Chapter 6 Chapter 6 The Duel of the Deer

The expedition had traveled 200 miles since its departure from Reliancesburg.The travellers, driven day and night by the long twilights and galloped by dogs, were exhausted when they reached Enterprise on the banks of Lake Snoll. The Hudson's Bay Company had built this fort only a few years ago, and in fact it was only a small supply depot.It is mainly used as a stop for truck convoys coming up from Big Bear Lake, 300 miles northwest.There are 12 soldiers guarding it.The fort consisted of only one wooden house surrounded by a palisade wall.But notwithstanding the incompatibility of the accommodation, Lieutenant Hobson's companions stayed happily, and they took two days' rest to recover from the weariness of the journey.

The slight breath of spring in the Arctic can already be felt here.The snow had melted in some places, and the nights were not cold enough to freeze it.Scattered thin moss, sparse grass, showing a little green, some almost colorless small flowers, showing wet corolla from the cracks in the stone.After a long hibernation, these sights of nature, gradually waking up, delight the eye stung by the snow, the rare arctic vegetation that makes the snow enchanting. Paulina Barnett and Jasper Hobson took advantage of their leisure to visit the shores of the little lake, both of whom understood nature and admired it from the bottom of their hearts.So they walked together, through the collapsed ice floes and the small streams that had just appeared in the sun.Snoor Lake is still frozen.No sign of cracks at all.Several collapsed icebergs appear on the solid lake surface, showing various beautiful shapes, especially when the sunlight shows a rainbow on its sharp ridges, it is really colorful, like a strong hand crushing rainbow pieces, scattered all over the place. The earth is intertwined.

"It's a beautiful view! Mr. Hobson," repeated Mrs. Polina Barnett. "The effect of this prism varies infinitely from position to position. Don't you think, as I do, that we seem to bend over Looking at a gigantic kaleidoscope? But maybe you've had enough of the view, and it's all new to me?" "No, ma'am," replied the lieutenant. "Though I was born on this land, and though I have spent all my childhood and youth here, I have never seen enough of this marvelous beauty. But if the sun shines over the earth and changes the landscape , you're so excited, what do you do when you're viewing regions in the middle of winter? I admit, ma'am, that sunshine so precious in the temperate regions has somewhat damaged my Arctic!"

"Indeed, Mr. Hobson," said Mrs. Polina Barnett, looking at the lieutenant with a smile. "However, I think the sun is the best travel companion and one should not complain about the heat it brings, even in the Arctic." "Ah, ma'am," answered Jasper Hobson, "I am one of those people who think it best to visit Russia in the winter and the Sahara in the summer. Then you can see the most distinctive aspects of these places. No! The sun is a planet in the plateau and tropics. At 30 degrees from the pole, it is not its position. The sky in this region is pure and cold in winter, and it is full of stars. Sometimes there is a northern light Illuminated sky. This is the land of the night, not the land of the day, madam, and the long polar night preserves wonders and wonders for you."

"Mr Hobson," replied Lady Paulina Barnet, "have you ever visited the temperate regions of Europe and America?" "Yes, ma'am, I appreciate it very much, and they deserve it. But I always come back to my native land with a deeper passion, a new enthusiasm. I'm from the cold zone, really, I'm not at all afraid of the cold, it can't Control me, like an Eskimo, I can live in an igloo for months on end." "Mr. Hobson," replied Paulina Barnet, "the way you speak of this dreadful enemy is heart-warming! I wish I could behave as you do, however far you go to meet the arctic cold. Let’s face it together.”

"Yes, ma'am, yes, may all my companions, soldiers or women, be as resolute as you are who follow me! God bless, we go far!" "But you can't complain about the start of the trip," cautioned the female traveler. "Until now, no accidents! The climate is perfect for sledding! The temperature is bearable! Everything has allowed us to succeed." "Perhaps so, ma'am," replied the lieutenant, "but this very sun, which you so admire, will soon double our fatigues and multiply our obstacles." "What do you mean, Mr. Hobson?" "I mean, the heat will soon change the face and nature of the area, the ice will melt, the ground will be unsuitable for sleds, the ground will be rough again, hard, panting dogs Will not carry us swiftly like arrows. Rivers and lakes will be flowing again, and must be rounded or waded. All this change, madam, is due to the sun, and the result will be slowness, fatigue, Danger, at least, of sudden slips of brittle snow underfoot, or of these avalanches from the tops of icebergs, yea, caused by this sun, which rises higher every day. Remember this, madam! Antiquity Of the four elements of cosmogony, here only air is useful and necessary for us. But the other three, earth, fire, and water, are not for us! They are incompatible with arctic nature."

I'm afraid the captain is exaggerating a bit.Lady Polina Barnett could have easily contradicted his argument, but she was not offended at hearing Jasper Hobson express it so passionately.The captain loves this area very much, and at this moment, the accident in the life of the female traveler has brought her here. His spirit of never retreating in the face of any difficulties and obstacles is the best guarantee. Still, Jasper Hobson is right to blame the Suns for future difficulties.Three days later, on May 4, the squad saw this when they were back on the road.Even in the coldest hours of the night, the thermometer always stays above.The vast plains are completely thawing.The white blanket of snow is melting into water.Due to the continuous impact of the water, the original rocks are exposed, and the ground is uneven, which makes the sled sway and tremble, making the passengers on the sled jolt.The dogs, having difficulty pulling the cart, were compelled to trot slowly, and the reins could now be handed over to impudent Corporal Jolliff without any danger.No matter how much he shouted or whipped, it was impossible to make the exhausted cart dogs run faster.

From time to time, travelers come down for a walk to relieve the burden of the dogs.In addition, this fast-moving method is very suitable for the hunters of the squad, and they have unknowingly moved to the area where there are many prey in British America.Lady Polina Barnett and her faithful March followed the hunters with great interest.Thomas Blake, on the other hand, pretended not to be interested in hunting at all.He had not come to this remote place to hunt a few minks or stoats, but simply to observe the moon at the precise moment when it covered the sun.So when the moon rises above the horizon, impatient astronomers fixate their eyes greedily on it.This led the lieutenant to say to him one day:

"Well, Mr. Black! If the impossibility of the future appointment of the moon on July 18, 1860, happens, you'll be bored." "Mr. Hobson," replied the astronomer gravely, "if the moon is so insolent, I shall sue it!" The main hunters of the squad are soldiers Marbor and Sabine, both of whom are very good at hunting.They have acquired incomparable dexterity in the hunt, and with their sharp eyes and skilled hands they outshine even the most skillful Indian.They can trap as well as hunt; they are proficient in all hunting tools and can use them to hunt minks, otters, wolves, foxes, bears, and more.There is no means unknown to them.Marbor and Sabine were dexterous and clever, and it was therefore wise for Captain Claventi to place them in Lieutenant Hobson's squad.

However, on the way of the squad, neither Marbor nor Sabine had time to set traps.They could not be away for an hour or two at most, content to be content with the only game that came to their guns.However, they were pleased to have hunted a large ruminant in this American fauna, which is rare at such high latitudes. On the morning of May 15th two hunters, Lieutenant Hobson and Lady Pauline Barnett, came several miles east of the course of their journey.Marbor and Sabine had the lieutenant's permission to follow the clear animal tracks they had just discovered.Jasper Hobson not only allowed them to go, but he wanted to accompany Lady Paulina Barnett to go with them.

These footprints are obviously the six large yellow deer that just passed here.Impossible to be wrong, both Marbor and Sabine thought so, and they could name the ruminants if necessary. "The presence of such an animal in this area seems to surprise you, Mr. Hobson?" Paulina Barnett asked the Lieutenant. "Indeed, ma'am," answered Jasper Hobson, "you seldom encounter animals of this kind beyond the 57th parallel. We hunt yellow deer only south of Lake Eskrough, There grow the buds of willow and poplar, which the yellow deer eat, and some wild roses." "Then, it should be said that these ruminants, like fur animals, were hunted down by hunters, and now they have fled to a quieter and more stable place." "I can see no other reason for their presence beyond the 65th line," replied the lieutenant, "assuming our two hunters are not mistaken about the kind and origin of these footprints." "No, Lieutenant," Sabine replied, "no! Marbor and I, we were both right. The footprints left on the ground were indeed those of a yellow stag, which we hunters called 'red deer' and the locals called It is 'Wabiti'." "There is no doubt about it," added Marbor. "Old hunters like us will not be fooled. Besides, Captain, do you hear that strange cry?" Jasper Hobson and his companions came to the foot of a small hill at this time. The slope was almost clear of snow and could be walked up.They climbed hastily, and the cry Marbor mentioned grew louder.A few neighs, like a donkey's braying, sometimes mixed in, which confirmed that the two hunters were not mistaken. Jasper Hobson, Lady Paulina Barnett, Marbor, and Sabine climbed to the top of the hill and looked out across a plain to the east.On the uneven ground, there is still snow in some places, but in many places, what coexists with the dazzling ice and snow is light green.A few leafless shrubs were doing weird things here and there.Large icebergs on the horizon are clearly visible against the pale gray sky. "Wapiti! Wapiti! There they are!" cried Sabine and Marbor in chorus, pointing to a group of easily recognizable animals a quarter of a mile to the east. "What are they doing?" asked Paulina Barnett. "They're fighting, ma'am," answered Jasper Hobson. "They are used to it, and when the polar sun makes their blood boil, they fight! Again the brilliant stars play a sad part." From where they are, Jasper Hobson, Paulina Barnett and their companions can clearly make out the herd.This is the prettiest deer known in the great herd of deer, the mule deer, the American deer, the doe, the gray and red elk, and many others.These graceful animals have slender legs.Their brown fur has a few tufts of reddish hairs, which should be darker in hot weather.These are fierce males, recognizable by their beautiful white antlers, for females have absolutely no antlers.These yellow deer were once widely distributed throughout North America, mostly in the United States.But the wilderness was reclaimed everywhere, and the forest fell under the axes of the pioneers, and the yellow deer had to hide in the quiet area of ​​Canada.Soon, the tranquility there too was disturbed, and they had to frequent the area around Hudson Bay.In short, the yellow deer should be a cold zone animal, that's for sure; but as the lieutenant pointed out, they usually don't live beyond the 57th parallel.Therefore, this group of deer fled here only to escape the seven-step Indians who hunted them wildly, and came to this wilderness to find safety. The gladiatorial battle of the herd was going on crazily.The animals did not notice the hunters at all, and perhaps the presence of the hunters did not stop the gladiatorial fight.Marbor and Sabine knew very well how blind the gladiatorial fight was, so they approached without fear and took their shots calmly. Lieutenant Hobson made this suggestion. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant," Marbor replied, "save some ammunition and bullets, these beasts are playing a game of killing each other, and we'll catch the losers then." "Are these yellow deer commercially valuable?" Paulina Barnett asked. "Yes, ma'am," answered Jasper Hobson, "their hides are not as thick as that of the elk, and make the best hides. Rubbing them with the animal's own oil and brains makes them very supple. , wet or dry. Therefore, the Indians always try their best to find the opportunity to hunt this buckskin." "But isn't their meat a delicious game?" "Not very good," replied the Lieutenant, "not very good indeed. The meat is too hard and tasteless; when it leaves the fire deer oil it congeals and sticks to the teeth. Therefore, this meat is not of high quality, and certainly not as good as other meats. But in times of famine, when there is no better meat to eat, people eat it, and feed them like any other meat." Lady Polina Barnet and Jasper Hobson talked in this way for some minutes.Suddenly, the duel of the herd changed.Has the ruminant anger gone?They found the hunter?Did they sense impending danger?In any case, the whole herd, save for the two tall deer, was running eastward at the same moment with unrivaled speed.In an instant, these animals disappeared without a trace, and the fastest horse may not be able to catch up. However, two beautiful yellow deer remained on the battlefield, their heads lowered, their horns facing each other, and their hind legs strutted hard to resist each other's opponents.It's like two gladiators, once they grab each other, they never let go, they seem to be riveted together, and they circle around their front legs. "It's intense!" exclaimed Paulina Barnett. "Yes," answered Jasper Hobson. "These yellow deer are vengeful animals. I'm afraid they are trying to settle old scores!" "Shouldn't we take this opportunity to get closer when they are going crazy?" asked the female traveler. "We've got time, Ma'am," Sabine replied, "the deer over there are going to get away! We get three paces from them, put the gun to the shoulder, finger on the trigger, and they won't leave the ground. bit!" "real?" "Indeed," said Jasper Hobson, after observing the two gladiatorial tamarin with a hunter's eye, "they were either killed by our hands, or buried under the teeth of wolves, Sooner or later these deer will die where they are now." "I don't understand why you say that, Mr. Hobson," replied Pauline Barnett. "Come closer, then, ma'am," said the lieutenant. "Don't be afraid to disturb them, for as our hunters say, they can't escape any more." Lady Polina Barnett walked down the hill, accompanied by Sabine, Marbor, and the lieutenant.A few minutes later, they were on their way to the battlefield, and the yellow deer did not move.They were pushing their heads together, like two billy goats fighting, but they seemed connected, inseparable. Indeed, in a fierce battle, the antlers of two deer are entangled, and unless the antlers are broken, they cannot be separated at all.This is a common occurrence, in hunting grounds, with these long horns nailed to the ground.Or intertwined phenomenon is not uncommon.Once entangled, these animals can quickly starve to death or be easily preyed upon by other animals. Two bullets settled the deer fight.Marbor and Sabine skinned the deerskin on the spot and put it away.They went to tanning later, and left a lot of bloody venison to the wolves and bears.

---

Notes: