Smoke Bellew - Jack London (best summer reads of all time .txt) š
- Author: Jack London
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It was on the same night that Snass said to Smoke:
āYouād better pick out a wife and have a fire of your own. You will be more comfortable than with those young bucks. The maidensā firesāa sort of feast of the virgins, you knowāare not lighted until full summer and the salmon, but I can give orders earlier if you say the word.ā
Smoke laughed and shook his head.
āRemember,ā Snass concluded quietly, āAnton is the only one that ever got away. He was lucky, unusually lucky.ā
Her father had a will of iron, Labiskwee told Smoke.
āFour Eyes used to call him the Frozen Pirateāwhatever that meansāthe Tyrant of the Frost, the Cave Bear, the Beast Primitive, the King of the Caribou, the Bearded Pard, and lots of such things. Four Eyes loved words like these. He taught me most of my English. He was always making fun. You could never tell. He called me his cheetah-chum after times when I was angry. What is cheetah? He always teased me with it.ā
She chattered on with all the eager naivete of a child, which Smoke found hard to reconcile with the full womanhood of her form and face.
Yes, her father was very firm. Everybody feared him. He was terrible when angry. There were the Porcupines. It was through them, and through the Luskwas, that Snass traded his skins at the posts and got his supplies of ammunition and tobacco. He was always fair, but the chief of the Porcupines began to cheat. And after Snass had warned him twice, he burned his log village, and over a dozen of the Porcupines were killed in the fight. But there was no more cheating. Once, when she was a little girl, there was one white man killed while trying to escape. No, her father did not do it, but he gave the order to the young men. No Indian ever disobeyed her father.
And the more Smoke learned from her, the more the mystery of Snass deepened.
āAnd tell me if it is true,ā the girl was saying, āthat there was a man and a woman whose names were Paolo and Francesca and who greatly loved each other?ā
Smoke nodded.
āFour Eyes told me all about it,ā she beamed happily. āAnd so he did not make it up, after all. You see, I was not sure. I asked father, but, oh, he was angry. The Indians told me he gave poor Four Eyes an awful talking to. Then there were Tristan and Iseultātwo Iseults. It was very sad. But I should like to love that way. Do all the young men and women in the world do that? They do not here. They just get married. They do not seem to have time. I am English, and I will never marry an Indianāwould you? That is why I have not lighted my maidenās fire. Some of the young men are bothering father to make me do it. Libash is one of them. He is a great hunter. And Mahkook comes around singing songs. He is funny. Tonight, if you come by my tent after dark, you will hear him singing out in the cold. But father says I can do as I please, and so I shall not light my fire. You see, when a girl makes up her mind to get married, that is the way she lets young men know. Four Eyes always said it was a fine custom. But I noticed he never took a wife. Maybe he was too old. He did not have much hair, but I do not think he was really very old. And how do you know when you are in love?ālike Paolo and Francesca, I mean.ā
Smoke was disconcerted by the clear gaze of her blue eyes. āWhy, they say,ā he stammered, āthose who are in love say it, that love is dearer than life. When one finds out that he or she likes somebody better than everybody else in the worldāwhy, then, they know they are in love. Thatās the way it goes, but itās awfully hard to explain. You just know it, thatās all.ā
She looked off across the camp-smoke, sighed, and resumed work on the fur mitten she was sewing. āWell,ā she announced with finality, āI shall never get married anyway.ā
āOnce we hit out weāll sure have some tall runninā,ā Shorty said dismally.
āThe place is a big trap,ā Smoke agreed.
From the crest of a bald knob they gazed out over Snassās snowy domain. East, west, and south they were hemmed in by the high peaks and jumbled ranges. Northward, the rolling country seemed interminable; yet they knew, even in that direction, that half a dozen transverse chains blocked the way.
āAt this time of the year I could give you three daysā start,ā Snass told Smoke that evening. āYou canāt hide your trail, you see. Anton got away when the snow was gone. My young men can travel as fast as the best white man; and, besides, you would be breaking trail for them. And when the snow is off the ground, Iāll see to it that you donāt get the chance Anton had. Itās a good life. And soon the world fades. I have never quite got over the surprise of finding how easy it is to get along without the world.ā
āWhatās eatinā me is Danny McCan,ā Shorty confided to Smoke. āHeās a weak brother on any trail. But he swears he knows the way out to the westward, anā so we got to put up with him, Smoke, or you sure get yours.ā
āWeāre all in the same boat,ā Smoke answered.
āNot on your life. Itās a-cominā to you straight down the pike.ā
āWhat is?ā
āYou aināt heard the news?ā
Smoke shook his head.
āThe bachelors told me. They just got the word. Tonight it comes off, though itās months ahead of the calendar.ā
Smoke shrugged his shoulders.
āAināt interested in hearinā?ā Shorty teased.
āIām waiting to hear.ā
āWell, Dannyās wife just told the bachelors,ā Shorty paused impressively. āAnā the bachelors told me, of course, that the maidensā fires is due to be lighted tonight. Thatās all. Now how do you like it?ā
āI donāt get your drift, Shorty.ā
āDonāt, eh? Why, itās plain open and shut. Theyās a skirt after you, anā that skirt is goinā to light a fire, anā that skirtās name is Labiskwee. Oh, Iāve been watchinā her watch you when you aināt lookinā. She aināt never lighted her fire. Said she wouldnāt marry a Indian. Anā now, when she lights her fire, itās a cinch itās my poor old friend Smoke.ā
āIt sounds like a syllogism,ā Smoke said, with a sinking heart reviewing Labiskweeās actions of the past several days.
āCinch is shorter to pronounce,ā Shorty returned. āAnā thatās always the wayājust as weāre workinā up our get-away, along comes a skirt to complicate everything. We aināt got no luck. Hey! Listen to that, Smoke!ā
Three ancient squaws had halted midway between the bachelorsā camp and the camp of McCan, and the oldest was declaiming in shrill falsetto.
Smoke recognized the names, but not all the words, and Shorty translated with melancholy glee.
āLabiskwee, the daughter of Snass, the Rainmaker, the Great Chief, lights her first maidenās fire tonight. Maka, the daughter of Owits, the Wolf-Runnerāā
The recital ran through the names of a dozen maidens, and then the three heralds tottered on their way to make announcement at the next fires.
The bachelors, who had sworn youthful oaths to speak to no maidens, were uninterested in the approaching ceremony, and to show their disdain they made preparations for immediate departure on a mission set them by Snass and upon which they had planned to start the following morning. Not satisfied with the old huntersā estimates of the caribou, Snass had decided that the run was split. The task set the bachelors was to scout to the north and west in quest of the second division of the great herd.
Smoke, troubled by Labiskweeās fire-lighting, announced that he would accompany the bachelors. But first he talked with Shorty and with McCan.
āYou be there on the third day, Smoke,ā Shorty said. āWeāll have the outfit anā the dogs.ā
āBut remember,ā Smoke cautioned, āif there is any slip-up in meeting me, you keep on going and get out to the Yukon. Thatās flat. If you make it, you can come back for me in the summer. If I get the chance, Iāll make it, and come back for you.ā
McCan, standing by his fire, indicated with his eyes a rugged mountain where the high western range out-jutted on the open country.
āThatās the one,ā he said. āA small stream on the south side. We go up it. On the third day you meet us. Weāll pass by on the third day. Anywhere you tap that stream youāll meet us or our trail.ā
But the chance did not come to Smoke on the third day. The bachelors had changed the direction of their scout, and while Shorty and McCan plodded up the stream with their dogs, Smoke and the bachelors were sixty miles to the northeast picking up the trail of the second caribou herd. Several days later, through a dim twilight of falling snow, they came back to the big camp. A squaw ceased from wailing by a fire and darted up to Smoke. Harsh tongued, with bitter, venomous eyes, she cursed him, waving her arms toward a silent, fur-wrapped form that still lay on the sled which had hauled it in.
What had happened, Smoke could only guess, and as he came to McCanās fire he was prepared for a second cursing. Instead, he saw McCan himself industriously chewing a strip of caribou meat.
āIām not a fightinā man,ā he whiningly explained. āBut Shorty got away, though theyāre still after him. He put up a hell of a fight. Theyāll get him, too. He aināt got a chance. He plugged two bucks thatāll get around all right. Anā he croaked one square through the chest.ā
āYes, I know,ā Smoke answered. āI just met the widow.ā
āOld Snassāll be wantinā to see you,ā McCan added. āThemās his orders. Soon as you come in you was to go to his fire. I aināt squealed. You donāt know nothing. Keep that in mind. Shorty went off on his own along with me.ā
At Snassās fire Smoke found Labiskwee. She met him with eyes that shone with such softness and tenderness as to frighten him.
āIām glad you did not try to run away,ā she said. āYou see, Iāā She hesitated, but her eyes didnāt drop. They swam with a light unmistakable. āI lighted my fire, and of course it was for you. It has happened. I like you better than everybody else in the world. Better than my father. Better than a thousand Libashes and Mahkooks. I love. It is very strange. I love as Francesca loved, as Iseult loved. Old Four Eyes spoke true. Indians do not love this way. But my eyes are blue, and I am white. We are white, you and I.ā
Smoke had never been proposed to in his life, and he was unable to meet the situation. Worse, it was not even a proposal. His acceptance was taken for granted. So thoroughly was it all arranged in
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