The making of a man

by W. D. Flatt

“FOR THE FIRST TIME SAW POLAR BEARS.”

The arrival of the vessel meant a good deal to other than those on board, a fact which was not thoroughly appreciated during the passage by the young men who were travelling to the new land for the first time. On the voyage of this one vessel the Company’s employees in the far Canadian West depended almost wholly for their supplies and for a great deal of their food. With the centre of the Company’s interests at Fort Churchill, the officers and employees of the concern naturally gathered at that point, and recently food there had been running somewhat low. As can be expected also, there were many who were looking forward with great expectations to letters from their loved ones at home. The Factor and those in charge knew, if the vessel had had an ordinary voyage, what time she might be expected, and as the anticipated date approached a sharp lookout was kept each day for signs of the white sails. Several days passed unavailingly, but finally patience was rewarded and a cheer went up from the employees of the Company gathered at the Fort as the ship came in sight. For the last few days, also, the inhabitants of the Fort had been added to by numbers of Indians who from year to year came to see the Company’s vessel arrive. It was the great event of the year for the people of that land. Many of the Indians had trapped faithfully for the Company during the winter; the result of their work had been placed to their credit in the Company’s books, and in return for this they were anxious to secure useful articles which were comprised in the ship’s cargo. When the vessel drew into the dock there was a shout of rejoicing and, as can be imagined, it was a varied crowd of humanity which pressed toward her. The Indians, however, as they had been taught from year to year, kept a respectful distance, and the Factor was the first man to grasp the hand of the captain when the men reached shore. After the captain and officers, the first to land were the score or more youths who had been so carefully selected to further the Company’s trade. One of the features most looked for in the vessel’s arrival was the mail which she brought. In these days, when letters and newspapers are delivered to us three or four times a day we cannot appreciate what it meant to these men, shut off in the wilderness, to receive news from home which came only once a year. And it was not all rejoicing which followed the opening of the mail pouches. For some men their quota of letters brought sadness. A mother or a father, sister or a brother, or possibly a child, had passed away since they had received news the year before. As these sorrowful items were made known moist cheeks were seen even among these weathered and grizzled heroes who had accepted the call of the wilderness in the vast region where white men were practically unknown outside the employees of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

“THE FACTOR WAS THE FIRST MAN TO GRASP
THE HAND OF THE CAPTAIN.”

MacTavish, the Factor, looked the lads over carefully, wondering what kind of material the Company’s officer had chosen for him. He was a man not given to smiles, and through long association with the Indians and the half-civilized people of the wilds he had come to cultivate a stern and hard mien which did not by any means represent his true feelings. However, when the stalwart lads from the Orkneys, with Robert in the lead, marched past, each with his strong box containing all his earthly goods on his shoulder, a smile was seen to break through the sternness of his face. Never had the Company landed better looking lads at Fort Churchill, and MacTavish felt that if the young men measured up to their appearance he would be exceedingly well satisfied. The interest manifested in this smile was deepened when the captain, who had been talking to him, pointed out Robert and Will as they passed and told him of the heroic episode on the voyage. Around the Factor and the captain were also grouped some of the Company’s older trappers, who had been in conflict with the frozen wilds for many a year. They too saw in the newcomers the makings of men who were to do things, men who would meet obstacles and who would overcome them.

For more reasons than one the coming of the ship was a season of rejoicing to the Company’s employees. This first day the crew had been given leave on shore, which was long needed after their cramping experiences on shipboard, and had been allowed to stretch their legs and enjoy themselves as they saw fit. The evening, too, brought its enjoyment, for a banquet had been spread in which a part of the ship’s cargo had a large place. Naturally the Company’s officers resident at the Fort, with their subordinates, were interested in food from the Old Land brought over by the vessel, and in their turn the members of the crew were very well satisfied to dine on brook trout, venison, bear steak, and other dishes prepared from the food available in the wilds.

While the banquet was in progress an incident occurred which the young men long remembered. As became their new station, Robert and William, with their companions from the Old Land, had been seated with the Company’s officers. At an unexpected moment their friend Sandy, who had been with the crew, was seen edging his way, first through the red men with their squaws on the outside of the gathering and then through the Company’s employees, until he approached his young friends. It had suddenly occurred to Sandy that this would probably be the last opportunity he would have to exchange a kindly word with his rescuers, and before he was through, even if he had not felt so before, Robert felt well repaid for any effort he had made in the old sailor’s behalf during the night of the storm at sea.

The following morning the scene around the vessel was one of great energy and apparent confusion. All hands were busy removing the ship’s cargo, which was transferred to a large warehouse at the Fort. For the crew this would have been an enormous task, but since the horde of Indians who had gathered from the hundreds of miles around the Fort for this event of the year found the work somewhat of a novelty, only two days were occupied. Then began the work of loading the vessel with its return cargo. Furs, tied carefully in great bundles, were stored away in the holds, and after the holds were full huge piles, which, in their rolled-up state, resembled cord-wood, were securely fastened by lashing to the deck. This was the great outlet for the Company’s product, and annually tens of thousands of the finest skins were shipped to its sorting and distributing house in London. Two days more sufficed for this part of the work and finally, while those on shore waved a hearty farewell, the ship started on its return journey. Not the least important part of its cargo were letters from Robert and Will to the loved ones at home, giving vivid descriptions of the voyage which had been the means of landing them in their new home.

CHAPTER III.
NEW EXPERIENCES IN A NEW LAND.

While, as we have seen, MacTavish’s impression of the young men coming into his employ had been pleasing, he was anxious to become more closely acquainted personally with each of them. MacTavish was a judge of men. It was his business to place the lads where they would accomplish the best results in the Company’s work; in consequence, each was brought into his quarters and interviewed separately. In making provision for the allocation of the men the hard way of the wilds was followed, and no provision was given for relationships or friendships. It is not to be wondered at then that when the allotment of the lads to territory was made Robert and Will found that their ways were to separate. Indeed, had they thought to make inquiries they would have learned that their ultimate locations lay over a thousand miles apart.