Ha, Frank, my lad, the very man I wanted to see! Heres a letter from headquarters ordering me off on an expedition to Ungava. Now, I want volunteers; will you go!
It is needless to add that Franks blue eyes sparkled with animation as he seized his friends hand and replied, To the North Pole if you like, or farther if need be!
It was evening. The sun was gilding the top of the flagstaff with a parting kiss, and the inhabitants of Moose Fort, having finished their daily toil, were making preparations for their evening meal. On the end of the wharf that jutted out into the stream was assembled a picturesque group of men, who, from the earnest manner in which they conversed, and the energy of their gesticulations, were evidently discussing a subject of more than ordinary interest. Most of them were clad in corduroy trousers, gartered below the knee with thongs of deer-skin, and coarse, striped cotton shirts, open at the neck, so as to expose their sunburnt breasts. A few wore caps which, whatever might have been their original form, were now so much soiled and battered out of shape by long and severe service that they were nondescript; but most of these hardy backwoodsmen were content with the covering afforded by their thick, bushy locks.
No, no, exclaimed a short, thick-set, powerful man, with a somewhat ascetic cast of countenance; Ive seen more than enough o these rascally Huskies (Esquimaux). Tis well for me that Im here this blessed day, an not made into a dan to bob about in Hudsons Straits at the tail of a white whale, like that poor boy Peter who was shot by them varmints.
Whats a dan? asked a young half-breed who had lately arrived at Moose, and knew little of Esquimau implements.
What a green-horn you must be, François, not to know what a dan is! replied another, who was inclined to be quizzical. Why, its a sort of sea-carriage that the Esquimaux tie to the tail of a walrus or sea-horse when they feel inclined for a drive. When they cant get a sea-horse they catch a white whale asleep, and wake him up after fastening the dan to his tail. I suppose they have conjurers or wizards among them, since Massan told us just now that poor Peter was
Bah! gammon, interrupted François with a smile, as he turned to the first speaker. But tell me, Massan, what is a dan?
Its a sort o float or buoy, lad, used by the Huskies, and is made out o the skin o the seal. They tie it with a long line to their whale spears to show which way the fish bolts when struck.
And did they use Peters skin for such a purpose? inquired François earnestly.
They did, replied Massan.
And did you see them do it?
Yes, I did.
François gazed intently into his comrades face as he spoke; but Massan was an adept at what is usually called drawing the long bow, and it was with the most imperturbable gravity that he continued
Yes, I saw them do it; but I could not render any assistance to the poor child, for I was lying close behind a rock at the time, with an arrow sticking between my shoulders, and a score o them oily varmints a-shoutin, and yellin, and flourishing their spears in search o me.
Tell us how it happened, Massan. Lets hear the story, chorused the men, as they closed round their comrade.
Well then, began the stout backwoodsman, proceeding leisurely to fill his pipe from an ornamented bag that hung at his belt, here goes. It was about the yearaI forget the year, but it dont matterthat we were ordered off on an expedition to the Huskies; xactly sich a one as they wants us to go on now, andbut youve heerd o that business, lads, havent you?
Yes, yes, weve heard all about it; go on.
Well, continued Massan, I neednt be wastin time tellin you how we failed in that affair, and how the Huskies killed some of our men and burnt our ship to the waters edge. After it was all over, and they thought they had killed us all, I was, as I said, lyin behind a great rock in a sort o cave, lookin at the dirty villains as they danced about on the shore, and took possession of all our goods. Suddenly I seed two o them carry Peter down to the beach, an I saw, as they passed me, that he was quite dead. In less time than I can count a hundred they took the skin off him, cut off his head, sewed up the hole, tied his arms and legs in a knot, blew him full o wind till he was fit to bust, an then hung him up to dry in the sun! In fact, they made a dan of him!
A loud shout of laughter greeted this startling conclusion. In truth, we must do Massan the justice to say, that although he was much in the habit of amusing his companions by entertaining them with anecdotes which originated entirely in his own teeming fancy, he never actually deceived them, but invariably, either by a sly glance or by the astounding nature of his communication, gave them to understand that he was dealing not with fact but fiction.
But seriously, lads, said François, whose intelligence, added to a grave, manly countenance and a tall, muscular frame, caused him to be regarded by his comrades as a sort of leader both in action and in council, what do you think of our bourgeois plan? For my part, Im willing enough to go to any reasonable part o the country where there are furs and Indians; but as for this Ungava, from what Massan says, theres neither Indians, nor furs, nor victualsnothin but rocks, and mountains, and eternal winter; and if we do get the Huskies about us, theyll very likely serve us as they did the last expedition to Richmond Gulf.
Ay, ay, cried one of the others, you may say that, François. Nothin but frost and starvation, and nobody to bury us when were dead.
Except the Huskies, broke in another, who would save themselves the trouble by converting us all into dans!
Tush, man! stop your clapper, cried François, impatiently; let us settle this business. You know that Monsieur Stanley said he would expect us to be ready with an answer to-night.What think you, Gaspard? Shall we go, or shall we mutiny?
The individual addressed was a fine specimen of an animal, but not by any means a good specimen of a man. He was of gigantic proportions, straight and tall as a poplar, and endowed with the strength of a Hercules. His glittering dark eyes and long black hair, together with the hue of his skin, bespoke him of half-breed extraction. But his countenance did not correspond to his fine physical proportions. True, his features were good, but they wore habitually a scowling, sulky expression, even when the man was pleased, and there was more of sarcasm than joviality in the sound when Gaspard condescended to laugh.
Ill be shot if I go to such a hole for the best bourgeois in the country, said he in reply to François question.
Youll be dismissed the service if you dont, remarked Massan with a smile.
To this Gaspard vouchsafed no reply save a growl that, to say the best of it, did not sound amiable.
Well, I think that were all pretty much of one mind on the point, continued François; and yet I feel half ashamed to refuse after all, especially when I see the good will with which Messieurs Stanley and Morton agree to go.
I suppose you expect to be a bourgeois too some day, growled Gaspard with a sneer.
Eh, tu gros chien! cried François, as with flashing eyes and clinched fists he strode up to his ill-tempered comrade.
Come, come, François; dont quarrel for nothing, said Massan, interposing his broad shoulders and pushing him vigorously back.
Well, I think that were all pretty much of one mind on the point, continued François; and yet I feel half ashamed to refuse after all, especially when I see the good will with which Messieurs Stanley and Morton agree to go.
I suppose you expect to be a bourgeois too some day, growled Gaspard with a sneer.
Eh, tu gros chien! cried François, as with flashing eyes and clinched fists he strode up to his ill-tempered comrade.
Come, come, François; dont quarrel for nothing, said Massan, interposing his broad shoulders and pushing him vigorously back.
At that moment an exclamation from one of the men diverted the attention of the others.
Voilà! the canoe.
Ay, its Monsieur Stanleys canoe. I saw him and Monsieur Morton start for the swamp this morning.
I wonder what Dick Prince would have done in this business had he been here, said François to Massan in a low tone, as they stood watching the approach of their bourgeois canoe.
Cant say. I half think he would have gone.
Theres no chance of him coming back in time, I fear.
None; unless he prevails on some goose to lend him a pair of wings for a day or two. He wont be back from the hunt for three weeks good.
In a few minutes more the canoe skimmed up to the wharf.
Here, lads, cried Mr Stanley, as he leaped ashore and dragged the canoe out of the water; one of you come and lift this canoe up the bank, and take these geese to the kitchen.
Two of the men instantly hastened to obey, and Stanley, with the gun and paddles under his arm, proceeded towards the gateway of the fort. As he passed the group assembled on the wharf, he turned and said
Youll come to the hall in an hour, lads; I shall expect you to be ready with an answer by that time.
Ay, ay, sir, replied several of the men.
But we wont go for all your expectations, said one in an undertone to a comrade.
I should think not, whispered another.
Ill be hanged, and burnt, and frozen if I do, said a third.
In the meantime Mr Stanley walked briskly towards his dwelling, and left the men to grumble over their troubles and continue their debate as to whether they should or should not agree to go on the pending expedition to the distant regions of Ungava.
Chapter Three.
Shows how Stanley deigned to consult with womankindThe opinions of a child developedPersuasion failsExample triumphsThe first volunteers to Ungava
On reaching his apartment, which was in an angle of the principal edifice in the fort, Mr Stanley flung down his gun and paddles, and drawing a chair close to his wife, who was working with her needle near a window, took her hand in his and heaved a deep sigh.
Why, George, thats what you used to say to me when you were at a loss for words in the days of our courtship.
True, Jessie, he replied, patting her shoulder with a hand that rough service had rendered hard and long exposure had burnt brown. But the producing cause then was different from what it is now. Then it was love; now it is perplexity.
Stanleys wife was the daughter of English parents, who had settled many years ago in the fur countries. Being quite beyond the reach of any school, they had been obliged to undertake the instruction of their only child, Jessie, as they best could. At first this was an easy matter, but as years flew by, and little Jessies mind expanded, it was found to be a difficult matter to carry on her education in a country in most parts of which books were not to be had and schoolmasters did not exist. When the difficulty first presented itself, they talked of sending their little one to England to finish her education; but being unable to bring themselves to part with her, they resolved to have a choice selection of books sent out to them. Jessies mother was a clever, accomplished, and lady-like woman, and decidedly pious, so that the little flower, which was indeed born to blush unseen, grew up to be a gentle, affectionate womanone who was a lady in all her thoughts and actions, yet had never seen polite society, save that of her father and mother. In process of time Jessie became Mrs Stanley, and the mother of a little girl whose voice was, at the time her father entered, ringing cheerfully in an adjoining room. Mrs Stanleys nature was an earnest one, and she no sooner observed that her husband was worried about something, than she instantly dropped the light tone in which she at first addressed him.
And what perplexes you now, dear George? she said, laying down her work and looking up in his face with that straightforward, earnest gaze that in days of yore had set the stout backwoodsmans heart on fire, and still kept it in a perennial blaze.
Nothing very serious, he replied with a smile; only these fellows have taken it into their stupid heads that Ungava is worse than the land beyond the Styx; and so, after the tough battle that I had with you this morning in order to prevail on you to remain here for a winter without me, Ive had to fight another battle with them in order to get them to go on this expedition.
Have you been victorious? inquired Mrs Stanley.
No, not yet.
Do you really mean to say they are afraid to go? Has Prince refused? are François, Gaspard, and Massan cowards? she inquired, her eye kindling with indignation.
Nay, my wife, not so. These men are not cowards; nevertheless they dont feel inclined to go; and as for Dick Prince, he has been off hunting for a week, and I dont expect him back for three weeks at least, by which time we shall be off.
Mrs Stanley sighed, as if she felt the utter helplessness of woman in such affairs.
Why, Jessie, thats what you used to say to me when you were at a loss for words in the days of our courtship, said Stanley, smiling.
Ah, George, like you I may say that the cause is now perplexity; for what can I do to help you in your present difficulty?
Truly not much. But I like to tell you of my troubles, and to make more of them than they deserve, for the sake of drawing forth your sympathy. Bless your heart! he said, in a sudden burst of enthusiasm, I would gladly undergo any amount of trouble every day, if by so doing I should secure that earnest, loving, anxious gaze of your sweet blue eyes as a reward! Stanley imprinted a hearty kiss on his wifes cheek as he made this lover-like speech, and then rose to place his fowling-piece on the pegs from which it usually hung over the fireplace.
At that moment the door opened, and a little girl, with bright eyes and flaxen hair, bounded into the room.
O mamma, mamma! she said, holding up a sheet of paper, while a look of intense satisfaction beamed on her animated countenance, see, I have drawn Chimos portrait. Is it like, mamma? Do you think it like?
Come here, Eda, my darling, come to me, said Stanley, seating himself on a chair and extending his arms. Edith instantly left the portrait of the dog in her mothers possession, and, without waiting for an opinion as to its merits, ran to her father, jumped on his knee, threw her arms round his neck, and kissed him. Edith was by no means a beautiful child, but miserable indeed must have been the taste of him who would have pronounced her plain-looking. Her features were not regular; her nose had a strong tendency to what is called snubbed, and her mouth was large; but to counterbalance these defects she had a pair of large, deep-blue eyes, soft, golden hair, a fair, rosy complexion, and an expression of sweetness at the corners of her mouth that betrayed habitual good-nature. She was quick in all her movements, combined with a peculiar softness and grace of deportment that was exceedingly attractive.