CHAPTER XXVI
MOOLOO, THE GUIDE
MOOLOO, THE GUIDE
MOOLOO, THE GUIDE
Mooloo, who seemed a surly fellow and not at all like Kapje and his son, looked up at their entrance with a frown. He had been doing something mysterious to a sealskin, but now he thrust this behind him with a suspicions movement.
At sight of the two Eskimos his face cleared a little, but he still regarded the boys warily.
“Looks as if he thought we’d bite,” whispered Fred to Bobby, and the latter nudged him in the ribs as a signal to keep quiet.
Kapje said a few words in the native tongue—probably introducing them, the boys thought—and then he turned, holding out his hand to Bobby.
“Take you to Mooloo,” he said. “I go now. Goo’-by.”
As he turned to go Bobby tried to stop him, to thank him for all he had done for him and his chums, but Kapje would have none of it.
“You no thank me,” he said. “You save lives of Eskimo. Eskimo never forget. Goo’-by.”
The younger Eskimo grunted something that the boys took to be farewell, and in another moment father and son had disappeared.
A strange misgiving beset the boys. They hated to see these two natives, who had proved themselves so friendly, go. Here they were now, really at the mercy of the surly Mooloo.
Maybe he was better than he looked. Anyway, they must say something. They could not stand there foolishly staring at each other all day. And it was quite plain that the Eskimo had no notion of breaking the silence.
It was Bobby, as usual, who spoke first.
“Are you Mooloo?” he asked.
The Eskimo nodded, his eyes suspicious.
“We’ve come a long way to see you,” said Bobby. Then suddenly remembering the walrus tooth token which, for safer keeping he had kept on a string ever since Chief Takyak had given it to him, he put a hand inside his fur clothing and drew it forth, breaking the string as he did so.
He approached the Eskimo, holding the walrus tooth in his hand.
“Chief Takyak told me to bring this to you,” he said. “He said you would know it and would know that we were friends of his.”
The Eskimo, who had never once changed his position and who was now staring up at Bobby with unblinking, beadlike black eyes, shifted his squat form with a surly grunt and let his glance drop to the token Bobby held out to him.
The change that came over him was startling. He took the walrus tooth from Bobby, his eyes lighted up strangely and when he looked up at the lad again it was evident that he was greatly impressed.
“What you want?” he asked, and though the words were abrupt, the tone in which he uttered them was almost servile.
Bobby had done some quick thinking in the last few seconds. He had already decided to say nothing that might lead the guide to suspect the real object of their mission. But since seeing the latter he had made up his mind to be even more careful.
The fellow was surly naturally. There was a shifty look in his eyes. If he should once get wind of the treasure, there was no knowing what he might do. Bobby knew instinctively that this particular Eskimo could not be trusted. So now he told the fellow just enough to satisfy his curiosity—no more.
They wanted some papers and books they believed to be in the battered hulk of the ship that had been wrecked a way down the coast. Did he remember it?
By a slight nod and a grunt the Eskimo let him understand that he did.
Well, if they could find the papers and books and get them safely home, the Eskimo would be well paid. Would he help them?
The Eskimo not only agreed, but seemed eager to be off. The ship—or, rather, the battered hulk of what had once been a ship—was not very far from there, it seemed, only two or three hours journey.
Delighted at the change in the manner of the Eskimo and only too glad not to delay longer the search for the treasure, the boys agreed to start as soon as they had something to eat and had warmed themselves before the fire.
Mooloo’s wife and his two roly-poly, big-eyed children joined them for lunch; although the children, shy at sight of the strangers, did their best to hide behind their mother until hunger and the sight of tempting food lured them forth.
Refreshed and filled with a wild excitement now that the treasure seemed almost in sight, the boys, with Mooloo, the guide, set forth eagerly for the treasure ship.
Unlike Kapje, Mooloo did not use a canoe. His was a flat-bottomed boat, shaped more like a rowboat, but which he propelled by means of a paddle.
The boys noticed that he slipped several spears into the bottom of the boat and also an oilskin-covered package which they guessed contained provisions. Evidently the Eskimos took no chance of going without their meals.
They had not journeyed very far when the boys noticed that, as on the previous afternoon, the sky was clouding over. A few moments later a handful of snowflakes showered softly down upon them.
“This old country,” cried Fred, brushing the flakes off protestingly, “has got the habit of snowing, all right.”
“Maybe it’s only a flurry this time,” said Bobby hopefully. “Look! It’s stopping already.”
But alas for Bobby’s hopes. In half an hour’s time the boys saw that the snow was not stopping. As a matter of fact, it was coming down with a steady insistence that gave it all the appearance of a genuine long-continuing snow storm.
“Well, if that isn’t the limit,” said Billy disgustedly. “I guess the weather’s just been practicing a bit so far. Now it’s ready to give us a taste of the real thing.”
“What’s the matter, Mooloo?” asked Bobby, noticing that the Eskimo was grumbling to himself. “Anything wrong?”
“Maybe no, maybe yes,” replied the Eskimo, with a return to his surly manner. “We lost.”