[the story of a scheming white man among the strange people who live on the rim of the arctic sea]
thomas stevens’s veracity may have been indeterminate as x, and his imagination the imagination of ordinary men increased to the nth power, but this, at least, must be said: never did he deliver himself of word nor deed that could be branded as a lie outright. . . he may have played with probability, and verged on the extremest edge of possibility, but in his tales the machinery never creaked. that he knew the northland like a book, not a soul can deny. that he was a great traveller, and had set foot on countless unknown trails, many evidences affirm. outside of my own personal knowledge, i knew men that had met him everywhere, but principally on the confines of nowhere. there was johnson, the ex-hudson bay company factor, who had housed him in a labrador factory until his dogs rested up a bit, and he was able to strike out again. there was mcmahon, agent for the alaska commercial company, who had run across him in dutch harbour, and later on, among the outlying islands of the aleutian group. it was indisputable that he had guided one of the earlier united states surveys, and history states positively that in a similar capacity he served the western union when it attempted to put through its trans-alaskan and siberian telegraph to europe. further, there was joe lamson, the whaling captain, who, when ice-bound off the mouth of the mackenzie, had had him come aboard after tobacco. this last touch proves thomas stevens’s identity conclusively. his quest for tobacco was perennial and untiring. ere we became fairly acquainted, i learned to greet him with one hand, and pass the pouch with the other. but the night i met him in john o’brien’s dawson saloon, his head was wreathed in a nimbus of fifty-cent cigar smoke, and instead of my pouch he demanded my sack. we were standing by a faro table, and forthwith he tossed it upon the “high card.” “fifty,” he said, and the game-keeper nodded. the “high card” turned, and he handed back my sack, called for a “tab,” and drew me over to the scales, where the weigher nonchalantly cashed him out fifty dollars in dust.
“and now we’ll drink,” he said; and later, at the bar, when he lowered his glass: “reminds me of a little brew i had up tattarat way. no, you have no knowledge of the place, nor is it down on the charts. but it’s up by the rim of the arctic sea, not so many hundred miles from the american line, and all of half a thousand god-forsaken souls live there, giving and taking in marriage, and starving and dying in-between-whiles. explorers have overlooked them, and you will not find them in the census of 1890. a whale-ship was pinched there once, but the men, who had made shore over the ice, pulled out for the south and were never heard of.
“but it was a great brew we had, moosu and i,” he added a moment later, with just the slightest suspicion of a sigh.
i knew there were big deeds and wild doings behind that sigh, so i haled him into a corner, between a roulette outfit and a poker layout, and waited for his tongue to thaw.
“had one objection to moosu,” he began, cocking his head meditatively—“one objection, and only one. he was an indian from over on the edge of the chippewyan country, but the trouble was, he’d picked up a smattering of the scriptures. been campmate a season with a renegade french canadian who’d studied for the church. moosu’d never seen applied christianity, and his head was crammed with miracles, battles, and dispensations, and what not he didn’t understand. otherwise he was a good sort, and a handy man on trail or over a fire.
“we’d had a hard time together and were badly knocked out when we plumped upon tattarat. lost outfits and dogs crossing a divide in a fall blizzard, and our bellies clove to our backs and our clothes were in rags when we crawled into the village. they weren’t much surprised at seeing us—because of the whalemen—and gave us the meanest shack in the village to live in, and the worst of their leavings to live on. what struck me at the time as strange was that they left us strictly alone. but moosu explained it.
“‘shaman sick tumtum,’ he said, meaning the shaman, or medicine man, was jealous, and had advised the people to have nothing to do with us. from the little he’d seen of the whalemen, he’d learned that mine was a stronger race, and a wiser; so he’d only behaved as shamans have always behaved the world over. and before i get done, you’ll see how near right he was.
“‘these people have a law,’ said mosu: ‘whoso eats of meat must hunt. we be awkward, you and i, o master, in the weapons of this country; nor can we string bows nor fling spears after the manner approved. wherefore the shaman and tummasook, who is chief, have put their heads together, and it has been decreed that we work with the women and children in dragging in the meat and tending the wants of the hunters.’
“‘and this is very wrong,’ i made to answer; ‘for we be better men, moosu, than these people who walk in darkness. further, we should rest and grow strong, for the way south is long, and on that trail the weak cannot prosper.’”
“‘but we have nothing,’ he objected, looking about him at the rotten timbers of the igloo, the stench of the ancient walrus meat that had been our supper disgusting his nostrils. ‘and on this fare we cannot thrive. we have nothing save the bottle of “pain-killer,” which will not fill emptiness, so we must bend to the yoke of the unbeliever and become hewers of wood and drawers of water. and there be good things in this place, the which we may not have. ah, master, never has my nose lied to me, and i have followed it to secret caches and among the fur-bales of the igloos. good provender did these people extort from the poor whalemen, and this provender has wandered into few hands. the woman ipsukuk, who dwelleth in the far end of the village next she igloo of the chief, possesseth much flour and sugar, and even have my eyes told me of molasses smeared on her face. and in the igloo of tummasook, the chief, there be tea—have i not seen the old pig guzzling? and the shaman owneth a caddy of “star” and two buckets of prime smoking. and what have we? nothing! nothing!’
“but i was stunned by the word he brought of the tobacco, and made no answer.
“and moosu, what of his own desire, broke silence: ‘and there be tukeliketa, daughter of a big hunter and wealthy man. a likely girl. indeed, a very nice girl.’
“i figured hard during the night while moosu snored, for i could not bear the thought of the tobacco so near which i could not smoke. true, as he had said, we had nothing. but the way became clear to me, and in the morning i said to him: ‘go thou cunningly abroad, after thy fashion, and procure me some sort of bone, crooked like a gooseneck, and hollow. also, walk humbly, but have eyes awake to the lay of pots and pans and cooking contrivances. and remember, mine is the white man’s wisdom, and do what i have bid you, with sureness and despatch.’
“while he was away i placed the whale-oil cooking lamp in the middle of the igloo, and moved the mangy sleeping furs back that i might have room. then i took apart his gun and put the barrel by handy, and afterwards braided many wicks from the cotton that the women gather wild in the summer. when he came back, it was with the bone i had commanded, and with news that in the igloo of tummasook there was a five-gallon kerosene can and a big copper kettle. so i said he had done well and we would tarry through the day. and when midnight was near i made harangue to him.
“‘this chief, this tummasook, hath a copper kettle, likewise a kerosene can.’ i put a rock, smooth and wave-washed, in moosu’s hand. ‘the camp is hushed and the stars are winking. go thou, creep into the chief’s igloo softly, and smite him thus upon the belly, and hard. and let the meat and good grub of the days to come put strength into thine arm. there will be uproar and outcry, and the village will come hot afoot. but be thou unafraid. veil thy movements and lose thy form in the obscurity of the night and the confusion of men. and when the woman ipsukuk is anigh thee,—she who smeareth her face with molasses,—do thou smite her likewise, and whosoever else that possesseth flour and cometh to thy hand. then do thou lift thy voice in pain and double up with clasped hands, and make outcry in token that thou, too, hast felt the visitation of the night. and in this way shall we achieve honour and great possessions, and the caddy of “star” and the prime smoking, and thy tukeliketa, who is a likely maiden.’
“when he had departed on this errand, i bided patiently in the shack, and the tobacco seemed very near. then there was a cry of affright in the night, that became an uproar and assailed the sky. i seized the ‘pain-killer’ and ran forth. there was much noise, and a wailing among the women, and fear sat heavily on all. tummasook and the woman ipsukuk rolled on the ground in pain, and with them there were divers others, also moosu. i thrust aside those that cluttered the way of my feet, and put the mouth of the bottle to moosu’s lips. and straightway he became well and ceased his howling. whereat there was a great clamour for the bottle from the others so stricken. but i made harangue, and ere they tasted and were made well i had mulcted tummasook of his copper kettle and kerosene can, and the woman ipsukuk of her sugar and molasses, and the other sick ones of goodly measures of flour. the shaman glowered wickedly at the people around my knees, though he poorly concealed the wonder that lay beneath. but i held my head high, and moosu groaned beneath the loot as he followed my heels to the shack.
“there i set to work. in tummasook’s copper kettle i mixed three quarts of wheat flour with five of molasses, and to this i added of water twenty quarts. then i placed the kettle near the lamp, that it might sour in the warmth and grow strong. moosu understood, and said my wisdom passed understanding and was greater than solomon’s, who he had heard was a wise man of old time. the kerosene can i set over the lamp, and to its nose i affixed a snout, and into the snout the bone that was like a gooseneck. i sent moosu without to pound ice, while i connected the barrel of his gun with the gooseneck, and midway on the barrel i piled the ice he had pounded. and at the far end of the gun-barrel, beyond the pan of ice, i placed a small iron pot. when the brew was strong enough (and it was two days ere it could stand on its own legs), i filled the kerosene can with it, and lighted the wicks i had braided.
“now that all was ready, i spoke to moosu. ‘go forth,’ i said, ‘to the chief men of the village, and give them greeting, and bid them come into my igloo and sleep the night away with me and the gods.’
“the brew was singing merrily when they began shoving aside the skin flap and crawling in, and i was heaping cracked ice on the gun-barrel. out of the priming hole at the far end, drip, drip, drip into the iron pot fell the liquor—hooch, you know. but they’d never seen the like, and giggled nervously when i made harangue about its virtues. as i talked i noted the jealousy in the shaman’s eye, so when i had done, i placed him side by side with tummasook and the woman ipsukuk. then i gave them to drink, and their eyes watered and their stomachs warmed, till from being afraid they reached greedily for more; and when i had them well started, i turned to the others. tummasook made a brag about how he had once killed a polar bear, and in the vigour of his pantomime nearly slew his mother’s brother. but nobody heeded. the woman ipsukuk fell to weeping for a son lost long years agone in the ice, and the shaman made incantation and prophecy. so it went, and before morning they were all on the floor, sleeping soundly with the gods.
“the story tells itself, does it not? the news of the magic potion spread. it was too marvellous for utterance. tongues could tell but a tithe of the miracles it performed. it eased pain, gave surcease to sorrow, brought back old memories, dead faces, and forgotten dreams. it was a fire that ate through all the blood, and, burning, burned not. it stoutened the heart, stiffened the back, and made men more than men. it revealed the future, and gave visions and prophecy. it brimmed with wisdom and unfolded secrets. there was no end of the things it could do, and soon there was a clamouring on all hands to sleep with the gods. they brought their warmest furs, their strongest dogs, their best meats; but i sold the hooch with discretion, and only those were favoured that brought flour and molasses and sugar. and such stores poured in that i set moosu to build a cache to hold them, for there was soon no space in the igloo. ere three days had passed tummasook had gone bankrupt. the shaman, who was never more than half drunk after the first night, watched me closely and hung on for the better part of the week. but before ten days were gone, even the woman ipsukuk exhausted her provisions, and went home weak and tottery.
“but moosu complained. ‘o master,’ he said, ‘we have laid by great wealth in molasses and sugar and flour, but our shack is yet mean, our clothes thin, and our sleeping furs mangy. there is a call of the belly for meat the stench of which offends not the stars, and for tea such as tummasook guzzles, and there is a great yearning for the tobacco of neewak, who is shaman and who plans to destroy us. i have flour until i am sick, and sugar and molasses without stint, yet is the heart of moosu sore and his bed empty.’
“‘peace!’ i answered, ‘thou art weak of understanding and a fool. walk softly and wait, and we will grasp it all. but grasp now, and we grasp little, and in the end it will be nothing. thou art a child in the way of the white man’s wisdom. hold thy tongue and watch, and i will show you the way my brothers do overseas, and, so doing, gather to themselves the riches of the earth. it is what is called “business,” and what dost thou know about business?’
“but the next day he came in breathless. ‘o master, a strange thing happeneth in the igloo of neewak, the shaman; wherefore we are lost, and we have neither worn the warm furs nor tasted the good tobacco, what of your madness for the molasses and flour. go thou and witness whilst i watch by the brew.’
“so i went to the igloo of neewak. and behold, he had made his own still, fashioned cunningly after mine. and as he beheld me he could ill conceal his triumph. for he was a man of parts, and his sleep with the gods when in my igloo had not been sound.
“but i was not disturbed, for i knew what i knew, and when i returned to my own igloo, i descanted to moosu, and said: ‘happily the property right obtains amongst this people, who otherwise have been blessed with but few of the institutions of men. and because of this respect for property shall you and i wax fat, and, further, we shall introduce amongst them new institutions that other peoples have worked out through great travail and suffering.’
“but moosu understood dimly, till the shaman came forth, with eyes flashing and a threatening note in his voice, and demanded to trade with me. ‘for look you,’ he cried, ‘there be of flour and molasses none in all the village. the like have you gathered with a shrewd hand from my people, who have slept with your gods and who now have nothing save large heads, and weak knees, and a thirst for cold water that they cannot quench. this is not good, and my voice has power among them; so it were well that we trade, you and i, even as you have traded with them, for molasses and flour.’
“and i made answer: ‘this be good talk, and wisdom abideth in thy mouth. we will trade. for this much of flour and molasses givest thou me the caddy of “star” and the two buckets of smoking.’
“and moosu groaned, and when the trade was made and the shaman departed, he upbraided me: ‘now, because of thy madness are we, indeed, lost! neewak maketh hooch on his own account, and when the time is ripe, he will command the people to drink of no hooch but his hooch. and in this way are we undone, and our goods worthless, and our igloo mean, and the bed of moosu cold and empty!’
“and i answered: ‘by the body of the wolf, say i, thou art a fool, and thy father before thee, and thy children after thee, down to the last generation. thy wisdom is worse than no wisdom and thine eyes blinded to business, of which i have spoken and whereof thou knowest nothing. go, thou son of a thousand fools, and drink of the hooch that neewak brews in his igloo, and thank thy gods that thou hast a white man’s wisdom to make soft the bed thou liest in. go! and when thou hast drunken, return with the taste still on thy lips, that i may know.’
“and two days after, neewak sent greeting and invitation to his igloo. moosu went, but i sat alone, with the song of the still in my ears, and the air thick with the shaman’s tobacco; for trade was slack that night, and no one dropped in but angeit, a young hunter that had faith in me. later, moosu came back, his speech thick with chuckling and his eyes wrinkling with laughter.
“‘thou art a great man,’ he said. ‘thou art a great man, o master, and because of thy greatness thou wilt not condemn moosu, thy servant, who ofttimes doubts and cannot be made to understand.’
“‘and wherefore now?’ i demanded. ‘hast thou drunk overmuch? and are they sleeping sound in the igloo of neewak, the shaman?’
“‘nay, they are angered and sore of body, and chief tummasook has thrust his thumbs in the throat of neewak, and sworn by the bones of his ancestors to look upon his face no more. for behold! i went to the igloo, and the brew simmered and bubbled, and the steam journeyed through the gooseneck even as thy steam, and even as thine it became water where it met the ice, and dropped into the pot at the far end. and neewak gave us to drink, and lo, it was not like thine, for there was no bite to the tongue nor tingling to the eyeballs, and of a truth it was water. so we drank, and we drank overmuch; yet did we sit with cold hearts and solemn. and neewak was perplexed and a cloud came on his brow. and he took tummasook and ipsukuk alone of all the company and set them apart, and bade them drink and drink and drink. and they drank and drank and drank, and yet sat solemn and cold, till tummasook arose in wrath and demanded back the furs and the tea he had paid. and ipsukuk raised her voice, thin and angry. and the company demanded back what they had given, and there was a great commotion.’
“‘does the son of a dog deem me a whale?’ demanded tummasook, shoving back the skin flap and standing erect, his face black and his brows angry. ‘wherefore i am filled, like a fish-bladder, to bursting, till i can scarce walk, what of the weight within me. lalah! i have drunken as never before, yet are my eyes clear, my knees strong, my hand steady.’
“‘the shaman cannot send us to sleep with the gods,’ the people complained, stringing in and joining us, ‘and only in thy igloo may the thing be done.’
“so i laughed to myself as i passed the hooch around and the guests made merry. for in the flour i had traded to neewak i had mixed much soda that i had got from the woman ipsukuk. so how could his brew ferment when the soda kept it sweet? or his hooch be hooch when it would not sour?
“after that our wealth flowed in without let or hindrance. furs we had without number, and the fancy-work of the women, all of the chief’s tea, and no end of meat. one day moosu retold for my benefit, and sadly mangled, the story of joseph in egypt, but from it i got an idea, and soon i had half the tribe at work building me great meat caches. and of all they hunted i got the lion’s share and stored it away. nor was moosu idle. he made himself a pack of cards from birch bark, and taught neewak the way to play seven-up. he also inveigled the father of tukeliketa into the game. and one day he married the maiden, and the next day he moved into the shaman’s house, which was the finest in the village. the fall of neewak was complete, for he lost all his possessions, his walrus-hide drums, his incantation tools—everything. and in the end he became a hewer of wood and drawer of water at the beck and call of moosu. and moosu—he set himself up as shaman, or high priest, and out of his garbled scripture created new gods and made incantation before strange altars.
“and i was well pleased, for i thought it good that church and state go hand in hand, and i had certain plans of my own concerning the state. events were shaping as i had foreseen. good temper and smiling faces had vanished from the village. the people were morose and sullen. there were quarrels and fighting, and things were in an uproar night and day. moosu’s cards were duplicated and the hunters fell to gambling among themselves. tummasook beat his wife horribly, and his mother’s brother objected and smote him with a tusk of walrus till he cried aloud in the night and was shamed before the people. also, amid such diversions no hunting was done, and famine fell upon the land. the nights were long and dark, and without meat no hooch could be bought; so they murmured against the chief. this i had played for, and when they were well and hungry, i summoned the whole village, made a great harangue, posed as patriarch, and fed the famishing. moosu made harangue likewise, and because of this and the thing i had done i was made chief. moosu, who had the ear of god and decreed his judgments, anointed me with whale blubber, and right blubberly he did it, not understanding the ceremony. and between us we interpreted to the people the new theory of the divine right of kings. there was hooch galore, and meat and feastings, and they took kindly to the new order.
“so you see, o man, i have sat in the high places, and worn the purple, and ruled populations. and i might yet be a king had the tobacco held out, or had moosu been more fool and less knave. for he cast eyes upon esanetuk, eldest daughter to tummasook, and i objected.
“‘o brother,’ he explained, ‘thou hast seen fit to speak of introducing new institutions amongst this people, and i have listened to thy words and gained wisdom thereby. thou rulest by the god-given right, and by the god-given right i marry.’
“i noted that he ‘brothered’ me, and was angry and put my foot down. but he fell back upon the people and made incantations for three days, in which all hands joined; and then, speaking with the voice of god, he decreed polygamy by divine fiat. but he was shrewd, for he limited the number of wives by a property qualification, and because of which he, above all men, was favoured by his wealth. nor could i fail to admire, though it was plain that power had turned his head, and he would not be satisfied till all the power and all the wealth rested in his own hands. so he became swollen with pride, forgot it was i that had placed him there, and made preparations to destroy me.
“but it was interesting, for the beggar was working out in his own way an evolution of primitive society. now i, by virtue of the hooch monopoly, drew a revenue in which i no longer permitted him to share. so he meditated for a while and evolved a system of ecclesiastical taxation. he laid tithes upon the people, harangued about fat firstlings and such things, and twisted whatever twisted texts he had ever heard to serve his purpose. even this i bore in silence, but when he instituted what may be likened to a graduated income-tax, i rebelled, and blindly, for this was what he worked for. thereat, he appealed to the people, and they, envious of my great wealth and well taxed themselves, upheld him. ‘why should we pay,’ they asked, ‘and not you? does not the voice of god speak through the lips of moosu, the shaman?’ so i yielded. but at the same time i raised the price of hooch, and lo, he was not a whit behind me in raising my taxes.
“then there was open war. i made a play for neewak and tummasook, because of the traditionary rights they possessed; but moosu won out by creating a priesthood and giving them both high office. the problem of authority presented itself to him, and he worked it out as it has often been worked before. there was my mistake. i should have been made shaman, and he chief; but i saw it too late, and in the clash of spiritual and temporal power i was bound to be worsted. a great controversy waged, but it quickly became one-sided. the people remembered that he had anointed me, and it was clear to them that the source of my authority lay, not in me, but in moosu. only a few faithful ones clung to me, chief among whom angeit was; while he headed the popular party and set whispers afloat that i had it in mind to overthrow him and set up my own gods, which were most unrighteous gods. and in this the clever rascal had anticipated me, for it was just what i had intended—forsake my kingship, you see, and fight spiritual with spiritual. so he frightened the people with the iniquities of my peculiar gods—especially the one he named ‘biz-e-nass’—and nipped the scheme in the bud.
“now, it happened that kluktu, youngest daughter to tummasook, had caught my fancy, and i likewise hers. so i made overtures, but the ex-chief refused bluntly—after i had paid the purchase price—and informed me that she was set aside for moosu. this was too much, and i was half of a mind to go to his igloo and slay him with my naked hands; but i recollected that the tobacco was near gone, and went home laughing. the next day he made incantation, and distorted the miracle of the loaves and fishes till it became prophecy, and i, reading between the lines, saw that it was aimed at the wealth of meat stored in my caches. the people also read between the lines, and, as he did not urge them to go on the hunt, they remained at home, and few caribou or bear were brought in.
“but i had plans of my own, seeing that not only the tobacco but the flour and molasses were near gone. and further, i felt it my duty to prove the white man’s wisdom and bring sore distress to moosu, who had waxed high-stomached, what of the power i had given him. so that night i went to my meat caches and toiled mightily, and it was noted next day that all the dogs of the village were lazy. no one suspected, and i toiled thus every night, and the dogs grew fat and fatter, and the people lean and leaner. they grumbled and demanded the fulfilment of prophecy, but moosu restrained them, waiting for their hunger to grow yet greater. nor did he dream, to the very last, of the trick i had been playing on the empty caches.
“when all was ready, i sent angeit, and the faithful ones whom i had fed privily, through the village to call assembly. and the tribe gathered on a great space of beaten snow before my door, with the meat caches towering stilt-legged in the rear. moosu came also, standing on the inner edge of the circle opposite me, confident that i had some scheme afoot, and prepared at the first break to down me. but i arose, giving him salutation before all men.
“’o moosu, thou blessed of god,’ i began, ‘doubtless thou hast wondered in that i have called this convocation together; and doubtless, because of my many foolishnesses, art thou prepared for rash sayings and rash doings. not so. it has been said, that those the gods would destroy they first make mad. and i have been indeed mad. i have crossed thy will, and scoffed at thy authority, and done divers evil and wanton things. wherefore, last night a vision was vouchsafed me, and i have seen the wickedness of my ways. and thou stoodst forth like a shining star, with brows aflame, and i knew in mine own heart thy greatness. i saw all things clearly. i knew that thou didst command the ear of god, and that when you spoke he listened. and i remembered that whatever of the good deeds that i had done, i had done through the grace of god, and the grace of moosu.
“‘yes, my children,’ i cried, turning to the people, ‘whatever right i have done, and whatever good i have done, have been because of the counsel of moosu. when i listened to him, affairs prospered; when i closed my ears, and acted according to my folly, things came to folly. by his advice it was that i laid my store of meat, and in time of darkness fed the famishing. by his grace it was that i was made chief. and what have i done with my chiefship? let me tell you. i have done nothing. my head was turned with power, and i deemed myself greater than moosu, and, behold i have come to grief. my rule has been unwise, and the gods are angered. lo, ye are pinched with famine, and the mothers are dry-breasted, and the little babies cry through the long nights. nor do i, who have hardened my heart against moosu, know what shall be done, nor in what manner of way grub shall be had.’
“at this there was nodding and laughing, and the people put their heads together, and i knew they whispered of the loaves and fishes. i went on hastily. ‘so i was made aware of my foolishness and of moosu’s wisdom; of my own unfitness and of moosu’s fitness. and because of this, being no longer mad, i make acknowledgment and rectify evil. i did cast unrighteous eyes upon kluktu, and lo, she was sealed to moosu. yet is she mine, for did i not pay to tummasook the goods of purchase? but i am well unworthy of her, and she shall go from the igloo of her father to the igloo of moosu. can the moon shine in the sunshine? and further, tummasook shall keep the goods of purchase, and she be a free gift to moosu, whom god hath ordained her rightful lord.
“‘and further yet, because i have used my wealth unwisely, and to oppress ye, o my children, do i make gifts of the kerosene can to moosu, and the gooseneck, and the gun-barrel, and the copper kettle. therefore, i can gather to me no more possessions, and when ye are athirst for hooch, he will quench ye and without robbery. for he is a great man, and god speaketh through his lips.
“’and yet further, my heart is softened, and i have repented me of my madness. i, who am a fool and a son of fools; i, who am the slave of the bad god biz-e-nass; i, who see thy empty bellies and knew not wherewith to fill them—why shall i be chief, and sit above thee, and rule to thine own destruction? why should i do this, which is not good? but moosu, who is shaman, and who is wise above men, is so made that he can rule with a soft hand and justly. and because of the things i have related do i make abdication and give my chiefship to moosu, who alone knoweth how ye may be fed in this day when there be no meat in the land.’
“at this there was a great clapping of hands, and the people cried, ‘kloshe! kloshe!’ which means ‘good.’ i had seen the wonder-worry in moosu’s eyes; for he could not understand, and was fearful of my white man’s wisdom. i had met his wishes all along the line, and even anticipated some; and standing there, self-shorn of all my power, he knew the time did not favour to stir the people against me.
“before they could disperse i made announcement that while the still went to moosu, whatever hooch i possessed went to the people. moosu tried to protest at this, for never had we permitted more than a handful to be drunk at a time; but they cried, ‘kloshe! kloshe!’ and made festival before my door. and while they waxed uproarious without, as the liquor went to their heads, i held council within with angeit and the faithful ones. i set them the tasks they were to do, and put into their mouths the words they were to say. then i slipped away to a place back in the woods where i had two sleds, well loaded, with teams of dogs that were not overfed. spring was at hand, you see, and there was a crust to the snow; so it was the best time to take the way south. moreover, the tobacco was gone. there i waited, for i had nothing to fear. did they bestir themselves on my trail, their dogs were too fat, and themselves too lean, to overtake me; also, i deemed their bestirring would be of an order for which i had made due preparation.
“first came a faithful one, running, and after him another. ‘o master,’ the first cried, breathless, ‘there be great confusion in the village, and no man knoweth his own mind, and they be of many minds. everybody hath drunken overmuch, and some be stringing bows, and some be quarrelling one with another. never was there such a trouble.’
“and the second one: ‘and i did as thou biddest, o master, whispering shrewd words in thirsty ears, and raising memories of the things that were of old time. the woman ipsukuk waileth her poverty and the wealth that no longer is hers. and tummasook thinketh himself once again chief, and the people are hungry and rage up and down.’
“and a third one: ‘and neewak hath overthrown the altars of moosu, and maketh incantation before the time-honoured and ancient gods. and all the people remember the wealth that ran down their throats, and which they possess no more. and first, esanetuk, who be sick tumtum, fought with kluktu, and there was much noise. and next, being daughters of the one mother, did they fight with tukeliketa. and after that did they three fall upon moosu, like wind-squalls, from every hand, till he ran forth from the igloo, and the people mocked him. for a man who cannot command his womankind is a fool.’
“then came angeit: ‘great trouble hath befallen moosu, o master, for i have whispered to advantage, till the people came to moosu, saying they were hungry and demanding the fulfilment of prophecy. and there was a loud shout of “itlwillie! itlwillie!” (meat.) so he cried peace to his womenfolk, who were overwrought with anger and with hooch, and led the tribe even to thy meat caches. and he bade the men open them and be fed. and lo, the caches were empty. there was no meat. they stood without sound, the people being frightened, and in the silence i lifted my voice. “o moosu, where is the meat? that there was meat we know. did we not hunt it and drag it in from the hunt? and it were a lie to say one man hath eaten it; yet have we seen nor hide nor hair. where is the meat, o moosu? thou hast the ear of god. where is the meat?”
“‘and the people cried, “thou hast the ear of god. where is the meat?” and they put their heads together and were afraid. then i went among them, speaking fearsomely of the unknown things, of the dead that come and go like shadows and do evil deeds, till they cried aloud in terror and gathered all together, like little children afraid of the dark. neewak made harangue, laying this evil that had come upon them at the door of moosu. when he had done, there was a furious commotion, and they took spears in their hands, and tusks of walrus, and clubs, and stones from the beach. but moosu ran away home, and because he had not drunken of hooch they could not catch him, and fell one over another and made haste slowly. even now they do howl without his igloo, and his woman-folk within, and what of the noise, he cannot make himself heard.’
“‘o angeit, thou hast done well,’ i commanded. ‘go now, taking this empty sled and the lean dogs, and ride fast to the igloo of moosu; and before the people, who are drunken, are aware, throw him quick upon the sled and bring him to me.’
“i waited and gave good advice to the faithful ones till angeit returned. moosu was on the sled, and i saw by the fingermarks on his face that his womankind had done well by him. but he tumbled off and fell in the snow at my feet, crying: ‘o master, thou wilt forgive moosu, thy servant, for the wrong things he has done! thou art a great man! surely wilt thou forgive!’
“‘call me “brother,” moosu—call me “brother,”’ i chided, lifting him to his feet with the toe of my moccasin. ‘wilt thou evermore obey?’
“‘yea, master,’ he whimpered, ‘evermore.’
“‘then dispose thy body, so, across the sled,’ i shifted the dogwhip to my right hand. ‘and direct thy face downwards, toward the snow. and make haste, for we journey south this day.’ and when he was well fixed i laid the lash upon him, reciting, at every stroke, the wrongs he had done me. ‘this for thy disobedience in general—whack! and this for thy disobedience in particular—whack! whack! and this for esanetuk! and this for thy soul’s welfare! and this for the grace of thy authority! and this for kluktu! and this for thy rights god-given! and this for thy fat firstlings! and this and this for thy income-tax and thy loaves and fishes! and this for all thy disobedience! and this, finally, that thou mayest henceforth walk softly and with understanding! now cease thy sniffling and get up! gird on thy snowshoes and go to the fore and break trail for the dogs. chook! mush-on! git!’”
thomas stevens smiled quietly to himself as he lighted his fifth cigar and sent curling smoke-rings ceilingward.
“but how about the people of tattarat?” i asked. “kind of rough, wasn’t it, to leave them flat with famine?”
and he answered, laughing, between two smoke-rings, “were there not the fat dogs?”
