“Me no like um blubber,” Toma spoke up vehemently. “No eat um blubber all winter.”
“Me too,” Sandy agreed emphatically.
“I guess you fellows would think blubber was pretty good if there wasn’t anything else to chew on except sealskin boots.”
The conversation had grown unpleasant in this vein, so the boys changed the subject to the map, which Dick spread out in the snow and explained to Toma, as he had promised. But their eyes soon grew heavy with sleep, and after finishing their scanty rations of frozen bear meat, they retired, Dick standing the first watch.
When each of them had had about five hours’ rest, they ate more bear meat, drank a pot of tea and were ready for the trail. The problem now ahead of them was the scaling of the glacier, towering in a low range of mountains about two miles from the abandoned igloos. The map indicated no exact route to the top of the glacier, except that from the abandoned igloos there was a change of course somewhat to the southwest.
They had been on the trail only half an hour when Toma’s keen eyes detected signs of musk-oxen. The Indian boy showed Dick and Sandy the marks of the hoofs in the snow.
“We’d better see if we can’t shoot a few of the fellows that made these tracks,” Dick advised. “We can leave the meat cached in ice and covered with stones. Then when we return we can pick it up on an empty sledge.”
Sandy was eager for the hunt and so the boys swung off the course they had been following, and began trailing the musk-oxen. The tracks were quite fresh and they all looked at their rifles to see that they were ready for quick shooting. Since they never before had hunted musk-oxen, they did not know just what to expect.
They had trailed the musk-oxen about half a mile when, climbing out of a ravine, they came suddenly upon them. There were five of the strange creatures huddled in a circle, tail to tail, save for one, who stood out from the rest facing the young hunters. For several minutes the boys stood still before the shaggy beasts, who seemed not to fear them in the least. Dick was first to shake off his attack of “buck fever.” Raising his rifle, he took careful aim at the animal nearest them. He chose a vulnerable spot, and at the crack of his rifle, the musk-ox sank to his knees, tried ineffectually to rise, and at last rolled over and expired.
Dick’s shot awakened Sandy and Toma from the trance into which the first sight of the creatures had thrown them, and each of them picked an animal from the band, bringing them down with a shot each. All fired again, and though the last of the five made an awkward attempt to run away, they brought it down together.