The Land of the Long Night Part 26

Then he added: "We have had very little sleep since we left the coast, Paulus; we need a good rest before we go after the bear."

"Yes," said I, "my eyes ache for want of a good long sleep."

We stretched ourselves on the earth floor, and soon after I heard the snoring of Mikel. He was an inveterate snorer,--I thought the champion snorer of all those I ever had met.

I could not go to sleep, though I was so tired. I turned first on one side, then on the other, then lay on my back. I was much excited, for I thought of the big brown bear and of the hunt that was before us. At last I fell asleep. Suddenly I was awakened by a shaking of Mikel, and as I opened my eyes he said, "Paulus, what is the matter? You have been shouting."

I was in a profuse perspiration. I had again had nightmare from lying on my back. I was fighting with a big bear which had seized me, and we were wrestling and I was getting the worst of it, and when ready to fall down in his grasp I had given a big scream.

After our breakfast that morning, Mikel said: "We must go and tell some of the folks who live in a little hamlet not far from here to come with us."

"What do you call not far from here?" I asked.

I had begun to know what "not far" meant with the Lapps. "Two hours'

travel, or about fifteen miles," he replied. "I have friends there."

Before leaving the little house of refuge Mikel swept the floor, and made it as clean as we had found it--for it is the custom of the people to do this before they leave.

We then started eastward, and after two hours' travelling we came to a few farms and entered a house. Mikel told the people about the bear. The news soon spread and there was much excitement. During the day preparations were made for the hunt.

The next morning men gathered, taking their guns and big long sticks, with pikes at the ends to prod the bear with; and all the dogs of the place followed us. Many men started on their skees, others in their sleighs. According to Mikel the bear was about thirty miles away.

I was full of enthusiasm, and longed to come face to face with the big brown bear of northern Europe.

About three hours after, we stopped. All the people took counsel together and spoke in low voices. Then Mikel, pointing out to me a big cl.u.s.ter of trees, said, "Paulus, the bear is there."

Slowly we made for the spot, and then entered the grove, and went in different directions seeking for the bear's winter quarters. Soon after we saw a heap of snow, or little hillock, that covered evidently some boulders piled on the top of each other or a cl.u.s.ter of fallen broken pine trees.

We looked at each other and pointed towards the spot--we knew that the bear was under the snow there. Mikel whispered to me, "The bear sleeps under that hillock of snow."

We surrounded the place, then on a sudden we shouted and made a terrific noise. Two or three of the men fired their guns, the dogs barked furiously.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "He sat on his haunches and looked at us, uttering a tremendous growl."]

Then we saw the centre of the heap or hillock of snow tremble, as if some live creature were moving slowly under it. Then the snow moved a little quicker. There was no mistake, the bear was awakened, had moved, and was on the point of rising; he was listening, and getting ready to come out. The noise had frightened him. The snow trembled more and more and rose higher and higher. Suddenly there was a great upheaval, and great cracks appeared in the crusted snow. Then we saw peeping out the head and back of a huge brown bear, then two legs, and finally the whole animal.

He looked round him with amazement. He seemed to be dazed at the strange and sudden sight before him. He sat on his haunches and looked at us, uttering a tremendous growl. We could not tell whether he meant to fight or to run. The dogs barked angrily around the huge beast, but did not dare to approach near enough to attack him. In the meantime we had all drawn together so that we could fire without danger of hitting any of our party. The bear was getting ugly, gave a series of fierce growls, and rose on his hind legs. At this moment Mikel and I fired. A grunt of pain showed that the animal was. .h.i.t. He ran a few steps towards us and as we got ready to fire again the big beast fell, his blood reddening the snow.

We gathered round and looked at him. He was a huge beast, but very thin from his long fast, for he had been six months or more without food.

After the killing of the bear there was no time to be lost, for we had deviated from our course and had gone eastward into Finland. So now we had to go westward, and after two days' travelling we came to the river Muonio, to a Finnish hamlet called Kuttainen, not far from Karesuando.

Now travelling became really dangerous. The frozen river was full of treacherous cracks, and others were appearing all the time. Once in a while we came to small open s.p.a.ces, where we could see the swift water of the stream rushing with great rapidity; this made me shudder. In some places there were large pools of water.

It was getting really warm. Some days my "pesh" was comfortable, at other times it was much too warm, the thermometer reaching 48 to 50 degrees in the shade and 86 to 88 degrees in the sun. The dripping from the melted snow came into the river from the hills, and had succeeded in many places in melting the ice on the banks. This travelling was no joke. I followed Mikel, and watched him constantly, fearing that his reindeer and sleigh would disappear under the ice. Travelling appeared to become more and more perilous as we followed the Muonio southward. At times I could hear the angry water under the ice striking against boulders, and this became quite common.

At last I shouted to Mikel, "Let us travel on the land, for surely if we do not we shall fall through the ice and be engulfed."

"We cannot," he shouted back, "the snow is too soft. Our reindeer could not pull our sleighs. We can get along much better on the river, though the ice is very bad. Trust in me, Paulus. I have made this journey over the Muonio River many times before, but you must follow me very closely, for sometimes I shall have to pa.s.s near rotten ice or open spots."

"I will follow you carefully, dear Mikel. Go on! Go on!" I said.

So I followed Mikel closely, as he had bade me, but what thumps our sleighs would sometimes get on the now uneven ice of the river!

Fortunately they were very strongly built.

We slept at a place called Songamuodka. In the morning it snowed, but the flakes were big and soft and melted as they fell on the old snow. I met no more herds of reindeer, but since I had left on my journey southward I had seen between sixty-five and seventy thousand of them.

Two days after I saw the church spire of Pajala, rested there, and on the 24th of May, as I was travelling on the Torne River, I pa.s.sed once more the Arctic Circle. It was raining. I was told that it was the first rain that had fallen for over seven months.

Here I said good-bye to the good Mikel and thanked him cordially for the care he had taken of me.

I had now left the kingdom of the "Long Night," and the "Long Day" was to rule over the land through which we have travelled together.

Now, my dear Young Folks, Friend Paul has come back, as you bade him, and I hope you have enjoyed our travelling together in "The Land of the Long Night." Good-bye. Do not forget your Friend Paul, who loves you dearly, for once he was one of the Young Folks himself.

Paul Du Chaillu's Great Work

THE VIKING AGE

THE EARLY HISTORY, MANNERS, & CUSTOMS OF THE ANCESTORS OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING NATIONS

WITH 1400 ILl.u.s.tRATIONS AND MAP 2 vols., 8vo, $7.50

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Publishers

New York Tribune.

"These luxuriously printed and profusely ill.u.s.trated volumes embody the fullest account of our Norse ancestors extant. Mr. Du Chaillu has gone very fully and very carefully over the whole of his ground. This extensive and important work must be of high interest to all English-speaking people."

Newark Advertiser.

"Their weapons, ornaments, ships, domestic manners and customs, art and industries, are all reconstructed with a minuteness that is remarkable, if we consider (as we must) that all this comes to us after centuries of neglect."

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Edinburgh Review.

"The subject of M. Du Chaillu's work is vast in extent and full of perplexing difficulties. We have shown that its author has collected a store of valuable information, a great part of which has. .h.i.therto been inaccessible to English readers. His enthusiasm will have a very useful effect if it leads the people of this country to study and admire the ancient civilization and the splendid literature of our Scandinavian kinsmen."