The Wilderness Castaways Part 3

They were entering Hudson Straits. On their port, near at hand, lay the rocky, verdureless b.u.t.ton Islands, and far to the southward rose the rugged, barren peaks of the Torngaek Mountains in northeastern Labrador. To the northward in hazy outline Resolution Island marked the southern extremity of Baffin Land.

Here and there, spread over the sea, were small vagrant ice pans, messengers from the far Arctic, which gave evidence of the high lat.i.tude the s.h.i.+p had attained.

Now and again seals showed their heads above the water for a moment, quickly to disappear again. Sea gulls, their white wings gleaming in the sunlight, circled about, but nowhere was a sail or any indication of human life visible upon the wide horizon.

It was a new world to Paul, and different from anything he had ever imagined. The utter absence of vessels, the apparently uninhabited and uninhabitable land, the awful primitive grandeur of it all gave him a vague, indescribable sense of fear--such a feeling as one ascending for the first time in a balloon must experience upon peering over the rim of the basket at the receding earth. This sensation quickly gave place to one of exultation--the exultation of a wild animal loosed in its native haunts after long confinement. Paul became possessed of a desire to shout. His blood tingled through his veins. He drank the pure atmosphere in great draughts, and it stimulated him like wine. He felt almost that he could do anything--fly if he wished.

This was the first awakening in Paul of the primitive instinct which every human has inherited from prehistoric ancestors--an inborn love of the glorious freedom of the great wide wilderness where individual man stands supreme in his own right and where he may roam at will without restraint; where he feels that he is a person and not an atom; where he may meet nature face to face, and fearlessly match his human skill against her forces.

Too often this instinct to retreat for a time to the wild places of the earth, to stand with bared head under the open sky, to breathe great lungfuls of pure atmosphere undefiled by the smoke of chimneys, to make the acquaintance of rocks and trees, of mountains and sea--to renew one's faith in G.o.d--is smothered by the luxuries and pamperings of civilization. So it had been with Paul.

Standing on the deck of the _North Star_ that bright July morning, in the midst of nature's most rugged abode, that primordial instinct slumbering in his breast had then its first awakening. He seemed to expand. He felt himself grow. He longed to set foot upon those mysterious sh.o.r.es--to wrest from them their secrets. Presently he was to do so. Perhaps, had he known how close to the condition of his prehistoric ancestors he was to drift, he would have shrunk from his destiny. It is well for our peace of mind that an all-wise G.o.d hides from us today the happenings of tomorrow.

At length the _North Star_ pa.s.sed out into the wider waters of Ungava Bay, and directly after dinner Remington suggested:

"Suppose you bring your rifle, Paul, and I'll get a box of cartridges.

We'll try it out and see how you can shoot."

Paul had been looking forward to this opportunity, and a moment later he appeared with the rifle.

"Now draw a bead on that bit of ice out there," said his instructor, "and we'll see how you hold. Run your left hand farther forward on the stock--can't hold steady with it away back like that--a little farther out--that's better. Now you can stand straight and not have to bend backward like a woman does when she tries to shoot. Do you get the ice? Look through the notch on the rear sight, and bring the bead on the front sight in contact with the bottom of your object. Got it? Try it again. Now we'll load. Now try it."

Paul, a loaded rifle in his hands for the first time, took aim, and pulled the trigger. The shot went wild.

"You closed your eyes at the last moment, and wobbled the gun," said Remington.

"Guess I did," admitted Paul. "I was afraid to be so near the explosion."

"Well, throw in another cartridge. That's right. Throw the lever forward; now back. Be careful! It leaves it c.o.c.ked, you see. Always remember, when you're not going to shoot again immediately, to put the hammer down, and never carry a c.o.c.ked gun. That's a bad habit some sportsmen have, but a man that isn't quick enough to c.o.c.k his gun after he sees his game should practice until he can do it, and never go out with his gun until he can. With a rifle it's never well to carry a cartridge in the chamber. You can throw one in as quickly as you need it. Now try again."

Bang! The shot struck just beneath the bit of ice.

"Bully! Bully!" exclaimed Remington and Ainsworth together.

Paul flushed with pleasure and excitement. With the next shot he took more careful aim, and simultaneously with the crack of the rifle bits of splintered ice flew from the floating cake. This was indeed a good shot, for by this time the vessel had left the ice well behind.

"How was that?" asked Paul, with conscious pride.

"Good work!" Remington encouraged.

Several more practice shots were fired with varying success, the rifle cleaned, and Remington and Ainsworth went below to overhaul their fis.h.i.+ng outfit.

Paul, with just pride in his initial achievement with the rifle, strolled forward to exhibit his gun to Dan, who was splicing a rope near the foremast, and had been an interested spectator of the target practice.

"h.e.l.lo, Dan," he greeted.

"h.e.l.lo, Paul. Been ailin'?"

"Ailing! I was awfully sick for two days."

"We were havin' a bit of nasty sea. 'Tis bad for the seasickness."

"You bet it got me, all right. Would you like to see my rifle?"

"Yes, I were wantin' t' see un." Dan took the rifle, looked it over, threw it up to his shoulder and sighted it, like one accustomed to the use of firearms.

"She's a wonderful fine gun!" he exclaimed. "A rare fine gun! An'

she's pretty, too. I never seen such a fine gun--and such a pretty un."

"Can you shoot?"

"I does some shootin'. I hunts with Dad in winter. He traps furs in winter, and he's took me with him two winters."

"Did you ever shoot anything?"

"Oh, yes; lots of partridges and rabbits. Last fall I kills a deer and gets a crack at a bear, but misses; and last winter I shoots two foxes."

"You must be a dandy hunter. I've never hunted any yet, but I expect to. Never went before where there was anything to hunt. This is my first gun. I've got a shotgun too."

"That's the gun for partridges, unless you shoots their heads off with the rifle. Mostly I shoots their heads off with a rifle, but sometimes I misses. Mine's a 44--Dad's old one. He got a new 30-30 and gave me his old one."

"I'd like to see it. You got it with you?"

"Yes, it's down in the fo'c'sl."

"Here! Bring your gun, youngster! Bring your gun! Here's a shot for you!" called Captain Bluntt. "Here now!"

Paul ran forward.

"Where? What is it?" he asked excitedly.

"There, on that pan! That yellow spot. See un? See un? That's a water bear, and he's asleep. Get ready now and shoot un!"

Paul's excitement was intense. He nervously slipped some cartridges in the magazine and raised the rifle to his shoulder.

"Set up your sights, lad! Set up your sights! And c.o.c.k your piece!

c.o.c.k your piece! You can't shoot till she's c.o.c.ked. Dan, look sharp now, an' tell the gentlemen there's a bear sighted! Now, youngster!

Now! Don't hurry. Take your time. Why you're shakin'! Steady down!

Steady down! That's right. Careful!"

With tremendous effort Paul steadied his nerves, and bang! The yellow spot rose. Sure enough, it _was_ a bear, and it began to bite at its side.

"You hit un! You hit un, lad! Fine! Fine! Give un another!"

Paul fired again, but his nerves had got the better of him, and the shot went wide, as did several other shots. Captain Bluntt rang the engines to "stop," as Remington and Ainsworth, rifles in hand, reached the deck. The bear had slipped off the ice pan and taken to the water; at which Remington called--

"Launch the power boat!"