Kasba (White Partridge): A Story of Hudson Bay

by George R. Ray

This sudden change from extreme gravity to boisterous gaiety startled Kasba, who stood for a moment irresolute, then threw herself beside him on the sled, laughing hysterically.

Presently, as David’s wandering gaze became fixed upon the sky, his gaiety ceased as suddenly as it had begun, and he sat staring at the threatening storm-clouds which were silently creeping upward. Then, jumping hastily off the sled, he “drove up” his dogs with all vigor.

Kasba, shivering, drew the hood of her coat, which had slipped back during her frantic slide on the lake, upon her head with a quick pull, for a keen and cutting wind was rising, and started off at a quick trot in the direction pointed out by her companion.

Soon a large, dark heap, marked by a fluttering handkerchief tied to a stick, came into view. The girl divined that it was the object of their journey and ran straight toward it. As she approached a number of small white animals stood about it barking shrilly. They were the white foxes of the North, and appeared about to defend their position, but a nearer approach disconcerted them and they scuttled off to a safe distance, where they sat watching events. Not all, however, for David had set steel traps around the deer the day before, and a few foxes were caught.

The weather now looked ominous, and no time was lost in loading the sled with meat. The train was then turned toward home, and Kasba started back against the wind with a resolute look on her small brown face. David urged the dogs along with loud cracks of the whip, for the wind had risen and was now rushing across the plain in a biting blast, while large dark clouds, which had suddenly appeared upon the horizon, spread rapidly over the sky like huge phantoms, extinguishing the sun in a veil of vapor. David adjured Kasba to make all speed and “drove up” his dogs with renewed energy. Hurrying on, they stopped for nothing, till presently the “little hill,” which meant home, could be dimly seen in the distance.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief, for she realized that the Fort was only a few miles beyond the hill. But her comfort was short-lived. The wind, as if regretting its previous leniency toward them, now burst into a hurricane, and all sounds were drowned by its howlings, while the whirlwinds of snow which it raised filled the air and completely obscured objects a few yards distant.

As the storm cast its cutting ice-dust against David’s face, he could not even see the dogs. He halted them and shouted loudly for Kasba to come back, then fired his rifle several times. He waited five minutes, ten minutes, but the moments passed and the girl did not appear. He walked forward as far as he dared, but returned immediately, for he could not see two paces from him and the drifting snow obliterated every footmark.

David paused irresolutely. He hated to proceed without Kasba, yet he felt that to remain would be a useless sacrifice, for he was utterly helpless in such a blizzard. Besides, Kasba was walking in the right direction when last he saw her, and she might possibly stumble upon the Fort. It would be a miracle, he knew, but miracles did sometimes happen. Thus buoying up his hopes for Kasba’s safety, he determined to trust to the sagacity of the dogs to take him home.

But the dogs were now lying down and showed a decided objection to the biting wind and drifting snow. Finding his efforts to make them draw the loaded sled of no avail, he hastily threw off the meat, and again endeavored to start them. Presently an idea of what their driver required seemed to dawn upon the dogs, and, their speed accelerated by a few sharp cuts of the whip, they started off so suddenly that they left David standing where he was; and it was only with the utmost difficulty that he caught them up and threw himself on the empty sled, where he lay prone upon his face, burying his head in the heavy sled wrapper.

If David’s condition was precarious, Kasba’s at the same time was even more perilous. Had she remained where she was when the hurricane burst upon them the dogs would have overtaken her, for they soon passed the spot on their way to the Fort. But, in her trepidation, she had endeavored to return to David, and this proved her undoing. The clouds of whirling snow thickened as she scudded along, a mere play-thing for the wind. Then suddenly there was a muffled shout and the girl turned quickly in the direction of the sound, and endeavored to reach the spot from whence it came. But the wind caught her again, driving her before it until she had totally lost any vague idea she had previously entertained concerning her position.