For several days after the walrus hunt described in the last chapter, very bad weather prevailed in Eskimo Land. The mighty north winds, with an edge that cut like a knife, smote the half buried igloos with a demon's strength. The snow blew in white clouds until one could see scarcely a rod in any direction, and the cold was intense. So the three mighty hunters contented themselves by staying in their warm igloos and listening to the tales of the old men, some of them stories of famous bear hunts. They were not quite sure whether these old wrinkled hunters had really seen all the white bears they said they had, or whether they simply drew upon their imaginations; but their stories were pleasant to listen to when the winds howled outside and swept across the frozen plains and the icefloe. But like all bad things stormy weather finally gave way to days of sunshine, and the three hunters planned their bear hunt.
On the morning in question, they set forth just as they had for the walrus hunt, with three komatiks and a supply of food.
But this time they were armed differently. Most of their harpoons they left behind, and instead they carried their high power rifles. In rare cases the white bear can be driven into the open water and harpooned from a kayak, but this is not the usual mode of hunting him.
The travelling on the icefloe was rather rough. Often they would come to a mighty berg which had been ended up and had frozen into the floe in that position; then they would have to go around it.
They had travelled perhaps five miles northward along the floe, when the dog team of Eiseeyou set up a yelping and rushed forward. They came almost immediately to an open hole in the ice between a couple of cakes. The hole showed evidence of artificial thawing about the edge.
Eiseeyou got off his komatik and after examining the hole carefully, motioned to his comrades on the other komatiks to come forward. They also examined the hole with care. Then all three looked wise, and said in one breath, "Nik-suk."
It was a breathing hole of Nik-suk the seal that they had discovered; so like children that they were, they for the time being forgot all about the White Czar and were all excitement about Nik-suk.
If there is one animal in the north country that the Eskimo knows better than any other it is Nik-Suk, for he is the most valuable of all the arctic animals to the Eskimo. The three hunters now knew that every twenty minutes, as regularly as the clock could have told it, the seal would come to this hole to breathe, provided he had no other breathing hole. So the three komatiks were withdrawn for a distance from the breathing hole, and Tucksu was given the task of tending the dog teams, while Eiseeyou and Tunkine made ready for the seal.
Eiseeyou lay down on the ice about fifteen feet from the breathing hole, resting partly on his left elbow so that he could watch the hole, while in his right hand he held a trusty harpoon. His companion Tunkine lay upon the ice farther away, with the rawhide cord attached to the harpoon firmly wound around his waist. They might have been blocks of ice themselves, so still they lay. Five minutes passed, ten, and fifteen, and still the seal did not come to the surface to breathe. Perhaps it was an old hole, but they would wait a while longer. Patience is a quality that the Eskimo has learned to perfection, just as have all primitive people. Finally, when Eiseeyou had about concluded that it must be an old hole, in spite of the excitement of the dogs, the beautiful head with the very human eyes of the little-ringed seal popped up in the air hole to breathe.
Lightning was not quicker than the flash of Eiseeyou's strong right arm as he sank the harpoon deep in the seal's neck. Then both Eskimos sprang to their feet and braced themselves. Away went the rawhide line singing through their mittened hands, and whistling against the edge of the ice. At last it came taut with a mighty jerk. Both men braced themselves. The rope cut into Tunkine's waist until he thought it would cut him in two, but it held and the seal came racing back, but was soon off in another direction.
Again the rope tightened, and the two hunters strained with all their strength. Again and again this happened, but each time they braced and the rope held. Five, ten, fifteen minutes went by. The fight was nearly over. Poor nik-suk must soon come to his airhole to breathe again. Then they would finish him.
So Eiseeyou gradually drew him in while Tunkine waited with the spear. Finally the beautiful head again appeared. This time Tunkine finished poor nik-suk with his spear and together they hauled him out on to the ice.
They loaded the seal, which was of the little-ringed species, on to one of the komatiks, and they went forward rapidly.
They were reminded that they had wasted valuable time, for this was really a bear hunt, and not a seal hunt.
So for hours the three dog teams ranged back and forth over the icefloe. Some of the way the going was smooth, but often they had to turn this way and that to avoid small bergs which had been frozen into the floe. There were many fox tracks on the ice, but no signs of Bruin. Finally, when they had travelled about ten miles to the Northward, and had traversed the ice field in every direction and were becoming discouraged, they came upon the fresh trail of the great bear. Every few feet there were blood-spots, which indicated that she had been successful in her hunting. The Czarina had probably found a seal pup, or perhaps a walrus calf.
The dogs, all eagerness, yelped to be off; but Eiseeyou did not think it wise to cut them loose until they located the bear.
At last they came in sight of the mighty hunter making for the shore, and Eiseeyou gave word to cut loose the dogs.
The pack at once set off at a wild pace yelping with excitement. But when they came near enough to see who the quarry was, they experienced a sudden chill of their ardor. The White Czarina merely turned to snarl angrily at them, and then fled towards the land. She was too far away for the hunters to risk a shot, which might merely anger her; but they followed as fast as possible. Finally the trail led up a steep bank, ending at the mouth of a natural cave. So the three hunters and the dozen dogs finally came up, and all gathered about the entrance.
It was very dark and forbidding inside. It looked specially so as they had plainly seen the great bear enter. Eiseeyou tried to get the dogs to go in and rout out the bear but they slunk back, the hair standing erect on their backs. The taste that they had had of the white fury the week before had satisfied them.
The hunters fired several shots into the cave, but with no apparent effect. They had certainly found the temporary den of the great bear but this did not help them much. Night was coming on; so they seemed balked in their hunting for that day.
Eiseeyou then proposed to Tunkine that he go in and stir up the bear, but the latter said he had too many children to risk it. Tukshu said that he hadn't lost any bear and that his hide was worth more to him than several bearskins. There seemed nothing to do but to camp there for the night or return home. If they went back to Eskimo Town, the prize might escape. She might escape in the night, even if they watched.
Finally Eiseeyou, in a fit of daring for which he was celebrated, said he would go in. His friends tried to dissuade him, but his mind was made up. He posted his companions in readiness to shoot if he should be driven out and, rifle in hand, began crawling slowly into the dark cave.
At first he could see little, but finally he got his night eyes and could see that the cave led back underground for several rods. Just ahead of him was a narrow place which he did not like the looks of.
If Eiseeyou could have known that the great bear was standing behind one of the pillars of rock, waiting with upraised paw for him, he would have been even more fearful.
At the narrow place Eiseeyou stopped and listened for several minutes, but all was as still as death. Then he stuck the barrel of his rifle through and felt about on either side.
This precaution probably saved his life. With a blow like lightning, the great bear struck the rifle from his hand and sent it crashing on the floor of the cave, breaking the stock. Then with a roar that made Eiseeyou's two companions outside grip their rifles fearfully, she sprang through the narrow space and reached for the venturesome Eskimo.
But Eiseeyou was not taken wholly unawares. He had been looking for trouble all the way, and now he had found it. So stooping down in order not to hit his head, he ran for the streak of light which he knew was the opening of the cave.
It seemed to him that he would never reach it. He could hear the mighty bear almost upon him. He even fancied that she struck at him occasionally with her great paw as she pursued. Finally he burst into the daylight with the Czarina an arm's length behind.
Eiseeyou had just presence of mind enough left to spring to one side and give his companions a chance to shoot. But as he sprang, his foot caught in a crevice and he went full length on the ground. At the same instant two shots rang out from his companions' rifles.
The great bear turned upon them with a thunderous snarl, but fortunately for Eiseeyou, they stood their ground and gave her two more bullets, one in the head and the other near the heart.
She struck out at them savagely, then reeled and fell upon the ground almost over the prostrate Eiseeyou.
That mighty hunter extricated his foot from the crevice with all alacrity and got to a safe distance as the white Czarina struggled. Two more shots finished her, and the second white bear robe was assured for Eskimo Town.
After making sure that the great bear was dead, the three hunters lighted some torches which they had not thought of before and explored the cave. They felt quite sure that the mate of this bear was the one that Eiseeyou had killed on the musk-ox hunt.
What they found in the cave confirmed this view. The cave was not quite empty, but it was a safe place for three well-armed men. At the farther end of the cave they found the bear's bed and a white cub lying dead in it, one of the stray bullets which they had fired before entering the cave having struck him.
A bear family nearly always consists of two cubs. For several minutes they could not find the cub's brother. But they finally heard a pitiful whimpering in a dark corner of the cave and discovered him hiding there. He was trembling and whimpering and very fearful.
So Eiseeyou went outside and brought in his sleeping bag and put the cub in it. That night he slept in the same bag with the mighty hunter, although it cramped him some.
The following day they took him back to Eskimo Town, where he became the friend and pet of all the children, and as much a part of the life of the village as any person in the community. Not only that, but he finally became famous all along the coast.