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Updated: June 28, 2025
There was a ragged blanket of fur thrust under the deck between the hatches. "He's been cruising along the coast," said Rob; "but this is a two-hatch bidarka, so probably he's got a partner somewhere around." "Maybe he's up at our house now stealing everything we left there," suggested Jesse. "Yes, and maybe it's his house that we've moved into," added John.
At last, almost exhausted, it showed once more, and the older Aleut sent home an arrow at the back of its head which killed it at once. He hauled up across the bidarka deck the body of the otter, a dark-brown creature, even at that season fairly well furred, and in weight about that of a good-sized dog.
He can't have had anything along more than his bow and arrows. We'll know when we find the bidarka." So saying, they separated, and began to scour both sides of the creek, without success, however, until they nearly reached the mouth. Here, hidden in the tall grass on the farther side of the creek and close to the high rock wall near the mouth of the stream, Rob stumbled across the missing boat.
"No want-um white mans," answered the chief. "Village over dar." He pointed across the mountains. Rob guessed that these natives had therefore followed around the coast-line from their town, although he was not yet clear as to their purpose in coming hither. "You got-um bad mans here," said the chief, sternly, at last. "See-um boat dar." He pointed to the bidarka at the edge of the lagoon.
"Now," reasoned Rob, "he would be afraid to go out of the creek into the open bay, for then they would see him sure. There is every chance that he left the bidarka somewhere in the creek. We'll hunt for it, then. I'll go across in the shallow water, and we'll search both sides of the bank. One thing sure is that Jimmy went in a hurry, because he left his gun behind.
"If each bidarka were as a grain of sand," Nam-Bok defiantly continued, "and if there were as many bidarkas as there be grains of sand in this beach, still would they not make so big a canoe as this I saw on the morning of the fourth day. It was a very big canoe, and it was called a schooner. I saw this thing of wonder, this great schooner, coming after me, and on it I saw men "
The other boats held back until the chief had taken his place at the head of the procession. It now became plain that his was the task of using the mysterious nogock, over whose loss he had seemed so concerned. Even as his bidarka shot forward with its own momentum, he drew out from the forward hatch this sacred instrument and fitted to it the short harpoon.
But Koogah, shoving Nam-Bok clear or the beach, tore the shawl from her shoulders and flung it into the bidarka. "It is cold in the long nights," she wailed; "and the frost is prone to nip old bones." "The thing is a shadow," the bone-scratcher answered, "and shadows cannot keep thee warm." Nam-Bok stood up that his voice might carry. "O Bask-Wah-Wan, mother that bore me!" he called.
He handed out the empty pail to John, grunting something which no one understood; but John, passing the pail in turn to Jesse, said he thought that what the Aleut wanted was some water to boil. "Chi?" asked the Aleut, suddenly, of John. In reply to this the Aleut stooped down, went out of the door, and walked over to the bidarka, where it lay at the bank.
They hurried the bidarka across the sea-wall to the open water of the bay. Jimmy resumed his watch from the summit of the sea-wall. For what seemed a half-hour he stood motionless and staring out over the bay. Then again he called aloud and, hurriedly lifting his bow string into the notch, ran down to the bidarka, motioning to Rob to take his seat in the rear hatch.
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