Again the approval was unanimous.
"Well, then, I accept the command until my chief"s health is restored,"
said Teyma, rising. "Now, the council is at an end. To your huts, warriors, and get your spears ready; and to your lamps, girls. Prepare supper for our warriors, and let the allowance of each be doubled."
This latter command caused no small degree of surprise, but no audible comment was made, and strict obedience was rendered.
Leo returned to Grabantak"s hut, where he found that fiery chief as limp as ever, but with some of the old spirit left, for he was feebly making uncomfortable references to the heart, liver, and other vital organs of Amalatok and all his band.
Soon afterwards that band came on in battle array, on murderous deeds intent. The Flatlanders a.s.sembled on the beach to receive them.
"Leave your spears on the ground behind you," shouted Teyma to his host; "advance to the water"s edge, and at my signal, throw up your arms."
"They have been forewarned," growled Amalatok, grinding his teeth in disappointment, and checking the advance of his fleet by holding up one hand.
"No doubt," said Captain Vane, who, with Benjy, Alf, and b.u.t.terface, was close to the Poloe chief in one of the india-rubber boats, "no doubt my young countryman, having sent a message, expected us. Surely--eh!
Benjy, is not that Leo standing in front of the rest with another man?"
The Captain applied his binocular telescope to his eyes as he spoke.
"Yes, it"s him--thank G.o.d! and I see Anders too, quite plainly, and Oblooria!"
"Are they bound hand and foot?" demanded Amalatok, savagely.
"No, they are as free as you are. And the Eskimos are unarmed, apparently."
"Ha! that is their deceit," growled the chief. "The Flatlanders were always sly; but they shall not deceive us. Braves, get ready your spears!"
"May it not be that Leo has influenced them peacefully, my father?"
suggested Chingatok.
"Not so, my son," said the chief savagely. "Grabantak was always sly as a white fox, fierce as a walrus, mean as a wolf, greedy as a black gull, contemptible as--"
The catalogue of Grabantak"s vices was cut short by the voice of Teyma coming loud and strong over the sea.
"If the men of Poloe come as friends, let them land. The men of Flatland are about to feed, and will share their supper. If the men of Poloe come as foes, still I say let them land. The braves of Flatland have sharpened their spears!"
Teyma threw up both hands as he finished, and all his host followed suit.
For a moment or two the Poloese hesitated. They still feared deception.
Then the voice of Leo was heard loud and clear.
"Why do you hesitate? come on, uncle, supper"s getting cold. We"ve been waiting for you a long time, and are all very hungry!"
This was received with a shout of laughter by the Englishmen, high above which rose a wild cheer of joy from Benjy. Amalatok swallowed his warlike spirit, laid aside his spear, and seized his paddle. Chingatok gave the signal to advance, and, a few minutes later, those warriors of the north--those fierce savages who, probably for centuries, had been sworn hereditary foes--were seated round the igloe-lamps, amicably smearing their fingers and faces with fat, as they feasted together on chops of the walrus and cutlets of the polar bear.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
THE GREAT DISCOVERY.
Friendly relations having been established between the Flatlanders and the Poloese, both nations turned their attention to the arts of peace.
Among other things, Captain Vane and his party devoted themselves once more, with renewed energy, to the pursuit of discovery and scientific investigation. An expedition was planned to _Great Isle_, not now for the purpose of consulting Makitok, the oracle, as to the best time for going to war, but to gratify the wishes of Captain Vane, who had the strongest reason for believing that he was in the immediate neighbourhood of the Pole.
"Blackbeard says he must be very near nothing now," observed Chingatok to Anders the day after their arrival.
"Near _nothing_!" exclaimed Teyma, who was sitting close by.
Of course the giant explained, and the premier looked incredulous.
"I wish I had not left my s.e.xtant behind me in the hurry of departure,"
said the Captain that evening to Leo. "But we came off in such hot haste that I forgot it. However, I"ll ask Amalatok to send a young man back for it. I"m persuaded we cannot now be more than a few miles distant from our goal."
"I quite agree with you, uncle, for when I looked at the north star last night it seemed to me as directly in the zenith as it was possible to imagine."
"Ay, lad; but the unaided eye is deceptive. A few miles of difference cannot be distinguished by it. When did the Pole star become visible?"
"Only last night; I fancied I had made it out the night before, but was not quite sure, the daylight, even at the darkest hour, being still too intense to let many of the stars be seen."
"Well, we shall see. I am of opinion that we are still between twenty and forty miles south of the Pole. Meanwhile, I"ll induce Teyma to get up an expedition to the island of this Maki-what?"
"Tok," said Leo; "Makitok. Everything almost ends in _tok_ or _tuk_ hereabouts."
"Who, and what, is this man?" asked the Captain.
"No one seems to know precisely. His origin has been lost in the mists of antiquity. His first forefather--so tradition styles him--seems, like Melchisedec, to have had no father or mother, and to have come from no one knows where. Anyhow he founded a colony in _Great Isle_, and Makitok is the present head of all the families."
Leo then explained about the mystery-thing called _buk_, which was wrapped up in innumerable pieces of sealskin.
"Strange," said the Captain, "pa.s.sing strange. All you tell me makes me the more anxious to visit this man of the valley. You say there is no chance of Grabantak being able to take the reins of government again for a long time?"
"None. He has got a shake that will keep him helpless for some time to come. And this is well, for Teyma will be ready to favour any project that tends towards peace or prosperity."
Now, while preparations for the northern expedition were being made, our friend Oolichuk went a-wooing. And this is the fashion in which he did it.
Arraying himself one day, like any other lovesick swain, in his best, he paid a ceremonial visit to Oblooria, who lived with Merkut, the wife of Grabantak, in a hut at the eastern suburb of the village. Oolichuk"s costume was simple, if not elegant. It consisted of an undercoat of bird-skins, with the feathers inwards; bearskin pantaloons with the hair out; an upper coat of the grey seal; dogskin socks and sealskin boots.
That young Eskimo did not visit his bride empty-handed. He carried a bundle containing a gift--skins of the young eider-duck to make an undergarment for his lady-love, two plump little auks with which to gratify her palate, and a bladder of oil to wash them down and cause her heart to rejoice.
Good fortune favoured this brave man, for he met Oblooria at a lonely part of the sh.o.r.e among the boulders.
Romance lies deep in the heart of an Eskimo--so deep that it is not perceptible to the naked eye. Whatever the Poloe warrior and maiden felt, they took care not to express in words. But Oolichuk looked unutterable things, and invited Oblooria to dine then and there. The lady at once a.s.sented with a bashful smile, and sat down on a boulder.
Oolichuk sat down beside her, and presented the bundle of under-clothing.
While the lady was examining this with critical eyes, the gentleman prepared the food. Taking one of the auks, he twisted off its head, put his forefinger under the integuments of the neck, drew the skin down backwards, and the bird was skinned. Then he ran his long thumb-nail down the breast and sliced off a lump, which he presented to the lady with the off-hand air of one who should say, "If you don"t want it you may let it alone!"
Raw though the morsel was, Oblooria accepted it with a pleased look, and ate it with relish. She also accepted the bladder, and, putting it to her lips, pledged him in a b.u.mper of oil.