continued he by way of introduction, indicating the red-headed man, "is Eric the Red, our carpenter, and this," turning to the other, "is the Duke of Wellington, our blacksmith. Fill up, Ungava Bob, and come over to the office and have a talk when you"ve finished dinner."
"Sit doon, sit doon," said the red-whiskered man, adding, as Mr.
MacPherson closed the door behind him, "my true name"s Sandy Craig and th" blacksmith here is Jamie Lunan. Th" boss ha" a way o" namin"
every mon t" suit hisself. Now, what"s your true name, lad? "Tis not Ungava Bob."
"Bob Gray, an" I comes from Wolf Bight."
"Now, where can Wolf Bight be?" asked Sandy.
"In Eskimo Bay, sir."
"Aye, aye, Eskimo Bay. "Tis a lang way ye are from Eskimo Bay! Th"
ship folk tell o" Eskimo Bay a many hundred miles t" th" suthard. An"
Jamie an" me be a lang way fra" Petherhead. Be helpin" yesel" now, lad. Ha" some partridge an" ye maun be starvin" for bread, eatin" only th" grub o" th" heathen Injuns this lang while," said he, pa.s.sing the plate, and adding in apology, ""Tis na" such bread as we ha" in auld Scotland. Injun women canna make bread wi" th" Scotch la.s.sies an" we ne"er ha" a bit o" oatmeal or oat-cake. "Tis bread, though. An" how could ye live wi" th" Injuns? "Tis bad enough t" bide here wi" na"
neighbours but th" greasy huskies an" durty Injuns comin" now an"
again, but we has some civilized grub t" eat--sugar an" mola.s.ses an"
b.u.t.ter, such as "tis."
Sandy and Jamie plied Bob with all sorts of questions about Eskimo Bay and his life with the Indians, and they did not fail to tell him a good deal about Peterhead, their Scotland home, and both bewailed loudly the foolish desire for adventure that had induced them to leave it to be exiled in Ungava amongst the heathen Eskimos and Indians in a land where "nine minths o" th" year be winter an" th" ither three remainin" minths infested wi" th" worst plagues o" Egypt, referrin" t"
th" flies an" nippers (mosquitoes)."
Strange and new it all was, and while he ate and talked, Bob took in his surroundings. The room was not unlike the Post kitchen at Eskimo Bay, though not so spotlessly clean. Besides the table there were two benches, four rough, home-made chairs and a big box stove that crackled cheerily. At one side three bunks were built against the wall and were spread with heavy woollen blankets. Two chests stood near the bunks and several guns rested upon pegs against the wall. Upon ropes stretched above the stove numerous duffel socks and mittens hung to dry. The Indian woman pa.s.sed in and out through a pa.s.sageway that led from the side of the room opposite the door at which he had entered and her kitchen was evidently on the other side of the pa.s.sageway.
Bob did not forget his resolution as to the bread, to which was added the luxury of b.u.t.ter, and more than once the Indian woman had to replenish the plate. When they arose from the table Jamie pointed out to Bob the bunk that he was to occupy. Then, while they smoked their pipes, they gossiped about the Post doings until the bell warned them that it was time to return to their work.
In accordance with Mr. MacPherson"s instructions Bob walked over to the factor"s office where he found a young man of eighteen or nineteen years of age writing at one of the desks.
"Sit down," said he, looking up. "Mr. MacPherson will be in shortly.
You"re the young fellow just arrived, I suppose?"
"Yes, sir," said Bob.
"You"ve had a long journey, I hear, and must be glad to get out. When did you leave home?"
"In September, sir, when I goes t" my trail."
"I came here on the _Eric_ in September, and if you want to see home as badly as I do you"re pretty anxious to get back there. But there isn"t any chance of getting away from here till the ship comes. This is the last place G.o.d ever made and the loneliest. What did you say your name is?"
"Bob Gray, sir."
"Well, Mr. MacPherson will call you something else, but don"t mind that. He has a new name for every one. He calls Sishetakushin, one of the Indians you came in with, Abraham Lincoln because he"s so tall, and one of the stout Eskimos is Grover Cleveland. That"s the name of an American president. Mr. MacPherson gets the papers every year and keeps posted. He received, on the ship, all last year"s issues of a New York paper called the _Sun_ besides a great packet of Scotch and English papers. But this _Sun_ he thinks more of than any of them and every morning he picks out the paper for that date the year before and reads it as though it had just been delivered. One year behind, but just as fresh here. He finds a lot of new names in "em to give the Eskimos and Indians and the rest of us that way. I"m Secretary Bayard, whoever he may be. I don"t read the American papers much. The chief clerk is Lord Salisbury, the new premier. You know the Conservatives downed the Liberals, and Gladstone is out. Good enough for him, too, for meddling in the Irish question. I"m a conservative, or I would be if I was home. We don"t have a chance to be anything here. Now, I suppose you----"
Here Mr. MacPherson entered and the loquacious Secretary Bayard became suddenly engrossed in his work. The factor opened a door leading into a small room to the right.
"Come in here, Ungava Bob," said he, "and we"ll have a talk. Now," he continued when they were seated, "what do you think you"ll do?"
"I don"t know, sir. I wants t" get home wonderful bad," said Bob.
"Yes, yes, I suppose you do. But you"re a long way from home. It looks as though you"ll have to stay here till the ship comes next summer. I can send you back with it."
""Tis a long while t" be bidin" here, sir, an" I"m fearin" as mother"ll be worryin"."
"There"s no way out of it that I can see, though. I"ll give you work to do to pay for your keep, and I"m afraid that"s the best we can do unless," continued the factor, thoughtfully "unless you go with the mail. I find I"ve got to send some letters to Fort Pelican. How far is that from Eskimo Bay,--a hundred miles?"
"Ninety, sir."
"Do you speak Eskimo?"
"No, sir."
"Well, the dog drivers will be Eskimos. The men that leave here will go east to the coast. They will meet other Eskimos there who will go to Pelican. It"s a hard and dangerous journey. Are you a good traveller?"
"Not so bad, sir, an" I drives dogs."
Mr. MacPherson was silent for a few moments, then he spoke.
"These Eskimos are careless scallawags with letters and they lose them sometimes. The letters I am sending are very important ones or I wouldn"t be sending them. I think you would take better care of them than they. Will you keep them safe if I let you go with the Eskimos?"
"Yes, sir, I"d be rare careful."
"Well, we"ll see. I think I"ll let you take the letters. I can"t say yet just when I"ll have you start but within the month."
"Thank you, sir."
"In the meantime make yourself useful about the place here. There"ll be nothing for you to do to-day. Look around and get acquainted. You may go now. Come to the office in the morning and one of the clerks will tell you what to do."
"All right, sir."
When Bob pa.s.sed out of doors he was fairly treading upon air. A way was opening up for him to return home and in all probability he should reach there by the time d.i.c.k and Ed and Bill came out from the trails in the spring and if they had not, in the meantime, taken the news of his disappearance to Wolf Bight, the folks at home would know nothing of it until he told them himself and would have no unusual cause for worry in the meantime. He felt a considerable sense of importance, too, at the confidence Mr. MacPherson reposed in him in suggesting that he might place him in charge of an important mail. And what a tale he would have to tell! Bessie would think him quite a hero. After all it had turned out well. He had caught a silver fox and all the other fur--quite enough, he was sure, to send Emily to the hospital.
G.o.d had been very good to him and he cast his eyes to heaven and breathed a little prayer of thanksgiving.
Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn had been quite forgotten by Bob in the excitement of the arrival at the Fort. Now he saw them and the two other Indians coming over from the cabin to which they had gone when he left them to meet Mr. MacPherson, and he hurried down to meet them and tell them that he had found a way to reach home. It was plain that they did not approve of the turn matters had taken, for they only grunted and said nothing.
They turned to a building where the door stood open and Bob accompanied them and entered with them. This was the Post shop, and a young man, whom Bob had not seen before, presumably "Lord Salisbury,"
the chief clerk of whom the talkative "Secretary Bayard" had spoken, was behind the counter attending to the wants of an Eskimo and his wife, the latter with a black-eyed, round-faced baby which sat contentedly in her hood sucking a stick of black tobacco. The clerk spoke to the Indians in their language, said "good day" to Bob in English, and then continued his d.i.c.kering in the Eskimo language with his customers, who had deposited before them on the counter a number of arctic fox pelts.
When the clerk had finished with the Eskimos he turned to the Indians in a very businesslike way and asked to see the furs they had brought.
They produced some marten skins which, after a great deal of wrangling, were bartered for tobacco, tea, powder, shot, bullets, gun caps, beads, three-cornered needles and a few trinkets. Much time was consumed in this, for the Indians insisted upon handling and discussing at length each individual article purchased.
Bob had brought with him the marten skins that he had trapped during his stay with the Indians and he exchanged them for a red shawl and a little box of beads for Manikawan, a trinket for the old woman, Manikawan"s mother, and a small gift each for Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn, besides some much needed clothing for himself.
These tokens of his grat.i.tude he presented to the two Indians, who had indicated their intention of returning to the interior camp the next morning. They had not fully realized until now that Bob was actually going to leave them and attempt to reach home with the Eskimos, and they protested vigorously against the plan. Sishetakushin told him the Eskimos were bad people and would never guide him safely to his friends. Indeed, he a.s.serted, they might kill him when they had him alone with them. On the other hand, the Indians were kind and true.
They had recognized his worth and had adopted him into the tribe. With them he had been happy and with them he would be safe. He could have his own wigwam and take Manikawan for his wife; and sometimes, if he wished, he could go to visit his people.
The failure of their arguments to impress Bob was a great disappointment to the Indians, and Bob, on his part, felt a keen sense of sorrow when, the following morning, he saw his benefactors go. They had saved his life and had done all they could in their rude, primitive way for his comfort, and he appreciated their kindness and hospitality.
Ungava Bob, as every one at the Post called him, made himself generally useful about the fort and was soon quite at home in his new surroundings. He cut wood and helped the Eskimo servants feed the dogs, and did any jobs that presented themselves and soon became a general favourite, not only with Mr. MacPherson but with the clerks and servants also.
His quarters with Sandy and Jamie seemed luxurious in contrast with the rough life of the interior to which he had so long been accustomed, and when the three gathered around the red hot stove those cold evenings after the day"s work was done and supper eaten, the Scotchmen held him enthralled with stories they told of their native land and the wonderful and magnificent things they had seen there.