why. But I see with them one fair flowerwhich grow in the fields of the Esquimaux. I suppose the Indian pluckher, and dare not come back here."
Stanley started, and his cheek grew pale.
"A fair flower, say you? Speak literally, man
: was it a little whitegirl that you saw?"
"No," replied the Indian, "it was no white girl we saw. It was oneyoung Esquimau woman."
Stanley heaved a deep sigh and turned away, muttering, "Ah! I mighthave known that she could not have fallen into the hands of Indians sofar to the south."
"Well, lads, take care of these fellows," he cried, crushing down thefeelings that had been for a brief moment awakened in his heart by theIndian's words, "and give them plenty to eat and smoke." So saying hewent off with the packet, followed by Frank.
"Niver fear ye; come along, honey," said Bryan, grasping the elderIndian by the arm, while the younger was carried off by Massan, and thedogs taken care of by Ma-istequan and Gaspard.
On perusing the letters, Stanley found that it would be absolutelynecessary to send a packet of dispatches to headquarters. Thedifficulties of his position required to be more thoroughly explained,and erroneous notions corrected.
"What shall I do, Frank?" said he, with a perplexed look. "TheseIndians cannot return to Moose, having received orders, I find, tojourney in a different direction. Our own men know the way, but Icannot spare the good ones among them, and the second-rate cannot bedepended on without a leader."
Frank did not give an immediate reply. He seemed to be pondering thesubject in his mind. At length he said, "Could not Dick Prince bespared?"
"No; he is too useful here. The fact is, Frank, I think I must sendyou. It will do you good, my dear boy, and tend to distract your mindfrom a subject which is now hopeless."
Frank at first objected strongly to this plan, on the ground that itwould prevent him from assisting in the forlorn search for Edith; butStanley pointed out that he and the men could continue it, and that, onthe other hand, his (Frank's) personal presence at headquarters would beof great importance to the interests of the Company. At length Frankwas constrained to obey.
The route by which he purposed to travel was overland to Richmond Gulfon snow-shoes; and as the way was rough, he determined to take only afew days' provisions, and depend for subsistence on the hook and gun.Maximus, Oolibuck, and Ma-istequan were chosen to accompany him; andthree better men he could not have had, for they were stalwart andbrave, and accustomed from infancy to live by the chase, and traversetrackless wastes, guided solely by that power of observation or instinctwith which savages are usually gifted.
With these men, a week's provisions, a large supply of ammunition, asmall sledge, and three dogs, of whom Chimo was the leader, Frank onemorning ascended the rocky platform behind the fort, and bidding adieuto Ungava, commenced his long journey over the interior of East Main.