An Odyssey of the North
The sleds were singing their eternal lament to the creaking of theharness and the tinkling bells of the leaders; but the men and dogswere tired and made no sound. The trail was heavy with new-fallen snow,and they had come far, and the runners, burdened with flint-likequarters of frozen moose, clung tenaciously to the unpacked surface andheld back with a stubbornness almost human.
Darkness was coming on, but there was no camp to pitch that night. Thesnow fell gently through the pulseless air, not in flakes, but in tinyfrost crystals of delicate design. It was very warm--barely ten belowzero--and the men did not mind. Meyers and Bettles had raised their earflaps, while Malemute Kid had even taken off his mittens.
The dogs had been fagged out early in the after noon, but they nowbegan to show new vigor. Among the more astute there was a certainrestlessness--an impatience at the restraint of the traces, anindecisive quickness of movement, a sniffing of snouts and pricking ofears. These became incensed at their more phlegmatic brothers, urgingthem on with numerous sly nips on their hinder quarters. Those, thuschidden, also contracted and helped spread the contagion. At last theleader of the foremost sled uttered a sharp whine of satisfaction,crouching lower in the snow and throwing himself against the collar.The rest followed suit.
There was an ingathering of back hands, a tightening of traces; thesleds leaped forward, and the men clung to the gee poles, violentlyaccelerating the uplift of their feet that they might escape goingunder the runners. The weariness of the day fell from them, and theywhooped encouragement to the dogs. The animals responded with joyousyelps. They were swinging through the gathering darkness at a rattlinggallop.
'Gee! Gee!' the men cried, each in turn, as their sleds abruptly leftthe main trail, heeling over on single runners like luggers on the wind.
Then came a hundred yards' dash to the lighted parchment window, whichtold its own story of the home cabin, the roaring Yukon stove, and thesteaming pots of tea. But the home cabin had been invaded. Threescorehuskies chorused defiance, and as many furry forms precipitatedthemselves upon the dogs which drew the first sled. The door was flungopen, and a man, clad in the scarlet tunic of the Northwest Police,waded knee-deep among the furious brutes, calmly and impartiallydispensing soothing justice with the butt end of a dog whip. After thatthe men shook hands; and in this wise was Malemute Kid welcomed to hisown cabin by a stranger.
Stanley Prince, who should have welcomed him, and who was responsiblefor the Yukon stove and hot tea aforementioned, was busy with hisguests. There were a dozen or so of them, as nondescript a crowd asever served the Queen in the enforcement of her laws or the delivery ofher mails. They were of many breeds, but their common life had formedof them a certain type--a lean and wiry type, with trail-hardenedmuscles, and sun-browned faces, and untroubled souls which gazedfrankly forth, clear-eyed and steady.
They drove the dogs of the Queen, wrought fear in the hearts of herenemies, ate of her meager fare, and were happy. They had seen life,and done deeds, and lived romances; but they did not know it.
And they were very much at home. Two of them were sprawled uponMalemute Kid's bunk, singing chansons which their French forebears sangin the days when first they entered the Northwest land and mated withits Indian women. Bettles' bunk had suffered a similar invasion, andthree or four lusty voyageurs worked their toes among its blankets asthey listened to the tale of one who had served on the boat brigadewith Wolseley when he fought his way to Khartoum.
And when he tired, a cowboy told of courts and kings and lords andladies he had seen when Buffalo Bill toured the capitals of Europe. Ina corner two half-breeds, ancient comrades in a lost campaign, mendedharnesses and talked of the days when the Northwest flamed withinsurrection and Louis Riel was king.
Rough jests and rougher jokes went up and down, and great hazards bytrail and river were spoken of in the light of commonplaces, only to berecalled by virtue of some grain of humor or ludicrous happening.Prince was led away by these uncrowned heroes who had seen historymade, who regarded the great and the romantic as but the ordinary andthe incidental in the routine of life. He passed his precious tobaccoamong them with lavish disregard, and rusty chains of reminiscence wereloosened, and forgotten odysseys resurrected for his especial benefit.
When conversation dropped and the travelers filled the last pipes andlashed their tight-rolled sleeping furs. Prince fell back upon hiscomrade for further information.
'Well, you know what the cowboy is,' Malemute Kid answered, beginningto unlace his moccasins; 'and it's not hard to guess the British bloodin his bed partner. As for the rest, they're all children of thecoureurs du bois, mingled with God knows how many other bloods. The twoturning in by the door are the regulation 'breeds' or Boisbrules. Thatlad with the worsted breech scarf--notice his eyebrows and the turn ofhis jaw--shows a Scotchman wept in his mother's smoky tepee. And thathandsome looking fellow putting the capote under his head is a Frenchhalf-breed--you heard him talking; he doesn't like the two Indiansturning in next to him. You see, when the 'breeds' rose under the Rielthe full-bloods kept the peace, and they've not lost much love for oneanother since.' 'But I say, what's that glum-looking fellow by thestove? I'll swear he can't talk English. He hasn't opened his mouth allnight.' 'You're wrong. He knows English well enough. Did you follow hiseyes when he listened? I did. But he's neither kith nor kin to theothers. When they talked their own patois you could see he didn'tunderstand. I've been wondering myself what he is. Let's find out.''Fire a couple of sticks into the stove!'
Malemute Kid commanded, raising his voice and looking squarely at theman in question.
He obeyed at once.
'Had discipline knocked into him somewhere.' Prince commented in a lowtone.
Malemute Kid nodded, took off his socks, and picked his way amongrecumbent men to the stove. There he hung his damp footgear among ascore or so of mates.
'When do you expect to get to Dawson?' he asked tentatively.
The man studied him a moment before replying. 'They say seventy-fivemile. So? Maybe two days.' The very slightest accent was perceptible,while there was no awkward hesitancy or groping for words.
'Been in the country before?' 'No.' 'Northwest Territory?' 'Yes.' 'Bornthere?' 'No.'
'Well, where the devil were you born? You're none of these.' MalemuteKid swept his hand over the dog drivers, even including the twopolicemen who had turned into Prince's bunk. 'Where did you come from?I've seen faces like yours before, though I can't remember just where.''I know you,' he irrelevantly replied, at once turning the drift ofMalemute Kid's questions.
'Where? Ever see me?' 'No; your partner, him priest, Pastilik, longtime ago. Him ask me if I see you, Malemute Kid. Him give me grub. I nostop long. You hear him speak 'bout me?' 'Oh! you're the fellow thattraded the otter skins for the dogs?' The man nodded, knocked out hispipe, and signified his disinclination for conversation by rolling upin his furs. Malemute Kid blew out the slush lamp and crawled under theblankets with Prince.
'Well, what is he?' 'Don't know--turned me off, somehow, and then shutup like a clam.
'But he's a fellow to whet your curiosity. I've heard of him. All thecoast wondered about him eight years ago. Sort of mysterious, you know.He came down out of the North in the dead of winter, many a thousandmiles from here, skirting Bering Sea and traveling as though the devilwere after him. No one ever learned where he came from, but he musthave come far. He was badly travel-worn when he got food from theSwedish missionary on Golovin Bay and asked the way south. We heard ofall this afterward. Then he abandoned the shore line, heading rightacross Norton Sound. Terrible weather, snowstorms and high winds, buthe pulled through where a thousand other men would have died, missingSt. Michaels and making the land at Pastilik. He'd lost all but twodogs, and was nearly gone with starvation.
'He was so anxious to go on that Father Roubeau fitted him out withgrub; but he couldn't let him have any dogs, for he was only waiting myarrival, to go on a trip himself. Mr. Ulysses
knew too much to start onwithout animals, and fretted around for several days. He had on hissled a bunch of beautifully cured otter skins, sea otters, you know,worth their weight in gold. There was also at Pastilik an old Shylockof a Russian trader, who had dogs to kill. Well, they didn't dickervery long, but when the Strange One headed south again, it was in therear of a spanking dog team. Mr. Shylock, by the way, had the otterskins. I saw them, and they were magnificent. We figured it up andfound the dogs brought him at least five hundred apiece. And it wasn'tas if the Strange One didn't know the value of sea otter; he was anIndian of some sort, and what little he talked showed he'd been amongwhite men.
'After the ice passed out of the sea, word came up from Nunivak Islandthat he'd gone in there for grub. Then he dropped from sight, and thisis the first heard of him in eight years. Now where did he come from?and what was he doing there? and why did he come from there? He'sIndian, he's been nobody knows where, and he's had discipline, which isunusual for an Indian. Another mystery of the North for you to solve,Prince.' 'Thanks awfully, but I've got too many on hand as it is,' hereplied.
Malemute Kid was already breathing heavily; but the young miningengineer gazed straight up through the thick darkness, waiting for thestrange orgasm which stirred his blood to die away. And when he didsleep, his brain worked on, and for the nonce he, too, wandered throughthe white unknown, struggled with the dogs on endless trails, and sawmen live, and toil, and die like men. The next morning, hours beforedaylight, the dog drivers and policemen pulled out for Dawson. But thepowers that saw to Her Majesty's interests and ruled the destinies ofher lesser creatures gave the mailmen little rest, for a week laterthey appeared at Stuart River, heavily burdened with letters for SaltWater.
However, their dogs had been replaced by fresh ones; but, then, theywere dogs.
The men had expected some sort of a layover in which to rest up;besides, this Klondike was a new section of the Northland, and they hadwished to see a little something of the Golden City where dust flowedlike water and dance halls rang with never-ending revelry. But theydried their socks and smoked their evening pipes with much the samegusto as on their former visit, though one or two bold spiritsspeculated on desertion and the possibility of crossing the unexploredRockies to the east, and thence, by the Mackenzie Valley, of gainingtheir old stamping grounds in the Chippewyan country.
Two or three even decided to return to their homes by that route whentheir terms of service had expired, and they began to lay plansforthwith, looking forward to the hazardous undertaking in much thesame way a city-bred man would to a day's holiday in the woods.
He of the Otter Skins seemed very restless, though he took littleinterest in the discussion, and at last he drew Malemute Kid to oneside and talked for some time in low tones.
Prince cast curious eyes in their direction, and the mystery deepenedwhen they put on caps and mittens and went outside. When they returned,Malemute Kid placed his gold scales on the table, weighed out thematter of sixty ounces, and transferred them to the Strange One's sack.Then the chief of the dog drivers joined the conclave, and certainbusiness was transacted with him.
The next day the gang went on upriver, but He of the Otter Skins tookseveral pounds of grub and turned his steps back toward Dawson.
'Didn't know what to make of it,' said Malemute Kid in response toPrince's queries; 'but the poor beggar wanted to be quit of the servicefor some reason or other--at least it seemed a most important one tohim, though he wouldn't let on what. You see, it's just like the army:he signed for two years, and the only way to get free was to buyhimself out. He couldn't desert and then stay here, and he was justwild to remain in the country.
'Made up his mind when he got to Dawson, he said; but no one knew him,hadn't a cent, and I was the only one he'd spoken two words with. So hetalked it over with the lieutenant-governor, and made arrangements incase he could get the money from me--loan, you know. Said he'd pay backin the year, and, if I wanted, would put me onto something rich.Never'd seen it, but he knew it was rich.
'And talk! why, when he got me outside he was ready to weep. Begged andpleaded; got down in the snow to me till I hauled him out of it.Palavered around like a crazy man.
'Swore he's worked to this very end for years and years, and couldn'tbear to be disappointed now. Asked him what end, but he wouldn't say.
'Said they might keep him on the other half of the trail and hewouldn't get to Dawson in two years, and then it would be too late.Never saw a man take on so in my life. And when I said I'd let him haveit, had to yank him out of the snow again. Told him to consider it inthe light of a grubstake. Think he'd have it? No sir! Swore he'd giveme all he found, make me rich beyond the dreams of avarice, and allsuch stuff. Now a man who puts his life and time against a grubstakeordinarily finds it hard enough to turn over half of what he finds.Something behind all this, Prince; just you make a note of it. We'llhear of him if he stays in the country--' 'And if he doesn't?' 'Then mygood nature gets a shock, and I'm sixty some odd ounces out.' The coldweather had come on with the long nights, and the sun had begun to playhis ancient game of peekaboo along the southern snow line ere aught washeard of Malemute Kid's grubstake. And then, one bleak morning in earlyJanuary, a heavily laden dog train pulled into his cabin below StuartRiver. He of the Otter Skins was there, and with him walked a man suchas the gods have almost forgotten how to fashion. Men never talked ofluck and pluck and five-hundred-dollar dirt without bringing in thename of Axel Gunderson; nor could tales of nerve or strength or daringpass up and down the campfire without the summoning of his presence.And when the conversation flagged, it blazed anew at mention of thewoman who shared his fortunes.
As has been noted, in the making of Axel Gunderson the gods hadremembered their old-time cunning and cast him after the manner of menwho were born when the world was young. Full seven feet he towered inhis picturesque costume which marked a king of Eldorado. His chest,neck, and limbs were those of a giant. To bear his three hundred poundsof bone and muscle, his snowshoes were greater by a generous yard thanthose of other men. Rough-hewn, with rugged brow and massive jaw andunflinching eyes of palest blue, his face told the tale of one who knewbut the law of might. Of the yellow of ripe corn silk, hisfrost-incrusted hair swept like day across the night and fell far downhis coat of bearskin.
A vague tradition of the sea seemed to cling about him as he swung downthe narrow trail in advance of the dogs; and he brought the butt of hisdog whip against Malemute Kid's door as a Norse sea rover, on southernforay, might thunder for admittance at the castle gate.
Prince bared his womanly arms and kneaded sour-dough bread, casting, ashe did so, many a glance at the three guests--three guests the like ofwhich might never come under a man's roof in a lifetime. The StrangeOne, whom Malemute Kid had surnamed Ulysses, still fascinated him; buthis interest chiefly gravitated between Axel Gunderson and AxelGunderson's wife. She felt the day's journey, for she had softened incomfortable cabins during the many days since her husband mastered thewealth of frozen pay streaks, and she was tired. She rested against hisgreat breast like a slender flower against a wall, replying lazily toMalemute Kid's good-natured banter, and stirring Prince's bloodstrangely with an occasional sweep of her deep, dark eyes. For Princewas a man, and healthy, and had seen few women in many months. And shewas older than he, and an Indian besides. But she was different fromall native wives he had met: she had traveled--had been in his countryamong others, he gathered from the conversation; and she knew most ofthe things the women of his own race knew, and much more that it wasnot in the nature of things for them to know. She could make a meal ofsun-dried fish or a bed in the snow; yet she teased them withtantalizing details of many-course dinners, and caused strange internaldissensions to arise at the mention of various quondam dishes whichthey had well-nigh forgotten. She knew the ways of the moose, the bear,and the little blue fox, and of the wild amphibians of the Northernseas; she was skilled in the lore of the woods, and the streams, andthe tale writ by man and bird an
d beast upon the delicate snow crustwas to her an open book; yet Prince caught the appreciative twinkle inher eye as she read the Rules of the Camp. These rules had beenfathered by the Unquenchable Bettles at a time when his blood ran high,and were remarkable for the terse simplicity of their humor.
Prince always turned them to the wall before the arrival of ladies; butwho could suspect that this native wife--Well, it was too late now.
This, then, was the wife of Axel Gunderson, a woman whose name and famehad traveled with her husband's, hand in hand, through all theNorthland. At table, Malemute Kid baited her with the assurance of anold friend, and Prince shook off the shyness of first acquaintance andjoined in. But she held her own in the unequal contest, while herhusband, slower in wit, ventured naught but applause. And he was veryproud of her; his every look and action revealed the magnitude of theplace she occupied in his life. He of the Otter Skins ate in silence,forgotten in the merry battle; and long ere the others were done hepushed back from the table and went out among the dogs. Yet all toosoon his fellow travelers drew on their mittens and parkas and followedhim.
There had been no snow for many days, and the sleds slipped along thehardpacked Yukon trail as easily as if it had been glare ice. Ulyssesled the first sled; with the second came Prince and Axel Gunderson'swife; while Malemute Kid and the yellow-haired giant brought up thethird.
'It's only a hunch, Kid,' he said, 'but I think it's straight. He'snever been there, but he tells a good story, and shows a map I heard ofwhen I was in the Kootenay country years ago. I'd like to have you goalong; but he's a strange one, and swore point-blank to throw it up ifanyone was brought in. But when I come back you'll get first tip, andI'll stake you next to me, and give you a half share in the town sitebesides.' 'No! no!' he cried, as the other strove to interrupt. 'I'mrunning this, and before I'm done it'll need two heads.
'If it's all right, why, it'll be a second Cripple Creek, man; do youhear?--a second Cripple Creek! It's quartz, you know, not placer; andif we work it right we'll corral the whole thing--millions uponmillions. I've heard of the place before, and so have you. We'll builda town--thousands of workmen--good waterways--steamship lines--bigcarrying trade--light-draught steamers for head reaches--survey arailroad, perhaps--sawmills--electric-light plant--do our ownbanking--commercial company--syndicate--Say! Just you hold your hushtill I get back!' The sleds came to a halt where the trail crossed themouth of Stuart River. An unbroken sea of frost, its wide expansestretched away into the unknown east.
The snowshoes were withdrawn from the lashings of the sleds. AxelGunderson shook hands and stepped to the fore, his great webbed shoessinking a fair half yard into the feathery surface and packing the snowso the dogs should not wallow. His wife fell in behind the last sled,betraying long practice in the art of handling the awkward footgear.The stillness was broken with cheery farewells; the dogs whined; and Heof the Otter Skins talked with his whip to a recalcitrant wheeler.
An hour later the train had taken on the likeness of a black pencilcrawling in a long, straight line across a mighty sheet of foolscap.
II
One night, many weeks later, Malemute Kid and Prince fell to solvingchess problems from the torn page of an ancient magazine. The Kid hadjust returned from his Bonanza properties and was resting uppreparatory to a long moose hunt.
Prince, too, had been on creek and trail nearly all winter, and hadgrown hungry for a blissful week of cabin life.
'Interpose the black knight, and force the king. No, that won't do.See, the next move-'
'Why advance the pawn two squares? Bound to take it in transit, andwith the bishop out of the way-' 'But hold on! That leaves a hole,and-' 'No; it's protected. Go ahead! You'll see it works.' It was veryinteresting. Somebody knocked at the door a second time before MalemuteKid said, 'Come in.' The door swung open. Something staggered in.
Prince caught one square look and sprang to his feet. The horror in hiseyes caused Malemute Kid to whirl about; and he, too, was startled,though he had seen bad things before. The thing tottered blindly towardthem. Prince edged away till he reached the nail from which hung hisSmith & Wesson.
'My God! what is it?' he whispered to Malemute Kid.
'Don't know. Looks like a case of freezing and no grub,' replied theKid, sliding away in the opposite direction. 'Watch out! It may bemad,' he warned, coming back from closing the door.
The thing advanced to the table. The bright flame of the slush lampcaught its eye. It was amused, and gave voice to eldritch cackles whichbetokened mirth.
Then, suddenly, he--for it was a man--swayed back, with a hitch to hisskin trousers, and began to sing a chantey, such as men lift when theyswing around the capstan circle and the sea snorts in their ears:Yan-kee ship come down de ri-ib-er, Pull! my bully boys! Pull! D'yehwant--to know de captain ru-uns her? Pull! my bully boys! Pull!Jon-a-than Jones ob South Caho-li-in-a, Pull! my bully. He broke offabruptly, tottered with a wolfish snarl to the meat shelf, and beforethey could intercept was tearing with his teeth at a chunk of rawbacon. The struggle was fierce between him and Malemute Kid; but hismad strength left him as suddenly as it had come, and he weaklysurrendered the spoil. Between them they got him upon a stool, where hesprawled with half his body across the table.
A small dose of whiskey strengthened him, so that he could dip a spooninto the sugar caddy which Malemute Kid placed before him. After hisappetite had been somewhat cloyed, Prince, shuddering as he did so,passed him a mug of weak beef tea.
The creature's eyes were alight with a somber frenzy, which blazed andwaned with every mouthful. There was very little skin to the face. Theface, for that matter, sunken and emaciated, bore little likeness tohuman countenance.
Frost after frost had bitten deeply, each depositing its stratum ofscab upon the half-healed scar that went before. This dry, hard surfacewas of a bloody-black color, serrated by grievous cracks wherein theraw red flesh peeped forth. His skin garments were dirty and intatters, and the fur of one side was singed and burned away, showingwhere he had lain upon his fire.
Malemute Kid pointed to where the sun-tanned hide had been cut away,strip by strip--the grim signature of famine.
'Who--are--you?' slowly and distinctly enunciated the Kid.
The man paid no heed.
'Where do you come from?' 'Yan-kee ship come down de ri-ib-er,' was thequavering response.
'Don't doubt the beggar came down the river,' the Kid said, shaking himin an endeavor to start a more lucid flow of talk.
But the man shrieked at the contact, clapping a hand to his side inevident pain. He rose slowly to his feet, half leaning on the table.
'She laughed at me--so--with the hate in her eye; andshe--would--not--come.' His voice died away, and he was sinking backwhen Malemute Kid gripped him by the wrist and shouted, 'Who? Who wouldnot come?' 'She, Unga. She laughed, and struck at me, so, and so. Andthen-' 'Yes?'
'And then--' 'And then what?' 'And then he lay very still in the snow along time. He is-still in--the--snow.' The two men looked at each otherhelplessly.
'Who is in the snow?' 'She, Unga. She looked at me with the hate in hereye, and then--'
'Yes, yes.' 'And then she took the knife, so; and once, twice--she wasweak. I traveled very slow. And there is much gold in that place, verymuch gold.' 'Where is Unga?' For all Malemute Kid knew, she might bedying a mile away. He shook the man savagely, repeating again andagain, 'Where is Unga? Who is Unga?' 'She--is--in--the--snow.' 'Go on!'The Kid was pressing his wrist cruelly.
'So--I--would--be--in--the snow--but--I--had--a--debt--to--pay.It--was--heavy--I--had--a-debt--to--pay--a--debt--to--pay I--had-' Thefaltering monosyllables ceased as he fumbled in his pouch and drewforth a buckskin sack. 'A--debt--to--pay--five--pounds--of--gold-grub--stake--Mal--e--mute--Kid--I--y--' The exhausted head dropped upon thetable; nor could Malemute Kid rouse it again.
'It's Ulysses,' he said quietly, tossing the bag of dust on the table.'Guess it's all day with Axel Gunderson and the woman. Come on, let'sget
him between the blankets. He's Indian; he'll pull through and tella tale besides.' As they cut his garments from him, near his rightbreast could be seen two unhealed, hard-lipped knife thrusts.
III
'I will talk of the things which were in my own way; but you willunderstand. I will begin at the beginning, and tell of myself and thewoman, and, after that, of the man.' He of the Otter Skins drew over tothe stove as do men who have been deprived of fire and are afraid thePromethean gift may vanish at any moment. Malemute Kid picked up theslush lamp and placed it so its light might fall upon the face of thenarrator. Prince slid his body over the edge of the bunk and joinedthem.
'I am Naass, a chief, and the son of a chief, born between a sunset anda rising, on the dark seas, in my father's oomiak. All of a night themen toiled at the paddles, and the women cast out the waves which threwin upon us, and we fought with the storm. The salt spray froze upon mymother's breast till her breath passed with the passing of the tide.But I--I raised my voice with the wind and the storm, and lived.
'We dwelt in Akatan--' 'Where?' asked Malemute Kid.
'Akatan, which is in the Aleutians; Akatan, beyond Chignik, beyondKardalak, beyond Unimak. As I say, we dwelt in Akatan, which lies inthe midst of the sea on the edge of the world. We farmed the salt seasfor the fish, the seal, and the otter; and our homes shouldered aboutone another on the rocky strip between the rim of the forest and theyellow beach where our kayaks lay. We were not many, and the world wasvery small. There were strange lands to the east--islands like Akatan;so we thought all the world was islands and did not mind.
'I was different from my people. In the sands of the beach were thecrooked timbers and wave-warped planks of a boat such as my peoplenever built; and I remember on the point of the island which overlookedthe ocean three ways there stood a pine tree which never grew there,smooth and straight and tall. It is said the two men came to that spot,turn about, through many days, and watched with the passing of thelight. These two men came from out of the sea in the boat which lay inpieces on the beach. And they were white like you, and weak as thelittle children when the seal have gone away and the hunters come homeempty. I know of these things from the old men and the old women, whogot them from their fathers and mothers before them. These strangewhite men did not take kindly to our ways at first, but they grewstrong, what of the fish and the oil, and fierce. And they built themeach his own house, and took the pick of our women, and in timechildren came. Thus he was born who was to become the father of myfather's father.
'As I said, I was different from my people, for I carried the strong,strange blood of this white man who came out of the sea. It is said wehad other laws in the days before these men; but they were fierce andquarrelsome, and fought with our men till there were no more left whodared to fight. Then they made themselves chiefs, and took away our oldlaws, and gave us new ones, insomuch that the man was the son of hisfather, and not his mother, as our way had been. They also ruled thatthe son, first-born, should have all things which were his father'sbefore him, and that the brothers and sisters should shift forthemselves. And they gave us other laws. They showed us new ways in thecatching of fish and the killing of bear which were thick in the woods;and they taught us to lay by bigger stores for the time of famine. Andthese things were good.
'But when they had become chiefs, and there were no more men to facetheir anger, they fought, these strange white men, each with the other.And the one whose blood I carry drove his seal spear the length of anarm through the other's body. Their children took up the fight, andtheir children's children; and there was great hatred between them, andblack doings, even to my time, so that in each family but one lived topass down the blood of them that went before. Of my blood I was alone;of the other man's there was but a girl. Unga, who lived with hermother. Her father and my father did not come back from the fishing onenight; but afterward they washed up to the beach on the big tides, andthey held very close to each other.
'The people wondered, because of the hatred between the houses, and theold men shook their heads and said the fight would go on when childrenwere born to her and children to me. They told me this as a boy, till Icame to believe, and to look upon Unga as a foe, who was to be themother of children which were to fight with mine. I thought of thesethings day by day, and when I grew to a stripling I came to ask whythis should be so.
'And they answered, "We do not know, but that in such way your fathersdid." And I marveled that those which were to come should fight thebattles of those that were gone, and in it I could see no right. Butthe people said it must be, and I was only a stripling.
'And they said I must hurry, that my blood might be the older and growstrong before hers. This was easy, for I was head man, and the peoplelooked up to me because of the deeds and the laws of my fathers, andthe wealth which was mine. Any maiden would come to me, but I foundnone to my liking. And the old men and the mothers of maidens told meto hurry, for even then were the hunters bidding high to the mother ofUnga; and should her children grow strong before mine, mine wouldsurely die.
'Nor did I find a maiden till one night coming back from the fishing.The sunlight was lying, so, low and full in the eyes, the wind free,and the kayacks racing with the white seas. Of a sudden the kayak ofUnga came driving past me, and she looked upon me, so, with her blackhair flying like a cloud of night and the spray wet on her cheek. As Isay, the sunlight was full in the eyes, and I was a stripling; butsomehow it was all clear, and I knew it to be the call of kind to kind.
'As she whipped ahead she looked back within the space of twostrokes--looked as only the woman Unga could look--and again I knew itas the call of kind. The people shouted as we ripped past the lazyoomiaks and left them far behind. But she was quick at the paddle, andmy heart was like the belly of a sail, and I did not gain. The windfreshened, the sea whitened, and, leaping like the seals on thewindward breech, we roared down the golden pathway of the sun.' Naasswas crouched half out of his stool, in the attitude of one driving apaddle, as he ran the race anew. Somewhere across the stove he beheldthe tossing kayak and the flying hair of Unga. The voice of the windwas in his ears, and its salt beat fresh upon his nostrils.
'But she made the shore, and ran up the sand, laughing, to the house ofher mother. And a great thought came to me that night--a thought worthyof him that was chief over all the people of Akatan. So, when the moonwas up, I went down to the house of her mother, and looked upon thegoods of Yash-Noosh, which were piled by the door--the goods ofYash-Noosh, a strong hunter who had it in mind to be the father of thechildren of Unga. Other young men had piled their goods there and takenthem away again; and each young man had made a pile greater than theone before.
'And I laughed to the moon and the stars, and went to my own housewhere my wealth was stored. And many trips I made, till my pile wasgreater by the fingers of one hand than the pile of Yash-Noosh. Therewere fish, dried in the sun and smoked; and forty hides of the hairseal, and half as many of the fur, and each hide was tied at the mouthand big bellied with oil; and ten skins of bear which I killed in thewoods when they came out in the spring. And there were beads andblankets and scarlet cloths, such as I got in trade from the people wholived to the east, and who got them in trade from the people who livedstill beyond in the east.
'And I looked upon the pile of Yash-Noosh and laughed, for I was headman in Akatan, and my wealth was greater than the wealth of all myyoung men, and my fathers had done deeds, and given laws, and put theirnames for all time in the mouths of the people.
'So, when the morning came, I went down to the beach, casting out ofthe corner of my eye at the house of the mother of Unga. My offer yetstood untouched.
'And the women smiled, and said sly things one to the other. Iwondered, for never had such a price been offered; and that night Iadded more to the pile, and put beside it a kayak of well-tanned skinswhich never yet had swam in the sea. But in the day it was yet there,open to the laughter of all men. The mother of Unga was crafty, and Igrew angry at the sh
ame in which I stood before my people. So thatnight I added till it became a great pile, and I hauled up my oomiak,which was of the value of twenty kayaks. And in the morning there wasno pile.
'Then made I preparation for the wedding, and the people that livedeven to the east came for the food of the feast and the potlatch token.Unga was older than I by the age of four suns in the way we reckonedthe years. I was only a stripling; but then I was a chief, and the sonof a chief, and it did not matter.
'But a ship shoved her sails above the floor of the ocean, and grewlarger with the breath of the wind. From her scuppers she ran clearwater, and the men were in haste and worked hard at the pumps. On thebow stood a mighty man, watching the depth of the water and givingcommands with a voice of thunder. His eyes were of the pale blue of thedeep waters, and his head was maned like that of a sea lion. And hishair was yellow, like the straw of a southern harvest or the manilarope yarns which sailormen plait.
'Of late years we had seen ships from afar, but this was the first tocome to the beach of Akatan. The feast was broken, and the women andchildren fled to the houses, while we men strung our bows and waitedwith spears in hand. But when the ship's forefoot smelled the beach thestrange men took no notice of us, being busy with their own work. Withthe falling of the tide they careened the schooner and patched a greathole in her bottom. So the women crept back, and the feast went on.
'When the tide rose, the sea wanderers kedged the schooner to deepwater and then came among us. They bore presents and were friendly; soI made room for them, and out of the largeness of my heart gave themtokens such as I gave all the guests, for it was my wedding day, and Iwas head man in Akatan. And he with the mane of the sea lion was there,so tall and strong that one looked to see the earth shake with the fallof his feet. He looked much and straight at Unga, with his arms folded,so, and stayed till the sun went away and the stars came out. Then hewent down to his ship. After that I took Unga by the hand and led herto my own house. And there was singing and great laughter, and thewomen said sly things, after the manner of women at such times. But wedid not care. Then the people left us alone and went home.
'The last noise had not died away when the chief of the sea wandererscame in by the door. And he had with him black bottles, from which wedrank and made merry. You see, I was only a stripling, and had livedall my days on the edge of the world. So my blood became as fire, andmy heart as light as the froth that flies from the surf to the cliff.Unga sat silent among the skins in the corner, her eyes wide, for sheseemed to fear. And he with the mane of the sea lion looked upon herstraight and long. Then his men came in with bundles of goods, and hepiled before me wealth such as was not in all Akatan. There were guns,both large and small, and powder and shot and shell, and bright axesand knives of steel, and cunning tools, and strange things the like ofwhich I had never seen. When he showed me by sign that it was all mine,I thought him a great man to be so free; but he showed me also thatUnga was to go away with him in his ship.
'Do you understand?--that Unga was to go away with him in his ship. Theblood of my fathers flamed hot on the sudden, and I made to drive himthrough with my spear. But the spirit of the bottles had stolen thelife from my arm, and he took me by the neck, so, and knocked my headagainst the wall of the house. And I was made weak like a newbornchild, and my legs would no more stand under me.
'Unga screamed, and she laid hold of the things of the house with herhands, till they fell all about us as he dragged her to the door. Thenhe took her in his great arms, and when she tore at his yellow hairlaughed with a sound like that of the big bull seal in the rut.
'I crawled to the beach and called upon my people, but they wereafraid. Only Yash-Noosh was a man, and they struck him on the head withan oar, till he lay with his face in the sand and did not move. Andthey raised the sails to the sound of their songs, and the ship wentaway on the wind.
'The people said it was good, for there would be no more war of thebloods in Akatan; but I said never a word, waiting till the time of thefull moon, when I put fish and oil in my kayak and went away to theeast. I saw many islands and many people, and I, who had lived on theedge, saw that the world was very large. I talked by signs; but theyhad not seen a schooner nor a man with the mane of a sea lion, and theypointed always to the east. And I slept in queer places, and ate oddthings, and met strange faces. Many laughed, for they thought me lightof head; but sometimes old men turned my face to the light and blessedme, and the eyes of the young women grew soft as they asked me of thestrange ship, and Unga, and the men of the sea.
'And in this manner, through rough seas and great storms, I came toUnalaska. There were two schooners there, but neither was the one Isought. So I passed on to the east, with the world growing ever larger,and in the island of Unamok there was no word of the ship, nor inKadiak, nor in Atognak. And so I came one day to a rocky land, wheremen dug great holes in the mountain. And there was a schooner, but notmy schooner, and men loaded upon it the rocks which they dug. This Ithought childish, for all the world was made of rocks; but they gave mefood and set me to work. When the schooner was deep in the water, thecaptain gave me money and told me to go; but I asked which way he went,and he pointed south. I made signs that I would go with him, and helaughed at first, but then, being short of men, took me to help workthe ship. So I came to talk after their manner, and to heave on ropes,and to reef the stiff sails in sudden squalls, and to take my turn atthe wheel. But it was not strange, for the blood of my fathers was theblood of the men of the sea.
'I had thought it an easy task to find him I sought, once I got amonghis own people; and when we raised the land one day, and passed betweena gateway of the sea to a port, I looked for perhaps as many schoonersas there were fingers to my hands. But the ships lay against thewharves for miles, packed like so many little fish; and when I wentamong them to ask for a man with the mane of a sea lion, they laughed,and answered me in the tongues of many peoples. And I found that theyhailed from the uttermost parts of the earth.
'And I went into the city to look upon the face of every man. But theywere like the cod when they run thick on the banks, and I could notcount them. And the noise smote upon me till I could not hear, and myhead was dizzy with much movement. So I went on and on, through thelands which sang in the warm sunshine; where the harvests lay rich onthe plains; and where great cities were fat with men that lived likewomen, with false words in their mouths and their hearts black with thelust of gold. And all the while my people of Akatan hunted and fished,and were happy in the thought that the world was small.
'But the look in the eyes of Unga coming home from the fishing was withme always, and I knew I would find her when the time was met. Shewalked down quiet lanes in the dusk of the evening, or led me chasesacross the thick fields wet with the morning dew, and there was apromise in her eyes such as only the woman Unga could give.
'So I wandered through a thousand cities. Some were gentle and gave mefood, and others laughed, and still others cursed; but I kept my tonguebetween my teeth, and went strange ways and saw strange sights.Sometimes I, who was a chief and the son of a chief, toiled formen--men rough of speech and hard as iron, who wrung gold from thesweat and sorrow of their fellow men. Yet no word did I get of my questtill I came back to the sea like a homing seal to the rookeries.
'But this was at another port, in another country which lay to thenorth. And there I heard dim tales of the yellow-haired sea wanderer,and I learned that he was a hunter of seals, and that even then he wasabroad on the ocean.
'So I shipped on a seal schooner with the lazy Siwashes, and followedhis trackless trail to the north where the hunt was then warm. And wewere away weary months, and spoke many of the fleet, and heard much ofthe wild doings of him I sought; but never once did we raise him abovethe sea. We went north, even to the Pribilofs, and killed the seals inherds on the beach, and brought their warm bodies aboard till ourscuppers ran grease and blood and no man could stand upon the deck.Then were we chased by a ship of slow steam, which fired u
pon us withgreat guns. But we put sail till the sea was over our decks and washedthem clean, and lost ourselves in a fog.
'It is said, at this time, while we fled with fear at our hearts, thatthe yellow-haired sea wanderer put in to the Pribilofs, right to thefactory, and while the part of his men held the servants of thecompany, the rest loaded ten thousand green skins from the salt houses.I say it is said, but I believe; for in the voyages I made on the coastwith never a meeting the northern seas rang with his wildness anddaring, till the three nations which have lands there sought him withtheir ships.
'And I heard of Unga, for the captains sang loud in her praise, and shewas always with him. She had learned the ways of his people, they said,and was happy. But I knew better--knew that her heart harked back toher own people by the yellow beach of Akatan.
'So, after a long time, I went back to the port which is by a gatewayof the sea, and there I learned that he had gone across the girth ofthe great ocean to hunt for the seal to the east of the warm land whichruns south from the Russian seas.
'And I, who was become a sailorman, shipped with men of his own race,and went after him in the hunt of the seal. And there were few shipsoff that new land; but we hung on the flank of the seal pack andharried it north through all the spring of the year. And when the cowswere heavy with pup and crossed the Russian line, our men grumbled andwere afraid. For there was much fog, and every day men were lost in theboats. They would not work, so the captain turned the ship back towardthe way it came. But I knew the yellow-haired sea wanderer wasunafraid, and would hang by the pack, even to the Russian Isles, wherefew men go. So I took a boat, in the black of night, when the lookoutdozed on the fo'c'slehead, and went alone to the warm, long land. And Ijourneyed south to meet the men by Yeddo Bay, who are wild andunafraid. And the Yoshiwara girls were small, and bright like steel,and good to look upon; but I could not stop, for I knew that Ungarolled on the tossing floor by the rookeries of the north.
'The men by Yeddo Bay had met from the ends of the earth, and hadneither gods nor homes, sailing under the flag of the Japanese. Andwith them I went to the rich beaches of Copper Island, where our saltpiles became high with skins.
'And in that silent sea we saw no man till we were ready to come away.Then one day the fog lifted on the edge of a heavy wind, and therejammed down upon us a schooner, with close in her wake the cloudyfunnels of a Russian man-of-war. We fled away on the beam of the wind,with the schooner jamming still closer and plunging ahead three feet toour two. And upon her poop was the man with the mane of the sea lion,pressing the rails under with the canvas and laughing in his strengthof life. And Unga was there--I knew her on the moment--but he sent herbelow when the cannons began to talk across the sea.
As I say, with three feet to our two, till we saw the rudder lift greenat every jump--and I swinging on to the wheel and cursing, with my backto the Russian shot. For we knew he had it in mind to run before us,that he might get away while we were caught. And they knocked our mastsout of us till we dragged into the wind like a wounded gull; but hewent on over the edge of the sky line--he and Unga.
'What could we? The fresh hides spoke for themselves. So they took usto a Russian port, and after that to a lone country, where they set usto work in the mines to dig salt. And some died, and--and some did notdie.' Naass swept the blanket from his shoulders, disclosing thegnarled and twisted flesh, marked with the unmistakable striations ofthe knout. Prince hastily covered him, for it was not nice to look upon.
'We were there a weary time and sometimes men got away to the south,but they always came back. So, when we who hailed from Yeddo Bay rosein the night and took the guns from the guards, we went to the north.And the land was very large, with plains, soggy with water, and greatforests. And the cold came, with much snow on the ground, and no manknew the way. Weary months we journeyed through the endless forest--Ido not remember, now, for there was little food and often we lay downto die. But at last we came to the cold sea, and but three were left tolook upon it. One had shipped from Yeddo as captain, and he knew in hishead the lay of the great lands, and of the place where men may crossfrom one to the other on the ice. And he led us--I do not know, it wasso long--till there were but two. When we came to that place we foundfive of the strange people which live in that country, and they haddogs and skins, and we were very poor. We fought in the snow till theydied, and the captain died, and the dogs and skins were mine. Then Icrossed on the ice, which was broken, and once I drifted till a galefrom the west put me upon the shore. And after that, Golovin Bay,Pastilik, and the priest. Then south, south, to the warm sunlands wherefirst I wandered.
'But the sea was no longer fruitful, and those who went upon it afterthe seal went to little profit and great risk. The fleets scattered,and the captains and the men had no word of those I sought. So I turnedaway from the ocean which never rests, and went among the lands, wherethe trees, the houses, and the mountains sit always in one place and donot move. I journeyed far, and came to learn many things, even to theway of reading and writing from books. It was well I should do this,for it came upon me that Unga must know these things, and that someday,when the time was met--we--you understand, when the time was met.
'So I drifted, like those little fish which raise a sail to the windbut cannot steer. But my eyes and my ears were open always, and I wentamong men who traveled much, for I knew they had but to see those Isought to remember. At last there came a man, fresh from the mountains,with pieces of rock in which the free gold stood to the size of peas,and he had heard, he had met, he knew them. They were rich, he said,and lived in the place where they drew the gold from the ground.
'It was in a wild country, and very far away; but in time I came to thecamp, hidden between the mountains, where men worked night and day, outof the sight of the sun. Yet the time was not come. I listened to thetalk of the people. He had gone away--they had gone away--to England,it was said, in the matter of bringing men with much money together toform companies. I saw the house they had lived in; more like a palace,such as one sees in the old countries. In the nighttime I crept inthrough a window that I might see in what manner he treated her. I wentfrom room to room, and in such way thought kings and queens must live,it was all so very good. And they all said he treated her like a queen,and many marveled as to what breed of woman she was for there was otherblood in her veins, and she was different from the women of Akatan, andno one knew her for what she was. Aye, she was a queen; but I was achief, and the son of a chief, and I had paid for her an untold priceof skin and boat and bead.
'But why so many words? I was a sailorman, and knew the way of theships on the seas. I followed to England, and then to other countries.Sometimes I heard of them by word of mouth, sometimes I read of them inthe papers; yet never once could I come by them, for they had muchmoney, and traveled fast, while I was a poor man. Then came troubleupon them, and their wealth slipped away one day like a curl of smoke.The papers were full of it at the time; but after that nothing wassaid, and I knew they had gone back where more gold could be got fromthe ground.
'They had dropped out of the world, being now poor, and so I wanderedfrom camp to camp, even north to the Kootenay country, where I pickedup the cold scent. They had come and gone, some said this way, and somethat, and still others that they had gone to the country of the Yukon.And I went this way, and I went that, ever journeying from place toplace, till it seemed I must grow weary of the world which was solarge. But in the Kootenay I traveled a bad trail, and a long trail,with a breed of the Northwest, who saw fit to die when the faminepinched. He had been to the Yukon by an unknown way over the mountains,and when he knew his time was near gave me the map and the secret of aplace where he swore by his gods there was much gold.
'After that all the world began to flock into the north. I was a poorman; I sold myself to be a driver of dogs. The rest you know. I met himand her in Dawson.
'She did not know me, for I was only a stripling, and her life had beenlarge, so she had no time to remember the
one who had paid for her anuntold price.
'So? You bought me from my term of service. I went back to bring thingsabout in my own way, for I had waited long, and now that I had my handupon him was in no hurry.
'As I say, I had it in mind to do my own way, for I read back in mylife, through all I had seen and suffered, and remembered the cold andhunger of the endless forest by the Russian seas. As you know, I ledhim into the east--him and Unga--into the east where many have gone andfew returned. I led them to the spot where the bones and the curses ofmen lie with the gold which they may not have.
'The way was long and the trail unpacked. Our dogs were many and atemuch; nor could our sleds carry till the break of spring. We must comeback before the river ran free. So here and there we cached grub, thatour sleds might be lightened and there be no chance of famine on theback trip. At the McQuestion there were three men, and near them webuilt a cache, as also did we at the Mayo, where was a hunting camp ofa dozen Pellys which had crossed the divide from the south.
'After that, as we went on into the east, we saw no men; only thesleeping river, the moveless forest, and the White Silence of theNorth. As I say, the way was long and the trail unpacked. Sometimes, ina day's toil, we made no more than eight miles, or ten, and at night weslept like dead men. And never once did they dream that I was Naass,head man of Akatan, the righter of wrongs.
'We now made smaller caches, and in the nighttime it was a small matterto go back on the trail we had broken and change them in such way thatone might deem the wolverines the thieves. Again there be places wherethere is a fall to the river, and the water is unruly, and the icemakes above and is eaten away beneath.
'In such a spot the sled I drove broke through, and the dogs; and tohim and Unga it was ill luck, but no more. And there was much grub onthat sled, and the dogs the strongest.
'But he laughed, for he was strong of life, and gave the dogs that wereleft little grub till we cut them from the harnesses one by one and fedthem to their mates. We would go home light, he said, traveling andeating from cache to cache, with neither dogs nor sleds; which wastrue, for our grub was very short, and the last dog died in the tracesthe night we came to the gold and the bones and the curses of men.
'To reach that place--and the map spoke true--in the heart of the greatmountains, we cut ice steps against the wall of a divide. One lookedfor a valley beyond, but there was no valley; the snow spread away,level as the great harvest plains, and here and there about us mightymountains shoved their white heads among the stars. And midway on thatstrange plain which should have been a valley the earth and the snowfell away, straight down toward the heart of the world.
'Had we not been sailormen our heads would have swung round with thesight, but we stood on the dizzy edge that we might see a way to getdown. And on one side, and one side only, the wall had fallen away tillit was like the slope of the decks in a topsail breeze. I do not knowwhy this thing should be so, but it was so. "It is the mouth of hell,"he said; "let us go down." And we went down.
'And on the bottom there was a cabin, built by some man, of logs whichhe had cast down from above. It was a very old cabin, for men had diedthere alone at different times, and on pieces of birch bark which werethere we read their last words and their curses.
'One had died of scurvy; another's partner had robbed him of his lastgrub and powder and stolen away; a third had been mauled by a baldfacegrizzly; a fourth had hunted for game and starved--and so it went, andthey had been loath to leave the gold, and had died by the side of itin one way or another. And the worthless gold they had gatheredyellowed the floor of the cabin like in a dream.
'But his soul was steady, and his head clear, this man I had led thusfar. "We have nothing to eat," he said, "and we will only look uponthis gold, and see whence it comes and how much there be. Then we willgo away quick, before it gets into our eyes and steals away ourjudgment. And in this way we may return in the end, with more grub, andpossess it all." So we looked upon the great vein, which cut the wallof the pit as a true vein should, and we measured it, and traced itfrom above and below, and drove the stakes of the claims and blazed thetrees in token of our rights. Then, our knees shaking with lack offood, and a sickness in our bellies, and our hearts chugging close toour mouths, we climbed the mighty wall for the last time and turned ourfaces to the back trip.
'The last stretch we dragged Unga between us, and we fell often, but inthe end we made the cache. And lo, there was no grub. It was well done,for he thought it the wolverines, and damned them and his gods in onebreath. But Unga was brave, and smiled, and put her hand in his, till Iturned away that I might hold myself. "We will rest by the fire," shesaid, "till morning, and we will gather strength from our moccasins."So we cut the tops of our moccasins in strips, and boiled them half ofthe night, that we might chew them and swallow them. And in the morningwe talked of our chance. The next cache was five days' journey; wecould not make it. We must find game.
'"We will go forth and hunt," he said.
'"Yes," said I, "we will go forth and hunt." 'And he ruled that Ungastay by the fire and save her strength. And we went forth, he in questof the moose and I to the cache I had changed. But I ate little, sothey might not see in me much strength. And in the night he fell manytimes as he drew into camp. And I, too, made to suffer great weakness,stumbling over my snowshoes as though each step might be my last. Andwe gathered strength from our moccasins.
'He was a great man. His soul lifted his body to the last; nor did hecry aloud, save for the sake of Unga. On the second day I followed him,that I might not miss the end. And he lay down to rest often. Thatnight he was near gone; but in the morning he swore weakly and wentforth again. He was like a drunken man, and I looked many times for himto give up, but his was the strength of the strong, and his soul thesoul of a giant, for he lifted his body through all the weary day. Andhe shot two ptarmigan, but would not eat them. He needed no fire; theymeant life; but his thought was for Unga, and he turned toward camp.
'He no longer walked, but crawled on hand and knee through the snow. Icame to him, and read death in his eyes. Even then it was not too lateto eat of the ptarmigan. He cast away his rifle and carried the birdsin his mouth like a dog. I walked by his side, upright. And he lookedat me during the moments he rested, and wondered that I was so strong.I could see it, though he no longer spoke; and when his lips moved,they moved without sound.
'As I say, he was a great man, and my heart spoke for softness; but Iread back in my life, and remembered the cold and hunger of the endlessforest by the Russian seas. Besides, Unga was mine, and I had paid forher an untold price of skin and boat and bead.
'And in this manner we came through the white forest, with the silenceheavy upon us like a damp sea mist. And the ghosts of the past were inthe air and all about us; and I saw the yellow beach of Akatan, and thekayaks racing home from the fishing, and the houses on the rim of theforest. And the men who had made themselves chiefs were there, thelawgivers whose blood I bore and whose blood I had wedded in Unga. Aye,and Yash-Noosh walked with me, the wet sand in his hair, and his warspear, broken as he fell upon it, still in his hand. And I knew thetime was meet, and saw in the eyes of Unga the promise.
'As I say, we came thus through the forest, till the smell of the campsmoke was in our nostrils. And I bent above him, and tore the ptarmiganfrom his teeth.
'He turned on his side and rested, the wonder mounting in his eyes, andthe hand which was under slipping slow toward the knife at his hip. ButI took it from him, smiling close in his face. Even then he did notunderstand. So I made to drink from black bottles, and to build highupon the snow a pile--of goods, and to live again the things which hadhappened on the night of my marriage. I spoke no word, but heunderstood. Yet was he unafraid. There was a sneer to his lips, andcold anger, and he gathered new strength with the knowledge. It was notfar, but the snow was deep, and he dragged himself very slow.
'Once he lay so long I turned him over and gazed into his eyes. Andsometimes he look
ed forth, and sometimes death. And when I loosed himhe struggled on again. In this way we came to the fire. Unga was at hisside on the instant. His lips moved without sound; then he pointed atme, that Unga might understand. And after that he lay in the snow, verystill, for a long while. Even now is he there in the snow.
'I said no word till I had cooked the ptarmigan. Then I spoke to her,in her own tongue, which she had not heard in many years. Shestraightened herself, so, and her eyes were wonder-wide, and she askedwho I was, and where I had learned that speech.
'"I am Naass," I said.
'"You?" she said. "You?" And she crept close that she might look uponme.
'"Yes," I answered; "I am Naass, head man of Akatan, the last of theblood, as you are the last of the blood." 'And she laughed. By all thethings I have seen and the deeds I have done may I never hear such alaugh again. It put the chill to my soul, sitting there in the WhiteSilence, alone with death and this woman who laughed.
'"Come!" I said, for I thought she wandered. "Eat of the food and letus be gone. It is a far fetch from here to Akatan." 'But she shoved herface in his yellow mane, and laughed till it seemed the heavens mustfall about our ears. I had thought she would be overjoyed at the sightof me, and eager to go back to the memory of old times, but this seemeda strange form to take.
'"Come!" I cried, taking her strong by the hand. "The way is long anddark. Let us hurry!" "Where?" she asked, sitting up, and ceasing fromher strange mirth.
'"To Akatan," I answered, intent on the light to grow on her face atthe thought. But it became like his, with a sneer to the lips, and coldanger.
'"Yes," she said; "we will go, hand in hand, to Akatan, you and I. Andwe will live in the dirty huts, and eat of the fish and oil, and bringforth a spawn--a spawn to be proud of all the days of our life. We willforget the world and be happy, very happy. It is good, most good. Come!Let us hurry. Let us go back to Akatan." And she ran her hand throughhis yellow hair, and smiled in a way which was not good. And there wasno promise in her eyes.
'I sat silent, and marveled at the strangeness of woman. I went back tothe night when he dragged her from me and she screamed and tore at hishair--at his hair which now she played with and would not leave. Then Iremembered the price and the long years of waiting; and I gripped herclose, and dragged her away as he had done. And she held back, even ason that night, and fought like a she-cat for its whelp. And when thefire was between us and the man. I loosed her, and she sat andlistened. And I told her of all that lay between, of all that hadhappened to me on strange seas, of all that I had done in strangelands; of my weary quest, and the hungry years, and the promise whichhad been mine from the first. Aye, I told all, even to what had passedthat day between the man and me, and in the days yet young. And as Ispoke I saw the promise grow in her eyes, full and large like the breakof dawn. And I read pity there, the tenderness of woman, the love, theheart and the soul of Unga. And I was a stripling again, for the lookwas the look of Unga as she ran up the beach, laughing, to the home ofher mother. The stern unrest was gone, and the hunger, and the wearywaiting.
'The time was met. I felt the call of her breast, and it seemed there Imust pillow my head and forget. She opened her arms to me, and I cameagainst her. Then, sudden, the hate flamed in her eye, her hand was atmy hip. And once, twice, she passed the knife.
'"Dog!" she sneered, as she flung me into the snow. "Swine!" And thenshe laughed till the silence cracked, and went back to her dead.
'As I say, once she passed the knife, and twice; but she was weak withhunger, and it was not meant that I should die. Yet was I minded tostay in that place, and to close my eyes in the last long sleep withthose whose lives had crossed with mine and led my feet on unknowntrails. But there lay a debt upon me which would not let me rest.
'And the way was long, the cold bitter, and there was little grub. ThePellys had found no moose, and had robbed my cache. And so had thethree white men, but they lay thin and dead in their cabins as Ipassed. After that I do not remember, till I came here, and found foodand fire--much fire.' As he finished, he crouched closely, evenjealously, over the stove. For a long while the slush-lamp shadowsplayed tragedies upon the wall.
'But Unga!' cried Prince, the vision still strong upon him.
'Unga? She would not eat of the ptarmigan. She lay with her arms abouthis neck, her face deep in his yellow hair. I drew the fire close, thatshe might not feel the frost, but she crept to the other side. And Ibuilt a fire there; yet it was little good, for she would not eat. Andin this manner they still lie up there in the snow.'
'And you?' asked Malemute Kid.
'I do not know; but Akatan is small, and I have little wish to go backand live on the edge of the world. Yet is there small use in life. Ican go to Constantine, and he will put irons upon me, and one day theywill tie a piece of rope, so, and I will sleep good. Yet--no; I do notknow.' 'But, Kid,' protested Prince, 'this is murder!' 'Hush!'commanded Malemute Kid. 'There be things greater than our wisdom,beyond our justice. The right and the wrong of this we cannot say, andit is not for us to judge.' Naass drew yet closer to the fire. Therewas a great silence, and in each man's eyes many pictures came and went.
The End
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