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Page 17
Below him the clouds, burning with vivid fire, moved in the varying
strata of air currents--to Ootah they were conveying his messages. The
sun, circling low about the horizon, shifted its rays, and within the
nebulous cloud-masses in the valleys, fountains of prism light played.
In this radiant phantasmagoria messages in turn came to Ootah.
He saw the figuration of Annadoah's tent, and within, reclining upon
her couch, the form of Annadoah. At the mirage picture of the
beauteous and beloved maiden his heart throbbed violently. In the high
altitude he found respiration difficult, and now he almost suffocated
for lack of breath. He felt a pang at his heart as he saw the white
chief enter the tent. The winds wailed sibilant and agonizing messages
into the ears of Ootah:
"Thou hast cursed Annadoah. Foolish Ootah! For thou lovest Annadoah!
Yea, her voice is as sweet as the sound of melting streams in
springtime. Lo, she whispers into the ears of Olafaksoah: 'Thou art
strong, Olafaksoah; Ootah hath the heart of a woman. Thou hurtest me,
Olafaksoah; thy arms bruise me, thy hands make me ache; but thou art
strong, thou art great, Olafaksoah; the heart of Annadoah trembles for
joy of thee.' Thus saith Annadoah!"
And in the winds Ootah heard Olafaksoah's coarse laughter.
"_Ioh--ioh-h-h_!" Ootah moaned.
"Thou wouldst that Annadoah's face be blighted as frozen land in
winter," laughed the winds, mockingly. "Thou dotard Ootah! Thou
lovest the face of Annadoah. It is very fair. It is golden as the
radiant face of _Sukh-eh-nukh_. Her eyes are as bright as stars in the
winter night. Oh-h-h, Ootah! Into the eyes of Olafaksoah Annadoah
gazes, yea, she faints with joy, thou silly Ootah!"
"_Ioh--ioh-h-h_!" wailed Ootah.
"Her lips are red, Ootah---red as a wound in the throat of a deer."
And in the cloud vision Ootah saw the blond chief take the head of
Annadoah between his two palms and press her lips fiercely upon his
own. Ootah's heart trembled as water.
"_Ioh--io-h-h_!" he sobbed, and tears coursed from his eyes.
The constant haunting thought of Annadoah's face pressed close to that
of Olafaksoah somehow made his face burn and his bosom ache.
"Ootah, Ootah, thou wouldst that Annadoah's heart might wither, yea, as
a frozen bird in the blast of winter, foolish Ootah, who lovest
Annadoah! Soft beats the heart of Annadoah upon the bosom of
Olafaksoah; yea, for very joy it flutters as a mating bird in summer
time. Thou wouldst that beasts might rend her little breasts--safe are
they now in the embrace of the strong man from the south. Ootah!
Ootah!"
Ootah wrung his hands.
"Thy curses fall dead upon the ears of Annadoah, she who hears only the
voice of Olafaksoah."
In the winds Ootah heard the whisper of Olafaksoah in the dim tent. He
heard Annadoah's rapturously murmurous replies.
"Olafaksoah shareth the igloo of Annadoah," whispered the winds
suggestively. And Ootah knew the Eskimo custom.
Annadoah, by sharing her simple habitation with him, had by choice
formally become the wife of Olafaksoah. And according to the unwritten
law of ages she was now as much his property as his dogs. He might
abuse her, and desert--and thus divorce--her whenever he chose. She
might, at his pleasure, be loaned as a wife to another, and in this she
would have no word. Or she might be given away, and dare not protest.
Ootah felt that she was lost to him irretrievably.
For hours Ootah stood at the mouth of his mountain eyrie in dumb agony.
All that he suffered it is beyond me to tell you. For days he crouched
there, motionless, stark dumb, every fibre of him aching.
In the valleys below, as the hours of the burning days and golden
nights passed, the sunlight constantly shifted. In the palpitating
mists Ootah read of the days' doings at the camp. He saw the white men
bartering for the meagre remaining furs and ivories gathered by the
tribe. With the natives he saw them going on long fruitless hunts.
Finally one day he witnessed them harpoon a half dozen walrus on the
sea. They laboriously towed the catch ashore and rejoiced over the
unexpected wealth of oil and blubber. But the white men claimed the
entire prize, loaded their extra sledges, liberally fed their dogs, and
doled out but a penurious allotment of meat and blubber to the tribe.
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