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Page 25
Ootah alone did not indulge in the fierce ceremonies. His own igloo
built, day after day, night after night, he sat alone. His heart ached
with the unrequited and eternal desire of all the loveless and lonely
things of the world. Outside, the moon increased in fulness and soared
in a low circle about the sky. The dogs crouched low on the ground,
howling dismally.
During the first days of the long night the natives held a series of
dog fights inside the snow and stone houses. Ordinarily Ootah would
have attended these, for a dog fight is of keenest interest to a
tribesman, and the Eskimos' most exciting form of sport.
To a hunter with healthy blood in his veins the dog encounter affords
the same thrills as other men, in more southern lands, find in bull
fights, horse racing, card playing and other games of chance. Two
lovers, both desirous of a maiden, may hold a fight between their king
dogs, each hoping that success may determine the girl's favor. Pieces
of blubber, animal skins, ivory carvings and less valuable objects are
often bet by the contestants and the onlookers.
By all logical assumptions, one might naturally suppose that the
Eskimos--whose night is many months long--through many dark and
rigorous ages, would have developed into a taciturn and moody people,
just as the denizens of sunny climes are joyful, effervescent and
pleasure loving. However, this is not so. Troublous as is their
existence, they preserve until old age that playful joy of life, that
carefree ignoring of danger, which we find in our children--which,
alas, we lose too soon. Each day brings to them its novel delights; in
their monotonous foods they find a constant variety of pleasure; in
their simple games of muscle-tapping, throwing of carved ivories, and
fighting of dogs they experience the exultant and exuberant fun of our
schoolboys. Constant experience with jeopardous tasks has eliminated
the human fear of danger, and even death, in its most tragic shapes, by
long association has lost its terrors. When the long night falls, and
an ominous depression makes heavy the heart of the lover or fills with
anxiety the heart of the father, they turn, with a delightful
spontaneity, to play.
Now great interest was aroused by the news that Papik was to fight his
king dog with the magnificent brute owned by Attalaq. Both Papik and
Attalaq were paying evident attentions to Ahningnetty, the chubby and
ever smiling maiden, who, while she showed a certain leaning toward
Papik, had misgivings as to his eligibility as a husband because of his
long fingers.
Born of noted fighters, a dog attains the position of "king" or chief
dog of a team by whipping all the dogs in the team of his particular
master. When he has asserted his supremacy over the dogs of his own
team, he is successively set before the rulers of other teams. And by
a process of elimination of those which lose, the two final victors in
a village are finally aligned against one another.
In the series of fights held between the king dogs of the various
teams, both Papik's and Attalaq's had come off with final honors. The
immediate contest between the two most distinguished canines in the
village was an event of exciting importance, and to the women there was
a romantic zest in it, for all believed that victory would determine
Ahningnetty's favor.
At the time of the event all who could do so crowded into Attalaq's
stone house. In the centre of a tense group of onlookers the two dogs
were placed before each other. They were handsome animals, with long
keen noses, denoting an aristocracy of canine birth, and long shaggy
coats, mottled brown and white, as soft as silk. A long line of
victories lay to the credit of each.
A sharp howl announced the fight--the two lithe bodies leaped
together--the air within the little circle became electric. The dogs
snapped, tumbled over each other. Their sharp teeth sank into each
other's shanks. The natives cheered whenever a favorite secured an
advantage. Bets were made. Papik's eyes gleamed as he alternately
watched his dog and the face of Ahningnetty as she peered interestedly
over the onlookers' shoulders. Attalaq's countenance was grim--not a
muscle moved.
Finally Attalaq's dog, with a chagrined growl, unexpectedly rushed from
the enclosure and crouched in a corner of the igloo.
The natives effusively gathered about Papik, who bent over his dog with
proud affection. In the excitement Ahningnetty quickly left the igloo,
and standing outside gazed meditatively at the stars. They hung in the
sky above like great pendulous jewels, palpitant with interior
name--there were purple stars, and blue stars, and orange-colored
stars; some resembled monstrous amethysts, some emeralds fierily green,
some rubies spitting sparks vindictively red; others globular sheeny
pearls, creamy of lustre but shot with faint gleams of rose; and
fugitively sprinkling the firmament here and there were orbs that
glistened like diamonds, wonderfully and purely white. Saturn,
distinct among all the heavenly bodies, throbbed with a van-colored
changing glow like a bulbous opal, and about it, with a strange
shimmer, visibly swirled its iridescent rings.
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