"O no, we can't," he returned. "Our boat is too small. If the ship sinks, Whitie will float away in his cage all right. By and by he will reach the shore, and then he will strike off one of the planks and get out. Perhaps he will get back to Eskimo Land before we do."
"Do you think Whitie wants to go back to Eskimo Land?" asked Oumauk, diverted by this idea.
"Yes, I guess he does. He is all right, so don't bother."
Secretly, however, Eiseeyou felt certain that the white czar would sleep at the bottom of the ocean. If it had been day and Oumauk had been fully awake, he would probably have asked many more perplexing questions and might have gotten at the truth. But he was very tired and sleepy, and soon his head lay back against Eiseeyou's shoulder and he slept.
But Eiseeyou himself was far from sleepy. In his own mind he was much troubled. Like all the rest of his race he was very superstitious. Ever since the capture of the great bear he had brooded over the event. Secretly he felt certain that this wreck had been caused by his treachery to The White Czar.
Perhaps even the bear himself had brought it about, but more probably the god that controlled the wild creatures had brought it upon them. So marked is the Eskimo's superstition that when he kills the first narwal of the season, he makes an offering to the god of hunting and especially that of the narwal, in order that he may have good luck for the rest of the season.
The motor boat had barely gotten out of sight when the ship listed sharply on the port side and to the front. This caused the White Czar's cage, which had been propped up on some timbers, to start sliding down the deck. Just as the ship ended up and the bow started to sink, the cage struck the rail and, due partly to the frantic effort of the bear turned a complete somersault and landed right side up on the water. Then a great wave swept it fifty feet away from the ship. This was very fortunate for the Czar, for otherwise the cage might have been drawn down by the suction of the sinking ship. But another wave caught the cage before the ship finally floundered and carried it still further away. Then the ship sank and the only object of the entire expedition that was left in sight was the great bear, floating knee deep in the cold water in his wooden cage.