With this he attempted to link his arm in Roy’s, who promptly gave him a push which wellnigh precipitated him into an adjacent snowdrift.
Chatting merrily, the two men climbed the rocks till they arrived at the summit, where they stood gazing over the dazzling whiteness at the blot, which could easily be distinguished with the naked eye.
A number of dogs, scenting excitement, scampered about on top of the ridge of rocks, startling the kas-i-ba (rock partridges), which flew up in flocks of great size. Near at hand Delgezie and Sahanderry scrambled up the eminence, while below Ocpic and Minnihak, accompanied by more dogs, were making prodigious efforts to join them. The flagstaff cut the sky-line sharply, and the flag, which had now been run up, fluttered merrily as if it, too, desired to welcome the weary “packet-men.”
Within half-an-hour of their undignified scramble up the rocks they were precipitating themselves down again to welcome the arrivals, who were now close at hand.
It was only by the persistent efforts of the dog-driver and his companion that the “packet” sled was drawn to the summit of the snowdrift in front of the Fort, for the dogs were completely worn out. They staggered along, making heroic attempts to appear to the best advantage before strangers, but appearances were against them.
“Well, George Hopkins,” said Roy, extending his hand, “I’m glad to see you.”
“And we’re right glad to get here, sir,” answered Hopkins, drily. “The trip’s been a hard one.”
“Yes, I suppose it has,” returned the trader with an approving glance at the plucky little half-breed who had accomplished the long, arduous journey. But Hopkins appeared to look on the trip as nothing exceptionally hazardous; it was just a part of the work that his contract with the Hudson’s Bay Company called for.
Hopkins’ Eskimo companion, Poo-koo, next received Roy’s attention, and just then Broom, who had been standing idly by, uttered a terrific yell as the dog-driver lifted the packet-box from under the sled wrapper. The package was a small and unimposing spectacle, covered with canvas; an insignificant object, indeed, to be carried such a number of miles at so great an expenditure of money and labor; but the importance of its contents and mission made up for its otherwise commonplace appearance, and such evidently was Hopkins’ opinion, for he handled the box carefully and with great respect for its “honorable enclosures.”
Roy turned sharply on his heel at the sailor’s shout, and, perceiving what Hopkins had in his hand, he walked forward to take charge of it with as much unconcern as his excited state permitted him to assume. He was feeling a little piqued at the noise Broom was making. It was, he felt, a continuance of the ridicule he had provoked that morning, and he resented Broom’s pertinacious buffoonery.