{"product_id":"2940013654624","title":"THE WALRUS HUNTERS","description":"CHAPTER ONE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA ROMANCE OF THE ICE-WORLD.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA SURPRISE, A COMBAT, AND A FEED.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere is a river in America which flows to the north-westward of Great\u003cbr\u003eBear Lake, and helps to drain that part of the great wilderness into the\u003cbr\u003eArctic Sea.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is an insignificant stream compared with such well-known waterways as\u003cbr\u003ethe Mackenzie and the Coppermine; nevertheless it is large enough to\u003cbr\u003eentice the white-whale and the seal into its waters every spring, and it\u003cbr\u003ebecomes a resting-place for myriads of wild-fowl while on their passage\u003cbr\u003eto and from the breeding-grounds of the Far North.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGreygoose River was the name given to it by the Dogrib Indians who dwelt\u003cbr\u003ein its neighbourhood, and who were wont, every spring and autumn, to\u003cbr\u003edescend its waters nearly to the sea in quest of game.  The Eskimos,\u003cbr\u003ewho, coming from the mysterious north, were in the habit of ascending it\u003cbr\u003ea short way during open water in pursuit of their peculiar prey, named\u003cbr\u003eit Whale River.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Indians and Eskimos did not often meet while on these trips.  They\u003cbr\u003edid not like meeting, because the result was apt to be disastrous.\u003cbr\u003eBesides, the land was wide and the game plentiful enough for both, so\u003cbr\u003ethat they were not much tempted to risk a meeting.  Occasionally,\u003cbr\u003ehowever, meetings and encounters did take place, and sometimes bitter\u003cbr\u003efeuds arose, but the possession of fire-arms by the Indians--who were\u003cbr\u003esupplied by the fur-traders--rendered the Eskimos wary.  Their\u003cbr\u003eheadstrong courage, however, induced the red men to keep as much as\u003cbr\u003epossible out of their way.  In short, there was a good deal of the\u003cbr\u003espirit of \"let-be for let-be\" between the two at the time of which we\u003cbr\u003ewrite.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne morning in the spring-time of the year, soon after the floods caused\u003cbr\u003eby the melting snows had swept the ice clean out of Greygoose or Whale\u003cbr\u003eRiver, a sturdy young Eskimo urged his sharp kayak, or skin-covered\u003cbr\u003ecanoe, up the stream in pursuit of a small white-whale.  But the\u003cbr\u003ecreature gave him the slip, so that, after an energetic chase, he turned\u003cbr\u003ehis light vessel towards the left bank of the stream, intending to land.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCheenbuk, for such was his name, was one of those sedate beings whose\u003cbr\u003eenergies run calm and deep, like a mighty river.  This feelings,\u003cbr\u003ewhatever they might be, did not usually cause much agitation on the\u003cbr\u003esurface.  Disappointment did not visibly depress, nor did success unduly\u003cbr\u003eelate him.  The loss of the whale failed to disturb the placid look of\u003cbr\u003egrave contentment which sat on his good-looking countenance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor it must be noted here that Cheenbuk was a handsome savage--if,\u003cbr\u003eindeed, we are entitled to style him a savage at all.  His features were\u003cbr\u003egood, and strongly marked.  His young beard and moustache were black,\u003cbr\u003ethough not bushy.  His dark eyes were large and full of tenderness,\u003cbr\u003ewhich expression, by an almost imperceptible raising of eyelid and\u003cbr\u003econtraction of brow, was easily transmuted into a gaze of ferocity or\u003cbr\u003eindignation.  His bulky frame was clothed in the seal-skin garb peculiar\u003cbr\u003eto his people; his hair was straight, voluminous, and unkempt, and his\u003cbr\u003emotions gave indication of great strength combined with agility.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd no wonder, for a large part of our young Eskimo's life had been\u003cbr\u003espent in battling with the forces of Nature, and the hardships of life\u003cbr\u003eas displayed in the Arctic regions--to say nothing of frequent conflicts\u003cbr\u003ewith the seal, the walrus and the polar bear.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRunning his kayak among the rushes of a small inlet, Cheenbuk stepped\u003cbr\u003eout of the hole in its centre into the stream.  The water was\u003cbr\u003eankle-deep, but the youth suffered no discomfort, for he wore what may\u003cbr\u003ebe styled home-made waterproof boots reaching to above the knees.  These\u003cbr\u003ehad been invented by his forefathers, no doubt, in the remote ages of\u003cbr\u003eantiquity--at all events, long before india-rubber had been discovered\u003cbr\u003eor Macintosh was born.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing his little craft out of the water, the young man took some food\u003cbr\u003efrom its interior, and was about to begin his truly simple meal by\u003cbr\u003eeating it raw, when a distant sound arrested his hand on the way to his\u003cbr\u003emouth.  He turned his head slightly on one side and remained for some\u003cbr\u003emoments like a singularly attentive statue.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePresently the voice of a wild-goose was faintly heard in the far\u003cbr\u003edistance.  Evidently the young Eskimo desired a change of fare, for he\u003cbr\u003elaid down the slice of raw seal, on which he had been about to regale\u003cbr\u003ehimself, and disengaged a long slender spear from the bow of his kayak.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47121263395056,"sku":"2940013654624","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013654624_p0.jpg?v=1763583538","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013654624","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}