The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1914-05-07

Copyright by Rex Beach
~ HIS is the tale Of a Kanaka
whaler, a whisky cask and
missionary. having to do with
bloodletting away out on the
edge Of things, involving white mems
passions and the smoldering hate of
the Eskimo, as 1t was told to me by a
revenue man while we were STEPPED in
laughter, music, clinking glasses and
the mutfied clang Of Broadway troll
ieys
I had bemoaned the urbanity of life.
the paucity Of the pastoral. What
though the duck had been delicious
and the salad perfect! The stale
breath Of the city was in my nostrils,
and rallied at its refinement. So, led
by my mood, my friends discourse
wandered out into the distant reaches
till l felt the heave Of slapting decks,
smelt the sea spume and heard the
salt air whining through the shrouds.
North and west we cruised through the
smoky seas where the sea parrots
scream. up toward the Diomedes,
where the roar Of the bull walrus
browns the beat Of the surf, and there.
out Of the tropic blue Of his Havana,
he wove this story Of the arctics:
At the tip of that point of land
which leans farthest out and whispers
across to the moss CARRIED hills Of
Siberia nestles a native village. Since
the earliest days no whaling ship has
passed It without pause to trade. for it
is the most prosperous Of all the towns
from Dutch Harbor to Point Barrow.
The strait teens with walrus. deer
range the ridges behind, salmon choke
the rivulets, and the cry Of geese In
the slow summer air is like noisy
burden.
One June midnight, as the yellow
sun dipped shallowly below the hori-
zon. Hawaiian schooner anchored
abreast the sand spit and was soon
surrounded by the curious populace.
They came OF in kayaks and big skin
boats, bearing many things to barter.
noisy aud pleased III their childlike
friendliness. They had nbt trafficked
long until the captain ordered up a
'cask Of whisky aud preached it. So it
was but short time until the sailors
were In possession of the Eskimos'
spoils and they in turn reeled under
the drunken fumes. The schooners
master was half breed-swart. thick
and domineering. As time drew along
for some reason he grew enraged at
native and struck him. That one. liQ-
Uor maddened and aroused from his
customary good nature, drew knife
and made at the master. Doubtless
white blood would have run had not a
sailor snatched bludgeon and beaten
down the Eskimo, at which his tribes
men drew together threatening1y. The
crew. who had likewise become In.
CLAIMED, charged them with every
weapon handy and swept them over
board. all but dozen. who fought
back ,doggedly. These. forced down
TIE deck inch by inch. sought refuge
beneath the forward deck, where they
,crouched, thoroughly terrified.
The sailors, drunk with victory and
.ehe blood lust, seized blubber hooks
and, reaching in, dragged them out
0ue by one. As each was brought
forth they knocked in his head and
threw him overboard-eleven In all.
Then. glutted with the kill, their decks
awash with blood. they weighed an
Choir and sailed away like pirates of
the Spanish main. In this fashion ha.
tired was sown at Prince Of Wales.
On the sand ridge behind the town
they reared eleven great whale ribs in
q row, while the squaws let down their
hair and rocked and walled, and the
men spoke with stony faces and Bit
ter words.
~ the years passed, whenever q
child grew to understanding. bis moth
er taught him the story of the bleach
ing bones and nursed the hatred in
him as jealousy as she did his life.
Withai they were crafty people and
realized that vengeance must come eau
siously. for each year there were more
and more white men IN the country
and back Of them was great power
which they felt, but could not fully |
grasp. These newcomers treated them
we'll, az u rule. and but for the mem. |
cry Of the whalers' treachery they |
would have made friends greedily. As
Il was. the tribe came to be known as
unfriendly and inhospitable and it was |
ut this time that my friend sailed
north out Of the mists. bearing on the
revenue cutter missionaries-two of
them.
Zone was farmer lad" said he. 'an
Ohio boy. He ran less to prayer than
TO bard work. and told the old man
that be would make the Indians like
him. Bnt the other-somehow knew
he was due for trouble from the first
He was nice enough, only for his airs.
aud be brought his young wife with
a1im-both of them afame with the de-
sire to teach the heather.
I'VE anchored about mile and a
half from shore. and the old man
sent for all the villagers. 1t was the
only town we had ever stopped a,
where they didn't hurry out of theil
own accord. but ever since the day OF
The Kanaka schooner Prince Of Wales
men were slow In their greeting. They
came finally. and finer lot never
saw-big, clean limbed and clothed In
royal furs. but sullen-yes. very sui