The Land of the Long Night Part 12

CHAPTER XVII

IN SEARCH OF WOLVES.--A LARGE PACK.--THEY HOLD A CONSULTATION.--THEIR FIERCE ATTACK ON THE REINDEER.--PURSUING THEM ON SKEES.--KILLING THE CHIEF OF THE PACK.

The following day a great snowstorm swept over the land, and during that time the Lapps were much in fear that prowling wolves would get into the midst of their herds and that we should be unable to see them on account of the storm.

When the snowstorm was over, the Lapps said to me: "We are going to scour the country for miles around and look out for wolves, for now is a good time to hunt them because the snow is soft. They sink into it as they run, and we can go much faster than they do on our skees, and so overtake them and fell them with our bludgeons." And they asked if I would accompany them.

"Yes," I replied, without hesitation, and added, "I hope we shall meet wolves."

The Lapps left by twos and threes and went in different directions. One of them and myself took our way directly east.

After travelling a few miles I espied a black speck very far away, for I am long-sighted. This at first I thought to be the top of birch trees above the snow, as before; but I was not quite sure, and as I walked along on my skees I kept a sharp lookout. Suddenly I thought the black spot was moving. I stopped and watched. There was no mistake, the spot was moving. It was a large pack of wolves. And they were apparently coming towards us. I called to my companion, and pointing to the spot said to him: "Look there. I think I see wolves." He looked for a while, then with glittering eyes he said, "Paulus, you are right; they are wolves."

We stood still to watch them. The spot was getting bigger and bigger as the wolves came nearer. They made a large pack; but they were still too far away for us to be able to guess how many there were. I wondered if they were coming to attack us. They certainly would if they had had no food for several days, for hunger makes them very bold and fierce.

I looked at my gun. It was all right. My pouch was filled with buckshot cartridges. My hunting knife hung by my side. My Lapp held his bludgeon tightly in his hands. No wolf could run as fast as he could when he was on his skees, and he could run away from them if he was not equal to the contest and if there were too many after him.

"The wolves have perhaps scented the reindeer," said he; "they have to come in our direction to reach the herds."

Not far from where we stood was a big boulder that was not entirely buried in the snow. "Let us hide behind it, and watch," said my companion.

After we had come to the boulder, the Lapp hid at one end of it, I at the other. From our hiding-place we could peep out and keep a sharp lookout on the wolves.

The wolves were coming nearer and nearer. I tried to count them, and I thought there were about thirty. I soon recognized the Chief of the Pack. He was bigger and appeared darker than the rest. He was walking quite ahead of all the pack. They seemed to become more cautious as they neared us. What was the reason? We held a consultation. The Lapp said, "The wind has s.h.i.+fted and is blowing from the wolves towards us, so they cannot scent us, and it is by mere chance they are coming in this direction. They have evidently come from the great Finland forest east of us."

Suddenly the Chief of the Pack stopped, and all the wolves stopped also.

Then he advanced alone slowly while the remainder of the pack stood still. Then the wolves came to join him. They were now evidently holding a consultation, talking wolf fas.h.i.+on among themselves, or listening to their Chief, who had something to say. "What are the wolves up to?" I inquired of the Lapp.

"They are planning some mischief," he replied.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "The Lapp pa.s.sed him like a flash and gave him a terrible blow."]

Then they divided themselves into two packs, the old Chief having the greater number of wolves with him. The new pack with its Chief turned to the right, the ones with the old Chief remaining at the same place. I said to the Lapp, "How strange is the wolves' behavior! Apparently the long conversation they had among themselves was to arrange a plan of campaign and to divide themselves into two packs."

"That is so," replied he. "Wolves are very knowing, and by their tactics fool us very often."

I replied, "We will try to fool them this time, and kill many of them.

The reindeer must be protected."

"I believe," continued the Lapp, "that the new pack that has left is going to take our reindeer in the rear and attack them, and those which remain here are going to wait for this attack. The reindeer in their fright will run in the opposite direction and fall into the midst of these wolves that we see, and which are waiting for them. The cunning of wolves is wonderful. When a pack attacks a herd of reindeer there are always some of them lying in wait somewhere else.

"You stay here and watch. I must go and warn our people that the wolves have come among us. We have been expecting them every hour. It is very seldom when their tracks are seen that they do not attack our reindeer.

I will return very soon."

"All right," I said. I had plenty of buckshot, and with my back to the boulder I was not afraid of being attacked in the rear, and I could face them without fear, fire at them, and kill a number of them.

After the Lapp had gone I watched the pack carefully. The wolves stood still for a long time. They were looking in a certain direction. I tried to find what they were looking at, but saw nothing. Suddenly they advanced, turning away slightly from the boulder, then walked faster, headed by the Chief of the Pack. There seemed to be great excitement among them. I looked in the direction whither they were moving, when I saw a lot of reindeer coming towards them, pursued by wolves from behind and Lapps and dogs following them. What the Lapp had said had come to pa.s.s; the wolves had attacked the reindeer in the rear, and the pack that had stood still was ready for the fray and to attack them in front.

I was also prepared for the fight--ready to kill all the wolves I could.

Now I saw reindeer in every direction--wolves among them, and the Lapps everywhere, moving at great speed on their skees. They seemed to fly over the snow. Suddenly I saw one coming near a wolf which was running after a reindeer, and pa.s.sing by his side give with his bludgeon a blow that broke the back of the beast, which gave a fearful howl. In the mean time the Lapp wheeled round, came back, and finished him by a blow on the head.

I saw further on a poor reindeer in his death struggle with two wolves that had fastened upon his neck. Two Lapps had seen this also, and armed with their bludgeons they came at full speed, and as quick as the flight of an arrow they pa.s.sed on each side of the poor reindeer and broke the fore legs of the wolves, which fell on their backs howling. The Lapps wheeled round, returned and gave them two terrific blows on their heads, which stunned them; then they killed them. I had heard the sound of the blows.

The wolves had become very fierce in their attacks. I wanted to pursue them on my skees, but unfortunately I was not skilful enough to do so.

The reindeer were fleeing, pursued by the wolves which were in their midst. It was a fight for life. I saw four wolves attacking a bull while he was charging one of them and had almost pierced him with his antlers.

The three other wolves sprang upon him, their big teeth in his flesh. He ran with them for a while, then the n.o.ble animal fell.

Another wolf came near me and succeeded in bringing down a young reindeer that was running away with all his might. I sent a lot of buckshot through him and killed him on the spot, but I was too late to save the life of the poor reindeer; and in an instant the dying wolf was attacked by his voracious comrades, which precipitated themselves upon him and tore him to pieces and devoured him. I looked at this scene with so much astonishment that I forgot to fire another shot at the wolves.

Several wolves were killed, and at last all were put to flight. Our victory was complete. I recognized the Chief of the Pack among the slain. What a big fellow he was! What ugly-looking teeth he had! The wolves after this attack were completely disorganized, and fled in different directions.

In the mean time my Lapp, true to his word, had rejoined me. He said: "These wolves understand each other, and have agreed among themselves to meet somewhere in the great forest east of us. They will visit us again in small packs, so we must be on the watch constantly." Then with a sigh he said: "Now we are going to have a hard time to bring the reindeer of each owner together."

The day after the slaying of the wolves, I bade good-bye to the Lapps and once more started to wander over the great snowy waste of "The Land of the Long Night."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "It was a fight for life!"]

CHAPTER XVIII

GREAT SKILL OF THE LAPPS WITH THEIR SKEES.--LEAPING OVER WIDE GULLIES AND RIVERS.--PRODIGIOUS LENGTH OF THEIR LEAPS.--ACCURACY OF THEIR COASTING.--I START THEM BY WAVING THE AMERICAN FLAG.

I was once more travelling westward, and two days afterward fell in with another company of nomadic Lapps. We became, as usual, good friends.

One day they said to me: "Paulus, the snow is in a very fine condition for skeeing, and we are going to have some fun among ourselves, and run down steep hills on our skees and try our skill in making leaps in the air across a chasm there is over yonder, with a river beyond, and find out who can make the longest leap and be the champion. We want you to come with us, for there will be great fun."

I replied, "I am certainly coming, for I have never seen such a game before, and I like fun. Yes, boys, I like fun." They laughed heartily when they heard me say this.

We made ready, and started on our skees, and after a run of about four miles the Lapps stopped near the edge of a long and very steep hill, at the foot of which was a plain.

There they said to me: "There is a wide gully, which you cannot see, before reaching the bottom of the hill, and further down is a river. We will go down this hill and leap over both the gully and the river on our skees. Of course, the greater our speed, the longer the leap we make.

The danger is in not being able to reach the ledge on the other side; but this makes the fun more exciting. It is very seldom, however, that accidents happen, for no one undertakes these dangerous leaps unless he is very sure of himself."

"What happens then," I asked, "if the leap falls short?"

"Then," he answered, "you may break your leg, or arm, or your neck; but I do not know of any such misfortunes happening, though we hear once in a great while in the mountains of an accident which results in death.

One of the great dangers in skeeing is that of striking a boulder hidden under the crust of snow, or of falling over an unseen precipice. When we are small children we learn to leap forward in the air and come down on our skees, beginning by making small leaps from insignificant heights, increasing the leap gradually as we have more practice, and so becoming stronger and more agile and skilful in going down a hill."

Thereupon the Lapps took up their position along the brink of the hill and stood in a straight line about ten or fifteen yards from each other.

It was a fine sight. At a given signal they started on their skees, holding in one hand their sticks to be used as rudders to guide them.

They slid down at tremendous speed; suddenly I saw them fly through the air, and then land below on their skees. They had leaped over the gully.

Then they continued their course faster than before, on account of the momentum of the leap, and as they reached the bottom of the hill they made another leap in the air, which took them over the river to the plain beyond. After going a little further, for they could not stop at once, they came to a halt. Then returning they examined the leaps, to see who among them had made the longest one.