On the night of March 17, 1859, Captain Claventi gave a party at Reliancesburg. May the word gala not conjure up a feast, a court ball, a grand society, or a musical appreciation.Captain Claventi's entertainment was simple, but the Captain had prepared it with great care to make the evening as lively and splendid as possible. Indeed, the large living room on the first floor has changed under the arrangement of Corporal Joliv.The horizontal wooden walls of lightly worked tree sections were still visible, but the Union Jacks hung at the four corners and weapons borrowed from the fort's armory concealed the emptiness of the hall.If the rough, blackened girders are only roughly hung on the wall stacks, then the two lamps with tin lampshades hang from the chains like chandeliers, illuminating the foggy hall brightly.The windows are very narrow, and some of them are like blastholes; thick hoarfrost hangs on the window panes, covering all curious eyes, but two or three red cotton cloths are very interestingly matched, which makes the guests admire. .The floor was of side-by-side planks, which Corporal Jollif had carefully swept for the evening.There were no armchairs, couches, chairs, or any other piece of modern furniture, and there was nothing obstructing it.A long wooden bench half embedded in the wall, a large wooden plinth hewn with an axe, and two tables with thick legs constituted all the furniture in the hall, but a single narrow door was opened in the wall through which the adjacent room could be accessed. , where it was beautifully and richly arranged.Glossy furs hung neatly from the girders, a variety not found on the best-stocked shelves of Regent Street or Newsky Street.It seems that all the animals of the Arctic are here to display the most beautiful samples.There were wolf, grizzly, polar bear, otter, wolverine, mink, beaver, muskrat, ermine, silver fox, and a dizzying array of furs.Above these furs, there is a motto hanging horizontally, the letters are cut out of colored cardboard in artistic fonts - this is the motto of the Hudson Bay Fur Company:

"Really, Corporal Jolliffe," said Captain Claventi to his subordinate, "you're doing better than ever!" "I think so, Captain, I think so," replied the corporal, "but, to be fair, part of your praise is due to my lady, who has helped me in all things." "It's a neat woman, Corporal." "She is incomparable, my captain." In the center of the hall stands a large stove, half brick and half ceramic, with a thick iron chimney piercing the roof, spewing out puffs of black smoke.The fireman—a soldier for this task—continuously filled the coals, and the furnace crackled and roared red-hot.Now and then a whirlwind hooded the chimneys outside, and the choking smoke swerved suddenly and spilled into the hall.Tongues of fire licked the furnace wall, black mist covered the lights, and blackened the beams.But this inconvenience did not affect the mood of the Reliancesburg guests.The fire warmed them, and it was terribly cold outside, with a northerly wind that made the cold even worse.

Indeed, the blizzard could be heard whistling around the house, the snow falling almost in the form of snow pattering against the hoarfrost on the glass.A sharp whistling sound squeezed in through the cracks in the door or window, sometimes the pitch was too high to be felt.Then there was a silence.Nature seemed to take a breath, and then again the gale broke its bonds with frightful force and blew wildly.One felt the house trembling, the planks crackling, the beams groaning.A stranger less accustomed to such convulsions of the atmosphere than the owner of the fortress would wonder whether the storm would blow away the board and batten house with it.But Captain Crativin's guests didn't care much about the strong wind. Even outdoors, they didn't feel terrified, no less than petrels flying in a storm.

However, there are exceptions among these guests.There were about a hundred men and women attending the party.Only two—two women—were not among the regulars at Reliancesburg.These included Captain Claventi, Lieutenant Jasper Hobson, Sergeant Long, Corporal Jolliff, and more than sixty soldiers and staff of the company.Several married, among them Corporal Jolliffe, who was married to a lively and clever Canadian woman, a Scot named Mike Knapp, married to a Scotch woman, and John Ray, who soon He had just married a local Indian woman.All, high and low, officers, clerks, and privates, were received this evening by Captain Claventi.It should be added here that not all the company personnel attended the party.The neighboring fort—in this remote place, neighbors a hundred miles apart—had also accepted Captain Claventi's invitation.Many of the clerks or agents came from Fort Providence or Fort Resor Luschen, which belonged to the Lake Eskrough area, and even Fort Chipperwyne and Fort Liard, which were further south.It was a rare meeting, an unexpected diversion, an opportunity so eagerly sought by these hermits and exiles half-forgotten in the solitude of the far north.

In the end, several Indian chiefs also happily accepted the invitation.These local aborigines were in constant contact with foreign agents, supplying the companies with most of the furs required for their trade in exchange.They were generally seven-step Indians, strong fellows, of superb physique, wearing fur coats and most notably fur coats.Their faces are half red and half black, showing specialized expressions.This "local color" in Europe is reserved for the devils in fairyland.On their heads were friezes of eagle feathers, spread out like Spanish women's fans, and swaying with the movement of their black hair.There were about a dozen of these chiefs, all without wives, whose unfortunate wives were not much higher than slaves.

Such were the party attendees, and the Captain was hospitable to all, as host of Linesburg.There was no dancing, for there was no band; but a good meal and wine took the place of the marching band at the European ball.On the table rose a pyramid, which Madame Jolliffe had made herself; it was a gigantic truncated cone, made of flour, reindeer fat, and musk tallow, perhaps missing eggs, milk, Lemony, but the cake made up for it hugely.Mrs Jolliff kept slicing the pudding, but the pudding was never too small.On the table there were piles of sandwiches, in which cuttlefish bones replaced the delicate butter of English bread; between two cuttlefish bones—hard as they were, they could not hold up to an Indian’s teeth;—Madame Jolliffe Thin strips of "horn," a type of corned beef, are cleverly placed in place of the familiar York ham and wild rice aspic on continental counters.As for the drinks, there was whiskey, gin, passed around in little tin glasses, not to mention the punch at the end of the party, which the Indians could not forget back in the village.

Therefore, at the party, the Jolives were praised!They are so lively and graceful!Too busy!How obliging they are to serve drinks!No!They are not waiting, they can anticipate your wishes.No need to ask, no need to even hope!After eating the sandwiches, came the never-ending puddings!Pudding was eaten, followed by gin or whiskey. "No, thank you, Madame Jolliffe." "You are too kind, Corporal, and I ask you to allow me to take a breather." "Madame Jollive, I assure you that you are out of breath." "Corporal Jolliff, I will do whatever you want me to do."

"Not this time, ma'am, no! No!" That's almost always the answer that lucky couples get.But the corporal and his wife conceded so ardently that even the most obstinate man at last gave in.So people eat and drink endlessly.The tone of the conversation was raised too!Soldiers and staff come alive.People started talking about hunting, and then about trade.What a plan for spring!All the animals of the arctic can't satisfy these daring hunters!Bears, foxes, and musk oxen have been struck down by them!Thousands of beavers, rats, ferrets, ermines, and minks fell into the traps; precious furs piled up in the company's warehouses, and this year, the company's profits were unexpectedly high!The Indians, dignified and silent, too proud to admire, too prudent to oblige, while drinking excited the imagination of the Europeans, drank Captain Claventi's schnapps profusely while they listened to the chatter of the people. .

The captain, delighted with the bustle, satisfied with the pleasure of these poor souls, so to speak, exiled to inaccessible places, moved happily among the guests, answering all the questions that were put to him that had to do with the evening party: "Ask Joliv! Go ask Joliv!" Among the guards and soldiers attached to Relinesburg, several individuals deserve special mention, for it was these who were to be tested by dreadful circumstances which no human insight could have predicted.They were Lieutenant Jasper Hobson, Sergeant Long, the Jolives, and two foreign women whom the Captain had invited to the party.

Lieutenant Jasper Hobson was a man in his forties.Small, thin, if not muscular, his stamina enabled him to overcome all trials and emergencies.This is the "son of the company".His father, Major Hobson, an Irishman from Dublin who had died a few years ago, had been stationed with his wife at Assiniboine Castle for many years.Jasper was born there.There, at the foot of Rhodes Mountain, he spent his childhood and youth freely.After the strict education of Major Hobson, he was a calm and brave man in his youth.Jasper Hobson was not a good hunter, but a warrior, a clever and brave officer.At Oregon, where the company struggled against its rival Union, his zeal and bravery distinguished him and he rose rapidly to the rank of lieutenant.Because of his meritorious deeds, he has just been commissioned to lead an expedition to the North Pole.The mission of this expedition was to survey the arctic regions of Big Bear Lake and build a fort on the very edge of the American continent.Lieutenant Jasper Hobson was preparing to depart in early April.

If a lieutenant represents a typical perfect officer, Sergeant Long, who is in his fifties and has a beard as stiff as a coconut beard, is a typical soldier. He is brave by nature, obedient by nature, and resolutely obeys orders. No matter how weird the order is, he will never doubt it. , accepting work and never picking and choosing, it is a real machine in livery, but a perfect machine that never wears out, always runs, never tires.Perhaps Sergeant Long was as harsh on his soldiers as he was on himself.He did not tolerate the slightest violation of discipline, as long as there was a slight negligence, he was ruthlessly punished and not allowed to leave the camp, but he himself had never violated discipline.It should be said, however, that he also gave orders, directed others, because his rank compelled him to, but on the whole he did not like to command others.In short, this is a man who is obedient by nature, and this kind of self-abandonment is just suitable for his blind obedience character.It is with such men that formidable armies are formed.They are arms, directed by a brain, and isn't that where power really lies?Two characters are created in the fable: Briare with a hundred arms and Sidel with a hundred heads.If two devils were to duel, who would win?It's Briare. Corporal Jolliffe was known.He's a busy man, but people like to watch him go around.He is not so much a soldier as a steward.He himself felt the same way.Therefore, he is happy to be called: "Corporal General", but if the little Mrs. Jolliffe does not guide him steadily in these trivial matters, he will lose his way and lose his mind a hundred times.It turned out that Corporal Jolliff listened to his wife, but he didn't want to admit it, maybe he would say to himself like a philosopher: a woman's opinion is not worth listening to, but it would be crazy to not care about it. Among the people attending the party, as mentioned earlier, there were two strange women in their forties.One of them was Paulina Barnett, who fully deserves her place at the top of the list of famous women travellers.Her name is comparable to that of Boufaval, Thiene, and Omer De Haier, and she has been honored to win awards at the Royal Geographical Conference more than once.Polina Barnett has traced the Brahmaputra River to the mountains of Tibet, through a little-known corner of New Holland, from Swan Harbor to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and she shows a great Traveler style.It was a tall woman who had been widowed for fifteen years, and her love of travel kept her traveling through the unknown.She combed her long hair in the middle, and her hair was a little gray, showing great energy.She is nearsighted, a silver-rimmed pince-nez sits on a straight bridge of the nose, with movable nostrils "as if breathing the breath of the universe", and her demeanor is, it must be admitted, masculine and elegant. Insufficient, very resolute.This is an Englishwoman in Yorkshire, with some property, apparently mostly used in expeditions.If she was in Linesburg now, it was because new surveys had drawn her to this distant outpost.After visiting the equator, she wanted to venture into the arctic.Her presence in the fort caused such a stir that the company leaders wrote a letter introducing her to Captain Claventi.According to the content of the letter, the captain should provide convenience for the famous female traveler and help her realize her plan to go to the Arctic seaside.Amazing move!Had to go the same way as Hine, Mackenzie, Rae, and Franklin.How much toil, what trials, what dangers in this dreadful struggle with the arctic climate!How many explorers have flinched or been in danger, how dare a woman take the risk?But the strange woman now cloistered in Relinesburg was no ordinary woman: she was Paulina Barnett, a recipient of the Royal Geographical Society. It should be added that the famous female traveler was accompanied by Madge.March was a maid, but more than a maid, a faithful and courageous friend who lived only for her master, a Scotchwoman of old times, a woman to marry with dignity.March was a few years older than her mistress,--about five years.She was tall and strong.March addresses Paulina with "thou", and Polina addresses March with "thou".Polina sees March as her sister; March sees Paulina as her daughter.In short, these two people are two in one. In any case, it was in honor of Lady Paulina Barnett that Captain Claventi entertained his staff and the Seven Reed Indians on this evening.Indeed, it was to welcome Lady Paulina Barnett that the female traveler was to join Lieutenant Jasper Hobson's Arctic Expedition, and the halls of the foreign agency resounded with cheers of joy. 100 kilograms of coal were burned in the furnace for this memorable evening, as the temperature outside fell to minus 24 degrees Fahrenheit (-32 degrees Celsius) and Relilinesburg is located at 61 degrees 47 minutes north latitude The circle is only 4 degrees away.

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