Finally the motor boat towed the nearly lifeless Czar along side The Spray, and the men quickly lifted him to the deck. This was after several ropes had been passed about his great, almost lifeless bulk. Then he was lifted by a fearful and wondering crew into the cage that had been prepared for him. There for hours he lay in the bottom of his cage with his great head between his paws, moaning and groaning, his spirit broken and seemingly near to death.
Meanwhile Eiseeyou walked the deck of the great boat, his simple soul wracked in devilish torment. Occasionally he would come and stand by the cage and look at The White Czar. Then he would remember what a lovable little chap he had been as a cub, and how little Oumauk had loved him. Then he would go away to pace the deck again.
Thus the first night of the White Czar's captivity wore away; but whether it was longer for the great beast or for the agonized man, who shall say?
CHAPTER XI
THE WRECK
The day following the capture of the White Czar the Eskimos arrived at their summer quarters and again set up their cloth tents. Eiseeyou at once went ashore to see that all was well with his little family. That afternoon when he returned to the ship, Mr. Adams, the head of the expedition surprised Eiseeyou very much by telling him that they were to start on the return trip on the morrow, and that if he wished, Eiseeyou and little Oumauk might go with them as far as Quebec. This would save them passage money and also save time.
Eiseeyou was overjoyed at this news. He thanked the white man in his broken English and then hastened away to tell his kooner and to get Oumauk.