Bobby Blake in the Frozen North; Or, The Old Eskimo's Last Message

by Frank A. Warner

The boys had arranged with Mooloo to keep right on with them to the little settlement where the simple-hearted Kapje lived. For this they had a double reason. It was nearer the coast and further south where trading vessels would be more likely to touch, and then, too, they felt much safer with Kapje than they did with Mooloo.

The latter had at first hesitated at the proposition, but Bobby removed his objections by promising him double pay.

It was a long trip and a perilous one, for the sea was rough, the ice floes were churning and grinding, and icebergs were numerous. But Mooloo seemed to have a sixth sense that carried him through all dangers and at last they sighted the little settlement that was their destination. They approached it just as Kapje and his son, after a day’s fishing and hunting, were drawing their boat up on the shore.

The latter greeted the lads with as much emotion as Eskimos ever permit themselves to show, and cordially invited them to make their igloo their home as long as they chose. The boys accepted this invitation, the more readily now because they knew that they were in a position to reward their benefactors for all they had done for them.

It seemed almost like home again to be in the simple igloo which had so many associations attached to it as the place where they had been welcomed to safety after that memorable night on the icy seas.

The Eskimo woman greeted them just as warmly as had her husband and son, and soon had set before them a steaming savory meal which they ate with the appetites of famished wolves.

Mooloo, too, took part in the meal and stayed overnight, as it was then too late to think of returning to his own igloo. In the morning, Bobby drew from his pocket some gold pieces and delighted the guide by giving to him three times what he had promised.

As he was preparing to go, a thought struck Bobby.

“That walrus tooth!” he said to Mooloo. That token Takyak sent! Where is it?

“Mooloo got it here,” replied the guide, touching his breast. “Big totem. Good medicine. Bring luck. Mooloo keep it.”