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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:34:48 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:34:48 -0700 |
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| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10599-0.txt b/10599-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..45e05f4 --- /dev/null +++ b/10599-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5229 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10599 *** + + MYSTERY STORIES FOR BOYS + + Lost in the Air + + By ROY J. SNELL + + 1920 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I WHO IS THE MAJOR + II THE STRANGE LANDING + III IN THE MIDST OF THE PACK + IV A MODERN BATTLE WITH CRIMINALS + V AN INFERNAL MACHINE + VI THE RACE IS ON + VII A STRANGE PEOPLE +VIII THE WALRUS HUNT + IX FIGHTING THEIR WAY OUT + X TO THE TREASURE CITY + XI A BATTLE BENEATH THE ARCTIC MOON + XII THE RUSSIAN TIGER +XIII BRUCE AND THE BEAR + XIV "BOMBED" + XV THE MYSTERY CAVERN + XVI WRECKED +XVII "SO THIS IS THE POLE" + + + + +CHAPTER I + +WHO IS THE MAJOR? + + +"Let's get a breath of fresh air." Bruce Manning yawned and stretched, +then slid off his high stool at the bookkeeping desk. Barney Menter +followed his example. + +They had been together only a few days, these two, but already they were +pals. This was not to be wondered at, for both had been discharged +recently from army aviation service--Bruce in Canada and Barney in the +United States. Each had served his country well. Now they were employed +in the work of developing the wilds of Northern Canada near Hudson Bay. +And there are no regions more romantic than this with all its +half-gleaned history and its million secrets of wonder, wealth and +beauty. + +As they stood in the doorway, gazing at the forest-lined river and +distant bluffs, hearing the clang of steel on steel, as construction work +went forward, catching the roar of cataracts in Nelson River, and +tingling with the keen air of the northern summer, life seemed a new +creation, so different was it from the days of war. + +"What's this?" Bruce was looking at a file containing bills-of-lading, a +messenger had handed him. + +"Car 564963, C. P. R., consigned to Major A. Bronson. Airplane and +supplies." He read it aloud and whistled. Barney jumped to snatch +it from him. + +"Stand back! Give me air," Bruce gasped. "An airplane at the present end +of the Hudson Bay Railroad! What's doing now? What are they up to? Going +to quit construction here and use planes the rest of the way? Fancy +freighting wheat, fish, furs and whale blubber by airplanes!" Both lads +laughed at the idea. + +"I don't wish his pilot any bad luck," said Barney. "But if he must die +by breaking his neck, or something, I hope he does it before he reaches +the Hudson Bay terminus. I'd like to take his place in that big air-bird. +Say, wouldn't it be glorious!" + +"You've stolen my thunder," replied Bruce, laughing. "I'm taking that +job myself." + +"Tell you what! I'll fight you for it. What weapons do you choose? +Rope-handed spiking hammers or pick-axes?" + +"Let's go down and see if it's here. Like as not it's a machine neither +of us would risk his neck in; some old junk-pile the government's sold to +the chap for a hundred and fifty or so." + +That this idea was not taken seriously by either was shown by the +double-quick at which they went down the line, and over the half-laid +tracks to where the accommodation train was standing. + +Thorough inspection of car numbers convinced them that No. 564963 C.P.R. +had not arrived. + +"Oh, well! Perhaps to-morrow she'll be in. Then we'll see what we see," +yawned Bruce, as he turned back toward the roughly-built log shack where +work awaited them. + +"What's that?" Bruce, who was in the lead, stopped before the trunk of a +scraggly spruce tree. On its barkless trunk a sheet of white paper had +been tacked. The two boys read it eagerly: + +NOTICE! + +To Trappers, Hunters, Campers +and Prospectors. + +$500 +Reward +Will be paid + +To any person locating anywhere +within the bounds of the +Canadian Northlands at any point +North of 55° North, a wireless station, +operated without license or +permit. + +The notice, signed by the provincial authorities, was enough to quicken +their keen minds. + +"What do you suppose they want to know that for?" asked Barney. "The +war's over." + +"Perhaps further intrigue by our former enemy. Perhaps smugglers. +Perhaps--well, do your own perhapsing. But say!" Bruce exclaimed, +"wouldn't it be great to take packs, rifles and mosquito-bar netting and +go hunting that fellow in that Northern wilderness?" + +"Great sport, all right," grinned Barney. "But you'd have about as much +chance of finding him as you would of locating German U boat M. 71 by +walking the bottom of the Atlantic." + +"That's true, all right," said Bruce thoughtfully. "But just think of +that wilderness! Lakes no white man has seen; rivers no canoe has +traveled; mountain tops no human ever looked from! Say! I've lived in +Canada all my life and up to now I've been content to let that wilderness +just be wild. But the war came and I guess it shook me out of myself. Now +that wilderness calls to me, and, the first chance that offers, I'm going +to turn explorer. The wireless station offers an excuse, don't you see?" + +Barney grinned. He was a hard-headed, practical Yankee boy; the kind who +count the cost and appraise the possible results. + +"If you are talking of hunting, fishing, and a general good time in the +woods, then I'm with you; but if you are talking of a search for that +wireless, then, I say, give me some speedier way of travel than tramping. +Give me--" he hesitated, then he blurted out: "Give me an airplane." + +The boys stared at one another as if they had discovered a state secret. +Then Bruce voiced their thoughts: + +"Do you suppose this Major What-you-may-call-him is bringing up his plane +for some commission like that?" + +"I don't know," said Barney. "But if he is," he said the words slowly, +"if he is, then all I've got to say is, that it's mighty important; +something affecting the government." + +"I believe you're right about that," said Bruce, "but what it is I +haven't the least shadow of a notion. And what complicates it still more +is, the Major comes from down in the States." + +"Maybe it's something international," suggested Barney. + +"Yes," grinned Bruce, suddenly awaking from these wild speculations, "and +maybe he's just some sort of bloomin' sport coming up here to take moving +pictures of caribou herds, or to shoot white whale in Hudson Bay! Guess +we better get back to work." + +"Ye'll pardon an old man's foolish questions?" + +Both boys turned at the words. An old man with bent shoulders, sunken +chest and trembling hand stood beside them. There was an eager, +questioning look in his kindly eyes, as he said in quaint Scotch accent: + +"Ye'll noo be goin' to the woods a' soon?" + +"I don't know," said Bruce, in a friendly tone. He was puzzled by the old +man's question, having recognized him as a second cook for the +steel-laying gang. + +"Fer if ye be," continued the man, "ye's be keepin' a lookout fer Timmie +noo, wouldn't ye though?" + +"Who's Timmie?" asked Bruce. + +"Timmie? Hae ye never hearn o' Timmie? Timmie; the boy it was, seventeen +he was then. But 'twas twelve years ago it was, lad. He'd be a man noo. I +sent him fer the bag wi' the pay-roll in it, an' he never coom back. It +was the money thet done it, fer mind ye, I'm tellin' ye, he was jest a +boy, seventeen. He went away to the woods wi' it, and then was shamed to +coom back, I know. So if ye'll be goin' to the woods ye'll be watchin' +noo, won't ye?" + +"Was he your boy?" + +"No, not mine. But 'twas I was to blame; sendin' him fer th' pay; an' him +so young. Five thousand seven hundred and twenty-four dollars it was, of +the logging company's money; a month's pay fer the men. An' if ye see him +tell him I was all to blame. Tell him to coom back; the Province'll +fergive him." + +"And the company?" asked Bruce. + +"Partners both dead. Died poor. No. 'Twasn't the loss of thet money. They +had many losses. Contractin's a fearfu' uncertain business; fearfu' +uncertain." The old man shook his head slowly. + +"Any heirs?" asked Bruce. + +"Heirs? To the partners? Yes, one. A girl, noo. Ye'll be kenin' the lass +thet helps in the boardin' shack where you and the bosses eat?" +"La Vaune?" grinned Barney, poking Bruce in the ribs. "Do you _know_ +her?" La Vaune, the little black-eyed French Canadian, had taken quite a +liking to her handsome young fellow-countryman, Bruce. + +"Well, noo," said the old Scotchman. "Thet's the lass noo. An' should you +find the money noo, it will all be hers. An' ye'll be lookin' fer it noo, +won't ye? Many's the time I took a wee snack and a blanket an' made a wee +pack an' gone into the woods to find him. But I hae never seen track o' +him. He'll nae be by Lake Athapapukskow, fer there's folks there; not by +Lake Weskusko neither, fer I been there, but som'ers in the woods Timmie +is, an' if he's dead his shack'll be there an' the money, fer he never +coom out o' th' woods again, thet shamed he was." + +The boys promised to keep an eye out for Timmie, if ever they went +into the unknown wilderness, and left the old man with a new hope +shining in his eyes. + +For a long time after reaching the office the boys worked in silence. At +last Barney straightened his tired shoulders and glanced at Bruce. He was +in a brown study. + +"What's on your mind, Bruce?" he asked. "That money?" + +"Thinking what it would do for La Vaune; five thousand seven hundred and +twenty-four dollars." Bruce rolled the words out slowly. Though they said +no more about it, the old man's story was the inspiration of many a wild +plan. The truth is, it was destined to play an important part in shaping +their future. + + * * * * * + +"He's here! She's--it's here!" + +Bruce burst into the office all excitement and half out of breath. + +"Who's he, she, it?" grinned Barney, slipping his pen behind his ear. + +"The Major and the airplane! And the plane's a hummer!" + +It was Barney's turn to get excited now. He jumped from his stool so +suddenly that his pen went clattering. + +"Let's have a look at her." He grabbed his cap and dashed out, Bruce at +his heels. + +Some Greek freight handlers were unloading the car when they reached +the track. The work was being done under the direction of a rather tall +man, erect and dignified. He, the boys felt sure, was the Major. His +face bore some peculiar scars, not deep but wide, and as he walked he +limped slightly. + +"Might be he's lost some toes," muttered Barney. "Had a cousin who limped +that way." + +"The machine's a Handley-Page bombing plane, made over for some purpose +or other," said Bruce, with a keen eye for every detail. "That's the +plane that would have bombed Berlin if the war had lasted long enough. +They're carrying mail from Paris to Rome in 'em now. Those machines +carried four engines and developed a thousand horse-power. This one is a +lighter model and carries two engines. One's a Rolls-Royce and one a +Liberty motor. The fellow that planned the Major's trip for him has +selected his equipment well. They don't make them any better." + +"Just look at the sweep of the planes," exclaimed Barney. "They were made +for high altitude work--up where the air's thin. No one would be coming +up here for a high altitude test, would he?" + +"Surely not; there's no particular advantage at this point for that." + +The boys watched the unloading with eager and experienced eyes. As Barney +put it, "Makes me feel like some shipwrecked gob on a desert island when +he sees a launch coming ashore." + +"Yes," grinned Bruce, "and soon you'll be feeling like your gob would +when the launch came about and put out to sea again. No chance for you on +that boat, Barney." + +"Guess you're right," groaned Barney. "Little enough we'll have to do +with that bird." + +As he spoke several of the men recklessly jerked a plane to free it from +its wrappings. The Major, his back to them, was superintending the +unloading of the Liberty motor. + +"Hey, you! Go easy there!" Barney sprang forward impulsively and showed +the workmen how to handle the plane. When the job was done he stepped +back with an apologetic air. The Major had turned and was watching him. + +"You seem to understand such matters," he smiled. + +"I've worked with them a bit," said Barney. + +"Would you mind letting me know where you are located?" asked the Major. +"My aviator and mechanic have disappointed me so far. You might be of +some assistance to me." + +"We're over at the bookkeeping shack--the office of the construction +company," said Barney, red with embarrassment. "He--that is, my bunkie +here, knows more about those boats than I do. Say, if we can be any help +to you, we'll jump at the chance. Won't we, Bruce?" + +"Surest thing," grinned Bruce, as they turned regretfully toward the +dull office and duller work. + +"Say, you don't suppose," exclaimed Barney that night at supper--"you +remember those awful wide planes of the Major's? You don't suppose he's +starting for--" Barney hesitated. + +"You don't mean?--" Bruce hesitated in turn. + +"Sure! The Pole; you don't suppose he'd try it?" + +"Of course not," exclaimed Bruce, the conservative. "Who ever thought of +going to the Pole in a plane through Canada?" + +"Bartlett's got a plan of going to the Pole in a plane." + +"But he's going from Greenland," said Bruce. "That's different." + +"Why" + +"Steamboat. Farthest point of land north and everything." + +"That's just it," exclaimed Barney disgustedly. "Steamboat and +everything. You're not a real explorer unless some society backs you up +with somebody's money to the tune of fifty thousand or so; till you've +got together a group of scholars and seamen for the voyage. Then the +proper thing to do is to get caught in the ice, you are all but lost. +But--the ice clears at the crucial moment, you push on and on for two +years; you live on seal meat and whale blubber. Half your seamen get +scurvy and die; your dogs go mad; your Eskimos prove treacherous, you +shoot one or more. You take long sled journeys, you freeze, you starve, +you erect cairns at your farthest point north, or west, or whatever it +is. Then, if you're lucky, you lose your ship in an ice-jam and walk +home, ragged and emaciated. A man that does it that way gets publicity; +writes a book, gets to be somebody. + +"You see," he went on, "we've sort of got in the way of thinking that it +takes a big expedition to do exploring. But, after all, what good does a +big expedition do? Peary didn't need one. He landed at the Pole with two +Eskimos and a negro. Well, now it ought to be easy as nothing for two or +three men in a plane, like that one of the Major's, to go to the Pole +from here. There's a fort and trading post on Great Bear Lake with, +maybe, a power-boat and gasoline. Then, if there happened to be a whaler, +or something, to give you a second lift, why there you are!" + +"Sounds pretty good," admitted Bruce. "But nobody would ever attempt it." + +"Of course not," retorted Barney. "It's too simple." + +The two following days the boys found themselves taking morning and +evening walks down the track to the airplane, which still lay piled in +sections by the track. They were surprised to see that no effort was +being made to assemble it. The reason for the delay was made clear to +them by an unexpected encounter on the evening of the second day. + +Finding the Major pacing up and down before the machine, his slight limp +aggravated by his very evident irritation, they were about to pass as if +they didn't know there was a plane within a hundred miles, when they +were halted by the upraised hand of the Major. + +Immediately both boys clicked heels and saluted. Then they felt foolish +for saluting in "civies." + +"I see you are military all right," smiled the Major. "But how much do +you really know about airplanes?" + +"Oh," said Barney, with exaggerated indifference, "Bruce, here, knows a +little and I know a little, too. Between us we might be able to assemble +your machine, if that's what you want." In spite of his heroic attempts +at self-control, his voice betrayed his eagerness. Truth was, his fingers +itched for pliers and wrenches. + +"That's part of what I want, but not all," the Major said briskly. "I am +not an aviator myself, and my man has failed me at the last moment; had a +trifling smash which resulted in a dislocated thigh. Out of service for +the season. I need an aviator and a good one. He says there's only one +other not attached to military units that he could recommend--a Canadian. +But the plague of it is, the man can't be located." + +"Might I ask the nature of your proposed trip?" asked Bruce--then bit his +lip a second too late. + +"You might not" The Major snapped out the words. Then in a kindlier tone, +"My secret is not entirely my own. I can say, however, that it is not an +exceedingly long trip, nor a dangerous one, as aviation goes, but it is +an important one, and besides, if it comes out well, and I believe it +will, I might wish to go on a more hazardous journey. In that case, of +course, you can see I should wish a veteran pilot at the wheel and one +who will take a chance." + +He turned to Bruce. "You are a Canadian, are you not?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then perhaps you can tell me of the whereabouts of this young Canadian +aviator. His name is--" the Major stopped to think. "His name is--ah! I +have it! It's Manning--Bruce Manning." + +Bruce's jaw dropped in astonishment. He was too surprised to speak. It +was Barney who, almost shouting in his excitement, said: + +"He's Bruce Manning, Major." + +"What?" The Major stood back and looked at Bruce. "You? Oh come; you are +hardly more than a boy!" + +"Yes," said Barney, "he's hardly more than a boy, but some of the best +flyers the Allies had were hardly more than boys. They were boys when +they went into it over there, but the boys who went up after the Germans +two or three times came down men, Major. Don't forget that." + +"You're right--and I beg your pardon," said the Major, bowing to them. "I +spoke thoughtlessly. So then I have the good fortune to be speaking to +the very man I seek?" he went on, turning to Bruce. "Now I suppose the +remaining questions are: Will you be at liberty to take up aviation again +and--do you want to?" + +"That," said Bruce, struggling to keep his voice steady, "will depend +upon at least one thing: If you will answer one question now, we will +promise you a definite answer to-morrow morning at seven o'clock." + +"The question?" + +"My friend here, Barney Menter, is quite as skilled an aviator as I +am. If I go, he goes. What there is in it in pay or peril we will +share equally." + +Barney stepped forward to protest, but Bruce held him back and +continued: "Your machine is equipped for two men besides yourself. Will +you take us both?" + +"Most certainly," said the Major heartily. "In case you decide to +accompany me, I shall wire the mechanic not to come and you two may +divide the work between you as you may see fit. + +"I might say," he added, "that the pay will be double that which you are +now receiving, and the journey will consume the remainder of the season. +Should we decide on something more hazardous, the pay will be in +proportion, and there is, besides, a substantial, I might even say a +rich reward offered, for the successful completion of this latter task. +However, enough of that for the present. You can give me your decision in +the morning, and I hope you accept." He bowed and strode away. + +"Now, why didn't you say 'Yes' on the spot?" demanded Barney, +impatiently. "We are required to give only a week's notice to the company +and the nights and mornings of that week we can use getting the machine +together and taking a trial flight." + +"I always sleep over a thing," answered Bruce. "It's a habit I inherited +from my father." Long after, in quite different circumstances, Barney was +to remember this remark, and bless Bruce's inheritance. + +Mail had been delivered during their absence. Barney found a letter on +his desk. He puzzled over the postmark, which was from some Pacific port. +He tore the envelope open, glanced at the letter, then read it with +sudden eagerness. + +"Bruce," he exclaimed, "listen to this. It's from an old pal of +mine, David Tower; entered the navy same time I did the army." And +he read aloud: + +"Dear Barney: + +"I'm off for somewhere far North; guess not the Pole, but pretty well up +that way. Second officer on a U. S. Sub. She's loaned to a queer old chap +they call Doctor. No particulars yet. Hope this finds you 'up in the +air,' as per usual. + +"DAVE." +"That _is_ a coincidence," said Bruce. "Perhaps we'll meet him up there +somewhere among the icebergs." + +"I'll suggest it!" exclaimed Barney, reaching for his pen. + +"Dear Dave," he wrote. "Am thinking of a little trip North myself. Our +ship's a 500 HP Handley-Page. Bring your guitar and oboe along. My +partner and I are bringing saxophone and mandolin. We'll have a little +jazz. Till we meet, as ever, + +"BARNEY." + +If the boy had known under what strange conditions this particular jazz +performance would be given, he might have felt queer sensations creeping +up his spinal column. + +"I say!" exclaimed Bruce suddenly, "who's this Major chap, anyway? I've a +notion he's something rather big, maybe the biggest--" + +"You don't mean?--" + +"I'm not saying anything," protested Bruce, "but this other man I'm +thinking of left a toe or two in the Arctic, and his face has freeze +scars on it. His name's--well, you know it as well as I do." + +"Shucks! It couldn't be," exclaimed Barney. "He wouldn't be up here alone +this way." + +"No, I guess not," sighed Bruce. "But it would be great sport if it were +he, after all." + +Ten days later, a girl in her late teens stood shading her eyes watching +a tiny object against the sky. It might have been a hawk, but it was not; +it was an airplane--the Handley-Page, with the two young pilots and the +Major on board. The girl was La Vaune. She stood there watching till the +plane had dwindled to a dot, and the dot had disappeared. Holding her +apron to her eyes to hide her tears, she walked blindly into the house. + +The adventurers were well on their way. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE STRANGE LANDING + + +"I don't like the way the Rolls-Royce is acting," Bruce grumbled through +his telephone to Barney, for, though they were not four feet apart, not a +word could they hear, so great was the din of their two powerful engines. + +"Same here," answered Barney. "Old Major ought to have given us more time +to try 'em out. Brand new." + +"Barren Lands far away. Forced to land in tree-tops. Good-night!" + +After that there came only the monotonous roar of the engines. The +Major's orders had been "Due north by west," and now, though they had put +fully two hundred miles between themselves and the last sign of +civilization, they were still holding to their course. They also had been +directed to fly as low as was safe. Three times the Major had barked an +order into the receiver; always to circle some spot, while he swept the +earth with a binocular as powerful as could be used in an airplane. Three +times he had given a second order to resume their course. + +"He seems to be looking for something," Barney said to himself, and at +once he began wondering what it could be. Mines of fabulous wealth were +said to be hidden away in the hills and forests over which they were +passing--rich outcroppings of gold, silver and copper. Perhaps the Major +was trying to locate them from the air. Here and there they passed over +broad stretches of prairie, the grass of which would feed numberless +herds of cattle. Perhaps, too, the Major was examining these with an eye +to future gain. Then, again Barney thought of the illegal wireless +station and he idly speculated on how it could be so important now that +the war was over. There was little to do but think as they scudded away, +now racing a cloud, then plunging through the masses of vapor, to +reappear suddenly in the sunshine beyond. Barney had always keenly +enjoyed watching the land slip by beneath him as he flew, but on this +journey there was the added joy of sailing over lands unknown. His +reflections were suddenly cut short by a strange jarring rattle from the +Rolls-Royce. Instantly the thunder was cut in half, as also was their +power. Bruce had stopped the big motor. If now something went wrong with +the Liberty, they must make a forced landing. This, with the level +stretches of prairie giving place to rough, rolling swells covered with +scrub timber, was not a pleasant thing to think of and even less pleasant +to attempt. + +The sun, sending a last yellow glow across the land, sank from sight, and +soon the moon, with silvery light and black bands of shadow, was playing +strange tricks with the stolid world beneath them. + +All day, when duties permitted, Bruce had kept an eye open for a cabin +hidden among the pines. Now he shouted through the telephone to Barney; + +"What'll I do if I catch a square of light below?" + +Barney knew he was thinking of the boy, Timmie, and La Vaune's money he +carried into the woods. A square of light, of course, would have been a +cabin window. + +"Kill your engine if you see a chance to light, and explain later," he +shouted back. + +But no square of light appeared, and soon the thought of it was driven +from their minds, for, of a sudden, the plane shuddered like a man with +a chill. It was the second engine. Bruce threw off the power. Then, +with a sput-sput-sput, started it again. Once more came the shudder. +Again he tried with no better results. Half its power was gone; +something was seriously wrong. He turned to the other engine. It would +not start at all. Here was trouble. They were passing over ridge after +ridge, and all were roughly timbered. Surely, here was no +landing-place. And if the second engine stopped altogether,--Bruce's +heart lost a beat at thought of it. + +He gave the engine more gas and headed the plane upward. She climbed +slowly, sluggishly, like a tired bird, but at length the keener air told +him they were a safer distance above the earth. + +"Better chance to pick a landing-place from here," thought Barney. + +They had scarcely reached this higher level when the engine stopped. No +efforts of the pilot availed to start it. His companions silently watched +Bruce's mute struggles. The Major, a perfect sport, sat stoically in his +place. Barney, knowing that suggestions were useless, also was silent. So +they volplaned slowly downward, every eye strained for a safe +landing-place. They knew what a crash would mean at such a place. Loss of +life perhaps; a wrecked plane at least, then a struggle through the woods +till starvation ended it. They were four hundred miles from the last +trace of white man's habitation. + +They had come down to three thousand feet when it became evident that +only rough ridges lay beneath them. No landing-place here, certainly. +They could only hang on as long as possible in the hope the ridges would +give way to level ground. Bruce thanked their luck for the wide-spreading +wings which would impede their fall. + +A moment later he groaned, for just ahead of them he saw a rocky ridge +higher than any they had passed over. Here then was the end, he thought. +But the tricky moonlight had deceived him. They cleared those rocks by a +hundred feet and just beyond Bruce gasped and looked again. + +"A miracle!" murmured Barney. + +"Or a mirage," whispered Bruce. + +Before them lay a square of level land, green,--in the moonlight. All +about the square the land was black with trees, but there was a landing +place. It was as if their trip had been long planned, their coming +anticipated, and that a level field was cleared for them. + +It was only a matter of moments till they were bumping along over the +ground. Soon they were standing free from their harnesses and silently +shaking hands. + +Barney was the first to speak. + +"Say, do you know," he said, "we're in somebody's wheat-field!" + +"Impossible!" exclaimed the Major. + +"See for yourself," The boy held before their astonished eyes a handful +of almost ripened heads of wheat. + +"Then what's happened?" demanded the Major. "Have you gone due south by +west instead of north by west?" + +"Unless my compass lied, and it has never done so before, we have gone +north by west since we started, and we are--or ought to be at this +moment--four hundred miles from what the white man calls civilization." + +"Well," said the Major, "since we are here, wherever that is, I suggest +that we unpack our blankets and get out of the man's wheat-field, whoever +he may be. The mystery will keep until morning." + +This they proceeded to do. + +A clump of stubby, heavy-stemmed spruce trees offered them shelter +from the chill night wind, and there, rolled in blankets, they +prepared to sleep. + +But Bruce could not sleep. Driving a plane through clouds, mist and +sunshine for hours had made every nerve alert. And the strain of that +last sagging slide through the air was not to be relieved instantly. So +he lay there in his blankets, a tumult of ideas in his mind. This +wheat-field now? Had he really been misdirected by the compass on the +plane? To prove that he had not, he drew from his pocket a small compass, +and placing it in a spot of moonlight, took the relative direction of the +last ridge over which they had passed and the plane in the wheat-field. +He was right; the compass had been true. They were four hundred miles +northwest of the last mile of track laid on the Hudson Bay Railroad, deep +in a wilderness, over which they had traveled for hours without sighting +a single sign of white man's habitation. Yet, here they were at the edge +of a wheat-field. + +What was the answer? Had some Indian tribe taken to farming? With the +forests alive with game, the streams with fish, this seemed impossible. +Of a sudden, the boy started. It was, of course-- + +The sudden snapping of a twig in the underbrush brought his mind back +with a jerk to their present plight. He wished they had brought the +rifles from the plane. Some animal was lurking there in the shadows. +Wolves, grizzlies, some unknown terror, perhaps? + +Then, in another second his eyes bulged. In an open space, between two +spruce trees, where the moon shone brightly, had appeared for a moment a +patch of white. Then, amid the crashing of small twigs, the thing was +gone. In childhood, Bruce had been told many stories of ghosts and +goblins by his Irish nurse. He had never overcome his dread of them. But +it was with the utmost difficulty that he suppressed a shout. Then he +laughed softly, for the crackling twigs told him he had seen a creature +of flesh and blood, no ghost. He chuckled again and far in the dark a +hoot-owl seemed to answer him and his company was a source of comfort. + +Yet, here was, after all, another problem: What was this white-coated +creature? Of all the wild things of the forest, none was white save the +Arctic wolf. It was doubtful if he roamed so far south, especially in +summer, and besides, this creature was too large and heavy to be a wolf. +Bruce thought of all the animals he knew and gave it up. It might have +been a cow. Cows in this wilderness did not seem more improbable than a +wheat-field, but the creature had been too light of tread for that. +Could it have been an Indian dressed in white, tanned deerskin? He was +inclined to take this for the right solution, and wondered if he should +awaken his companions. He could not tell what danger threatened. Finally +he decided to let them sleep. He would keep watch. The three of them +could do no more. + +Once more his mind turned to the problem of the wheat. What was it that +he had just concluded? Oh, yes, Timmie! Why might not Timmie have camped +here and planted this wheat? But twelve years? How had he lived? Whence +had come the seed wheat? There were a hundred questions connected with +such a solution. Ah, well, morning would tell. There would be a cabin +somewhere on the edge of the field and they would eat. Eat? For the first +time Bruce realized that he had not eaten for hours; was very hungry. +Securing some malted-milk tablets, carried for emergency rations, he +dissolved them in his mouth. A wonderfully soothing effect they had. +Propping himself against the trees, he closed his eyes for a second, and +before he could pry them open again, he, too, was fast asleep. + +When he awoke it was broad daylight and his companions were +already astir. + +"Did you fellows wake up last night?" he asked, rubbing his eyes +sleepily. + +Barney and the Major shook their heads. + +"Then you didn't see it?" + +"See what?" + +"The white thing." + +Barney stared. The Major's face was noncommittal. + +Bruce told them of his experience. + +"He's been seeing a ghost," declared Barney, with a laugh. + +"On the contrary," said the Major slowly, "I think he hasn't. There are +white creatures in the Arctic; just such ones as he has described. I have +seen them myself. No, not white bears, either. But I have never seen them +this far South. I will not say now what I think Bruce saw but I will say +I do not think it was an Indian." + +"Look!" exclaimed Barney suddenly in a whisper. + +He pointed to a thin column of smoke that was rising over the tree-tops, +to the left of the wheat-field. + +"Listen!" whispered Bruce. "Somebody's chopping wood." The freshening +wind brought the sound of the axe plainly to their ears. A second later +they heard the distant laugh of a child. + +"Come on," said the Major, throwing his roll of blankets at the foot of a +tree. "Where there's children there's no danger. Maybe they'll have +hot-cakes for breakfast!" + +A moment later found the three of them stealing silently through +the forest. + +What they saw as they peered into the clearing brought them up standing. +A man wielded an axe before a cabin. He was tall and strong, +smooth-shaven and clean. No Indian, but a white man. His clothing was of +white-tanned buckskin. The cabin was of logs, but large, with a +comfortable porch and several windows. The panes of the windows seemed +near-glass. It was impossible to tell, from where they stood, whether the +two laughing children who played by the door were white or half-breeds. +The appearance at that door of a neatly-dressed Indian woman seemed to +settle that question. + +The three men had gone half-way across the narrow clearing, before the +man, looking up from his work, saw them. Instantly his face blanched. +With a quick step backward, he reached for a rifle that stood by the +door. Then the arm fell limp by his side. + +"Well, you've come!" he said in a lifeless tone. "I could have +killed you, one or two of you, but I won't. I may be a thief, but +not a murderer. Besides, there are probably more of you back there +in the trees." + +"On the contrary," smiled the Major, "we are only three. We are not +armed. So you see you might easily kill us all. But why you should want +to, and why you expected us, when the last thing we thought to do was to +land in your wheat-field last night, is more than I can guess." + +"Landed?" The man's face showed his bewilderment. + +"I know," exclaimed Bruce impulsively, "I'll explain. You're +Timmie--Timmie--" he hesitated. "Well, anyway, that's your first name. I +know all about you--" + +Again the man's trembling hand half-reached for the rifle. + +"Then--then you have--come for me," he choked. + +Bruce, realizing his mistake, hastened to correct it. + +"You're mistaken," he said quickly. "We haven't come for you in the +way you mean. You won't need to go a step with us unless that is your +wish. Timmie, we're here to help you; to tell you that you were +forgiven long ago." + +"Is--is that true?" The man faltered. "The logging company?" + +"The partners are dead. Their only heir, La Vaune, forgives you." +"And the Province, the Red Riders?" + +"The Province forgot the case years ago." + +"Thank--thank God!" The man choked, then turned to hide his face. He +faced them again in a moment and spoke steadily. "I've got the money here +in the cabin, every cent of it. God knows I didn't mean to do it. But the +temptation was too great. And--and once I had done it, I was afraid to go +back. I would have died in prison. How did you come? Are you going back? +Will you take the money to the little girl, La Vaune?" + +"We're going farther," smiled Bruce, happy in the realization of what all +this meant to the maid in the camp. "We're going on. We flew here and +will fly back--or try to." "And we'll be more than glad to return the +money," he wished to add, but remembering that he would not have that to +decide, he ended, "La Vaune is no little girl now, but quite a young +lady. She needs the money, too. And--and," he laughed sheepishly, "she's +rather a good friend of mine." + +Timmie drew his hand across his eyes, as if to brush away the vision of +long years. Then, with a smile, he said briskly: + +"Of course, you'll have breakfast? We're having hot-cakes." + +"What did I tell you?" chuckled the Major, slapping Barney on the back. + +Eager as the visitors were to hear the strange story of this man of the +wilderness, they were willing that breakfast should come first. + +As they stepped upon the porch, the keen eye of the Major fell on some +white and spotted skins hanging over a beam. A close observer might have +noticed a slight nod of his head, as if he said, "I thought so." But the +boys were following the scent of browning griddle-cakes and saw neither +the skins nor the Major's nod. + +But Barney, missing a familiar pungent odor that should go with such a +breakfast in a wilderness, hurried back to the plane to return with a +coffee pot and a sack of coffee. + +Within the cabin they found everything scrupulously clean. Strange +cooking utensils of copper and stone caught their eye, while the +translucent window-panes puzzled them. But all this was forgotten when +they sat down to a polished table of white wood, and attacked a towering +stack of cakes which vied with cups of coffee in sending a column of +steam toward the rafters. + +With memories stirred by draughts of long untasted coffee, it was not +difficult for Timmie to tell his Story. + +"When I left the settlement," he began, as he turned his mooseskin, +hammock-like chair toward the open fireplace, and invited his guests to +do likewise, "I struck straight into the wilderness. I had a little food, +a small rifle and fishing-tackle. To me a summer in the woods with such +equipment was no problem at all. I meant to go northwest for, perhaps, +two hundred miles, camp there for the summer, then work my way back by +going southwest. I would then be far from my crime and would be safe. +That is what I meant to do. But once in the silent woods, I began to +think of the wrong I had done. I would have given worlds to be back. But +it was too late. I had to keep going. Fording rivers, creeping through +underbrush, climbing ridges, crossing swampy beaver-meadows, fighting the +awful swarms of mosquitoes, I got through the summer, living on fish, +game and berries. You see, I had become terribly afraid of the Red +Riders--the mounted police. I had heard that sooner or later they always +got a man. I was determined they would not get me. + +"At last, snow-fall warned me to prepare for winter. I was in this valley +that day, and I've been here ever since. If I had ever got any pleasure +from that stolen money, which I haven't, I would have paid for that +pleasure a hundred times that first winter. Fortune favored me in one +thing: the caribou came by in great droves, and, before my ammunition was +exhausted, I had secured plenty of meat. But at that, I came near dying +before I learned that one who lives upon a strictly meat diet must +measure carefully the proportions of lean and fat. Someway, I learned. +And somehow, starving, freezing, half-mad of lonesomeness, I got through +the winter, but I am glad you did not see me when the first wild geese +came north. If ever there was a wild man, dressed in skins and dancing in +the sun, it was I." + +"But the wheat?" asked Barney. "How did that happen?" + +"I am coming to that," smiled his host. "Early that spring," he +continued, passing his hand across his forehead, as if to brush away the +memory of that terrible winter, "the Indians came. They came from the +Dismal Lake region. Driven south by forest fires, they were starving. I +had a little caribou meat and shared it with them; that made them my +everlasting friends." + +"And you got the wheat from them?" interposed Barney. + +"Hardly. I doubt if they had ever seen a grain of wheat. + +"Well, we lived together that summer. But I am getting ahead of my story. +Shortly before they arrived, I noticed some strange-looking caribou in +the clearing. I had no ammunition, so could not shoot them. Anyway, they +were skin-poor and would be of little use to me. But they seemed +strangely tame, coming close to my cabin at night. They were company, and +I was careful not to frighten them away. One night, in the moonlight, I +caught a glistening flash from the ear of the oldest doe. Then, too, I +noticed that one of them had unnaturally short antlers. A closer look +told me that these antlers had been cut off. + +"Then came the wonderful discovery: these were not caribou, but reindeer +escaped from some herd in Alaska. + +"Right then I decided to capture and use them. I would put them in +pound until their rightful owners came for them, which would be +never." He smiled. + +"Well, I tried making a lasso of caribou skin. For a long time I could +not come near enough to reach them with the lasso. But one night, while +they rested, I crept up to them and my lasso caught one by the antlers. +Then there was a battle, and all the while I was thinking that now I +should have milk, butter and cheese, meat and clothing. And then there +was a snap; the skin-rope broke and away went the reindeer--and my hopes. + +"I then hit on the plan of building a corral and driving them into it. +This was a pretty big job for one man, but with trees lining both sides +of a narrow run, where the deer went to drink, I managed to weave willow +branches into the spruce trees and make a stout barrier. Well--one +morning, I found myself with six reindeer in pound--a bull, three does, a +yearling and an old sled-deer. Not long after, the herd was increased by +four fawns. + +"By good luck, just at this time, the Indians came. They were all for +killing the reindeer, but I stopped that. We fed, as I said before, on +my caribou meat, and then came the wild-fowl and the streams opened up +for fishing. + +"It was fortunate that the Indians came. They helped me to build corrals, +big enough to give the reindeer plenty of pasturage and pretty soon they +were fat and sleek." + +"Pardon me," interrupted the Major, "but were some of the reindeer +white?" + +"Two of them were milk-white. And now I have many of them running free in +the forest." + +Barney grinned, and Bruce poked him in the ribs. "My ghost," he +whispered. + +"The wheat," said the host, "was no great mystery, after all. The bank +cashier had put into the money-sack two samples of wheat and one of beans +which he wanted to have tried in this north country. I have tried them; +with what luck, you can see. I don't need to fence my reindeer now, for +in winter when the moss is buried deep under the snow I turn them in on +stacks of wheat hay. Finally when the Indians went back North the +following winter they left me a wife, as you see." He smiled toward his +dusky mate, who was industriously scouring a copper griddle. + +There was silence for some time. Then the Major spoke: + +"The thing that interests me is how you manage to keep up your standards +of neatness and cleanliness." + +"It is not so hard," said Timmie. "I came of a good old Scotch family. +When I was a boy my mother taught me that 'cleanliness is next to +godliness,' and I made up my mind that--well, that I would at least be +clean. That was all there was left for me to be, you know." + +"I think you may call yourself both," said the Major stoutly. "You have +paid well for your mistake by twelve years of exile, and as for the +money, we'll take that back with us." + +Timmie smiled. "I'll be happy for the first time in twelve years when +it's gone," he said. + +"I say, Major," exclaimed Bruce, "I've been thinking of those white +reindeer. Don't you suppose that solves the problem of Peary's white +reindeer?" + +There was a peculiar twinkle in the Major's eye, as he asked: "How do you +make that out?" + +"Well, there had been reindeer in Alaska for twenty-five years when Peary +discovered his on the eastern coast of our continent. There are many +white ones among the domestic herds, and they are constantly wandering +away, or being driven away, by packs of wolves. If they wandered this +far, might they not easily have gone on to the other side of the +continent?" + +"Possibly. Possibly," The twinkle in the Major's eye grew brighter, but +he said no more. Presently he rose and stepped outside. + +"Say!" exclaimed Barney, "I feel like turning right around and +going back." + +Bruce knew that he was thinking of La Vaune's money. "But we can't," he +sighed. "It's not our plane nor our expedition. We're bound by agreement +to go on. Besides, there's no real need of going back. La Vaune's all +right for the winter. I arranged for her at my old college at Brandon; +she will attend the academy and help in the dining-room." + +"Well, then," said Barney, "I guess it's us for union-alls and at +those engines." + +They were soon at their task. But, as Bruce worked that day, he thought +often of the mysterious twinkle he had seen in the Major's gray eyes, as +he spoke of the white reindeer. Who was this Major, anyway? And where +were they going? The Major alone could tell, and apparently he had no +intention of doing so. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +IN THE MIDST OF THE PACK + + +"I think," said the Major, on the third morning after their strange +landing, "that we would make a great mistake to set out again at this +time. We are not likely to have the luck of our last landing a second +time. Then too, if we remain here until the lakes and rivers are frozen +over, we can find a safe landing place every few miles. + +"And now," the Major continued, stirring the fire thoughtfully, "now I +think it would be right that I tell you something of the purpose of +this journey." + +The boys leaned forward, eager for the story. + +"Even now," he said slowly, "I do not feel like confiding to you what I +may consider my great secret plans--plans for which this journey is but a +trial-trip into the frozen North. That may follow in good time. But, as +for this present journey, you are perhaps aware that an illegal wireless +station has been operating somewhere in these woods and hills?" + +"Yes--yes; we saw the offer of reward!" exclaimed Barney. + +"The reward is a small matter," smiled the Major. "Should we be so +fortunate as to capture the culprit, or be able to certify to his death, +I will gladly turn over the reward to you boys." + +"Thanks," said Barney, who already had his share of the prize in +his purse. + +"First I shall tell you the purpose of that wireless and why it is so +important to locate it," the Major went on. "It is one of the links in a +chain around the world--a chain that threatens to bind civilization to a +burning stake of sedition, anarchy and bloodshed. The operator is an +anarchist, or, at least, belongs to an allied organization, and these, +one and all, have for their purpose the destruction of the present order +of things. Now, there is not one of us but believes that there are many +evils possible--yes, and put in operation under the present order, but we +do not believe that matters are going to be bettered by a +world-revolution. We believe that in time justice will come very much +nearer being done under the old system; therefore, we are fighting to +maintain it. That is why I volunteered to attempt to hunt out and if +possible destroy this powerful wireless station, which is relaying +revolutionary messages direct from Russia to all important points in +North America. My long experience in the North seemed to fit me for that +task; and it is a task that I am determined to accomplish. + +"It is my theory that this wireless is located on the shores of Great +Bear Lake. In fact, I believe it is run by an independent trader +operating at the east end of that lake, on Conjurer's Bay. A year ago he +brought in a small electric plant, to light his trading post, he said. +Now this plant is capable of producing an almost unlimited amount of +electrical power, provided only time is given. Batteries of great power +might easily be produced on the spot. Chemicals for producing acids are +found in abundance; so also are copper and zinc for the plate. All he +would have to do then would be to make wooden boxes for the chemicals, +erect his wires--he could string them from spruce poles--and the thing is +done. It was impossible to reach the station by water after I had guessed +its location, and there was of course the possibility that I was wrong, +that it was nearer civilization. In that case I might be able to locate +it, providing I made the trip by plane." + +"That explains why we circled three times during our first day's flight? +You were looking--" + +"For the wireless tower," smiled the Major. + +"And now," he went on, "I think we will just rest easy on our wings for a +few weeks. You will get the engines in shape; take a few trial flights, +if you wish, but be careful to conserve gasoline. We must have enough to +carry us to Great Bear Lake. There we will find a sufficient supply to +carry us on any other journey we may decide on. The trader uses gasoline +to run his electric plant and will have a supply. It will not be of very +high test, but with two engines I think we will make it answer our +purpose. If we find that my theory regarding the location of the tower is +not correct, we will buy a supply from him, and if it _is_ correct--" He +did not finish, but smiled and poked the fire again. + +"Take it all in all," said Barney to Bruce some time later, "I think our +trip promises to be dangerous enough to satisfy even a bloodthirsty young +savage from the Canadian army." + +"Or a young Cherokee from the wilds of Boston Commons," laughed Bruce, +heaving a wrench in the general direction of his companion. + +But, though they went about their work in a playful mood, they did it +with great care. After they had taken the two little Timmies for several +rides, they declared the airship quite ready for further voyaging. "And +as for gasoline," said Bruce, "we still have two hundred and forty +gallons in the tank which will give us a-plenty for the trip, and +several hours to spare; but coming back--that's another matter." + +Barney realized that this was, indeed, another matter, and, though he +shared the Major's hope of securing a supply at the trading station, his +face grew grave at thought of being stranded more than a thousand miles +from civilization at the beginning of winter, and with only a few days' +supply of provisions. What if this trading station was one of those myths +that float down from the North? Or, what if it had been abandoned? + +Barney shook himself free from these thoughts, and seizing his mandolin, +went to join Bruce and Timmie on saxophone and rudely-devised Indian +kettledrums in a wild-woods symphony, while the children danced wild +steps the boys had never seen. + + * * * * * + +"Well, we're off!" Barney said this, as he buckled on his harness and +touched the starting lever. The wheels of the starting gear bumped over +the thin-crusted snow and jolted through Timmie's wheat stubble, then +the great bird began to rise. + +Winter had set in. Now they glided over dark forests of spruce, and now +swept above great stretches of barren lands. The air was biting cold. +They were thankful enough for their face-protectors, their electric hand +and foot warmers, their fur-lined leather union-alls. But best of all was +the glorious freedom of it. Soaring on and on over untrodden +wildernesses, with no thought of dangers known and unknown, made them +feel like explorers of a new world. The engines worked in perfect +harmony. A gentle breeze from the south urged them on their way. The sun +soon set and a long night began, but what of that? The moon and snow +lighted the earth as if by day, and with a silvery glory. And now the +Northern Lights began to flicker, flash and shoot across the sky. + +Now they passed over a wide expanse of white, which they knew to be +Dismal Lake. This was frozen over; then surely Great Bear Lake, two +hundred miles farther north, would be frozen, too. Their safe landing +would be assured. + +But as they neared their goal the boys' minds could scarcely escape +misgivings. If the Major's suppositions were correct; if, indeed, this +trader was the hired agent of a fanatical clan, would he not be armed and +on the alert? Would he not, perhaps, have Indians and half-breeds hired +to help guard his secret? They were but three. The enemy might number a +score. As Barney thought of all this, he was thankful for one thing: by +some strange chance, a small machine-gun and two thousand rounds of +ammunition had been shipped north with the plane. Their first thought had +been to leave this behind, but after a discussion, they had decided to +bring it; and there it was now, hanging in its swivel before him. In an +emergency there remained but to load it and go into action. But it was +quite an unexpected emergency that soon made him bless that bit of +equipment. + +They were now well into the Arctic. The air cut like a knife and chilled +them to the marrow. Barney began to long for warmth, food and sleep. He +held his electric glove to the glass of the small clock before him. When +the frost had thawed he noted the hour. + +"Twelve o'clock! Midnight!" he muttered. "And no landing in sight yet." + +There remained but to "carry on." + +But what was this? Far to the North there showed a small, red ball of +light. And it was not the Aurora Borealis! They were traveling fast. The +ball of fire seemed to roll toward them along the earth at terrific +speed, growing larger and more lurid. And now, beside it, wafting from +it, like the tail to a comet, they could discern a swirling cloud, black +in the moonlight. + +"It's a fire!" Bruce gasped through his mouthpiece. + +"But what?--" began Barney. + +Just at that moment he caught the faint white line that marked the shore +of Great Bear Lake. They were, then, nearing their destination. Tilting +the plane upward, that they might get a better panorama of the region, +and so direct their course, Barney gave the great engine more gas. On +they swept. Presently the outlines of bays and frozen streams, of scrub +forests and barren lands were plainly visible. A map under glass was just +before him. Brushing the frost from it, Barney examined it by the light +of a small electric bulb. Then he looked away at the fire which was now +clearly visible. His heart sank. The trading post was, indeed, a reality, +or had been. At the present moment it was a ball of fire. + +"It's the trading post!" He barked to the Major. + +"'Fraid so," grumbled the Major, hoarsely. + +"And the gasoline for our return--" + +"There it goes," sang Bruce, with a note of despair. + +At that instant the whole ball of fire seemed to rise in air to burst +like some gigantic rocket. There was no question in the boys' minds but +that the supply of gasoline had been reached by the flames. + +After the great flash came blackness. The fire seemed for a time to have +been extinguished. Gradually here and there, far below, bits of burning +tinder gleamed, fiery stars in an inverted heaven. Soon the ruins were +again blazing. They soared close, but high, avoiding the dangerous +pockets of smoke gas. Did they see dark figures dancing about the ruins? +Or was it merely the flickering shadows of posts and tree stumps. + +"Indians!" murmured Barney. + +Instantly his mind mirrored to him pictures he had seen in histories of +painted savages burning a settler's cabin. His blood ran cold. Here they +were, three men in the frozen wilderness, with little gasoline for their +machine, with scant provisions and ammunition, and rushing toward perils +they could not even guess. To kill and to escape would both be easy for +these desperadoes. + +"Go along down the lake and back again. Use as little gas as possible, +but keep in the air. We better not land at present." The very steadiness +of the Major's tone told Barney that this experienced man of the North +expected the worst. + +As they rushed down the white expanse, many thoughts raced through +Barney's mind. It seemed that hunger and cold grew upon him with every +whirl of the engine-shaft. He thought of Bruce and La Vaune. Would they +ever return to La Vaune with the money which was rightfully hers? And +Timmie? Would they ever be able to help him blot the stain from his name? +Barney's friend, Dave Tower, who had gone North in a submarine on a +mission as mysterious as their own; would they ever meet? + +They had now turned and were making their way slowly back. The fire had +burned down to a dull red glow. The forest about had escaped the flames, +and this was fortunate. Should the Indians leave them unmolested, they +might possibly find a means of sustaining life by hunting and trapping. + +"When we get to the bay, might as well land," grumbled the Major. "It's +mighty tough up here!" + +Barney assured him that it certainly was tough. He was glad they were to +land, being very sure that if an Indian did shoot him he would not feel +it, so thoroughly benumbed was he with cold. + +Then, suddenly, he gave a cry of surprise. They were nearing a point +where Conjurer's Bay should appear. Instead of the bay he saw what +appeared to be merely a broad shoulder of frozen water, and beyond that, +perhaps two miles, was a small lake lined by the forest. It was on the +edge of this small lake that the fire smouldered. The boy rubbed his +eyes, then looked again. Had the cold benumbed his senses? Was he seeing +things? Was he asleep and dreaming? + +Apparently not, for from Bruce through the receiver came a groan, then; + +"What's happened? The whole shape of the lake has changed within an +hour!" + +Barney shut off the engines. In the welcome silence which followed, as +they drifted downward in a slow spiral, not a man spoke. Their eyes were +focused upon the earth. + +But now there came to their ears a sound like the distant rush of many +waters. This grew rapidly louder, and finally divided itself into +rattling and snapping sounds. + +Presently the Major let out a roar of laughter. + +"Caribou!" he exploded. "They pass south from the barren lands in herds +of hundreds of thousands, so thick they look like land! Tip her nose up +for another circle. See! There is the end of the herd away there in the +distance. We'll be able to land where they have passed in fifteen +minutes, an ideal landing-place--tramped hard." + +With a grin Barney obeyed orders, and, as his engines began to revolve, +felt himself shooting skyward. + +"Now it's clear," roared the Major. + +Barney did not respond on the instant. He was thinking of something he +had read about the "camp-followers of the barren-ground caribou." A chill +not of the wind and cold crept into his heart. But what was to be done? +He felt that another hour aloft would so benumb his senses that a crash +would be inevitable. To land at a point other than that trampled by the +caribou involved great risk, for there was undoubtedly a thick coating of +drifted snow on the lake's surface. So he stopped the engines and they +spiraled once more toward the earth. + +Now they were nearing the surface of the lake. The distance was a +thousand feet; now eight hundred. Did he see shadows flitting across the +ice? At five hundred feet he was sure that he did. He said nothing. So +intent on landing was he that no risk seemed too great. At three hundred +feet he saw them distinctly--gray streaks scooting across the trodden +snow or resting on haunches, their shadows stretching before them. + +"Great Scott!" he muttered, "must be hundreds of them! Oh well, they're +cowards!" He tilted the machine for the final glide. There came a sudden +exclamation from the Major, then from Bruce. They, too, had seen. It was +too late now, for their landing wheels were almost touching the surface +as they glided on. And now, strangely enough, some of the gray streaks +began to chase the plane. As if imagining it a bird with flesh to eat and +bones to gnaw, they came on. Then, all at once, Barney realized what they +followed--the scent of fresh meat. Timmie had killed a reindeer in honor +of their departure and had presented them with a hind-quarter. This was +now roped on the fuselage behind the Major. They would have a fight. He +knew that now. He thought of their weapons--two rifles. They were almost +useless against five hundred gaunt, hungry wolves. And they were gaunt; +he could see that as he flew by them. Evidently camp-following this year +had not given them an over-abundant supply of food. The season's calves +were fleet and strong by now, and every herd had its thousands of +antlered bulls that formed bristling hedges to defend their own. + +Bump! The plane struck the ice and bounded, then struck again. Barney's +mind was now working fast. Yes, there were other weapons--the +oxy-acetylene torch--yes, the machine-gun. He shouted to Bruce to get +the torch, and, as soon as the plane slowed down, freed his hands from +his gloves and began fumbling at the gun before him. The Major was +unstrapping the two rifles. The wolf-pack was crowding around in a +grinning circle. Barney caught his breath as his eyes swept the circle. +Five hundred if one, dripping-jawed, red-eyed, gray creatures-of-prey, +they waited, as ever, for the coward's chance to fight with great odds in +their favor. + +"Don't shoot until forced to," said Bruce, turning to the Major. "If you +do you may bring the whole pack down upon us." + +In this emergency, Bruce took the lead, and, assuredly, that was the +wise plan; for, reared as he had been in the forests and plains of the +Northland, he knew wolves. Just now he was dragging from their +hiding-place in the fuselage two iron tubes, perhaps eighteen inches +long and six in diameter. One tube contained oxygen, the other acetylene +gas. The tubes were connected by a set of registering valves. To these, +in turn, was fastened a wire-wound rubber hose with a long brass +nozzle. Once the valves were turned, the acetylene gas forced out by a +pressure of a thousand pounds and united with oxygen as an accelerator +would produce a shooting flame that burned metals as if they were +sun-dried pulp. + +The machine stopped and the pack crowded in. With an electric flash lamp +in one hand and the rubber hose in the other, Bruce stood watching. With +aching, clumsy fingers and bleared eyes, Barney worked on the +machine-gun that, with oil fairly frozen in its parts, seemed about to +refuse to respond. + +"Hurry!" exclaimed Bruce, as a gaunt form with patches of brown, and +double nose, telling of mixed blood, sprang forward, eager to drag the +fresh meat from the fuselage. + +Instead of firing, the Major beat the beast over the head, and with a +snarl he resumed his place in the ever-narrowing circle. + +And now the time for concerted action on the part of the pack seemed to +have come; for, with one savage snarl, the first row rushed straight on. +There came a flash, then the hiss of a white-tongued fiery serpent. As +the first wolf reared on his haunches, the smell of burning hair and +roasting flesh halted the half-maddened pack, and, falling over one +another, again they retreated. + +It was a tense moment. Slapping his hands to warm them, Barney adjusted +cartridges and swept the circle with an imaginary volley. What if the +machine-gun jammed? There could be but one result. The torch would not +long hold the beasts off. Besides, the gas would not last. + +"Well, shoot if you can!" exclaimed Bruce. "This gas is precious stuff. +We can't waste it." + +At that, there came the staccato music of the machine-gun. With steady +eye Barney swept the inner circle. They went down like grain before a +gale. With strange wild snarls they bit at their wounds, at one another, +at the snow. The gun swept again with its merciless fire. The furthermost +members of the pack began to slink away. Then as Barney raised his gun +and sent a rain of bullets pattering about them, the whole snarling pack +fled in yelping confusion. + +The battle was won. Bruce cut off the gas. Barney ceased his fire. The +Major, loosing his harness, stood up and stretched himself. Then they +looked at one another and laughed. + +"Some fight!" exclaimed Barney. + +"Some fight!" agreed Bruce. + +"Some fight!" reechoed the Major. "And the next thing is to put the +injured out of their misery. After that we must skin 'em and make a cache +for the meat." + +"Meat?" the boys questioned. + +"Sure," smiled the Major. "Wolf meat isn't bad at all. You perhaps forget +that we have not a hundred miles of gas in the tank. We may be here quite +some time!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A MODERN BATTLE WITH CRIMINALS + + +When Dave Tower, Barney Menter's one-time pal, received the letter +suggesting a bit of "jazz" somewhere within the Arctic Circle, he was on +twelve-hour shore leave. They were to start on that mysterious subsea +journey at high-tide next day. He grinned as he showed the note to Ensign +Blake, his commander. Then he went around the corner and purchased a +second-hand guitar and an oboe. + +"Look!" he exclaimed, pointing to a pair of battered kettledrums in the +corner. "There's the original pair--made by the Adam and Eve of the South +Sea Islands, or wherever kettledrums originated. I'll buy 'em and teach +some gob to drum. We'll have a whole band when we arrive." + +A few hours later found them aboard the snug, shapely hull of U boat N. +12 of the U.S.A. submarine fleet. The sub was a small one, patterned +after the most recent British model, known as the "K" class. Fleet as a +flying-fish, she made twenty-two knots on the surface and ten knots when +submerged. She presented a rather odd appearance, having a short, square +funnel, which was swung over into a recess in the deck when the craft +submerged. + +Her gun and torpedoes had been removed. The weight of those had been +replaced by an additional supply of oil and by quantities of provisions. +The provisions, together with bales of skin clothing, were packed into +every available space. + +She made splendid progress as she left the harbor and wound her way in +and out among the islands of Puget Sound, to emerge finally round Cape +Flattery and strike away into the open sea. + +It became evident at once that this was no coastwise journey. Further +than that, not even Ensign Blake knew its purpose. + +The sub was registered at the Navy-yard as "off on detached duty." The +crew of ten men were all volunteers for the trip. The expedition was +under the direction of a doctor. A man past middle age, he sat in a +wicker chair below, smoking innumerable cigars and saying nothing. + +"Far's I can dope it out," Blake said to Dave, "the old fellow did some +good service for the Government during the war. He's had plenty of +experience in the North; has some theories he wants to work out about +subs and the Arctic. The Government has some little trick they want +pulled off up in that North country. The Doctor volunteers to lead the +expedition, and here we are!" + +"But what do you suppose--" + +"Don't suppose a thing," said Blake, gazing astern at the last fading bit +of land. "There's a lot of things that might be; but like as not none of +my guesses is correct." + +"Let's hear you guess." + +"Well, first, you know, Uncle Sam has some valuable seal islands in the +Aleutian group. Maybe, during the war the Japs or Russians have got +careless about drifting around that way and carrying off a few hundred +skins. Might be, you know. + +"But I'm not saying that's it. A sub would be a mighty fine craft for +watching that sort of game, though. And then, there's another thing I've +thought of. There's gold in Russia, on the Kamchatkan peninsula; you know +that, don't you?" + +"No." Dave opened his eyes wide in surprise. + +"Heaps of it. Tons and tons! Just waiting for the digging. And before we +went into the war, when Russia was still with the Allies and needed +money, our Government, or independent capitalists, I don't know which, +furnished the Russians a lot of machinery for mining the gold; about a +million dollars' worth, I guess. Then came the revolution in Russia. I +doubt if a cent has been realized from the sale of machinery. Who's in +possession of that peninsula at the present time? God alone knows. Japan +would like to meddle there, I'm sure. Perhaps we're being sent up there +to conduct an investigation. + +"Those are my two guesses. Take 'em for what they're worth." + +"You don't think," said Dave, "that we'd attempt the Pole?" + +The ensign was silent for a time. "No," he said at last, "I don't. Of +course, Stefansson has said that a 'sub' is the most practical way to go +there; that ice-floes are never more than ten feet thick and twenty-five +miles wide, and all that; but there are too many unsettled problems +relating to such a trip." + +"But say!" exclaimed Dave, "who is this doctor of ours, anyway?" + +"Blamed if I know," said Blake, as he turned away to go below. + +"Well, anyhow," Dave remarked, "whoever he is, he's going to take us +where the white ice-floes are drifting. Look at the color of this craft; +blue-white, like the ice itself." + +The journey North, save for a storm, which they avoided by submerging, +was uneventful until they found themselves in the company of scattered +ice-cakes with the snow-capped ridges of the Aleutian Islands looming up +before them. + +In no time at all every man on the craft realized that on these islands +was to be found one of the objects of their quest; for, once they had +sighted the shores, the funnel was dropped, electric power applied, and +watchers, dressed in white to match the color of the craft, set to scan +the shores for signs of life. They stole through the water like some +ghost craft. + +"Believe it's that seal-fishery business?" asked Dave, as he and the +ensign took their watch. + +"No." + +Dave was certain from the tone that the doctor had confided his secret to +the ensign. He asked no more questions. + +So they drifted on. The wind had dropped. The swell rolled their craft as +it plowed along. Here and there a sea-lion thrust its ugly head from the +water. Twice a seal attempted to climb upon the slippery hull for a +rest, but, to the amusement of the boys, slid back into the water. An +offer to assist the third one was not appreciated, and the ridiculously +human-like head disappeared beneath the water with great alacrity. + +Dave had been searching the hills with his binoculars for some time when +he suddenly gave the glass to the ensign. + +"What's that tangle above the cliffs there?" he asked. + +The ensign studied the cliffs for some time. Then he touched a button +with his foot and they turned silently shoreward. + +"That's it!" He said with an air of finality. + +"What?" asked Dave eagerly. + +"The wireless." Then the ensign explained to Dave the purpose of their +journey. They had been sent into the Arctic to locate a wireless station, +supposed to be placed in the Aleutian Islands; a station run by radical +propagandists, part of a world-federation, which proposed to wreck all +organized society. Had Dave realized that the missions of sub and +airplane were alike he would have been startled. As it was, his face +took on a tense, expectant look, his cheeks burned hot with excitement. + +The Doctor was called to the conning-tower. After studying the contour of +the island for some time, he said: + +"Their shack, built of rocks and driftwood logs, is at the base of the +cliff. That is good. We will divide into two parties. Four of us will go +up the cliff and get above them, while four others will skirt the cliff +and, under cover, await my signal. Our supporting party will take ropes, +rifles and a machine-gun. I will go with the party to the top of the +cliff. We will carry only rifles and some special instruments of attack +which I have stored in canvas sacks below. Two men must remain on board. +Head in close to those rocks before us. They are out of sight of the +shack and there is ice stranded there--a straggler will scarcely tell our +craft from it. I have no doubt there are a number of them and that they +are hardy ruffians. We must proceed with great care. + +"Hark!" He put his hand to his ear. "They are sending messages now. + +"In the future," continued the Doctor, as he handed Dave two +strange-looking spheres, the size of a man's head, "the work of sheriffs, +policemen and other officers of the law is not going to be quite so +hazardous. When a criminal runs amuck, he will not kill a half-score of +brave men before he is captured. The officers of the law will do what we +will soon be doing, and a child can do the rest. Only," he continued, +"watch your step going up that hill. It doesn't take much of a bump to +get one of these funny little balls excited." + +Dave had been detailed to assist the Doctor. Ensign Blake would lead the +supporting party around the cliff, there to await the Doctor's signals. + +Besides the sack in which Dave carried the large spheres, there was +another carried by a seaman. This one gave forth a metallic clinking, +as if it were full of iron eggs. With the Doctor and the other seaman +carrying two rifles each, the four men made their way slowly around +the rocky hillside and were soon advancing silently, single-file, up +the surface of one of those perpetual snow-banks for which the islands +are noted. + +The rocks above were much larger than they had seemed from the sub. +Twice, as he climbed over them, Dave's foot slipped and each time his +heart was in his mouth. One stumbling misstep and all might be over for +him. But he had the clear, cool head of a clean boy who had lived right, +and an appreciation of the joy of living, which would take him far and +keep him safe through many an adventure. So, safely, they reached the top +of the cliff. + +The Doctor motioned Dave to come back with him to a box-like edge of +rock, which would give them a view of what lay some three hundred feet +below. All was still. The moon, a great yellow ball, floated in the sky +above and in the sea beneath. A lone sea-gull, awakened by the supporting +party, sailed screaming away. Not a move, not a sound was to be detected +below. Yet there, in a rocky cavern, were a number of world-criminals, +and behind some crag were three jackies and their commander. Soon all +this would be changed. Fighting, perhaps death, would end the quiet of +that Arctic scene. Dave's hand trembled with excitement as he arranged +the two sacks beside the Doctor. Even the Doctor's hand shook as he +opened one sack and drew forth a number of small iron objects, the size +and shape of a bicycle handle-bar grip. His face grew stern. + +"Understand Mill's grenades?" he asked. + +"Yes." + +"All right. When I say 'Go' drop ten of these as fast as you can release +the pins. Drop 'em on their shack." + +Dave's heart thumped violently. He had thrown Mill's grenades at manikin +"enemies," but never had he hurled them where human flesh was the target. +Slowly, mechanically, he arranged the ten grenades in a row. + +"Go!" The word sang in his ears. + +Ten seconds later from below came two sharp reports--his grenade and the +Doctor's. They were off together. Crash followed crash in quick +succession until the row was finished. Silence followed for a single +second. Then came the cries and curses of men, as they staggered from +their half-demolished shelter and began to scatter. Dave's heart thumped. +There were fifteen, at least. + +"Now!" exclaimed the Doctor, and lifting one of the large spheres he +dropped it over the ledge's edge. Just as that instance Dave saw one +of the rascals raise his rifle and fire. Immediately there came a cry +of distress. Dave thought he recognized the voice and a lump rose in +his throat. + +But now there came a dull muffled explosion--the strange bomb. Instantly +the men below began acting like madmen. Throwing away their rifles, they +staggered about, tearing at their eyes, their throats, their clothing, +and uttering wild cries of distress. At the same time three automatic +pistols cracked, and Dave knew the doctor had given his signal. + +To his surprise, he saw the three jackies emerge from hiding wearing gas +masks. Quickly they overpowered the wild men, tied them and carried them +around a point of land. As they did this the Doctor and his band kept +guard above, rifles ready for any man who might, by some chance, recover +sufficiently from the gas to shoot. But none did. + +"It won't do them the least bit of harm," the Doctor said, as he noticed +the look of surprise on Dave's face. "It's only chlorpicrin--a tear gas. +It comes in liquid form, so must be associated with an explosive which +transforms it into a gas and scatters it. You will see that our men are +carrying them out of it as soon as they have them secured. It's a safe +and harmless way of handling criminals. The war taught us that." + +"But the ensign?" exclaimed Dave, as he saw the last ruffian in the hands +of the jackies. + +"Something must have happened to him," said the Doctor rising hastily. + +"There was a shot," Dave reminded him. + +Together they hastily made their way down the rough hillside. Slipping, +sliding, falling, to rise again, they came to the lower surface and +hurried around the point where the prisoners had been carried. + +A strange scene awaited them. Sixteen men lying in a row, all tightly +bound. And what a motley crew they were--Japs, Russians, Mexicans, +Greeks, and even Americans, they had gathered here for a common purpose. +But it is doubtful if one of them could have told what the next step +would be, should their first task be accomplished. + +Off to one side, lay Ensign Blake, white and still. One of the seamen was +bending over him. + +"Got an ugly one in the chest," he said simply. "Think we can save him?" + +The Doctor bent over, and tearing away Blake's garments, made a thorough +examination. + +"He'll pull through," he said. "But we must get him to the mission +hospital at Unalaska at once. Begin throwing those rascals aboard. +There's a prison there for their accommodation." + +At that moment the two other jackies appeared, carrying a moaning burden +in the shape of a Jap radical. + +"One's done in for good," the foremost man explained. "We searched the +ruins. Maybe we can save this fellow." + +"Take him aboard," said the Doctor. Then, turning, he directed the men +who carried their fallen commander to the craft. + + * * * * * + +"Well, that about ends our present career in the Arctic." The Doctor was +speaking to Dave, and emphasized his word with a sigh. "I had hoped we +might do something really big, but Blake will not be out again this +season. He'll get around again all right, but it's a slow process." + +Dave sat thinking. Suddenly he jumped to his feet. + +"Doctor," he said eagerly, "there's a gob on board who is sure a wonder +at navigation. Don't you think--think, he and I might manage the sub for +you--your trip?" + +"H--m." The Doctor grew thoughtful, but a flash of hope gleamed +in his eye. + +"Tell you what," he said presently, "there's a considerable ice-floe +between the islands; the north wind brought it down last night. Have your +crew ready for a try-out in the morning." + +With a heart that ached from pure joy of anticipation, Dave hurried to an +ancient sealer's bunk-house where his men were housed. "A try-out, +try-out, try-out," kept ringing in his ears. What did it mean if they +were successful? Something big, wonderful, he was sure. Russian gold? +Charting Northeast Passage? North Pole? He did not know, but nothing +seemed too difficult for his daring young heart. + +And the next day the try-out came. And such an ordeal as it was! Gobs had +surely never been put to a test like that in any navy-yard training +station! For five long hours they dived and rose and dived again. They +rose suddenly, rose slowly; they tipped, glided, shot through the water. +They passed for miles beneath the ice-floe, to emerge at last and bump a +cake, or lift themselves toward a dark spot not larger than the sub +itself--a patch of open water in the midst of the floe. + +With mind all in a whirl, Dave gave the final command to make for port. +It had been a great day. + +That night, after "chow," the Doctor called Dave into his room at +the hospital. + +"Young man," he said, motioning the boy to a seat, "you and your crew +have surprised me beyond belief. I feel that we shall be risking little +in attempting what, to many, might seem the most difficult task ever +undertaken by a submarine. I do not yet feel free to tell you what that +trip will be; you'll have to take that on faith. I can only tell you +that we will proceed from here directly to Nome, Alaska. There we will +get more oil and provisions. We will then sail through Behring Strait +due North." + +For a time the two sat in silence. The Doctor's face grew mellow, then +sad at recollections of years that had gone. + +"I don't mind telling you," he said after awhile, "that I am an +explorer, you almost might say 'by profession;' that some years ago +another explorer and I sought the same goal. We went from different +points; both claimed to have reached it. But he got the honors." + +"And you really reached--" + +"Doesn't matter now what I did in the past," interrupted the Doctor +quickly. "What I am to do in the future is all that counts, and the +immediate future is big with possibilities." + +"The crew will be with you to a man," Dave assured him, as he rose to go. + +As he stepped into the cool night air, Dave found that his face was hot +with excitement. There was left in his mind not one doubt as to their +final destination: it was to be a try for the Pole. Only one thought +saddened him; that his good friend, Blake, would not continue as one of +the party. + +Two days later they crossed over to the island of the illicit wireless +station. They found the apparatus in perfect condition, and the Doctor at +once began sending messages. + +"I'm letting the world know of our purpose," he explained. "At least, +trying to. Sending messages by code to a friend of mine in Chicago. Hope +Seattle will pick it up, and if not, perhaps that radical operator who is +supposed to be relaying messages to Canada and the States from the +north-central portion of the Continent will catch it, and, thinking it +one of his own messages in a new code, pass it on." + +Had the doctor known what kind of radicals were in control of the station +on Great Bear Lake at that moment, perhaps he would have been more +careful what messages he sent. + +"If you don't mind," said Dave, "for the sake of my friends, and +especially of my mother, I wish you'd include my name in the message." + +"It's already done," smiled the Doctor. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AN INFERNAL MACHINE + + +When Bruce, Barney and the Major found themselves stranded on the shore +of a vast frozen lake at the beginning of an Arctic winter, they at once +took steps to conserve all resources. Building a cache between three +scrub spruce trees, they piled upon it their wolf meat and skins. To +Barney the thought of eating "dog meat," as he called it, was most +repulsive, but necessity gives man little choice in the Arctic, so he +munched his roast wolf's back that night in silence. But at the same +time, he vowed that, sure as the caribou had not all passed, he would +dine on caribou roast before long. + +Once the cache was completed, they began scouting the woods near the +ruins of the burned trading station. There they found plain signs of +Indians. A circle of beaten tracks made certain a pow-wow had been +held there. + +"Doesn't look very good to me," admitted the Major. "These Indians of the +Little Sticks are a fierce and cruel people, full of superstitions, and +living up to the old law of 'blood revenge.' There's only one thing in +our favor: they have a superstition about a giant creature, known as the +Thunder-bird. The stories of this terrible bird are known to almost all +Indian tribes, but the Little Sticks believe them literally. From the +tracks I should judge that they left in great haste. What could cause +this fright, save the sound and sight of our plane hovering over them? +Since it is almost certain that they have never seen an airplane, it +seems likely that they considered it to be old Thunder-bird come to carry +them off. If that is true, I shall not look for them back in a hurry." + +"What puzzles me is, where's the remains of the fellow's generator +and wireless?" said Barney. "Don't see anything down there in the +ruins, do you?" + +Instantly all eyes were turned toward the smouldering piles of ashes. + +"The place was wired all right," said the Major, pointing to a mass of +tangled lighting wire. + +"Say! What's that out in the center?" exclaimed Barney. "Looks like the +bones of a man?" + +"So it does," said the Major, "and surely is. Well, there can't be +any further doubt about the rascal being burned in the ruins of his +own house." + +Then there came a shout from Barney. He had been tracing out the masses +of blackened wire. + +"Look!" he exclaimed. "Here's where the lead-wires go into the ground. +Must be a separate power-house. Three lead-wires instead of two. What do +you suppose that means?" + +He clipped the soft wires off with his heavy knife, and bent them apart +to avoid short circuits; then, closely followed by the others, went +plowing away through the snow to search out the point where the wires +left the ground. They traced them through the scrub timber, and, almost +at once, came upon a strange frame-like structure, ending in a tall pole, +and having at its center a house built of logs. The whole affair was +quite invisible outside the timber. + +"It's his wireless station," breathed the Major. "No further doubt +remains." + +He stepped to the door and found himself gazing into a well-arranged +room--electric generator, storage batteries in rows and instruments of +every description along the walls and the floor. + +But what caught Bruce's eye was two rows of ten-gallon cans piled in the +rear. With a cry of joy he sprang toward them. But his joyful look +changed to an anxious one, as he lifted can after can and found it empty. +Only one contained gasoline, and that was but half-full. + +"Not enough to give our Thunder-bird a drink," he groaned disgustedly. + +"Well, at any rate," said the Major, "we've found a place that won't +make a bad shelter from Arctic blizzards. I suggest that we bring the +plane up to the edge of the woods nearest this point and camp here." + +"What's that?" exclaimed Bruce in a startled whisper, as he detected some +noise outside. + +He pushed the door open fearlessly, then laughed. There stood a dog. + +"Not a bad find," said the Major. "He may be a lot of help to us. And, +look! There are four others! They're the trader's dogs. Ran away when the +place burned, I haven't a doubt. Barney, run and get some wolf meat. +We'll have a team at once. And we'll need it. Can't move the plane +without it." + +They were soon on good terms with the strange dogs. The Major, who +appeared to know all there was to know about Arctic life, fashioned some +Eskimo style harness from wolfskin, and before many hours they had their +plane by the edge of the woods, and were settled in their new home. + +That night, after they had enjoyed reindeer steak as a special treat, +the Major rather playfully put the receiving piece of the wireless over +his head and clicked the machine. Almost instantly, he exclaimed: + +"Jove! I'm getting something! Give me a note-book and pencil." + +For fifteen minutes he scratched strange dots and dashes across +innumerable pages. At last he paused and removed the receiver. + +"Guess that's about all for this time. Let's see what we've got." + +Three heads bent over the message. But, after hours of study, the only +conclusion they could come to was that the message had been sent in a +secret code, which they might never be able to decipher. + +"Well," said the Major, with a sigh. "Station's closed for to-night. +Tell the gentleman to call again in the morning." At that he crept +into his sleeping-bag and was soon snoring. The two boys gladly +followed his example. + +Barney made the first announcement in the morning. He was going caribou +hunting. He had had quite enough "dog meat." Bruce offered to go with +him, but, on second thought, decided to try fishing through the ice. +Barney was soon lost in the wilderness of scrub spruce. But, though he +hunted far, he found no fresh caribou tracks. It was on his return trip +that he received the first surprise of the day. The wind was blowing fine +snow along the surface and he found his out-going trail half-buried. +Then, suddenly, he came upon strange footprints. The person apparently +had been going North, but upon seeing the white boy's track he had turned +and retreated. The tracks were fresh and had been made by a heelless +skin-shoe. + +"Indian!" Barney gasped. + +Even as he spoke he caught the gleam of a camp-fire through the trees; +then another and another. Without a moment's delay Barney started for the +camp two miles away. + +He had reached the open space where the trading station had stood, had +nearly crossed it, when out of the edge of the ruins there rose the form +of a man, not an Indian but a white man. Barney's first thought was that +it was Bruce or the Major. His second look brought action. He dropped +flat behind some fire-blackened debris. The man wore a tomato-colored +mackinaw, such as was not to be found in their outfit. Whoever he was, +his back was turned and he had not seen the boy. + +Creeping a little forward, Barney peered around the pile. What he saw +set the cold chills chasing up his back. The man had torn two of the +lead-wires from the frosted earth. Slowly he placed their points +together. In that instant the boy understood. He knew now the reason +for the three wires leading to the power-house. Two were for carrying +light to the building. If the third one was connected with the right +one of the lighting-wires, an infernal-machine would be set going, +and the power-house, with all in it, would be blown to atoms. And, at +this moment, Bruce and the Major were there. The man, whoever he was, +had, since the wires were broken, found it necessary to test the +pairs out. His first trial had been wrong. He was bending over for a +second try when something struck him, bowling him over like a +ten-pin. It was Barney. + +The man was heavier than Barney, and evidently older. He was fit, too. +One thing Barney had noticed--the gleam of an automatic in the man's +hip-pocket. In his sudden attack he had managed to drag this out and drop +it upon the snow. + +The struggle which followed was furious. Holds were lost and won. Blood +flecked the snow, arms were wrenched and faces bruised. Slowly, steadily, +Barney felt his strength leaving him. + +At last, with a gliding grip, the man's hand reached his throat. It was +all over now. Barney's senses reeled as the grip tightened. His lungs +burned, his head seemed bursting. He was about to lose consciousness, +when through his mind there flashed pictures of Bruce and the Major. He +must! He must! With one last heroic effort, he threw the man half from +him. Then, faintly, far distant, there seemed to echo a shot, a single +shot; then all sensation left him. + +When the boy felt himself coming back to consciousness, he hardly knew +whether he was still in the land of the living. He dared not move or open +his eyes. Where was he? What of the stranger? The Major and Bruce; had +they been blown into eternity? Again and again these problems whirled +through his dizzy mind. + +Then all at once, he heard a voice. + +"I think he's coming 'round," someone, very far off, was saying. + +It was the gruff voice of the Major. Barney opened his eyes to find his +companions bending over him. + +"What happened?" he asked weakly, his eyes searching their faces. + +"That's what we'd like to know," answered Bruce; "we heard a shot, and +hurrying out here found you unconscious beside a dead man." + +"Dead?" Barney sat up dizzily. + +"Sure is. Did you shoot him?" + +"Shoot--I shoot--" The boy tried to steady his whirling brain. "No, I +didn't shoot him." + +Gradually the world ceased whirling about him and he was able to think +clearly. Then, together, they pieced out the story. Barney told what had +happened, and you may be very sure it was a sober pair that listened. + +"Well, my boy," said the Major solemnly, "we owe our lives to you; +there's no doubt about that. As for him," he added, pointing to the dead +man, "he must have rolled upon the automatic when you made your last +effort, and accidentally discharged it. He has a bullet-hole in the back +of his head where a pin-prick would have killed him. A case of pure +Providence, I'd call it." + +"Let's get out of here," said Barney, showing signs of weakness. "I've +had quite enough of it." + +With an arm on either of his comrades' shoulders, he made his way back to +the station, where a bowl of hot reindeer broth completely revived him. + +"The next thing," said Bruce, "is to hunt out that infernal contraption +which threatens our lives." + +It was a delicate and dangerous undertaking, but little by little, they +traced out the wires and disconnected them. At last they found it in a +small box which had been skillfully fitted into a beam. + +"Innocent looking little thing," said Bruce, holding it up for +inspection. "To-morrow I am going to take it out to the lake, hook it up +with a couple of batteries and see if it's got any kick." + +After a hearty meal, the three resumed their previous evening's +occupation, attempting to decipher the strangely coded message. + +"Here's a theory to try out," said Bruce. "A message is usually composed +of nearly an equal number of words of one to three letters and of those +having more than three. These are likely to be used alternately. If then, +you find two or three words of four or more letters, it's likely to be a +name. The man, whoever he is, has signed only a code name, but there may +be more names in the body of the message. Look it over." + +"Yes, here are two words together of five letters each," exclaimed +Barney. + +"Think of names you know that are spelled with five letters," said Bruce +excitedly. + +Instantly there came into Barney's mind the name of his former pal. + +"There's Dave Tower," he said. "He'd sign it David, of course." + +"Just fits," exclaimed Bruce, more excited than ever. "And by all that's +Canadian, the first and last letters of the first name are the same, just +as they are here. I believe we're on the right track." + +"But what would his pal have to do with it?" asked the astonished Major. + +"He went North about the time we started." Barney danced over the floor +in his excitement. + +While the boys were too excited to do further deciphering, the Major's +cooler brain was busy. Soon he rose and began pacing rapidly back and +forth across the room. His face wore anything but a pleased expression, +and his limp was greatly increased by his irritation. + +"Did you get it?" asked Barney. + +"I should say I did!" exclaimed the Major. "Right in the neck! And to +think," he sputtered, "here we are without gasoline to carry us a hundred +miles, and he starting with everything in his favor. If we just had gas +for three hundred miles. There's plenty on the schooner, Gussie Brown. I +called Nome yesterday and found that out. But they can't bring it to us, +and we can't go to them. We're stuck; stuck right here! And he's starting +to-morrow!" + +The boys stared in speechless amazement, as the Major, dropping into a +chair, covered his face with his hands. + +It was many minutes before he was calm enough to tell them the simple +truth of the matter, which was, of course, that the wireless message was +that one sent by the Doctor on the Aleutian Islands, telling of his +intended journey Northward; also that this same doctor was a hated rival +explorer, whom he had beaten a few years before; that he had not intended +going North at this time, but this action of his rival made it imperative +that he do so now. Finally, that the trading gasoline schooner, Gussie +Brown, was frozen in the ice three hundred miles north of Conjurer's Bay +and Great Bear Lake, and had an ample supply of gasoline. + +"But after all, I guess we're beaten," said the Major wearily. "If we +succeed in getting out of this scrape alive we'll be fortunate." + +"Cheer up! The worst is yet to come," smiled Barney. "Let's turn in." + +Two interesting problems awaited the party in the morning. Was the man +who had been accidentally shot the night before the anarchist trader? If +so, who was the person whose bones lay in the ruins? Was the +infernal-machine a genuine affair, and if so, would it explode? While the +Major was still brooding over his disappointment, the boys were so eager +for these investigations that they quite forgot the affair of the +wireless message. + +The identity of the dead man was soon established by papers found in +his pockets. He was the trader. The skull found in the ruins was +unmistakably that of an Indian. A break in this skull showed that the +person had died a violent death and had not been caught by the fire. The +conclusion the boys arrived at was that the trader had killed the Indian +and had fled to the woods. The Indians in revenge had burned his trading +station. That he had intended to destroy the explorers was beyond +question. He had, therefore, met a well-deserved fate. His body was +buried, Eskimo-style, on top of the ground, with stones piled over it to +protect it from wolves. + +When this work had been completed, the two boys took the infernal-machine +down to the frozen surface of the lake where there could be no danger +from an explosion, and connected it with wires which they laid along the +surface from the steep, snow-buried shore. + +"Must be twenty feet of snow in there!" exclaimed Bruce, as for the third +time he lost his footing and slid to the bottom of the slope. + +Presently they were well behind the ridge in the forest, and out of range +of any flying splinters of machine or ice. + +"I feel as I used to when I was a schoolboy, and hid with the rest of the +gang out in the woods and shot off charges of gunpowder in a gas-pipe +bomb," grinned Barney, as he screwed one wire to a post of a battery. + +"Now we'll--" he exclaimed breathlessly. + +His last word was lost in the roar of a tremendous explosion. The shores +of the bay took up the sound and sent it echoing and reechoing through +the forest. Fine bits of ice came rattling down through the trees, while +a great cloud of smoke and mist floated lazily over their heads. + +"Whew! Some explosion!" murmured Barney. + +Bruce was silent. His face was white. + +"What's up?" asked Barney. + +"Nothing. I'm all right," Bruce smiled grimly. "I was only thinking what +might have happened yesterday." + +"Forget it," grumbled Barney. "C'mon, let's see the ruins." + +"Fish!" exclaimed Bruce, as they emerged from the forest. And assuredly +there were fish in abundance. The thirty-foot wide pool, from which the +ice had been blown, was white with them. There were salmon, salmon-trout, +white-fish, lake-trout, flounders, and others the boys did not know. +Hundreds and hundreds of them, stunned by the explosion, floated on the +surface only waiting to be harvested. + +"We'll have to work carefully," said Barney, starting forward. "The ice +is pretty well shattered. A plunge in that water, and the temperature at +thirty below, wouldn't be pleasant, but I believe we can save every one +of them. Get a pole." He began cutting a large branch from a spruce tree. +Bruce followed his example. + +"Now!" Barney exclaimed, preparing to slide down the bank. But he +paused in surprise. The snow-bank, shattered by the blast, had gone +tumbling down to the surface of the lake. And what was that protruding +above what remained of the snow? It was dark and V-shaped, like the +gable of a roof. + +Barney was for investigating at once, but Bruce was more practical; the +fish must be secured immediately. This food might yet stand between them +and starvation. + +They were soon whipping the pool with their poles, and, as the fish +came to the ice edge, they gathered them in. Some were monsters, two or +three feet in length. It was, indeed, a great haul. They piled them on +the ice like cord-wood. Already they were freezing; they would remain +fresh for months. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE RACE IS ON + + +"And now for the lakeside secret," exclaimed Barney, tossing the last +fish upon the pile, and throwing his frosty pole aside. + +Eagerly Bruce sprang to his feet. Together they raced around the pool. +Clambering over the tumbled avalanches of snow, they were soon within +sight of the strange triangle. Barney's heart beat fast. What was it? +Could it be only a bit of bent timber lodged there on the log-roof of a +long-abandoned Indian shack? Or was it--was it what he knew Bruce hoped +it might be--a supply-house for gasoline, or perhaps a motor-boat with a +supply of gasoline on board? + +Excitedly they attacked the piles of snow. Lacking shovels, they +worked with hands and feet. Hope grew with every kick and scoop. This +was no mere bit of timber, nor yet an abandoned shack; it was too +recently built to leave a doubt about that. And now they had reached +the top of the door. + +"I say we've found it," panted Bruce, redoubling his efforts. + +"Wait. Don't hope too much," gasped Barney, tossing aside snow like a dog +burrowing for a rabbit. + +The door had a spring padlock on it. Barney, hurrying to the lake for +some pieces of ice, cracked the lock as he would a nut between stones. +Then, prying the door open a bit at the top, he tried to peer in. + +"Dark," he muttered. "Can't see a thing." + +Breathlessly they resumed work. + +And now the door was free to the very bottom. It was Bruce's turn. +Forcing the door open a foot, he took one good look, then let out a +whoop. + +"Gasoline!" he shouted. "Bedons of it!" + +"May be empty," suggested Barney. + +"I'll see," said Bruce. An instant more, and having crowded himself +through the narrow space, he struck a hundred-gallon steel bedon with his +fist. No hollow sound came from it. + +"Full," he exclaimed, and, the strain over, sank to the floor with a sigh +of relief. + +The more hardy Barney began to explore the place. To the back was a small +gasoline launch, apparently in perfect condition. Ranged along the right +wall were the bedons, five of them, all full but one, and each containing +a hundred gallons. + +"Well," said Barney, sitting on a bedon, and kicking his heels against +its steel side, "now we can take the Major to the moon, or any other did +place he wishes to go; that is, if we want to." + +For a long time Bruce was silent. Now that the excitement was over he +realized he was homesick. Then, too, the dangers of yesterday had shaken +his nerves. He was thinking, also, of La Vaune working her way through +the academy when money, much money, belonging to her lay idle; and of +Timmie, who awaited their return to assist him in the retrieving of his +good name. But there came the after-thought: had it not been for the +Major's trust in him and in Barney, none of these things would have been +possible. Yes, they owed a debt to the Major and that debt must be paid. + +"And I guess we want to take him where he wants to go," said he, +straightening up as he looked his friend in the eye. + +"Good!" exclaimed Barney. "I was going to leave it to you, but I knew +you'd do it. It's the chance of our lives. I'm sure he means the +Pole--the North Pole! Think of it! And, then, there's the reward!" + +"Guess we'd better squeeze out of here and go break the glad news," said +Bruce, "He's up there fairly eating his heart out." + +"The race is on," muttered Barney, as they hurried up the bank. + +"The race is on," echoed the Major, a few minutes later, as he walked the +floor in high glee. + +"Yes, sir, it is," said Barney, "and a good clean race it will be if Dave +Tower is skipper of that submarine. I never knew a squarer fellow." + +The Major, limbering up his wireless instruments, sent a message +snap-snapping across the frozen expanse. + +"What you doing?" asked Barney. + +"Just letting that foxy old rival of mine know I got his message and that +I'm on the job," chuckled the Major. "I'll get off other messages every +three hours for a time." + +"Would you mind mentioning my name in the message?" asked Barney. "You +see, I've got a date for a little jazz with Dave up at the Pole, and I'd +like him to know I'm planning to keep the appointment." + +The Major chuckled again, and included this in his message: + +"Barney Menter, pilot." + +The party at the Aleutian station caught the Major's second sending of +the message. The Doctor's face grew gray, as he realized its meaning. + +"Great Providence!" he exclaimed. "Will he beat me again?" Then striking +the table with his fist. "He will not! We're crippled by the loss of an +important member of our party. He has the swiftest conveyance, but it is +not the surest. We will win! We start to-morrow. The race is on!" + +As for Dave, he was more than glad at the prospect of meeting Barney at +the Pole. He was confident that both expeditions would succeed. The only +question in his optimistic young mind was, which would arrive first? If +his trying could decide it, the sub would get there first. He and Barney +had been chums since boyhood, but they had been keen competitors in all +their play, study and work. Now their wits were once more fairly matched. + +"It's the army and the navy!" he exclaimed. "A fair, square race. And may +the best one win." + +"I might say," remarked the Doctor, "that there is a bountiful prize +offered to the first person who next reaches the Pole, and who brings +back three witnesses who can make readings of latitude and longitude +to testify to the facts. Should we win, the prize will go to you and +the crew." + +"I'll go tell them," said Dave, donning his cap. A moment later the +Doctor heard cheers which sounded like: + +"Rah! Rah! Rah for Doctor! Rah! Rah! Rah for the North Pole!" + +The race was on! + +Her secret service days over for the present, the "sub" had been given a +coat of black paint. Now, as she scudded through the dark waters of +Behring Sea, Dave, standing in the conning-tower, thought how much she +must resemble a whale. During the war many a leviathan of the deep had +met death because he resembled a submarine. Now, in peace times, in this +feeding ground of the greatest of all prey, the tables might be turned, +the submarine taken for whale. + +The race was on. Across Behring Sea they sped through foam-flecked waves +and driving mists. Pausing only a day at Nome, they pushed on past Port +Clarence, rounded Cape Prince of Wales, and entered boldly into the +great unknown, the Arctic Ocean. A million wild fowl, returning to the +Southland, shot away over their heads. Here and there they saw little +brown seals bob out of the water to stare at them. Once they ran a race +with a great white bear, and again they sighted a school of whales. They +gave these a wide berth, for should they grow friendly and mix their +great flippers with the sub's propeller, trouble would follow. Walrus, +too, were avoided, for they had a playful habit of bumping the +under-surface of any craft they might chance to meet. + +At last, far to the North there appeared a glaring white line. They had +reached the ice. Their days of merry sailing on the surface were +well-nigh over. From this time on life would be spent in stuffy, +steel-lined, electric-lighted compartments. But for all that, it would +not be so bad. Openings in the floes would offer them opportunities to +rise for a breath of fresh air, and dangers seemed few enough, since +the ocean everywhere was deep, and ice-bergs, sinking dangerously to a +great depth below the surface, were few. Only the piles of ice and +great six-foot-thick pans would make a white roof to the ocean, which +was not without its advantage, for here the water would always be +delightfully calm. + +Shutting off the engines, dropping the funnel, closing the hatch, they +sank quickly beneath the water's surface, and were soon passing below a +marvelous panorama of lights and shadow. Through the thick glass of the +observation windows there flooded tints varying from pale-blue to +ultramarine and deep purple. No sunset could vie with the color schemes +that kaleidoscoped above them. Here a great pile of ancient ice gave the +whole a reddish tinge; and here a broad pan of transparent new ice cast +down the deep-blue of the sky; and again a thicker floe admitted a light +as mellow as expert decorators could have devised. + +"It's wonderful!" murmured the Doctor. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A STRANGE PEOPLE + + +Ten hours after the start of the submarine, Dave Tower's eye anxiously +watched the dial which indicated a rapidly lessening supply of oxygen, +while his keenly appraising mind measured time in terms of oxygen supply. +They were still scudding along beneath that continuous kaleidoscopic +panorama of green and blue lights and shadows, but no one noticed the +beauty of it now. All eyes were strained on the plate-glass windows +above, and they looked but for one thing--a spot, black as night itself, +which would mean open water above. + +"There it is to starboard!" exclaimed the Doctor. Careful backing and +steering to starboard brought merely the disclosure that the Doctor's +eye-strain had developed to the point where it produced optical +illusions. + +The oxygen was all this time dwindling. To avoid further waste of time, +Dave told his first mate to close his eyes for three minutes while he +kept watch, then to open them and "spell" him at the watch. + +"Straight ahead! Quick!" muttered the mate, as the dial hung +fluttering at zero. + +Seizing a lever here and there, watching this gauge, then that one, Dave +sent the craft slanting upward. Like some dark sea monster seeking air, +the "sub" shot toward the opening. + +And now--now the prow tilted through space. Another lever and another, +and she balanced for a second on the surface. For a second only, then +came a crash. Too much eagerness, too great haste, had sent the +conning-tower against the solid six-foot floe. + +With lips straight and white Dave grasped two levers at once. The craft +shot backward. There followed a sickening grind which could only tell of +interference with the propeller. Too quick a reverse had sent it against +the ice astern. Shutting off all power, Dave allowed her to rise +silently to the surface. Then, as silently, one member of the crew +opened the hatch and they all filed out. + +"Propeller's still there," breathed one of the gobs in relief. + +"'Fraid that won't help," said Dave. + +"Jarvis," he said, turning to the engineer, "go below and start her up at +lowest speed." + +In a moment there followed a jangling grind. + +The engineer reappeared. + +"As I feared, sir," he reported. "It's the shaft, sir. She'll have to go +to shore for repairs. Only a hot fire and heavy hammering can fix her. +Can't be done on board or on the ice." + +"Ashore!" Dave rubbed his forehead, pulled his forelock, and tried to +imagine which way land might be after ten hours of travel in the +uncharted waters of the great Arctic sea. + +"I'll leave it to you, Jarvis," he smiled. "If you can locate land, and +show us how to get there across these piles of ice with a disabled +submarine, you shall have a medal from the National Geographic Society." + +The engineer was not a gob, strictly speaking. He was an old English +seaman, who had often sailed the Arctic in a whaler. Now he went below +with the words: + +"I'll find the nearest land, right enough, me lad; but as to gittin' +there, that's quite another matter." + +Thereafter the engineer might be seen from time to time dashing up the +hatchway to take an observation, then back to the chart-table, where he +examined first this chart, then that one. Some of the charts were new, +just from the hands of the hydrographic bureau. These belonged to the +craft. Others were soiled and torn; patched here and there, or reinforced +by cloth from a discarded shirt. These belonged to Jarvis, himself; had +been with him on many a journey and were now most often consulted. + +"Near's h'I can make it, sir," he said, at last, "we're some two hundred +miles from Point Hope on the Alaska shores and a bit farther from a point +on the Russian shore, which the natives call On-na-tak, though what the +place is like h'I can't say, never 'aving been there. Far's h'I know, no +white man's been there, h'either; leastwise, not in our generation." + +He studied the charts and made one further observation: + +"Far's h'I can tell, sir," he smiled, "On-na-tak's h'our only chance. +Current sets that way h'at three knots an hour. That means we'll drift +there in four or five days. There'll be driftwood on the beach, and, with +good luck, we can fix 'er up there. Mayhap there's coal in the banks by +the sea, and that's greater luck for us if there is." + +The Doctor, who had sat all this time in silence, smoking his black +cigars, now rose and began pacing the deck. + +"Four or five days? Four or five, did you say? Great Creation! That will +mean the losing of the race!" + +Jarvis nodded his head. + +"H'anything less would mean that and more," said the old engineer. "Going +down with such a shaft would mean death to all of us." + +The Doctor sighed. "We can't help it, I suppose--but it's a cruel blow." + +"There's many a break in a long airplane voyage anywhere," he consoled +himself, "and I think the chances for accidents in the Arctic are about +trebled. I don't wish our rivals any fatal catastrophe, but a little +tough luck--say a wing demolished; or an engine burned out--might not be +so much to my displeasure." + +The days that followed were spent in various ways. Hunting seals and +polar bears was something of an out-the-way pleasure for seafaring men. +Then there were checkers and cards, besides the daily guess as to their +position at noon. + +Strangely enough, for once in the history of Arctic currents, they found +themselves being carried where they wanted to go, in a direct line for +Point On-na-tak, and during the entire four days and a half there was +hardly a point's deviation from the course. On the evening of the fourth +day, Dave thought he sighted land, and the midnight watch reported +definitely that there was land to the port bow; two points, one more +easily discerned than the other. This news brought the whole crew on +deck. And for two hours there was wild speculation as to the nature of +the country ahead of them; the possibility of inhabitants and their +treatment of strangers. Azazruk, the Eskimo, thought that he had heard +from an old man of his tribe that the point was inhabited by a people who +spoke a different language from that spoken by the Chukches of East Cape +and Whaling, on the Russian side of Behring Strait. But of this he could +not be sure. If the old engineer knew anything of these shores other than +the facts he had already stated concerning wood and coal, he did not +venture to say. And no one asked. + +So they drifted on until the bleak, snow-capped peaks showed plainly. +Morning revealed a bay lying between the two points. Toward the entrance +to this bay they were drifting. One obstacle remained between them and +land. A half mile of the floe in which they were drifting lay between +them and the black stretch of open water which extended to the edge of +the solid shore ice, upon which the submarine might be dragged and over +which the shaft might be carried to land. But how was that stretch of +tumbled icefloe to be crossed? This, indeed, was a problem. + +It was finally decided that Dave and the old engineer should spend the +forenoon exploring the ice to landward for a possible narrow channel that +would open a way to the water beyond. For this journey they took only +field-glasses, alpine staffs and a lunch in a sealskin sack. Had they +known better the nature of the land they were about to visit, they might +have gone more fully equipped. + +"H'I don't mind tell' y', lad, that we was 'eaded for this point way +back some'ers in the late nineties," said the engineer, "but there +come a Nor'wester, an' the cap'in, 'e lost 'is 'ead and turned to run. +We'd froze in for the winter, but we'd a seen things if we 'ad. We'd a +seen 'um." + +They were struggling over some pressure ridges and neither had breath to +spare for further talk just then. But presently, as they paused on a +high ridge of ice for a survey of their surroundings, Jarvis said: + +"H'I said back there they might be coal in the banks. There is, an' other +minerals there are 'ere, too. H'it's a rich land, an' now we're 'ere we'd +make our fortunes if that daffy doctor wasn't 'eaded straight fer the +Pole, an' nobody 'ere to stop 'im." + +"What do you make of it?" Dave, who had been studying the shore with the +glass, handed it to Jarvis: "Do you see something like a village?" + +"Sure I do!" exclaimed the other excitedly. "Sure, there's a village, a +'ole 'eap of bloomin' 'eathen live up 'ere, h'only they hain't dull and +stupid like them down below." + +"It's a strange-looking village." + +"Sure, it is. Made all of reindeer skins and walrus pelts. Sure +it's different. Them natives up 'ere 'ave got reindeer, 'erds and +'erds of 'em." + +"I suppose they've got walrus ivory, too," said Dave, warming to +the subject. + +"Ho, yes, walrus h'ivory a-plenty, them 'eathen 'ave got. But walrus +h'ivory hain't so much. Too 'eavy to make a good cargo, an' not 'alf so +good as h'elephant h'ivory. But there's minerals, 'eaps of minerals, an' +we'd all be rich men an' it wasn't for the bloomin' doctor." + +No channel to the shore having appeared, they were now making their way +along the edge of the open water. Suddenly the old engineer started: + +"Did you see 'im?" he whispered. + +"What? Where?" Dave stared at the old man, thinking he had suddenly +lost his head. + +"H'it was a man. 'E popped 'is 'ead out, then beat it. One o' them +bloomin' 'eathens." + +"Probably we'd better turn back." + +"Huh!" sniffed the old man. "'Oo cares for the bloomin' 'eathen? 'Armless +they is, 'armless as babies." + +They continued their travel, but the old man seemed distinctly uneasy. He +saw heads here and there. And soon, Dave, who did not have the trained +eye of the seaman, saw one also. At once he decided that they must turn +back to the submarine. + +Hardly had they taken this course, when heads seemed to be peering out at +them from every ice-pile. It was when they were crossing a broad, flat +pan that matters came to a crisis. Suddenly brown, fur-clad figures +emerged from the piles at the edge of the pan and approached them. Their +soft, rawhide boots made no sound on the ice. Their lips were ominously +silent. There was a sinister gleam to the spears which they bore. + +Half-way to the men, at a sign from the leader, they all paused. Then a +little knot gathered about the leader. Three men did the greater part of +the talking. They appeared to be urging the leader to action. + +Dave, who knew that the old seaman was acquainted with several native +dialects, said: + +"What do you make of it?" + +"Can't get 'em straight," said Jarvis. "But them three 'eathen that's +talkin' loudest, them's 'eathen from another tribe 'er somethin'. +They're not the right color. Their eyes hain't right an' they don't speak +the language right. I think they got it in their 'eads that we h'ought +ter be pinched fer trespassin' 'er somethin' the like. But we'll fight +the bloomin' 'eathen, we will, h'if they start a bloomin' rumpus." + +"What with?" smiled Dave. + +The old seaman looked nonplused for a moment. + +"Ho, well," he grinned, then. "Can't be any 'arm in goin' with the +bloomin' idgits a piece, h'if they request it." + +The horde of natives did, at last, request it in a rather forceful and +threatening way. The three men, whom Jarvis had singled out as "'eathen +from another tribe," became so insulting that Dave could scarcely +restrain Jarvis from braining their leader on the spot. + +They were led to the edge of the ice-floe where, hidden in a remote +corner, was an oomiak, a native boat of skins. + +From here they were quickly paddled over to the shore. They were then +led up a steep bank, down a street lined with innumerable dome-like +houses covered with walrus-skin, and were finally dragged into the +largest of these houses and rudely thrust into an inner room. The door +slammed, and Jarvis laughed. + +"Humph!" he chuckled. "Fancy putting a man in a bloomin' jail made +of deer skin. Much 'ead as the bloomin' 'eathen 'ave. Let's 'ave a +look at 'er." + +He scratched a match and the look of astonishment that Dave found on his +face, as he stared about the inclosure, caused him to laugh, in spite of +their dilemma. + +"H'ivory, walrus h'ivory! Walls, floor and ceilin' all h'ivory. Who'd +ever thought of that!" muttered the old seaman. "Wood'll burn and iron'll +rust; but h'ivory! h'ivory! Who'd ever thought of that for a prison?" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE WALRUS HUNT + + +Meanwhile, on the ice-locked shores of Great Bear Lake, preparations for +departure were being made by the airplane party. The gasoline must all be +strained through a chamois-skin to insure them against water in the +engines, and this, with the temperature at thirty to forty below, was no +mean task. There was a careful selection of foodstuffs to be taken along. +It was decided also that the five dogs should go, for they would provide +transportation, in case of accident, and could be killed and eaten as a +last resort. The entire equipment was given a thorough overhauling. All +this took three days of arduous toil. + +When, at last, all was in readiness, and the earth began to drop away +beneath them, the dogs put their noses in the air and chorused a canine +Arctic dirge. But their howls were lost in the noise of the engines. + +As for the boys, their cheeks burned. Truly, this was to be their +greatest adventure--"An adventure quite worthy the heart of a true +soldier," as the Major had expressed it. Many problems they left +behind unsolved, but these were quite crowded out of their minds by +the one supreme problem: Would they reach the Pole, and would they +reach it first? + +Somewhere on the shores of Melville Bay, near the banks of Melville +Island, frozen in the ice for the winter, was the little gasoline +schooner which had engaged to furnish them fuel for the last lap of the +journey north and the return. The gas would cost a pretty penny, to be +sure, for it would compel the trader to return to Nome earlier than he +had intended doing, but money seemed no object to the zealous explorer. + +Setting their course a little east of north, they shot directly away. +Bruce, who was driving, settled back easily in his place. The machine was +soaring beautifully. The engines worked in perfect time. Everything +promised a safe and speedy trip. Now and again a belated flock of +snow-geese, as if drawn by an invisible thread, shot by them; and now, +far below, they caught sight of moving brown specks, which told of +caribou still passing southward from the summer pasture in the unexplored +lands far to the North. The fleeting panorama was of constantly changing +interest and beauty. + +Soon they left the land behind. They were passing over Prince Albert +Sound. Its surface was already white with ice. Land again, then Melville +Sound--last lap on this three hundred mile journey. Bruce found himself +unable to believe they were over a great body of salt water. Surely these +squares, rising from the surface, white and glistening in the moonlight, +were village roofs covered with snow. Surely, these other squares lying +flat upon the surface were town lots, and the broader ones stretches of +field and meadow, where grain would ripen in summer and flowers bloom. +And the spots of open water, made black by the whiteness about them, +were fishing-ponds where one might lazily dip his line and dream. + +But as he shook himself back into reality, a startling question had come +to him. His lips put it in words. + +"How are we going to tell that schooner when we see it?" he barked +through the Major's telephone. "Won't she be buried in snow?" + +"Probably will," admitted the Major, "but there's sure to be a native +village near by, and though their houses are built of snow, they always +have a litter of black things about--sleds, hunting implements, skins, +and the like. We can't miss it." + +"Natives. M-m-m," Bruce mumbled. "Nagyuktogmiut, or something like that. +Hope the white man happens to be about when we land. I've read +Stefansson's account of them. They treated him all right, but when old +Thunderbird, his own self, brings them some white men, they may not be so +glad to see them, and those chaps have copper-pointed spears and arrows, +not to speak of rifles." + +"The Indians didn't bother us," phoned back the Major. + +"That's right. Well, I hope this is our lucky day." Bruce again gave his +whole attention to driving. Then, as they made out in the distance some +high elevations, that might be land or might be clouds, he dropped to a +lower level and scanned the surface of the ice for a black spot which +would tell of human habitations. The village, he knew, might be fifty +miles from land, for these Eskimos lived on the ocean's roof during the +entire winter and hunted seal and great-seal, moving only now and again +when game became scarce. + +"There they are, over to the right," he exclaimed presently. He set his +machine in the general direction indicated. Soon a black patch began to +appear among the lights and shadows. Surely here was the village they +sought. The realization set his heart thumping violently. + +"Drop in close and look for a landing." + +The Major twisted in his seat and scanned the ice narrowly as he spoke. +"Just beyond them seems to be a broad flat pan. Looks safe. Try it" + +Bruce cut off his engines and began circling down. It was the dead of +night. Apparently every person about the village was asleep. Now he could +distinguish sleds and skins hung on ice-piles to dry. Now he located the +double rows of dome houses. They were going to pass right over these, but +high enough to miss them. + +Then, rapidly, things happened. A vagrant current of wind seized them and +they "bumped" in air. The next instant it was evident that a crash was +inevitable. They were swooping straight down upon a row of snow-domes. +But the machine was heavy, the snow-houses, mere shells, without the sign +of a shock, yielding to the compact, went spinning away in little bits, +revealing scores of sleepers snug beneath their deerskins. They had +awakened Bedlam. Men shouted, women and children screamed, dogs barked. + +"Like knocking over a bee-hive," chuckled Barney. + +Bruce, with a remarkably cool head, brought his machine to the smooth +surface beyond. In a moment she was slowing up to a perfect landing. +"Quick! The machine-gun!" exclaimed Barney. + +Bruce gave one startled look behind them, then began working feverishly. +Already Barney and the Major were unstrapping themselves. + +Across the ice in the vague moonlight a motley throng, a hundred strong, +was charging down upon them. Half-naked, their brown arms gleaming, they +seemed the inhabitants of some South Sea isle rather than Eskimos of the +Farthest North. Copper-pointed spears gleamed yellow and gold, while here +and there the dark barrel of a hunting rifle was to be seen. + +"Go slow," warned the Major. "Remember it's men, women and children +instead of wolves this time. They're wild, but they're human. Send a +volley into the ice-piles at the left. Show 'em what you've got and +they'll stop--perhaps." + +As Bruce turned the barrel of his deadly weapon, he caught the low +rumble of many voices. The natives were chanting a witching song to +destroy the power of evil spirits. + +"Tat-tat-tat-tat." The machine-gun spoke. Bits of ice flew wildly. The +mob halted for a moment, then plunged on, still chanting that +maddening song. + +Just at the moment when a massacre seemed inevitable, there came a roar +from the right. Turning, Bruce saw the form of a bearded man apparently +rising from a hole in a giant ice-cake. At the sound the wild mob halted. + +"Hey! You fellows!" the stranger bellowed. "What's the matter with you?" +Then he turned to the natives and began to harangue them in a tongue +quite unknown even to the Major. + +The instant Bruce saw the red-whiskered giant rise, seemingly from the +ocean, his hand relaxed on the machine-gun and he stood in ready +expectation. The Eskimos appeared to understand the words which the +stranger flung at them, for, though they continued their weird +incantation, they lowered their weapons and did not attempt to approach +nearer the white men. + +Presently their weapons began clattering to the ice. Taking this as a +sign of friendliness, the explorers stepped out to meet them. Seeing +this, the natives gathered into a compact group, their song rising to a +wild humming howl, but they made no move to attack. When the strangers +were quite close, one native, braver than his companions, stepped +forward. Still chanting, he handed each explorer a small cube of whale +blubber. One cube remained in his own hand. This he proceeded to +swallow, indicating at the same time that the strangers were to follow +his example. + +The moment the cubes disappeared the wild chorus ceased and the natives +crowded forward to extend a hearty welcome. + +It was, however, a very long time before one of them was persuaded to +come near the airplane. + +"I haven't a doubt," said the Major, "that they still believe that we +rode here on the back of old Thunder-bird himself. And why not? If we +can build schooners many times as large as their largest skin-boats and +run them by noise alone, if we can kill at a distance by a magic of great +noises, why couldn't we tame the Thunder-bird himself and make him carry +us? It is my firm conviction that if one of us were to return here in a +year or two, he would hear the most outlandish tales of the Kabluna who +rode the Thunder-bird." + +The natives had returned to their camp to dress and to repair the damage +done by the airplane. The white men were approaching what appeared to be +the den of the bearded stranger, when the Major gave a cry of joy: + +"Masts! Boys, we have finished the first lap of our journey. The den of +the stranger is the cabin to his schooner. He is the trader who is to +furnish us gasoline!" + +The Major's surmise proved to be correct, and they were soon sitting +happily around a rough galley table, sipping at steaming "mulligan"--a +rich Arctic stew--and coffee. + +"And now," said the Major, "for a few hours of sleep. After that your +time is your own for twelve hours." + +"Twelve hours!" exclaimed Bruce in surprise. "Don't we start for the +Pole at once?" + +"Young gentlemen," said the Major smiling, "your enthusiasm is gratifying +in the extreme. But flying, especially in high latitudes, is very trying +on the nerves--even such nerves as yours. Remember that in the Arctic, +where anything at all is liable to happen at a moment's notice, we must +always be at our best. So get some relaxation. What will you do with your +twelve hours?" + +"I heard a walrus barking a half-hour ago!" exclaimed Barney eagerly. + +"I'm for a walrus hunt," agreed Bruce. + +"Good! That will stretch your legs a bit," said the Major. "But don't go +too far, nor take too many chances. Remember you have a mission to +accomplish here in the North." + +The three adventurers were soon sleeping soundly in the bunks of the +Gussie Brown, and far away, bobbing his head through a water-hole +and shaking the icicles from his moustache, a great bull-walrus +barked at the moon. + +When they awoke from dreamless slumber, the boys' first thought was of +the promised walrus hunt. They scrambled into their fur garments, and +hurrying to the surface of the floe, listened for the hoarse call of +their quarry, the walrus. They did not have to wait long. + +"There he barks!" exclaimed Bruce, putting his hand to his ear. + +"And again," Barney hurried below to secure a native harpoon and +skin-rope. Bruce provided himself with a high-power magazine rifle. + +"We're off!" Barney shouted joyously to the Major, as he gulped down a +cup of steaming coffee and took a last bite of sour-dough bread. + +"Good luck! And may you come back!" bantered the Major. Had he known how +real was his jesting prophecy of danger, he would not have joked. + +As a rule, walrus-hunting in the Arctic is not a sport, it is a task--the +day's work of providing food for a village. It is as exciting as the +"hog-killing day" of a middle-west farmer. The hog may run amuck of the +farmer, and so may the walrus of the hunter; the chances are about equal. +The walrus seldom shows fight. Before he is harpooned, he either is quite +indifferent to the presence of the hunter, or slips away to the water at +sight of him. If harpooned, he makes every effort to escape, and only in +rare instances shows fight. The boys had been told all this by the trader +over their coffee the night before. + +It was evident, then, that they must slip up on their prey without being +seen. This would be a comparatively simple matter, since the tumbled +ridges of ice afforded ideal hiding-places. When close enough, Barney, +who was the stronger of the two, was to drive the harpoon-point through +the thick skin of the creature. This harpoon-point was fastened to a +rawhide rope. He must instantly drive a copper-pointed lance into the +ice, and wrapping the skin-rope about it, close to the ice-surface, hold +on like grim death until Bruce dispatched the creature with his rifle. +Wherever the beast was, in a small water-hole kept opened by himself, or +a larger one formed by the shifting floes, their success would depend on +Barney's ability to keep the rope free from jagged edges which might cut +it, and Bruce's skill at quickly getting in a fatal shot. At regular +intervals the walrus must rise for air, and this would give the +opportunity for Bruce to get in his work. + +"He's a moose!" whispered Bruce, as they crept close to the rather broad +waters-hole and eyed the creature through a crack between upended +ice-cakes. + +"Tusks two feet and a half long! Must weigh a ton and a half!" Already +Barney felt his muscles ache from the strain. + +"Well, here's for it!" He exclaimed, coiling his skin-rope. The next +instant there came a loud thwack, which told that the boy's shaft had +found its mark. Instantly there was a hoarse bellow and then a wild +splashing in the water. Bruce was at the top of a pressure ridge, ready +for action. Barney had made his shaft secure, but then there came a +strain that made the veins stand out on his forehead. Suddenly the strain +slackened. + +"Be ready! He's coming--" Barney did not finish, for from the churning +water the walrus thrust his massive head, snorting and foaming. The +rifle cracked. + +Silently the great creature sank, but this time the foaming water showed +a fleck of red where the walrus disappeared. + +"Got him!" cried Bruce triumphantly. + +But this time the strain on the lance was redoubled. + +"Try--try to hit a vital--vital spot," panted Barney, as the strain +lessened once more. "Behind front flipper--in the eye." + +Again the water foamed. Again the rifle cracked. More blood! Another +plunge, and again the strain seemed redoubled. + +"I--can't--hold much--longer," Barney gasped. + +Springing down from the pinnacle, Bruce ran to the edge of the pool, +and, leaping upon a floating ice-cake, waited again. + +This time his aim was better. + +The strain when the walrus sank was not so great. + +"Doing fine," breathed Barney. "Next time we'll--" + +Again he did not finish, for, unexpectedly, his friend shot up in the +air, to fall sprawling upon the cake of ice and cling there while it +tilted to an angle of forty-five degrees. The walrus had risen beneath +the cake and split it in two. Bruce was stunned by his fall, but Barney's +warning cry roused him. One glance revealed his perilous position. The +piece of ice to which he clung had been thrust toward the center of the +pool. Even now the gap was too wide for him to leap. To plunge into the +water, with the thermometer forty below, was to court death. + +While he hesitated, the walrus rose to the surface. With a bellow that +sprayed bloody foam about him, he charged the cake of ice. If ever there +was need for a cool brain, it was now. Bruce, gripping his rifle, +crouched and waited. Reaching the cake, the walrus hooked his tusks over +its edge till it tilted to a perilous angle. Bruce's feet shot from +under him, but by a quick movement he caught the upper edge of the ice. +Pulling himself up till he could brace his feet, he took steady aim at +the beast's wild and bloodshot eye. It was a perfect shot. The walrus, +crumpling, began to sink into the water. Seeing this, Bruce clung to the +cake until the tusk slipped off. In another moment the uncertain raft +was at rest. + +"Well, we got him," he panted, sitting limply on the ice. "But for mine +in the future, give me the cozy dangers of aviation. I don't see much +relaxation in this game." + +The ice-cake soon drifted so that Bruce could jump ashore. With their +combined efforts the boys were able to draw the dead walrus close in and +tie him securely to the ice edge. Then they returned to camp to send a +happy band of natives out for the meat and blubber. + +"That head will make a fine trophy to hang in the front parlor of +that five-room bungalow," laughed Barney, as a native brought it in +that night. + +"You may have it for your den," said Bruce with a shiver. "I never want +to look a walrus in the face again." + +"To-morrow," said the Major, as they prepared to retire, "the race will +be resumed." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +FIGHTING THEIR WAY OUT + + +A careful examination of their "ivory jail" showed Dave and the submarine +engineer that they were in a narrow chamber completely lined with walrus +tusks. The tusks had been so ingeniously cut and fitted that only the +grain of the glistening surface told where one tusk joined another. As +for the door, so closely was it fitted that it was not to be located at +all. In two corners were seal-oil lamps. These had feed-pipes of some +form of dried sea-weeds. They could thus be fed from without. Two narrow +openings, strongly barred with ivory tusks, one in the floor and one in +the ceiling, permitted air to enter, but one peered through them into +utter darkness. + +"Tain't no wonder they left us our knives," grumbled Jarvis. "The +bloomin' 'eathen knowed we'd wear 'em away before we made any +h'impression on that ivory. But mind you, lad, this hain't the work of no +bloomin' 'eathen--not no regular 'eathen it hain't. 'E hain't smart +enough for that, your regular 'eathen hain't. 'Twas some one else, it +was. Shouldn't be surprised if it was them three strangers." + +As for Dave, he was worried less about himself than about his companions +out in the bay. Knowing the growing impatience of the Doctor, he was +prepared to expect him to attempt anything in case of their prolonged +absence. Should he try to submerge the craft to bring her to land under +the ice, it was an even chance every one on board would perish +miserably--caught in the sunken "sub." + +That he and Jarvis might be kept prisoners indefinitely seemed certain, +for after some five or six hours, food was thrust in to them and they +were left, apparently for the night. The food consisted of boiled fish +and liver, probably walrus liver, soaked in rank seal oil. They ate a +little fish and thrust the liver through the opening in the floor, the +better to escape its nauseating odor. + +"H'I'd die before h'I'd h'eat 'is bloomin' victuals," snarled Jarvis +contemptuously, "that bloomin' 'eathen!" + +He began poking about the narrow confines of the jail. Not being able to +see to suit himself, he struck a match and touched it to the mass, placed +on the edge of a brimming seal-oil lamp, in lieu of a wick. Immediately a +line of fire was kindled and its light, reflected again and again by the +dazzling whiteness of their prison walls, made the whole place as light +as day. At once Jarvis gave a cry of surprise and began crawling toward +the farthest side. + +"H'I told you there was minerals," he exclaimed. "E's a rich un, this +bloomin' 'eathen. H'it's gold, h'I'll be blowed!" + +He began digging away with his knife at some yellow spots in the ivory. +They were bits of inlaid gold. + +"What's the idea?" asked Dave in surprise. "Are all prisons up here made +of ivory inlaid with gold?" + +"Y' can't tell, lad. 'E's a queer one, the bloomin' 'eathen, and if h'I +be 'anged," sputtered Jarvis, "what's one pole more or less, when you've +gold calling to come and take it. What--" + +He paused, his mouth agape, words unsaid. The door of the ivory den had +been softly opened, and framed in it were the dark, crafty faces of the +three natives who had brought about their captivity and imprisonment. In +their hands gleamed knives with long blades of a curious oriental type. + + * * * * * + +But we must return to the Doctor and his crew of gobs who had been left +on the submarine. + +When the young captain and his chief engineer did not return at sunset, +deep concern for their safety was felt. Three searching parties were sent +out, while, from time to time, flares were lighted to show them the way +to the submarine, should they chance to have lost their directions on +the ice-floe. The flares guided the searching parties back to the boat, +but so far as finding trace of the missing ones was concerned, neither +flares nor searchers were of any avail. + +In the meantime, the Doctor paced the deck anxiously. They were losing +valuable time. If only they could find a way to shore, the damaged shaft +might be repaired and, during the interval, the captain and engineer +would doubtless turn up. + +At the first hint of dawn the watch discovered a lead half-way through +the ice-floe. At once the Doctor ordered the submarine run into this +narrow channel. The result was what might have been expected; the ice +closed in and the "sub" was locked in the center of the floe. There +remained but one way it could move--down, under the ice. Otherwise, it +might drift indefinitely in this solid mass of ice. They would be carried +away from the bay, away from their friends, and all hope of rescuing them +would be lost. It was, indeed, a terrible plight. + +Just at this time a bright young gob, Tom Rainey, came forward with an +ingenious scheme. The "sub" carried a sufficient length of steel cable to +reach to the farther edge of the ice-floe. Why, he reasoned, might +they not pole this cable beneath the rather loosely-joined ice masses +until they reached the open water, then submerge the submarine and, with +a capstan, drag it like a hooked trout to the channel. It was a wild +scheme, but the doctor was in a mood for anything. The crew were set to +work at once, cutting holes in the ice-floes here and there and passing +the cable from opening to opening. It was slow and freezing work, but in +time the job was done. + +When the cable was ready, the Doctor insisted that a sufficient crew be +aboard the submarine when she submerged to man her in case she broke +loose. This was, indeed, a hazardous mission, but volunteers were not +lacking. And, with all speed, the trial was made. + +The scheme worked better than they had dared to hope. When the "sub" +passed from beneath the ice-floe, the second engineer in his +superabundance of joy hazarded a few turns of the disabled shaft. +This set the whole craft vibrating and drove her half-way across the +narrow channel. + +As the submarine rose to the surface the doctor saw a dark shadow pass +over the glass window at the top. At the same time he felt a slight jar. + +"Must have tilted a small cake of ice," he chuckled. + +Then, as he lifted the hatch: "By Jove! No, it wasn't. It was a skin-boat +full of natives! There they are in the water! Watch them scramble back +into their boat. If we had a safer power, we'd go to their rescue. But +they'll be all right. Now, they're all aboard." + +That the natives were in a frenzy of fear while in the water, the doctor +attributed to their dread of attack by a walrus. But when they began +paddling away at top speed, he opened his eyes in wonder. + +"Ah, well!" he said, at last, "who'd marvel at that? Ships are not in the +habit of coming up out of the sea in the Arctic. And now I wonder--I +just wonder, did they have anything to do with the disappearance of our +friend Dave and the engineer?" + +When all hands were on board lunch was served. By the time this was over +the submarine had drifted to the solid shore-ice. She was at once tied up +with the aid of ice-anchors, and preparations made for dragging her out +of the water. + +"But first," said the Doctor, "let us visit our friends, 'the bloomin' +'eathen,' as Jarvis styles them." + +It was a strange sight that met their gaze as they entered the village. +Men, women and children, with a wild wail, threw themselves flat on +their stomachs, uttering the most melancholy moans that ever came from +human lips. Interspersed with the cries were apparent appeals addressed +to the visitors. + +"What's all this rumpus?" the Doctor demanded of Azazruk, the Eskimo. +"Can you understand their jargon?" + +"They say," said the Eskimo, showing his white teeth in a grin, "that +they know we are spirits--spirits of dead whales, since we come out of a +whale's back, that came up from under the sea. They say not kill them us +please. They say this that one. They say, kill plenty whale that one +chief native. They say, fire for spirit of dead whale not make that, +them. They say that, this one native. But they say not kill them and for +sure they make fire, sing song for spirit of dead whale." + +The Doctor, who understood this to be one of the superstitions of the +natives, and knew that they had taken the submarine for a whale, began to +laugh. But at once he checked himself. + +Turning a scowling face at the only two standing natives, one of whom had +a fresh cut across his cheek, he stormed: + +"And why have these fellows no shame? Tell them to fall down at once, or +I will step on them." + +Azazruk repeated the message, and, surprised and frightened, the two +men obeyed. + +The Doctor eyed the two curiously for a moment as they lay there +squinting up at him, their slant eyes gleaming with suppressed anger. + +"Look like they'd been in a fight," he remarked. + +And so they did. The darker of the two had the cut on his cheek, +before mentioned, his fur parka was torn half off him, displaying some +ugly bruises. His companion had lost half a sleeve and his right hand +was bleeding. + +"They're surely rascals, but you must play the good Samaritan at all +times," he said, as he bent over one of them. "Rainey, get my case from +the locker, will you?" + +Rainey hurried to the submarine, a half mile away, while the natives, +still half sprawling on the frozen earth, eyed the hardier fellows, while +the Doctor bent over them, as if expecting at any moment to see them drop +dead as a result of the magic power of these great spirits from the belly +of a whale. + +It was Jarvis and Dave who were responsible for the condition of the two +natives of the strange bearing. When Jarvis saw their ugly faces and +gleaming knives at the door of the ivory prison he was ready for a fight. +His face turned purple, as he muttered between clinched teeth: + +"H'it's our chance. 'Ere's where h'I make a killin'. At 'em Dave!" + +And, led by his sturdy engineer, Dave hove at them right royally. + +Their knives were short but their arms long, and as for skill, there were +no better trained men in the army than Dave and Jarvis. + +They made quick work of it. The "bloomin' 'eathen," surprised by the +sudden onslaught, were on their backs in a trice. Two of them fared as I +have said, and as for the third, he came out with a head so badly +pummeled by Jarvis' fist that he was content to crawl into a dark igloo +and stay there. + +Once outside the prison Jarvis and Dave glanced quickly about them for a +hiding-place. Much to their surprise, they did not see a native about the +village. Made bold by this, they skirted the rear of the last row of +huts, and, dodging down a snowed-in ravine, hid at last in the ice-heaps +not twenty rods from the submarine. Not being aware, however, that their +friends had succeeded in reaching the shore-ice, they crouched in their +icy shelter, their teeth chattering from cold and excitement. + +Jarvis had an ugly slash on his right arm. Dave had just succeeded in +binding this up when they heard footsteps approaching. Jamming themselves +hard into a crevice of ice, Jarvis whispered: + +"H'I'll fight t' a finish before h'I go back to that white prison of the +bloomin' 'eathen." + +Dave made no response. + +The steps came nearer, then began to die away. + +"Didn't sound like the bloomin' 'eathen," muttered Jarvis. "No near's +soft and glidin'. 'Ere 'e comes back. H'I'll 'ave a look." Creeping close +to a corner, he peered cautiously out, then with a roar: + +"Blime me, it's Rainey!" He sprang from concealment, almost embracing +the young gob in his delight. + +It was a joyful meeting that took place between the united parties. + +When Jarvis saw the Doctor working over the disabled natives he roared +first with laughter, then with anger. His last desire was to put them out +of the way at once. + +"For, sir," he argued, "them hain't no natural, ordinary 'eathen, indeed +not, sir. They are the very h'old Nick 'isself, sir." + +But Dave suggested putting them in their own ivory prison, and this +advice prevailed. After their wounds were dressed they were thrust in and +the door barred from without. Wiser men than the "sub" crew have learned +that a man is seldom safe in a prison of his own making, but the sailors +never gave the prisoners another thought. + +"Rainey," said the engineer, as he found himself alone with the young +gob, "we'll all be rich men." + +"How?" asked his companion. + +"There's mineral! Mineral! Gold, me lad, tons of it!" The older man's +wrinkled face caught the tints of the sunset and seemed to take on the +hue of the metal of which he spoke. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +TO THE TREASURE CITY + + +Once all the members of the submarine party were reunited, their one +thought was to repair their damaged craft as soon as possible and start +again on their way to the Pole. Perhaps the engineer wasted a thought now +and again on the supposed great mineral wealth of that peninsula, but if +he did, he said nothing. + +The men were divided into three groups. The first, the mechanics, +undertook the task of removing the shaft; the second guarded the craft +against possible attack by the natives, while the third was dispatched up +the beach to search for firewood which the mechanics must have. + +The work of the guard seemed a joke. Not one of the natives could be +induced to approach the dark "spirit-whale" which some of their comrades +had seen rise from the water. Even after the steel shaft had been +brought ashore as tangible evidence that the craft was a thing of metal, +they could not be induced to approach it. + +The wood hunters found their task a hard one, for, either there never had +been much driftwood on these shores, or the natives had used it for +summer camp-fires. They searched far down the bay without finding a +sufficient quantity to make "a decent fire over which to roast +'hot-dogs'," as Rainey expressed it. + +But as the engineer rounded a point, he suddenly exclaimed; + +"There! Ain't h'I been sayin' hit! I 'ates to think 'ow jolly stupit +som'ums of ye are." + +He was pointing to the banks which overhung the sea. The men, who were +looking only for driftwood, did not at first see the cause of his +exclamation. + +"Coal, my lads!" Jarvis exclaimed, half beside himself. "Coal cropping +from the bank!" + +It was true. A careful examination showed a four-foot vein of soft coal. +It was not long until reindeer sleds, secured from the natives, were +drawing quantities of the fuel to a point beneath a cliff, where a crude +forge had been made out of granite rock. + +While this work was going on, the engineer disappeared in the +direction of the village. In a half-hour he came tearing back, his +face red with rage. + +"They're h'out!" he sputtered. "The bally, blithering unnatural 'eathen +hev flew the h'ivory coops. T'was to be expected. I 'ates t' think what +h'I'd a-done, 'ad h'I 'ad the say of it." + +"Oh, well," said the Doctor, who was inclined to take Jarvis' quarrel +with the natives rather lightly, "in twenty-four hours we'll be away from +these shores never to return." + +"Return?" exclaimed Jarvis. "H'I'll return, an' Dave 'ere'll return. +We'll be rich men, we'll be. I 'ates t' think 'ow rich 'im an' me'll be!" + +But the Doctor was too busy hurrying the mechanics in their repairs to +heed the words of the excited engineer. + +Finally the forge was ready and as by the Arctic moonlight a black smoke +rose higher and higher above the cliffs, and a fire blazed a thousand +times larger and hotter than that black shore had ever known, the natives +appeared to grow more and more certain that these men who came up from +the depths of the sea were, indeed, the spirits of all the dead whales +that they and their forefathers before them had killed. They looked on in +silent awe. + +It was with the greatest difficulty that Jarvis succeeded in finding one +of them who was able to speak the Chukche language of Behring Strait, a +language that was understood by Azazruk, the Eskimo. When, at last, he +did find a man who knew Chukche and who was not too frightened to talk, +he plied him with many questions. + +"Who were the three strange-appearing natives who had attacked him and +his companion in the jail? Where did they come from? What were they doing +here? How did they happen to have such a strange jail? How did they +chance to have a jail at all? Where did the gold come from that had been +used to inlay the ivory? Was there much of it to be found?" + +These, and many other questions, the engineer put to the trembling +native, while, with one eye, he watched the operations of the mechanics +who labored by the fire. + +The man did not know the exact place from which the three strangers had +come; it was somewhere far South, known as Ki-yek-tuk. The three had been +a long time in the village and had inspired all the people with a great +dread by telling them of a giant race who wore fierce beards like the +walrus; who killed with a great noise at long distances, and who would +break any jail except one of ivory. They had said that probably one or +two of these fierce men would come at first, and, perhaps, if these were +made prisoners, no others would follow. Hence the jail. And hence, too, +the imprisonment of Dave and Jarvis. The natives had felt sure that they +were the advance guard of these wicked, cruel men who had come to rob and +kill. But now, of course, they knew they were spirits of dead whales, +and would do them no harm. + +As for the tusks with the inlaid gold, the man said they had been traded +for by a very old man who had made a journey with a reindeer, ten nights +and days from their village, due west. There, beside a great river, he +had found a numerous people, who lived in houses of logs, very large and +warm. He said, too, that these people had great quantities of this yellow +metal. Their houses were decorated with it; their fur garments glistened +with it; their council house was encrusted with it. + +"But," he added at the end, "the metal was too soft for spear points and +arrowheads, too heavy for garments, and not good for food. As for houses, +did they not have their deerskins and walrus-pelts? So the old man never +went back for more." + +Dave had been sitting by the old engineer as he secured this information +bit by bit through the interpreter. His eyes sparkled with excitement +when he spoke. + +"Well," he asked, when the native had finished, "what do you make of +it?" + +"Make of it?" exclaimed the old man. "It's plain as the nose on your +face. H'as h'I see it, there's gold in this land just h'as h'I said +before, plenty of it. H'and this 'ere tribe, way west there some'ers; +they's been driven there by the Roosians, er by other tribes. Mayhaps +they's Roosian h'exiles themselves. Mayhaps they's one of the seven lost +tribes of h'Israel, what you read of in the Book. 'Owever that may be, +it's there, and h'I 'ates to think 'ow rich you h'and h'I'd be h'if h'it +wasn't fer this 'ere crazy Doctor's achin' to see th' Pole." + +"Jarvis," Dave leaned forward eagerly, "we'll take the Doctor to the +Pole, then we'll hire a submarine or a schooner and work our way +back here." + +"We will that, me lad," said the old man, gripping the boy's hand. "But +then," he added more soberly, "maybe it won't be a bit o' use. Maybe the +Japs will get it first." + +"The Japs." + +"Sure! The Japs. Ar' ye that blind? Don't ye know all the time the three +rascals we well-nigh killed was Japs? Can't ye see 'ow they don't want +the h'Americans or th' Roosians to git t' the treasure of this peninsula? +Can't ye see 'ow bloomin' easy h'it'd be for 'em to put two or three +spies in h'every bloomin' native village on the whole Roosian coast, and +take the entire peninsula fer th' Jap Kaiser, or whatever they call 'im? +Can't ye see 'ow th' thing'd work?" + +Dave sat a long time in thought. At last he decided what to do. + +"Perhaps you're right, Jarvis," he said finally, rising. "But our first +job is the Pole. The shaft must be nearly fitted by now. Let's see how +they're coming. Perhaps we'll be away in the morning." + +As they rounded a block of ice by the shore, Jarvis gave a start and +seized his companion by the arm. + +"D'y' see 'im?" he whispered "'E was starin' h'at us from behint them +ice-piles. 'E was a Jap. I'll swear it." + +"Aw, you're seeing Japs to-night," laughed Dave. + +"Ow is she?" Jarvis asked of a gob whom they met. + +"Right as they make 'em--now. But I'll say it was some job that. The +shaft was twisted something awful--like a corkscrew. But it was some +steel, that shaft, and we just het her up an' twisted her straight again. +The Doc said he guessed it would be a bit short, but when we got her back +in place she fitted like paint. Then we slid the old boat back in the +water and tried her out and she runs like a watch." + +"Grand. We're off in the mornin'." + +Dave and Jarvis turned to make their way to the submarine where a single +gob, pacing the white ice-surface, had laughed at his job of watching +natives who could not be induced to come within a half-mile of him. + +Suddenly the engineer jumped forward. + +"Did y' see that?" Jarvis grabbed Dave by the arm and urged him into a +run. "'E went down--the guard, I saw 'im," panted Jarvis. "I saw 'im, +then h'I didn't. H'it's the Japs. Listen!" + +There came distinctly the sound of a dragging hawser. + +"H'it's the Japs; the blooming bloody 'eathen," Jarvis panted. "They're +h'after the submarine!" + +Dave dragged him behind an ice-covered boulder. + +"Quick!" he whispered. "If the submarine goes, we go with her, inside or +outside, somewhere. We've got to take the chance." + +Darting from ice-pile to ice-pile, they soon reached the water's edge. +There lay the guard, unconscious, an ugly bruise on the side of his head. +And there lay the submarine, silent and closed. + +"She's off!" breathed the engineer. + +It was true. The craft already showed a line of dark water between her +and the shore. + +Without hesitation, the old engineer sprang upon her deck and crouched by +the conning-tower. Instantly Dave followed him. Their soft skin-boots +made no sound. And, as they crouched there, the submarine headed for the +channel and then toward the west. + +"To the treasure city, h'I'll be bound," whispered Jarvis. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A BATTLE BENEATH THE ARCTIC MOON + +"THE TREASURE CITY" + + +"We'll stick 'ere behint th' connin'-tower," the engineer explained to +Dave, as the submarine, turning, put off up the dark channel which +separated the solid shore-ice from the great drift of ice-floe that +lay beyond. + +"If they submerge," suggested Dave, "we'll have a slim chance." + +"H'I doubt if they understant that much," mumbled the engineer between +chattering teeth. "H'anyway, right 'ere's where h'I stick, h'and once th' +bloomin' 'eathen show a 'ead above the 'atchway, h'I 'ates t' think +what'll 'appen to 'im." + +"Perhaps the channel will close in and drive them ashore," suggested Dave +hopefully, as he drew his mackinaw more closely about him and crouched +nearer to the conning-tower, that he might avoid the cutting air and icy +spray which reached him from the prow of the submarine. + +"Mayhap," mumbled the engineer, snuggling close. + +But the channel did not close. Also, the submarine did not submerge; it +plowed straight on through the dark waters of the channel. + +Night passed and the pale Arctic sun revealed the two figures huddling, +half-frozen, behind the conning-tower. Daylight brought little comfort, +serving only to remind them that they had no coffee for breakfast; +indeed, had no breakfast at all. This set the engineer to muttering +threats against the stranger who had stolen the submarine, and caused him +for the hundredth time to remark: + +"H'I 'ates t' think what'll 'appen t' 'em, once h'I gets me 'ands on +'em." + +But the intruders stayed below while, slowly, the sun ran its brief +course and then painted the ice-spires with shadows of deep purple. As +the night came on, the two men were forced to move about to keep from +freezing. Tip-toeing along, avoiding heavy glass windows, they conversed +in low tones. + +"We've been h'at h'it now goin' h'on twenty-four 'ours," murmured Jarvis. +"H'it's two hundred h'an' forty miles, h'an' h'our course u'd be shorter +than a reindeer's. H'if that bloomin' 'eathen that spoke of th' treasure +city told truth, h'I'm one fer believin' we're nearin' th' spot." + +Jarvis spoke more cheerfully than he had at any time during the strange +journey. Dave smiled, as he wondered whether this was due to the fact +their walk had warmed them somewhat, or his rising hopes that they would +at least get to see the fabled treasure city. + +"Tell me," Jarvis whispered, "do my h'old h'eyes deceive me, or h'is +there a line of dark h'over t' th' right of y'?" His hand trembled as +he pointed. + +Dave looked long and earnestly. The moon shone very brightly. The snow +brought out dark objects with such vividness that it would not be too +much to expect to see large objects twenty miles away. + +"I think your eyes are all right," he said slowly. + +"Then that 'ud be th' forest by the river. Th' treasure city 'ud be just +by the 'arbor h'at th' mouth of th' river, Dave. H'I 'ates t' think 'ow +richer we'll be." The old man gripped Dave's hand. + +As for Dave, he was silent. He was thinking first of the struggle that +could not now be far distant. It would be a bitter fight, with odds in +favor of the other party. However, he hoped the enemy had been weakened +by the earlier combat. Then he thought of the men they had so +unexpectedly left behind; of the Doctor who depended upon him, and of the +gobs who had served under him, a boy, so faithfully. Such thoughts left +him in no mood to think of treasure. + +He was about to say as much to his companion when there came a rattle at +the hatch of the sub. + +Quickly he and the engineer crouched behind the conning-tower. Their +breath coming hard, their hearts beating fast, they waited. + +The throbbing of the engine stopped. The submarine glided silently +on. The deathlike stillness was ended by the dull groan of a +hatchway lifting. Armed each with a knife and a heavy ice-anchor, +the two men waited. + + * * * * * + +In the meantime, during this twenty-four hours, so eventful to Dave and +the engineer, other things were happening on the shore by the native +village. When Rainey, who had been on guard at the time of the stealing +of the "sub," had been found and brought back to consciousness, he could +give no account of affairs, other than that he had been struck a violent +blow on the head, and after that, remembered nothing. + +For a single moment dark suspicion rested on Dave and the engineer. Some +of the crew had heard them talking of the treasure city ten days' journey +to the west, and had heard Jarvis remark that he "'ated t' think 'ow +rich they'd be." Could it be possible they had seized the submarine and +deserted the party for the sake of gain to themselves? For a moment faith +wavered, then their better natures triumphed. + +"Not them," they declared. "Not Dave and old Jarvis." + +To this the Doctor heartily agreed. And, though his disappointment was +great at having the expedition again delayed, and, perhaps, entirely +thwarted, he turned his mind at once to matters of the hour. + +Gathering his men about him, he outlined hastily a line of action for +them in the present crisis. They were, he reasoned, in a perilous +situation. + +Several hundred miles west of any point reached by white whalers and +traders, marooned with two hundred superstitious natives, who to-day +worshipped them, but to-morrow, upon discovering the disappearance of the +"spirit-whale," might turn upon them, they would be obliged to make use +of every resource and every strategy to save their lives, should the +submarine fail to return. His plan was, to deal fairly with the natives +and keep their good will, if that were possible. + +Fortunately, they had taken from the submarine ten good rifles with a +hundred rounds of ammunition. Natives were seen at all hours of the day +dragging behind them the carcasses of seal, oogrook (big-seal), and even +polar bear. If these could be secured with the aid of such primitive +weapons as harpoon and lance, they with their rifles might hope to +secure an ample supply of the meat. And it had been proved that even a +white man could live the winter through on a diet of meat and blubber in +right proportions. They might also, at times, be able to trade for +reindeer meat. + +They would remain at the village until no hope remained that the +submarine would return, then they would endeavor to get a store of meat, +some reindeer, and deerskin sleeping bags, and make their way east to +some point reached in summer by traders. + +Three of the large skin-houses had already been turned over to them by +the natives. These would provide ample shelter. Two were at once arranged +as bunk-houses and the third as cook-shack. + +When this had been done, with two men on guard, they turned in and slept. + +Next morning, at six o'clock, four hours before daylight, every man was +called out and assigned duties. It was the custom of the natives to +depart for the hunting-ground at that hour. They should follow the same +custom. Dividing themselves into two parties, one to watch camp, the +other to hunt, they immediately set about their tasks. + +The first day's hunt was under the direction of Azazruk, the Eskimo. The +results were more than gratifying. Two ringed seals, one oogrook, ten +feet long, and one young polar bear were the bag for the day. + +"A full week's supply of meat," smiled the Doctor, rubbing his hands in +high glee. In his interest in this new game, he had for the moment quite +forgotten his great disappointment at the loss of the sub. + +It was while they were smacking their lips over a hamburger, made of bear +meat, that they were surprised by a young native, who rushed into their +tent without the accustomed shouted salutation, seemingly quite beside +himself with fear. + +For some time nothing intelligible could be gathered from his excited +chatter. But finally Azazruk made out that only an hour before, as he +watched the reindeer, a great hairy monster had dashed at the herd, +scattering it far and wide, and carrying away a yearling buck as easily +as if it had been a rabbit. + +"Probably a white bear," suggested Rainey. + +"Not probable," said the Doctor. "A bear would eat his prey where it +was slain." + +"A wolf?" + +"Couldn't do it." + +"Well, what then?" + +All eyes were turned toward the Doctor. + +"You will judge me insane if I tell you what I think it was," he +answered. "But here you are; I think it was a tiger." + +"A tiger?" + +"Tiger?" + +Every man voiced his unbelief. + +"A tiger in the Arctic?" + +"Impossible!" + +"That's absurd." + +For answer the Doctor drew from his notebook a newspaper clipping, +bidding Rainey read it aloud. The article was entitled "THE RUSSIAN +TIGER" and was an account of the slaying of a gigantic man-eater by an +American officer when American troops were stationed at Vladivostok, in +eastern Russia. + +"At that point," explained the Doctor, "they have about eight months of +winter with a thermometer that drops far below zero. It may well be +considered a part of the Arctic. Yet, as you see, they have tigers there; +indeed, I am told they are not at all uncommon. So why not up here?" No +one had a ready answer, and at last the Doctor spoke again: + +"In the meantime, what are we going to do about it? It would seem that +the natives are appealing to us for aid." + +Rainey at once sprang to his feet, exclaiming: + +"Count me one to go hunt the beast, whatever it is." + +At once the others were on their feet shouting their eagerness for the +hunt. + +The Doctor chose a gob named Thompson to accompany Rainey on his +"tiger hunt," or whatever it might prove to be. Rainey was well +pleased at the choice, for Thompson was a sure shot and a cool, nervy +hand in time of danger. + +"If I don't hear from you by morning," said the Doctor, "I shall send a +relief expedition." + +Rainey had fully recovered from the affair of the previous day. Both he +and Thompson had been among the guarding party that day, so were fresh +and keen for work. They found the moonlight making the wide stretches of +ice and snow light as day. + +"_ Some_ night and _some_ game!" murmured Rainey, as they emerged +from the tent. + + * * * * * + +When the men in native garb, who had stolen the submarine, lifted the +hatch to take an observation, they were utterly unaware of the presence +of two figures crouching behind the conning-tower. This, in spite of the +fact that the men wore their long knives strapped to their waists, gave +Dave and the engineer a decided advantage--an advantage they were not +slow to make the most of. + +Fortunately, the robbers crowded up the hatchway, all eager to catch a +first view of the reputed gold valley, in which lay the treasure city. + +As the third head peeped above the hatch, Jarvis sprang at them. Swinging +his ice-anchor, an ugly cudgel of bent iron with a chilled steel point, +he sent two of the villains sprawling at a single blow. Meanwhile, Dave, +who had grappled with the third man, made a misstep and together they +plunged down the hatchway. His opponent landed full on Dave's stomach, +and so crushed the breath from him that for a second the lad could not +move. But instantly, he realized that he must act. The man was attempting +to draw his long knife. Thrusting out a hand, Dave gripped the point of +the blade in its soft leather sheath so tightly that it could not be +withdrawn. + +Struggling with every ounce of strength, the two men were rolling over +and over on the deck. The stranger was heavier and evidently older than +Dave, but the American had one advantage. He was dressed only in woolens. +The heavy skin clothing of his antagonist hampered his action. In spite +of this, Dave felt himself losing out in the battle. The stranger's hand +was gripping closer and closer to his throat, and he felt his own hand +losing its hold on the knife-blade, when he heard a welcome roar from the +hatchway. It was Jarvis. With one leap he was at Dave's side. For an old +man, he was surprisingly quick. Yet, he was not too quick, for the +murderous knife was swinging above Dave's chest and a hand was at his +throat, when Jarvis clove the assailant's skull with his ice-anchor. + +With a groan the man collapsed. The knife clattered to the deck. Jarvis +dropped to the floor panting. + +"Are you hurt?" he gasped. + +"No! Are you?" + +"Not a scratch. Some jolly little weapon, them ice-h'anchors. H'I'll wear +one of 'em h'in me belt from now on! H'I 'ates t' think 'ow cold th' +water was when h'I pitched 'em h'in, them other two." + +"Kill 'em?" + +"Not that bad. But mebby they'll drown. H'I'll go see. H'I'd 'ate t' see +'em climbin' back." + +He hurried up the hatchway, followed closely by Dave. + +Not a sign of the two men was to be seen, either on the submarine, in the +water or on the solid shore-ice, a few rods away. + +"What d' y' think of that?" asked Jarvis, mopping his brow. "They're +gone!" + +"Perhaps they drowned." + +"Mebbe drowned--mebby they're 'id h'in th' h'ice." + +"Well, anyway, we're rid of them," said Dave. "We'll sew the dead one up +in a blanket and throw him overboard; then we'll be going back. Think how +all fussed up the Doctor will be." The boy chuckled. + +"Going back?" Jarvis stared, as if unable to believe his ears. "Going +back? And the treasure city within peep of h'our h'eyes. Going back, did +y' say? H'I 'ates t' think 'ow rich we'll be, you an' me." + +The sun was setting behind the dark line of timber. Some object at a +point where the timber ended and the tundra began cast back the sunlight +with a golden glow. + +"D' y' see it, lad?" exclaimed the excited old man. "D'y'see it? +H'it's gold." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE RUSSIAN TIGER + + +When Rainey and Thompson, accompanied by the native, left the village to +hunt the strange creature that was working havoc with the village +reindeer herd, they walked directly away from the rows of deerskin houses +toward the tundra at the foot of the hills where, some five miles away, +the deer were herded. + +The five miles were accomplished mostly in silence. Each man was busy +with his own thoughts. As for the little native, he seemed quite without +fear as long as he was with the powerful "spirits of dead whales." + +When they approached the brown line of the herd that spread itself across +the horizon, the boy led them around it to a point beyond where the beast +attacked the young deer. + +There, though the ground had been much trampled by the maddened herd, +they found many traces of the attack. Splotches of blood stained the snow +and made a well-defined trail where the creature had carried off its +prey. Soon they were beyond the patches of trampled snow and then the +native left them to follow the trail alone. + +Faintly, from the distance, came the rattle and clatter of reindeer +antlers as the herd moved about. Above them, in all its silver glory, +shone the moon. Now and again the hunters gave a start, as a ptarmigan, +roused from its slumbers, went whirring away. To them every purple shadow +of rock or bush or snow-pile might be the beast crouching over his kill. + +"The Doctor's right!" exclaimed Rainey, bending over the trail, which +still showed a bloodspot here and there. "It's no polar bear--here's the +scratch of his claws where he climbed this bank. Polar bears have no +claws, only a sort of hard lump on the end of each toe." + +"No wolf, either," said Thompson, examining the tracks carefully. "The +scratches are too long and too far apart. But, for that matter, who +would even dream of a wolf large enough to carry off a two hundred +pound deer?" + +The beast's soft paws on the snow, hard-packed by Arctic winds, left a +trail very difficult to follow. But, bit by bit, they traced it out. + +At last the creature, having climbed a hill, had taken down a narrow +ravine where scrub willows grew thick. And here they found +unmistakable evidence that it had been some form of a great cat that +had passed this way. + +"Just like a cat's track," said Rainey. "And look at the size of 'em; +must measure five inches across!" + +They paused at the edge of the willows. They were brave men, but not +fools. Only fools would venture into that thicket, where every advantage +would be on the side of the lurking monster. + +"There's a ridge up there running right along the side of this scrub," +said Rainey. "We'll climb up there and walk along it. May get a glimpse +of him. Then, again, he may have come out on the other side and gone on." + +They climbed the bank and started along the ridge. Every yellow bunch of +dead willow leaves at once became for the moment a crouching tiger, but +each, in turn, was passed up. So they walked the ridge and had passed the +willow clump, when Rainey gripped his companion's arm, whispering: + +"What's that down there to the right? I think I saw it move." + +Thompson gazed down the narrow pass for a moment, then whispered: + +"C'mon. It's the very old chap. We can skirt the next bank of rocks and +be right above him. We're in luck. It will be an easy shot!" + +Creeping on hands and knees, with bated breath and nerves a-tingle, the +boys came presently to a point above the half-hidden beast. As they +peered down at him they could barely suppress exclamations of surprise. +It was, indeed, a tiger. And such a tiger! Never, in any zoo or +menagerie, had they seen his equal. He was a monster, with massive head, +deep chest and powerful limbs; and his thick fur--nature's protection +against the Arctic cold--seemed to emphasize both his size and his +savageness. + +"You're the best shot," whispered Rainey. "Try him!" + +Thompson lifted his rifle and with steady nerve aimed at a point back of +the fore-leg. + +The tiger, who up to this time had apparently neither heard nor scented +them, but had been crouching half asleep beside his mangled prey, seemed +suddenly to become aware of their presence. Just as the rifle cracked, he +sprang up the bank. His deafening roar told that the bullet had found a +mark, but it did not check his charge. + +Then came a catastrophe. Rainey leaned too far forward, causing some +rocks and loose snow to slide from beneath him, and, in another second he +shot down a steep incline to what seemed certain death. + +To his surprise, he found himself dropping straight down. A hidden cliff +here jutted out over the drifted snow. To his much greater surprise, +instead of being knocked senseless, he was immediately engulfed in what +seemed an avalanche of snow leaping up to meet him. His alert mind told +him what had happened. A blizzard of a few days previous had driven great +quantities of snow against the cliff. This snow was not hard-packed, and +he had been buried in it by the fall. The problem now was to avoid the +tiger, who was sure to spring upon him at the first glimpse and tear him +in pieces. Then, suddenly, there flashed through his mind a picture left +over from his boyhood days. It was that of a cat endeavoring to catch a +mole, which burrowed industriously beneath the snow, raising a ridge as +he burrowed. Could he play the part of the mole, as the tiger was sure to +play the part of the cat? It was his only chance. His companion would not +dare to shoot until he knew where Rainey was. + +Putting himself in the position of a swimmer, the sailor began pawing at +the snow and kicking it with his feet. The snow was hard packed against +his face and he thought his lungs would burst. But he was making +progress. Now, he dared back off a trifle and take a long breath of air +from the burrow he had made. Then a sound stirred him to renewed effort. +It was the thud and jar of an impact. The tiger, having made his first +leap, had missed. How many more times would he do this? The boy once more +jamming his head against the snow renewed his swimming motions. Again he +was obliged to pause for breath. Again the tiger sprang; this time, +seemingly, he was more accurate. Again the race was renewed. The boy's +mind was in a whirl. Would his companion understand and risk a shot as +the tiger prepared for another spring? He hoped so. Surely, he could not +endure the strain much longer. One thing he was certain of, he could not +hear the report of the rifle if a shot were fired. He must struggle on in +ignorance of what was going on above him. The thought was maddening. The +air in the narrow channel was stifling; yet, he burrowed on, and heard +again the heavy impact. + +He had burrowed his length and backed off again for breath, when he was +forced to the realization that he could endure the air of the channel no +longer. Apparently, the tiger's last leap had completely closed it. + +Resolving to fight his way out, and then to trust all to flight, he +thrust his hands upward and again began to burrow. With dizzy brain +and wildly beating heart, he felt at length the fresh, frosty air upon +his cheek. + +But what was this that reached his ears? Surely not the roar of the +tiger. Instead it was the joyous cry of his companion. + +Dragging the snow from his eyes, Rainey stared about him. There, not five +paces from him, lay the tiger with a bullet in his brain, while beside +the body stood Thompson. + +"Well," said the hunter with a grin, "you're sure some mouse!" + +"And you're some shot!" said Rainey, floundering through the snow to his +companion's side. "I guess that's the finest tiger skin in the world." + +"It's yours as much as mine," answered Thompson. "We'll go share and +share alike." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +BRUCE AND THE BEAR + + +During this time of mishaps and adventures for the submarine party, what +was happening to the boys and the Major in their airplane? With fair wind +and weather they might well have been on the return journey from the +Pole. But fair wind and weather are not for long in the Arctic. They +were, indeed, on their way. As they shot away into the air from the +native village near the trader's schooner, they heard the natives calling +one word in unison. It was the Eskimo name for Thunder-bird. + +The Major smiled happily at the boys as the plane soared upward. + +Barney was again at the wheel. Two things he dreaded now: engine trouble, +which might be brought on by poor gasoline, and an Arctic blizzard. If +forced to land at any time, they would be in great danger of a crash, +and a storm would double the danger. + +But there could never have been a more wonderful day than that on which +they left the little camp for the great adventure. Not a cloud whitened +the blue dome of the sky, not a breath of air stirred. Soon the sun sank +from sight, and twilight, strange and wonderful, lasting through three +long hours, faded slowly into night. Then below them lay yellow lights +and deep purple shadows, with here and there a stretch of black, which +told of open water between floes. + +The air grew colder as night came on, and speeding northward they saw the +thermometer dropping degree by degree, and felt the chill creep through +their garments in defiance of their electrical heating device. Barney +began to worry about the effect of this intense cold on the tempered +steel of his engines and the many-layered wood of his propellers; but as +they sped on hour after hour, this restlessness left him. + +But what was this? He found the machine shooting through space with +greater freedom. One answer there was: a storm. They had been caught in +the advance of a blizzard; how great and terrible, none could tell. + +"Going to storm. Better land," telephoned the Major. + +Obeying his orders, the boy dropped to a lower level. Here the wind was +more intense and the air was filled with fine particles of snow which +raced with them, only to glide away into the background. The whole +ice-floe was already gray and indistinct from the drift. To pick a +landing-place seemed impossible. For several moments of agonizing +suspense they sped on; then, just as they were about to despair, there +appeared before them a long expanse of white. Wide as three city +boulevards, endless in extent, it appeared to offer just the opportunity +they were seeking. + +With a sign Barney shut off his engine, and, sailing on the wind, waited +for a lull to give him a safe landing. + +The lull came, then with a swoop, like a wild duck seeking water, they +hovered, settled, then touched the surface. + +The landing-wheels were shooting along over the snow with Barney's keen +eyes strained ahead that he might avoid possible rough spots, when there +came a cry of dismay from Bruce. With one startled glance about, Barney +saw all. To the right and left of them the ice seemed to rise like the +walls of an inverted tent. "Rubber-ice," his mind told him like a flash. +They had attempted to land where the water had but recently frozen over, +and was covered with a deceptive coating of snow. Only one hope remained: +to rise again. Once the weak rubber-ice--thin, elastic salt-water +ice--gave way, nothing could save them. + +Tilting the planes and tail to their utmost capacity, Barney set first +one engine in motion and then the other. But the yielding ice gave them +no purchase. At the same time, it impeded their progress by offering them +the slope of a mountain side to climb. One thing favored them. The peril +of a moment before became a blessing. The wind freshened at every blast. +At last, with a terrific swoop, it seized them and sent them whirling +upward. In the down-swoop, they were all but crashed on a towering pile +of ice, but escaping this fate, once more they were away. + +Despite this near-catastrophe, Barney was determined to make a landing. +The chill of the storm was so benumbing to muscles and senses that +further flying could only result in stupor, then death. + +Again he sank low and scudded along on the wings of the wind. To his +great joy, he soon saw that they were passing over flat stretches of +white. There could be no mistake this time; they were ice-pans, perhaps a +quarter-mile across, such pans as form in quiet bays, to float away and +drift north in the spring. Again he stopped his engines, determined, if +he must, to circle and return to the flats he had passed. This did not +prove necessary, however, and, to their great relief, the three were soon +threshing their arms and stamping their feet on a solid cake of ice, and +so vast that it seemed they must be on land, not hundreds of miles from +shore on the bosom of a great ocean, which might, at the very point they +stood, be a half-mile in depth. + +Their first concern was to make camp. This storm might rage for days, and +already they saw white spots forming on one another's cheeks, telling of +frost-bites. + +"We can't camp here in the open," said the Major. "Have to carry our +blankets and sleeping-bags to the rougher ice yonder, where we can build +a house of snow." + +The suggestion was no sooner made than the boys were delving into the +inner recesses of the plane and dragging out equipment and supplies. + +"Primus stove, dried potatoes, pemmican, evaporated eggs, pickled butter, +hard-tack, chocolate, beef tea, coffee," Barney called off. "Not bad for +near the Pole." + +The dogs were hitched to the small sled and soon all were racing away +before the wind to the spot chosen for the camp. In a short time they +were busy constructing a rude shelter, and the airplane for the moment +was forgotten. + +In the meantime, the wind was increasing, and the wings of the plane, +catching first this swirl, then that one, began making great gyrating +circles, cutting the air with a crack and a burr that might be heard +rods away. Though these sounds did not reach the men, busy with the +snow-shack, they did reach listening ears--a great white bear, wandering +the floes in search of some sleeping seal, stood first on all fours, +then on his haunches, to listen. Then, with many a misgiving and many a +pause, he made his cautious way to the edge of that particular ice-flat +where the plane rested. Thence, after more misgivings, he trundled his +awkward body across the flat and took a position close to the plane, +where, on his haunches, he stood and watched the apparently playful +antics of the plane as if he thought it some great bird that had come to +infest his domain. + +Presently, when the plane nearest him seemed about to swoop down and +touch the ice, he moved to a position beneath it, and, with tongue +lolling, stood on his haunches again and swinging his giant paw to +accompany the swing of the plane, struck out as it approached him. To his +surprise, the plane did not come within twenty feet of the ice surface. +He sank back on his haunches and awaited further developments. + +When the snow-hut was completed, the first thought of the Major and the +boys was of something to eat. + +"Something hot!" exclaimed Barney, rattling away at the primus stove. +Then he sat up with a look of disgust on his face. + +"The needles for the primus," he groaned. "They're still over in +the plane!" + +"I'll get them," said Bruce, beginning to draw on his heavy parka. Soon +he was fighting the wind back to the position of the plane. He had not +battled with the elements long before he began to realize that all would +not be well if the plane were left in its present position, unanchored as +it was. And when he caught the hum and whirr of the wind through the +wings, he was more thoroughly convinced of the fact than ever. As he +came near and could see the long tilting toss of the wings, he realized +that something must be done and at once. For a second he hesitated; +should he return and call his companions, or should he attempt to anchor +the plane, temporarily at least, unaided? He decided upon the latter +course, and went at once to the body of the plane where were stored +light, strong ropes of silk, and ice-anchors. He did not see the bear +sitting patiently on his haunches beneath the tip of the long wing. +Indeed, the snow-fog made it impossible, and it was equally impossible +for the bear to see him. + +Having secured four ropes and four ice-anchors, Bruce took two of the +ropes and began climbing out on the right wing of the plane. His plan was +to attach the ropes to the extremity of the wing, cast them down to the +surface where he would anchor them later in each direction away from the +tip of the wing. He would repeat the operation with the other wing, and, +drawing the ropes down snugly, thus make the plane tight and steady. + +He had climbed quite to the extremity of the wing and was about to tie +his first rope, when a fierce gust of wind threatened to tear him from +the rigging and crash him to the ice, a dangerous distance below. With a +quick clutch, he saved himself but lost the rope. It was with a grunt of +disgust that he saw it wind and twirl toward the white surface below. +Then it was, for the first time, that he saw the yellowish-white object +huddled there on the ice waiting. + +"A bear!" he groaned, and instinctively reached for his automatic. + +But at that instant there came a fresh swoop of wind that set the plane +gyrating more violently than ever. + +Clinging grimly to the bars, Bruce felt the wing swing down, down, then +in toward the bear, till it seemed it must crash into the great creature. +Before the plane rose Bruce felt a chill run down his spine. Not ten feet +beneath him was the savage face of the bear. All his gleaming white teeth +showed in an ugly grin, as he stood on his haunches one mighty fore-paw +raised in air, like a traffic policeman signaling a car to stop. + +Then again the wing whirled to dizzy heights. Bruce was now quite ready +to climb back the length of the wing and depart for camp to summon +assistance. But to loosen his grip, even of one hand for an instant, was +to court death. Again he felt the sickening sink of the plane, as if it +were an elevator-car loosed from its cable. And this time, he felt +instinctively, the wing would scrape the ice. And the bear, if he were +still there? Well, there was going to be a crash and a general mix-up. + +Bruce had been a football player in his day and was aware that there were +times, if one were at the bottom of the heap, when relaxation was the +play. As far as his position made it possible, he relaxed. And, in the +meantime the plane swept downward. + +For one fleeting instant he saw the white traffic cop of the Arctic +wilderness still standing with paw upraised. Then everything was a +blinding, deafening crash of ice and snow, wood, canvas and white bear. + +Bruce gathered himself up some rods from the scene of the crash. Relaxed +as he was, he had rolled like a football over the ice and had escaped +with a few bruises. But the plane? As he caught a fleeting glimpse of it +disappearing in the murky fog, he felt sure that it would take days, +perhaps weeks, to repair it. + +"And the worst is not yet! She's still swinging!" he groaned, +rising stiffly. + +But immediately his mind was turned to the white "cop." How had he fared? +The boy felt for his automatic. Fortune favored him; it was still in his +holster. This was well, for the white bear, very much shaken but still +game, having wrought further havoc with the debris left by the demolished +wing, was charging down upon him. + +Standing his ground, Bruce waited until the bear was within six paces. +One stroke from that giant paw would end the struggle. His aim must be +true and certain. Suddenly his hand went to his side for a hip-shot. +Put-put-put-put. Four bullets smashed into the bear, bringing him to a +standstill. Put-put-put-put. With a roar, the bear sank to the ice. In a +second he was dead. + +It was with a feeling almost of regret that Bruce bent over the giant +beast. But it was with a sense of new power that he noted that seven of +his bullets had crashed through the Arctic Goliath's skull. + +Again his mind was turned toward the plane. Cold and hungry as they were, +he realized that he and his two companions must spend the next hour +making their craft safe from further damage. + +Three hours, indeed, elapsed before they were again seated in the +snow-cabin. This time the primus stove was going and the coffee coming +to a boil. + +"Well," said the Major, "I'm glad we're all here. We'll be delayed for +several days. We may have lost the race. But we won't give up. As long as +our plane has wings we'll keep on. No race is ever lost until the goal +is reached and passed. Let's eat." + +"Anyway," said Barney, as he sipped his cup of hot coffee, "we won't run +out of dog meat and hamburger soon. I'll bet Bruce's bear weighs a +thousand pounds dressed." + +"Fourteen inches between the ears," grinned Bruce proudly. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +"BOMBED" + + +Standing silently beside the aged engineer, Dave Tower gazed thoughtfully +at the golden dome that flashed, then slowly darkened in the setting sun. +That yellow gleam did not lure him on, for the honor of helping to reach +the Pole was more to him than money. But Jarvis? He perhaps had learned +in his long years of labor that "the paths of glory lead but to the +grave," and now that he was growing old wealth would mean escape from +toil and worry. Perhaps, too, somewhere in the States a gray-haired wife +awaited him to whom just a little of that gleaming gold would mean rest +and peace as long as she might live. + +So Dave looked at the golden dome and pondered what he ought to do. When +at last, he spoke, his tone was kind: + +"Jarvis," he began, "as you know, I am in command of this craft. The +fact that it has been stolen and won back, more by your efforts than by +anything I have done, does not change matters any. I am still commander." + +Jarvis looked up with an impatient gesture, as if about to speak, but +Dave kept on: + +"As captain of this submarine, I might order you below, and your refusal +to do so would be mutiny. But from the time we came aboard this craft we +have been more like pals than commander and engineer. I give you my word +of honor I will never order you below. If you go, you go of your own +free will." + +Jarvis raised his face for a moment, and upon it was a look of +growing hope. + +"You know," Dave continued, "what our duty is. We shipped under the +orders of the Doctor. Those orders still go. No matter how fine the +chances are that we are letting slip, we are bound to do as the +Doctor wants. + +"More than that, we have friends back there who had only two days' supply +of food when we left them. They are living in a village of +superstitious, treacherous savages, who may attack and murder them at any +moment. Jarvis," he touched the old man's hand, "we are American seamen. +Will you forget your flag and your shipmates for gold?" + +For a second the old man stood in silence, then with a rush, he stumbled +down the hatchway, and in another moment Dave heard him tinkering away at +his engines. + +Before Dave wrapped the dead stranger in his burial blanket, he searched +the pockets of his clothing. There was no mistaking the garments; they +were oriental in make. And had there remained any doubt, it would have +been dispelled by two packets of papers taken from an inside pocket. +These bore the official stamp of that oriental government which had been +named by Jarvis. + +"I must tell Jarvis," said the boy to himself. "It will please him to +know that he was right." + +And that night, while they glided silently back toward the native +village they had left not many hours before, leaving the treasure city +a mystery unexplained, he _did_ tell Jarvis. As he finished, the old +man's face lighted. + +"The thing that's troublin' me just now," he said slowly, "is the +question of th' two bloomin' 'eathen that faded from h'our h'eyes. H'I +'ates to think they live, an' h'I 'ates to trust my 'opes they're done +for. If they're h'alive, they may get the treasure yet, an' h'I 'ates t' +be beat by a bloody, bloomin' 'eathen." + +"They're a long way from home base," said Dave with a grin. "They may +find the treasure, but getting it home's another thing." + +"I want you to know," he went on, huskily, "that I appreciate your +standing by me, and if we get out of this alive, you and I, with our +discharge papers, I promise I'll be your partner in this new +enterprise--the quest for treasure; that is, if you'll take me on." + +"Will h'I?" Jarvis sprang to his feet, a new glad light in his eye. "Will +h'I? 'Ere, give us a 'and on that. H'and we'll win, lad; we'll win! An' +that in spite of th' bloomin' 'eathen!" + +It was early the next morning that the Doctor, who was enjoying, with +the gobs, the native festival of rejoicing over the killing of the great, +and to them unknown, beast which had attacked their reindeer herds, he +noticed a young native come running from the direction of the sea. He +paused now and again to shout: + +"Tomai! Tomai!" which was the native call for the arrival of a boat. + +Instantly the crowd was thrown into commotion. Natives rushed hither and +thither. But the white men realized at once that this could mean nothing +less than the return of the submarine, and, while they did not at all +understand it, they whooped their joy and rushed toward the shore to see +a dark body rounding the point. + +"The sub! The sub! Hurray! Hurray!" they shouted, tossing their caps high +in air. And the submarine indeed it was. Dave and Jarvis were overjoyed +to rejoin their companions. + +The stories of adventure were soon told and then everyone was set to +hustling the last bit of equipment on board. There would be neither +meals nor sleep until everything was in readiness and they were away. + +As the Doctor and Dave stood on deck watching the casting off of the +ropes, the Doctor spoke of his plans. + +"We may have lost the race," he remarked rather grimly, "but we're going +to the Pole just the same. It will mean something to you boys, at least, +to be able to say that you've been there. It was my purpose to lay our +course directly for the Pole without establishing a base, but since we +have been carried out of our way so far, and have used so much fuel, I +feel that it will be wise to head for the farthest-north point of +Alaska--Point Barrow. + +"I was assured, in Nome, that there were two oil-burning whalers +wintering near there, and I have no doubt that we can depend on them for +extra fuel." + +The hatches were lowered, the submarine sank from sight amid the +"Ah-ne-ca's" and "Mat-na's" of the awe stricken natives who lined the +cliffs a half-mile away. The sub, with all on board, was again on its +way to enter the race for the Pole. + +"The race is on," said Dave. + +"I wonder?" smiled the Doctor. + +Three times they rose in dark waterways for air. The fourth time it +seemed they must be nearing land-- + +Yes, as the submarine bumped the edge of an ice-floe, a point of land +showed plainly to port. + +Dave, with field-glass in hand, sprang to the nearest ice-cake, then +climbed to a pinnacle to take an observation. + +"Clear water to the left of us," he reported. + +"Too close ashore?" asked the Doctor. + +"I think not," was Dave's answer. "We'll have to submerge for three or +four miles; then we'll be clear of the ice." + +Signal bells clanged, and again they were gliding under the ocean's +armor of ice. + +As he listened to the hum of the machinery, one question puzzled Dave. He +had seen something along the end of that ice-floe. What was it? A sail? +If so, it was a very strange one--half white and half black. He could +not be sure it was a sail. But what else could it have been? + +But now they had swept out from under the ice. It was time to rise. +Instantly he pressed the button. The craft slowed again. Another press, +and as before they rose. This time no white surface would interrupt them. +A current coming from land caught them forward and tilted the craft. She +slanted from fore to aft. This did not matter; she would right herself on +the surface like a cork. + +But what was this? As the point shot from the water, something rang out +against the steel. This was followed immediately by what, in the narrow +apartments, amounted to a deafening explosion; then came the sound of +rushing waters. + +"Great God! We're bombed!" shouted the Doctor. + +Dave's cool head saved them for the moment. His hand seized an electric +switch and he pulled it desperately. The bow compartment was quickly +closed, checking the rush of water into the rest of the "sub," +Fortunately, no one had been forward at the time. + +But now they were sinking rapidly. Then came the throb of the pumps +forcing out the water from the compartments aft. Slowly the sickening +sinking of their ship was checked. + +"Will she rise again?" asked the Doctor, white-faced but cool. + +"I think so, sir," responded Dave. + +Dave watched a gauge with anxious eyes. The pumps were still working. +Would the craft stand the test? Would she rise? + +One, two, three minutes he watched the dial; then a fervent "Thank God!" +escaped his lips. The sub was rising again. + +But once more his brow was clouded. What awaited them on the surface? + +"One more," he muttered, "just one more, and we are done for." + +Every man aboard the submarine had a different explanation for the bomb +which had disabled their craft. Jones, the electrician, had just finished +reading the adventures of a young British gunner in these very waters +somewhere back in the eighties. The story had to do with the defense of +seal fisheries against the Japs, and Jones was sure that a Japanese +seal-poaching boat had bombed them. McPherson, who had seen active +service chasing German subs, was certain they had encountered one of the +missing U boats. Wilder believed it had been a Russian cruiser, and, of +course, Jarvis blamed it to the "bloomin' 'eathen." + +The first and third of these theories could be discarded at once, since +no craft was to be seen when last they submerged, and a cruiser or +schooner of any size could scarcely have escaped their attention. + +As for Dave, he had another theory, but was too busy to talk about it. He +had read a great deal regarding the Eskimos and their methods of hunting. + +Meanwhile the submarine was rising slowly toward the surface. She was +coming up with her stern tilted high this time, for the water in her +forward compartments disturbed her balance. Every heart beat fast as the +water above grew lighter. + +"McPherson, be ready to throw open the hatch the minute we are clear," +commanded Dave. "All life belts on?" he asked. + +"Aye, aye, sir!" came in chorus. + +"Rifles?" + +"At hand, sir." + +"Ready then." + +There came a sudden burst of light, the creak of hinges, the thud of the +hatch, then the thud of feet as the men rushed for the deck. + +In another moment the crew found themselves outside clinging to the +tilted and unsteady craft, blinking in the sunlight, and seeing--? +Principally white ice and dark water. Off in the distance, indeed, +was an innocent-looking native skin-boat. There were, perhaps, ten +natives aboard. + +"Thought so," chuckled Dave. + +"You thought what?" demanded the Doctor. Every eye was turned on the +young commander. + +"Thought we'd been shot by natives with a whale-gun. Took us for a +whale, don't you see? Whale-gun throws a bomb that explodes inside the +whale and kills him. In this case, it exploded against us and raised the +very old dickens. Here they come. You'll see I'm right." + +And he was right. The crew of christianized natives were soon alongside, +very humble in their apologies, and very anxious to assist in undoing the +damage they had wrought. + +"Have we any extra steel plate?" asked the Doctor. + +"Yes, sir. Have to be shaped, though," replied Dave. + +"Can we do it?" + +"I think so, on shore." + +"All right, then. Get these natives to give us a hand and we'll go on the +sand-bar for repairs. Bad cess to the whaling industry of the Eskimos! +It's lost us a full two days, and perhaps the race! But we must not give +up. Things can happen to airplanes, as well." + +It took a hard half-day's work to bring the craft to land, but at last +the task was done and the mechanics were hammering merrily away on the +steel with acetylene torch sputtering, and forty natives standing about +open-mouthed, exclaiming at everything that happened, and offering +profound explanations in their own droll way. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE MYSTERY CAVERN + + +Once their craft was repaired, the submarine party pushed northward at an +average rate of ten miles an hour. It was two days before any further +adventure crossed their path. But each hour of the journey had its new +thrill and added charm. Now, with engine in full throb, they were +scurrying along narrow channels of dark water, and now submerging for a +sub-sea journey. Now, shadowy objects shot past them, and Dave uttered a +prayer that they might not mix with the propeller--seal, walrus or white +whale, whatever they might be. In his mind, at such times, he had visions +of floating beneath the Arctic pack, powerless to go ahead or backward +and as powerless to break through the ice to freedom. + +Wonderful changing lights were ever filtering through ice and water to +them, and, at times, as they drove slowly forward, the lights and shadows +seemed to have a motion of their own, a restless shifting, like the play +of sunlight and shadow beneath the trees. Dave knew this was no work of +the imagination. He knew that the ice above them was the plaything of +currents and winds; that great cakes, many yards wide and eight feet +thick, were grinding and piling one upon another. Once more his brow +wrinkled. "For," he said to himself, "it may be true enough that the +average ice-floe is only twenty-five miles wide, but if the wind and +current jams a lot of them together, what limit can there be to their +extent? And if we were to find ourselves in the center of such a vast +field of ice with oxygen exhausted, what chance would we have?" + +Dave shuddered in answer to the question. + +He was thinking of these things on the eve of the second day. They were +plowing peacefully through the water when, of a sudden, there came a +grating blow at the side of the craft. It was as if they had struck some +solid object and glanced off. + +"What was that?" exclaimed the boy. He cut the power, then turned to +the Doctor: + +"Ice or--" + +"There it goes again!" exclaimed the Doctor. + +This time the blow was heavier. It sent them against the side of the +compartment. + +"Ice beneath the ocean? Impossible!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Must +be rocks!" + +Another blow hurled them in the opposite direction. Both realized the +gravity of this new peril. If one of these blows caught the craft +squarely it would crush the sub like an egg-shell. + +But the boat was slowing up. There was hope in that. Dave, attempting +to look out of one of the portholes, was thrown to the floor by +another shock. And this time the craft seemed to have stuck, for she +did not move. + +"Where can we be?" asked Dave, rubbing a bruised head. + +It was a strange sight which met their eyes as they looked from the +conning tower. On every side appeared to be giant pillars of ice. +Between these were narrow water passages, while above they could make out +a mass of ice far more opaque than any they had yet passed beneath. + +"One of two things," said the Doctor. "We are beneath an iceberg or the +end of a glacier. Probably a glacier, and the pillars which support it +reach to the bottom, which must not be far below us." + +"We have driven between two pillars and stuck there like a mouse in a +trap," said Dave, "and if we cannot set ourselves free, we are--" + +"It must be done!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Start the power slowly and see +what the propeller will do." + +Dave gave the signal. There followed a harsh, grating sound, but the boat +did not move. + +"Stuck!" muttered Dave. + +"Not so fast." said the Doctor. "There's hope yet. Shut off the power and +order all hands aft." + +"Now," said the Doctor, when they were assembled. "We will go to the +starboard side, then all together dash to port, and throw our weight +against the side. Then turn and rush back--we want to make her roll. Are +you ready? Go!" + +The craft stirred a trifle at the shock. The second attempt seemed to +promise still better. After they had repeated the operation half a dozen +times, they were getting considerable side-wise movement out of the +trapped submarine. + +"Now," said the Doctor, "start the power slowly, engine reversed. The +instant she is free, shut off the power. On the precision of this +operation depends all our lives, for should the propeller strike one of +those pillars it will be torn away and our hope of escape gone." + +Dave's hand trembled as he moved the lever. For one second the propeller +spun around. Then, with a shudder, the craft started backward. That +instant Dave shut off the power. The submarine drifted free. So far, they +were safe. + +The Doctor consulted his watch. + +"Time of low tide," he observed "Guess we should be able to rise and get +some air. Try it." + +Slowly they rose to the surface, and there the craft rested. + +It was an eager throng that rushed from the conning-tower and it was a +wonderful and awe-inspiring sight which met their gaze. + +"Cathedral of the Polar Gods!" exclaimed the Doctor. And, indeed, so the +great cavern seemed to be. Great pillars of ice, not yet worn away by the +wash of water, supported giant arches of ice, blue as a mid-June night. +The least echo was echoed and reechoed through the vast corridors. The +murmur of distant waves seemed to come from everywhere. + +"What I want to know," said Dave, "is, which way is out. The careless +gods seemed to have neglected to mark the exits." + +"We'll find an exit," said the Doctor, "and we'd better be about it, for +it'll be much easier at low-tide than at high." + +The engine was started, and slowly they steered their way through +countless aisles and broad halls, but the finding of the way out did not +seem so easy after all. They had penetrated far enough into the cavern to +hide them from the pale outer moonlight, and they were not certain that +their course was not taking them farther from it. + +Dave was thinking of turning about when the sub came to a stop with a +suddenness which threatened to pitch the party into the sea. + +"What now?" demanded the Doctor. + +Ordering the power shut off, then flashing a light before them, Dave +exclaimed: "A beach, a sandy beach!" Then, with the enthusiasm of a boy, +he sprang forward, leaping into shallow water and wading ashore. + +Once ashore he flashed his light about in the icy caverns which left but +a narrow sandy beach. Then, with a cry of horror, he sprang backward. +Before him towered an immense hairy monster, with tusks three times the +length of a man's arm. + +The instant the cry had left his lips, he knew the laugh was on him. But +the cry had gone forth, echoing through the corridors. It brought the +jackies and the Doctor splashing through the water to his rescue. + +"Only a frozen mastodon," he grinned sheepishly, as they came to his +side. "Guess he's been dead ten thousand years, to say the least. But +honest, doesn't he look natural standing there in the ice?" + +He flashed the light suddenly upon the ice-encased monster, and the +jackies jumped, as if they, too, expected to be attacked. + +"A beautiful corpse, I'd say," exclaimed one of them. + +"A most remarkable specimen," commented the Doctor. "I've heard of cases +like this, but never saw one before." + +"Say!" exclaimed Jones. "If we could only get him out of here like that +and put him down in alcohol, we'd have a side-show that would make Barnum +jump out of his grave!" + +"Not a bad idea," said the Doctor. "The only hitch would be getting him +out of here." + +As Dave backed away for a better view, his foot struck something hard. +Flashing his light upon it, he found it to be the skull and tusks of a +walrus. They were as black as coal. + +"I've made a find!" he exclaimed. "These tusks we may take with us, and +old ivory is about as valuable as precious stones." + +The discovery seemed to waken the Doctor to their peril. + +"That walrus," he said, "wandered in here and was drowned by the rising +tide. He can breathe under water, but cannot stay down over ten minutes. +We can't breathe at all under water. The tide is setting in." + +These words sent the crew scurrying back to the submarine. Already the +tide had risen sufficiently to float the craft. All hands hastened to +re-embark. + +"If we set our course directly at right-angles to this beach and keep it +there," said Dave, "it should bring us to safety." + +This was done, and, after many a turn and twist, they caught a gleam of +light. Submerging, they were soon beneath the ice-floe once more. With a +sigh of relief, Dave gave the order to rise at the first water-hole. +There they might take their bearings. + +A half-hour later the party was gathered on the deck gazing away at an +island above which there towered a snow-capped mountain. Down the side +of the mountain might be distinguished the winding, blue course of a +great glacier. + +"Our glacier!" said Dave. "Some glacier, I'll say!" + +"Our glacier!" repeated a jackie. "Long may she glide!" + +The course was set at an angle to the island. This would carry them past +any treacherous sand-bars. They would then take another tack and resume +their former course. + +At a few minutes before noon that day they rose far from the island. The +sun, a pale yellow disk, shone through a thin haze close to the surface +of the pack. And yet it was high noon. This was, perhaps, to be their +last bearing taken by the light of the sun. Henceforth, the moon and the +stars must guide them. Whereas all former polar expeditions were carried +forward only during the summer months, when the sun shone night and day, +they, as well as their rivals, must drive on straight into the deep +mysteries of the dreaded Arctic night. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +WRECKED + + +"All aboard! Change here for all way stations; our next stop is +the Pole!" + +Barney, the daring aviator, sang the words cheerfully, as he settled +himself in his place at the wheel. He hardly felt the cheerfulness his +tone implied. True, they had spent twelve days repairing the damage done +to the plane by the wind and its collision with the white bear, but it +was a rather patched-up affair now it was finished--as it needs must be +with the few materials and tools at their command. As he had expressed it +to Bruce only the night before: they had a crippled wing, and a bird with +a broken pinion never soars so high again, even if it is a bird of +fabric, wood and steel. + +However, he was truly glad to be getting away on what they hoped might be +their last lap. The grave-like silence of the Arctic, with its +glistening whiteness everywhere, had gripped his nerves. + +"Well, here's hoping," he murmured to Bruce, as the plane hopped off. + +As for the Major, he sat with face fixed as a bronze statue. His gaze was +toward the Pole. + +For fourteen hours they soared steadily onward. Only the air, which +grew crisper and more stinging as they advanced steadily northward, +told them they were nearing the Pole. Observations from the plane were +impossible. The sun, which had been appearing less and less each day, +was now quite lost to them. Only the moon in all its glory tinted the +blue ice-piles with wavering ghost colors. The wind for once was still. +Not a bird appeared in the sky, not an animal met the gaze of their +binoculars as they peered below. It was as if the whole Northern realm +had become suddenly silent at the magnificent spectacle of three men +sailing alone over spaces never yet traveled by man, and where dangers +lurked at every turn. + +The plane, too, was surprising its driver. It answered his least touch +on the lever controls. The engines were working perfectly. Only now and +again he caught a faint lurch which told his practiced senses that some +of the rudely improvised splices were working loose. Even these gave him +no great alarm; at least, they did not seem sufficiently serious to +warrant an immediate landing. + +But suddenly, as they were soaring over the wildest, most +treacherous-looking stretch of floe ice that eyes have ever rested upon, +the plane gave a lurch. A shudder ran through her from wing to wing, and, +with a plunge, she shot side-wise. The outer half of her right wing had +doubled up on the inner half, like a blade to a jack-knife. + +Bruce took in the situation at a glance. Before a hand could stop him, +he had unbuckled his straps, and, creeping to the extremity of the +remaining half of the wing, he clung there, thus adding his weight to +its balancing power. + +Already Barney had shut off the engines. With the added weight to the +right the plane became steadier. Danger of a whirling spin to the +ice-surface seemed for the time averted. + +"What a landing-place!" groaned Barney, almost touching the starting +lever in his eagerness to save the plane. But he stayed his hand; to +start the engine under such conditions would be madness. Some form of +landing they must make, even if it was but to "crash." + +So they sped steadily downward, realizing that the goal they sought must +now, with the aid of their dog-team, be easily within their grasp; yet +realizing also that all means of returning was likely to be denied them, +unless, indeed, one were to call five dogs a means of traveling over +hundreds of miles of tangled, tumbling mountains of ice. + +Suddenly, Barney's heart leaped for joy. Just before them, within +possible area of landing, lay a perfectly level stretch of ice. It +was not large, was, in fact, perilously small, yet it offered a +possible landing. + +Tilting the left plane to its utmost, adjusting the tail, Barney glided +onward. With bated breath he saw the white plain rise to meet them. With +trembling hand he touched a lever here, a button there. Then--a jar--the +landing-wheels had touched. They touched again. The moving plane fairly +ate up the scant level space, yet she slowed and slowed until at last, +with hardly a tremor, she rested against the outcropping ridge of ice at +the floe's edge. + +With a glowing smile the Major unstrapped himself to reach out his hands +in thanks and congratulation to his pilots. + +But--where were they? They had disappeared. He found them in front of the +plane calling to him for assistance. Then he saw the danger their more +practiced eyes had already noticed. The ice at this point was piling. At +this moment the very cake against which they had stopped was beginning to +rise. Within a space of moments, the plane, unless turned and thrust +backward, would be crushed beneath hundreds of tons of ice. +"If we can get her back we can save her!" panted Bruce. + +"Swing her!" shouted Barney, throwing his whole strength against the +right wing. + +"Now she moves!" yelled Bruce joyously. "Now! Heave ho!" + +The great craft turned slowly on her wheels. Now the plane was clearing +the ice. Now--now in just a second--she would be safe. + +But no--the right wheel caught in an ice-crevice. Three desperate efforts +they made to free her, then, just as the giant cake towered, crumbling +above them, the Major shouted the word of warning that sent them leaping +back to safety but cost them their machine. + +True, it stood there, still. The mechanism was perfect, the engines +uninjured. But the right wing was completely demolished. Buried beneath +tons and tons of ice, the craft that had carried them so far was crushed +beyond all hope of repair. + +With despair tugging at their hearts, the three stood looking at the +wreckage. But they were not of the breed that quits. + +"We'd better get our stuff and what's left of the plane out of the way +of danger," said Bruce at length. + +"The stuff--blankets, grub and the like, yes, but"--Barney smiled in +spite of himself--"why the plane? She's done for." + +"Because," said Bruce, "you can never tell what will happen." + +The pressure which was piling the ice diminished rapidly, and the back +edge of the cake proved a safe place to make camp. Soon they were boiling +tea over a small oil stove and discussing the future as calmly as they +might have done had they been in the old office-shack back on the Hudson +Bay Railroad. + +"Now to find where we are," exclaimed the Major, knocking the tea leaves +from his cup. + +The interest in this project was keen. After working out his reckoning, +estimating the speed of their flight and counting the hours they had been +in the air, the Major laid down his pencil. + +"Fifty miles southeast of the Pole," he said at last. "Shall we attempt +to go on or turn back?" + +The boys looked at one another. Bruce read in his companions' eyes the +desire to attempt the return with the dog-team. At the same time, he +realized that the real genius of an explorer lay in his desire to push +on. The Major had that genius. + +"As for me," Bruce said finally, "I never decide anything of great +importance until I have slept over it." + +Barney smiled in spite of his anxiety and weariness. + +But the Major, seeing the strained expression in the boys' faces, +realized that the ultimatum of Bruce was a good one. + +Soon the three companions were snug in their sleeping-bags, dreaming of a +land of grass and flowers far, far away. + + * * * * * + +As soon as the submarine was safely on its course after the glacier +incident, Dave, who had not slept for many hours, turned in for "three +winks." His three winks had stretched on into hours, when he was wakened +by a sudden jarring that shook the craft from stem to stern. He was on +his feet in the passage-way at once. + +"What happened?" he demanded of a sailor. + +"Blamed if I know," said the other. He was white as a sheet. + +One thing Dave made sure of as he hurried toward the wheel-room; they +were drifting under the ice-floor of the ocean. Was the motor simply +dead, or was the propeller gone? He had but an instant to wait. There +came the purr of the motor, then the sudden sound of racing machinery, +which told plainer than words that the worst had happened. + +"I think it was a walrus, sir," said Rainey, who had been in charge of +the wheel-room. "I had just caught sight of a dark blotch gliding by and +reached for the power when the racket started." + +"What were you making?" asked Dave quietly. + +"Our usual ten knots." + +The compartment they were in was filled with levers and adjusting wheels +of all descriptions. The walls were lined with gauges and dials of many +styles and sizes. A person on entering and taking the operator's +position, might fancy himself in the center of a circle of gears and +driving wheels of many automobiles. + +Dave glanced at a gauge, then at another. He touched a wheel, and the +hand on the second dial began to drop. They were now rising. As a usual +thing, they traveled some forty feet below the surface. Icebergs were +scarce in these waters, and the ordinary floe did not lie more than +twenty feet below sea-level; still, it was safer lower down. But now--now +their safety rested in gliding to a point beneath a water channel or +hole, and, once they were under it, they must not fail to rise. + +"No, not if it takes our conning-tower to do it!" Dave said savagely, as +he finished explaining. + +They were still drifting through the water at a rather rapid rate, but +little by little a speed gauge was falling. Soon they would be lying +motionless beneath the Arctic floe, as helpless as a dead whale; and +should no dark water-hole appear before that time came, they were doomed. + +Dave wiped the cold perspiration from his brow, as the hand on the dial +dropped lower and lower. He touched a wheel again, and they rose another +ten feet. "Must be nearly bumping the ice by now; but at such a time as +this one takes risks," he muttered. + +What was that? Did he sense the dark shadow which always presaged open +water? Surely, if walrus were about, there must be open water to give +them air. And, yes--there it was; a hole in the floe! + +His trembling hand again touched the wheel. The hand on the dial had +dropped to nearly nothing. If the water-hole was narrow; if they +missed it! + +But no--up--up they shot, and in just another moment men were swarming +from the conning-tower. + +"Say!" exclaimed Dave, wiping his forehead. "Do you remember the +obstacle-races they used to have at county fairs when you were a boy?" + +The jackie he spoke to grinned and nodded. + +"Well, this is an obstacle-race, and the worst I ever saw. The worst of +it is, there are two prizes--one's the Pole and the other our own lives!" + +The open water they had reached at so fortunate a moment proved to be a +channel between floes. They were in no immediate danger now, but to +repair the damage done to the shaft and adjust a new propeller, it was +necessary that they drag the submarine to the surface of a broad +ice-cake. This task was not as difficult as one might imagine. With the +aid of ice-anchors, iron pulleys and cables, they without much delay +harnessed their engine and finished the job all ship shape. + +"Look!" said one of the seamen, pointing at the narrow stretch of water. +"She's closin' in!" + +As the men looked they knew it to be true; the channel was certainly +narrower than when they first rose upon its surface. + +Securing a light line, the Doctor attached it to a plummet. Throwing the +plummet across the space, he drew the line taut. He then marked the +point where the ice-line crossed it. Then for five minutes he divided his +attention between the line and his watch. As he rose he muttered; + +"Two hours! Two hours! How long will it take to complete the repairs?" + +"Four hours, at least," Dave replied calmly. + +"Then we're defeated!" The Doctor began pacing the surface of the ice. +"We're stuck--beaten! In two hours the channel will be closed, and there +is not another patch of open water within five miles!" + +If Dave seemed unnaturally calm on receipt of such news, it was because +he had in his "bag of tricks" one of which the Doctor was not aware. +While in Nome he had made the acquaintance of a former British seaman, +who had cruised Arctic waters in the late eighties, when Japan was +disputing the rights of Great Britain and the United States to close the +seal fisheries. This man had told him how the gunboats had opened their +way through the ice-floes. The idea had appealed to the young skipper. +Consequently, on boarding the submarine, he had carried under his arm a +package which he handled very carefully, and finally deposited in the +very center of a great bale of fur clothing. There it still remained. + +"I suppose I might tell him," he said to himself. "But I guess I won't. +'Blessed is he that expecteth nothing,' The trick might not work. I'll +wait." He turned to where the mechanics were hard at work adjusting the +new propeller. + +The repairing had gone on for something over two hours. The water-channel +had completely closed. The Doctor was pacing the ice, lost in reflection. +Like a flash, there came into Dave's mind a new problem: would the +current be content merely to close the channel, or would the ice soon +begin to buckle and pile? With an uneasy mind, he urged the workmen to +hasten, at the same time keeping an eye on the line of ice where the +channel had so lately been. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"SO THIS IS THE POLE" + + +Many of the disasters which threaten us in this life pass us by. So it +was with the impending disaster of piling ice near the submarine. It +did not pile. + +But there remained the problem of getting the submarine through that +six-foot roof to the water beneath. How was it to be done? + +The Doctor still paced back and forth, his unrest written in the furrows +of his brow. The jackies, cheerful as ever, worked at their shift of +repairing the craft, or, when not at work, played at "duck-on-rock" with +chunks of ice. Once a seal appeared in a water-hole. Had he not departed +promptly, there would have been fried seal steak and roast seal heart for +supper. A lumbering bear, that had evidently never seen a human being +before, was not so fortunate. His pelt was added to the trophies of the +expedition, and his meat was ground into rather tough hamburger. + +Finally the mechanics announced that the submarine was again in perfect +condition. Now was the time to try Dave's last trick. Sending three men +to stretch a hundred-fathom cable from the submarine, and to anchor its +farther end to a great ice-pan, he dropped below to return at once with a +package. Cautioning the men not to follow him, he walked away +seventy-five yards, bent over the center of an ice-pan, seemingly to +adjust certain things and put others in order. This done, he strung a +black cord-like affair from his little pile of objects. He then measured +off ten paces, and repeated these operations. He then lighted a small +gasoline torch, and held the tip of the second cord-like affair to it, +then raced to the other for the same purpose. When this was done, he sped +away toward his companions. His actions were quickly understood by the +watching crew. The furrows on the Doctor's brow had become mere lines. He +was smiling hopefully. When Dave tripped over an ice boulder there was a +cry of alarm, but he was up in a second, and found shelter with his men. +Instinctively everyone ducked. Then came two roaring explosions in quick +succession. Bits of splintered ice fell around them like hail. Before the +ice fragments had ceased falling, everyone was climbing to the top of the +ice-pile. What they saw caused a shout of joy. Where the ice-pan had been +was a long stretch of black water that slowly widened until it was quite +large enough to float the submarine and allow it to submerge. + +At once every man was at his task. The submarine moved slowly toward the +water. There followed a dip, a great splash, a wild "Hurrah!" and five +minutes later they were once more on their way to the Pole. + +But, during this time, Dave's active mind had been working on another +problem, which might appear to have been settled, but had not been: the +drift of the floe. If the ice did not pile when the floes came together, +why was it? It seemed to him there could be but one answer; other +water-channels beyond the drift, under which they now traveled, were +being closed by counter-currents. And if they closed, one after the +other, more rapidly than the advance of the submarine, what was finally +to become of the submarine crew? Would they not perish for lack of air? +Dave did not share the cheerful mood of the Doctor and the crew; it was +his turn to look worried. + +Many hours later, his worst fears having been realized, he found himself +again in the little room of many wheels and dials. Hour after hour they +had shot beneath the varying surface of the floe, but not for one hopeful +second had they caught the dark shadow of open water. As near as he could +reckon, allowing for the ever-present currents, Dave believed they were +nearing the Pole. But his brain was now throbbing as if a hundred +trip-hammers were pounding upon it. Moments alone would tell the tale, +for the oxygen in the air was exhausted. Already half the crew were +unconscious; others were reeling like drunken men. The Doctor had been +the first to succumb to the poison of polluted air. + +In this crisis Dave was not alone at the wheel. The Eskimo boy, Azazruk, +was by his side. It was for just such a time as this that he had taught +the bright young native something of the control of the mechanism. + +Each wheel of the operating devices was numbered. He had taught the +Eskimo a formula by pains-taking repetition. + +"If ever the time comes when all are sick, no one can move but you," he +had said many times, "and if at that time you see black waters above, act +quickly. One--seven--ten--three--five, remember that. One wheel at a +time, quickly but surely; one--seven--ten--three--five." + +"One--seven--ten--three--five," the Eskimo boy had faithfully repeated +after him, and rolled his eyes half in amusement and half in terror. + +"Wheel one is for rise, seven for fans, ten to stop, three to lift the +outer-hatch, five the inner-hatch," Dave had explained. "But you only +need to remember one--seven--ten--three--five." + +Somehow, Dave had come to believe that this hardy young Alaskan, reared +as he had been, under perfect conditions of food, air, light and +exercise, could, if the test ever came, survive his civilized companions. + +Now, as he reeled and a great wave of dizzy sickness came over him, +while he sank to the floor, Dave was glad he had taught Azazruk; for the +boy, with a strange, strained look of terror in his eye, stood still at +the wheel. + +Dimly he felt, rather than saw, a dark shadow pass over them. As in a +dream he whispered the magic formula: + +"One--seven--ten--three--five." + +Faintly he heard the grind of the wheels, felt the fan's breath on his +cheek, then all was lost in unconsciousness. + + * * * * * + +After ten solid hours of sleep the airplane party awoke to find their +dogs whining and pawing at the entrance to their shelter. + +"Guess they're hungry," said Barney, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Now if +we could only locate a seal in some water-hole, it would help out our +scanty supply of food." + +"Suppose we try," said Bruce, slipping into his skin garments and looking +to his rifle. + +"All right," said Barney, and without delay they were hurrying to a +pressure ridge of ice from whose top they might hope to locate the +nearest water-lead. This took them some distance from their camp, but +since the air was still and the moon flooded everything with light as of +day, this did not worry them. + +They had reached the height, and were scanning the long lead of water +something like a mile to the left of them, when Bruce gave a cry of +surprise, and, pointing to the south end of the lead, exclaimed: + +"What's that immense black thing rising from the water? Can't be a whale +up here, can it?" + +"Impossible! And, look! There's something rising from the center of it! +It can't be--yes--it is! It's the submarine!" + +Barney tumbled from the ice ridge and went sprinting away over the ice. +His boyhood pal, Dave Tower, was on that submarine. + +With greater deliberation, Bruce attracted the attention of the Major. +Together they hurried after their companion. + +The sight that met their eyes as they reached the edge of the +water-channel filled them with consternation. The Eskimo boy and Barney +were hurriedly carrying limp, motionless forms from the submarine into +the outer air. + +Their worst fears were groundless, however, for after two hours of +faithful work they restored the last one of the crew to consciousness. +The last to recover was the Doctor. + +"Which goes to prove," smiled Dave, "that when you most need a doctor, +that's the time he's most likely to be sick." + +There was a moment of joyful reunion between the two pals, Barney and +Dave. As for the explorers, after the danger had passed, they seemed to +take little notice of one another. + +The Doctor soon was able to rise unsteadily, and, supported by two of +his men, he dragged himself back and forth across the ice. When, at last, +he had full possession of his faculties, he suddenly darted into the +submarine, reappearing a moment later with instruments. + +At sight of these, the Major's attention once more turned to the task he +had left. With backs turned, not twenty yards apart, the two great rivals +began taking observations. Carefully they spread lines of mercury for an +artificial horizon, and painstakingly adjusting their instruments, began +to take readings. Then, turning to their nautical almanacs, they figured. +For some time an awed silence fell on the little group. Presently the two +men rose, facing one another. Smiles played about their lips. For a +second they stood thus, then starting toward each other, they extended +hands for a clasp--the grip of a mutual admiration. + +"Gentlemen," said the Major, the huskiness in his voice betraying his +emotion, "we are now within five miles of the Pole, and that is as close +an observation as any man can hope to make." + +"Might as well call it the Pole," smiled the Doctor. "I make it +three miles." + +For a time silence again reigned, then it was Dave who spoke. + +"So this is the Pole!" he exclaimed. "Well, then, it's time for a bit of +jazz. Bring on your instruments of torture." + +Jazz always was imperfect music, and here, with untutored musicians and +rude instruments, it was imperfection itself; but it is doubtful if any +music ever soothed unstrung nerves as did this bit of jazz that rent the +midnight silence at the top of the world. + +The applause which followed awakened echoes among the ice-piles, and sent +a lone doveky away into the shadows. + +"Well," said the Doctor, as the echoes of the last burst of jazz died +away, "Major, I suppose we are to have the pleasure of your company on +our return journey. Am I right?" + +"I am afraid so," the Major smiled a bit wanly. "Guess our plane is at +last beyond repair." + +"But I say," ejaculated Barney, "you can stow the remains of our plane +somewhere below, can't you?" + +"Why--er--yes," smiled the Doctor. "We've considerable space now, +since using the fuel and food. But why freight the junk? What's the +grand idea?" + +"I think we can get a bunch of sled-timber and canvas from the whalers at +Point Barrow and rig her up again." + +"Why? You'll be welcome to come with us all the way." + +"Bruce here, and I," began Barney, and Bruce grinned at the mention of +his name, "have a very special mission that takes us cross-country +rather than by water. Much as we should like to accept your kind +invitation, our mission makes the other route imperative, if it is at +all possible to take it." + +He told them the story of La Vaune, of Timmie and the ancient pay-roll. + +"That being the case," agreed the Doctor, "I shall be glad to assist you +by freighting your plane to Point Barrow, and I now release my entire +crew to help you in demounting it and bringing it to the submarine." + +As the gobs joined the two young aviators in a wild race across the +ice-floes, with Jarvis straining after them, the Major turned a smiling +face toward the Doctor, as he remarked: + +"As fine a bunch as I ever saw." + +"You're right," said the Doctor, "and deserving of a rich reward." + +"Speaking of rewards," said the Major quickly, "how about that ten +thousand which comes to some of us? I had promised it to my boys, +had I won." + +"And I the same," smiled the Doctor. + +"The puzzle is, who's won!" + +"Suppose we split, fifty-fifty, and, following our original plan, each +give his share to his boys." + +"Splendid! Just the right thing!" exclaimed the Major. + +"It's a go!" The Doctor grasped the Major's hand. + +And this was the glad news that awaited the men as they returned, some +dragging poles, some carrying rolls of canvas, while others urged, pushed +and pulled at the dog-team drawing a sled on which was loaded the Liberty +motor. To the aviators was to go five thousand dollars; to the jackies, +five thousand. + +"Nothing of the kind!" exclaimed Bruce indignantly. + +"I should say nix!" echoed Barney. + +"Why, what could be fairer?" said the Doctor, a puzzled look on his face. + +"Why," Barney declared, feeling sure he was also speaking for his +partner; "we each get two thousand five hundred, and your men who have +worked as hard and risked as much, each get a fraction of that sum. I +say, nothing doing. Share and share alike, man for man, them's my +sentiments. Get out your pencil and see how many times ten goes in ten +thousand. A thousand times? A thousand apiece, that's something like! +Enough to have a whale of a good time on, or buy a farm. Pay your money +and take your choice. Step up, gents, and try your luck!" + +When the gobs realized that this wild harangue meant that the aviators +wished to split the whole reward with them, they were at first urgent in +protest, and, when this availed them nothing, they went wild with cheers +for the true sports of the aviation department. + +Of course this all called for another burst of jazz, after which came the +work of packing away the parts of the airplane, in which task the gobs +showed an enthusiasm which told better than shouts what they thought of +the young aviators. + +After the stars and stripes had been planted on a high ice-pinnacle, a +rather solemn supper was eaten in the lee of a giant ice-cake. Then, with +the jazz band playing "Star Spangled Banner," the submarine sank and the +homeward journey was begun. + +A fortunate voyage brought them to Point Barrow in sixty-eight hours. +There the aviators found the supplies they needed, and began at once +preparing for the overland trip. The Doctor and the Major decided to +proceed down the coast by dog-team to Cape Prince of Wales, where +they would catch the first boat in the Spring. The submarine crew +were put "on their own" and instructed to follow down the coast in a +safe and leisurely fashion, to report their arrival at the naval +station in Seattle. + +Bruce and Barney succeeded in rigging out the plane in a very +satisfactory manner, and one day in early Spring they again alighted in +Timmie's stubble, much to the joy of the entire family. And a few days +later they made a landing in the old athletic field of Brandon college, +where a very happy girl, who had been watching the plane with a wistful +eye, came rushing out to meet them. + +When Bruce pressed into her hand a package, and told her of its contents, +tears came to her eyes--tears of joy that her struggles were over, but +also tears of thankfulness for the safe return of those who had done so +much for her. + +The submarine crew arrived in Seattle in due time. There, before they +separated for a long leave, which was sure to be followed by honorable +discharge, five of them agreed to pool their share of the prize money to +charter a craft, preferably a submarine, and go in search of the +treasure city of Siberia. There was talk, too, of an attempt to induce +Bruce and Barney to join them on the expedition, as an airplane, which +could be stowed in the submarine when not in use, would be of +inestimable service to them. + +Bruce and Barney in due time collected the reward offered for the +destruction of the outlaw wireless station. + +As for the Major and the Doctor, there is still much speculation in many +quarters as to their identity. And, as for myself, I am not able to add +any information on the subject. + + * * * * * + +The solving of the mystery of the City of Gold was, at last, left to +David Tower and Jarvis. The story of this adventure will be told in the +next volume of the Snell Mystery Stories for Boys series which will be +entitled "Panther-Eye." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lost In The Air, by Roy J. Snell + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10599 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d3d0d5f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10599 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10599) diff --git a/old/10599.txt b/old/10599.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d94a588 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10599.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5652 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lost In The Air, by Roy J. Snell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lost In The Air + +Author: Roy J. Snell + +Release Date: January 5, 2004 [EBook #10599] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOST IN THE AIR *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + MYSTERY STORIES FOR BOYS + + Lost in the Air + + By ROY J. SNELL + + 1920 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I WHO IS THE MAJOR + II THE STRANGE LANDING + III IN THE MIDST OF THE PACK + IV A MODERN BATTLE WITH CRIMINALS + V AN INFERNAL MACHINE + VI THE RACE IS ON + VII A STRANGE PEOPLE +VIII THE WALRUS HUNT + IX FIGHTING THEIR WAY OUT + X TO THE TREASURE CITY + XI A BATTLE BENEATH THE ARCTIC MOON + XII THE RUSSIAN TIGER +XIII BRUCE AND THE BEAR + XIV "BOMBED" + XV THE MYSTERY CAVERN + XVI WRECKED +XVII "SO THIS IS THE POLE" + + + + +CHAPTER I + +WHO IS THE MAJOR? + + +"Let's get a breath of fresh air." Bruce Manning yawned and stretched, +then slid off his high stool at the bookkeeping desk. Barney Menter +followed his example. + +They had been together only a few days, these two, but already they were +pals. This was not to be wondered at, for both had been discharged +recently from army aviation service--Bruce in Canada and Barney in the +United States. Each had served his country well. Now they were employed +in the work of developing the wilds of Northern Canada near Hudson Bay. +And there are no regions more romantic than this with all its +half-gleaned history and its million secrets of wonder, wealth and +beauty. + +As they stood in the doorway, gazing at the forest-lined river and +distant bluffs, hearing the clang of steel on steel, as construction work +went forward, catching the roar of cataracts in Nelson River, and +tingling with the keen air of the northern summer, life seemed a new +creation, so different was it from the days of war. + +"What's this?" Bruce was looking at a file containing bills-of-lading, a +messenger had handed him. + +"Car 564963, C. P. R., consigned to Major A. Bronson. Airplane and +supplies." He read it aloud and whistled. Barney jumped to snatch +it from him. + +"Stand back! Give me air," Bruce gasped. "An airplane at the present end +of the Hudson Bay Railroad! What's doing now? What are they up to? Going +to quit construction here and use planes the rest of the way? Fancy +freighting wheat, fish, furs and whale blubber by airplanes!" Both lads +laughed at the idea. + +"I don't wish his pilot any bad luck," said Barney. "But if he must die +by breaking his neck, or something, I hope he does it before he reaches +the Hudson Bay terminus. I'd like to take his place in that big air-bird. +Say, wouldn't it be glorious!" + +"You've stolen my thunder," replied Bruce, laughing. "I'm taking that +job myself." + +"Tell you what! I'll fight you for it. What weapons do you choose? +Rope-handed spiking hammers or pick-axes?" + +"Let's go down and see if it's here. Like as not it's a machine neither +of us would risk his neck in; some old junk-pile the government's sold to +the chap for a hundred and fifty or so." + +That this idea was not taken seriously by either was shown by the +double-quick at which they went down the line, and over the half-laid +tracks to where the accommodation train was standing. + +Thorough inspection of car numbers convinced them that No. 564963 C.P.R. +had not arrived. + +"Oh, well! Perhaps to-morrow she'll be in. Then we'll see what we see," +yawned Bruce, as he turned back toward the roughly-built log shack where +work awaited them. + +"What's that?" Bruce, who was in the lead, stopped before the trunk of a +scraggly spruce tree. On its barkless trunk a sheet of white paper had +been tacked. The two boys read it eagerly: + +NOTICE! + +To Trappers, Hunters, Campers +and Prospectors. + +$500 +Reward +Will be paid + +To any person locating anywhere +within the bounds of the +Canadian Northlands at any point +North of 55° North, a wireless station, +operated without license or +permit. + +The notice, signed by the provincial authorities, was enough to quicken +their keen minds. + +"What do you suppose they want to know that for?" asked Barney. "The +war's over." + +"Perhaps further intrigue by our former enemy. Perhaps smugglers. +Perhaps--well, do your own perhapsing. But say!" Bruce exclaimed, +"wouldn't it be great to take packs, rifles and mosquito-bar netting and +go hunting that fellow in that Northern wilderness?" + +"Great sport, all right," grinned Barney. "But you'd have about as much +chance of finding him as you would of locating German U boat M. 71 by +walking the bottom of the Atlantic." + +"That's true, all right," said Bruce thoughtfully. "But just think of +that wilderness! Lakes no white man has seen; rivers no canoe has +traveled; mountain tops no human ever looked from! Say! I've lived in +Canada all my life and up to now I've been content to let that wilderness +just be wild. But the war came and I guess it shook me out of myself. Now +that wilderness calls to me, and, the first chance that offers, I'm going +to turn explorer. The wireless station offers an excuse, don't you see?" + +Barney grinned. He was a hard-headed, practical Yankee boy; the kind who +count the cost and appraise the possible results. + +"If you are talking of hunting, fishing, and a general good time in the +woods, then I'm with you; but if you are talking of a search for that +wireless, then, I say, give me some speedier way of travel than tramping. +Give me--" he hesitated, then he blurted out: "Give me an airplane." + +The boys stared at one another as if they had discovered a state secret. +Then Bruce voiced their thoughts: + +"Do you suppose this Major What-you-may-call-him is bringing up his plane +for some commission like that?" + +"I don't know," said Barney. "But if he is," he said the words slowly, +"if he is, then all I've got to say is, that it's mighty important; +something affecting the government." + +"I believe you're right about that," said Bruce, "but what it is I +haven't the least shadow of a notion. And what complicates it still more +is, the Major comes from down in the States." + +"Maybe it's something international," suggested Barney. + +"Yes," grinned Bruce, suddenly awaking from these wild speculations, "and +maybe he's just some sort of bloomin' sport coming up here to take moving +pictures of caribou herds, or to shoot white whale in Hudson Bay! Guess +we better get back to work." + +"Ye'll pardon an old man's foolish questions?" + +Both boys turned at the words. An old man with bent shoulders, sunken +chest and trembling hand stood beside them. There was an eager, +questioning look in his kindly eyes, as he said in quaint Scotch accent: + +"Ye'll noo be goin' to the woods a' soon?" + +"I don't know," said Bruce, in a friendly tone. He was puzzled by the old +man's question, having recognized him as a second cook for the +steel-laying gang. + +"Fer if ye be," continued the man, "ye's be keepin' a lookout fer Timmie +noo, wouldn't ye though?" + +"Who's Timmie?" asked Bruce. + +"Timmie? Hae ye never hearn o' Timmie? Timmie; the boy it was, seventeen +he was then. But 'twas twelve years ago it was, lad. He'd be a man noo. I +sent him fer the bag wi' the pay-roll in it, an' he never coom back. It +was the money thet done it, fer mind ye, I'm tellin' ye, he was jest a +boy, seventeen. He went away to the woods wi' it, and then was shamed to +coom back, I know. So if ye'll be goin' to the woods ye'll be watchin' +noo, won't ye?" + +"Was he your boy?" + +"No, not mine. But 'twas I was to blame; sendin' him fer th' pay; an' him +so young. Five thousand seven hundred and twenty-four dollars it was, of +the logging company's money; a month's pay fer the men. An' if ye see him +tell him I was all to blame. Tell him to coom back; the Province'll +fergive him." + +"And the company?" asked Bruce. + +"Partners both dead. Died poor. No. 'Twasn't the loss of thet money. They +had many losses. Contractin's a fearfu' uncertain business; fearfu' +uncertain." The old man shook his head slowly. + +"Any heirs?" asked Bruce. + +"Heirs? To the partners? Yes, one. A girl, noo. Ye'll be kenin' the lass +thet helps in the boardin' shack where you and the bosses eat?" +"La Vaune?" grinned Barney, poking Bruce in the ribs. "Do you _know_ +her?" La Vaune, the little black-eyed French Canadian, had taken quite a +liking to her handsome young fellow-countryman, Bruce. + +"Well, noo," said the old Scotchman. "Thet's the lass noo. An' should you +find the money noo, it will all be hers. An' ye'll be lookin' fer it noo, +won't ye? Many's the time I took a wee snack and a blanket an' made a wee +pack an' gone into the woods to find him. But I hae never seen track o' +him. He'll nae be by Lake Athapapukskow, fer there's folks there; not by +Lake Weskusko neither, fer I been there, but som'ers in the woods Timmie +is, an' if he's dead his shack'll be there an' the money, fer he never +coom out o' th' woods again, thet shamed he was." + +The boys promised to keep an eye out for Timmie, if ever they went +into the unknown wilderness, and left the old man with a new hope +shining in his eyes. + +For a long time after reaching the office the boys worked in silence. At +last Barney straightened his tired shoulders and glanced at Bruce. He was +in a brown study. + +"What's on your mind, Bruce?" he asked. "That money?" + +"Thinking what it would do for La Vaune; five thousand seven hundred and +twenty-four dollars." Bruce rolled the words out slowly. Though they said +no more about it, the old man's story was the inspiration of many a wild +plan. The truth is, it was destined to play an important part in shaping +their future. + + * * * * * + +"He's here! She's--it's here!" + +Bruce burst into the office all excitement and half out of breath. + +"Who's he, she, it?" grinned Barney, slipping his pen behind his ear. + +"The Major and the airplane! And the plane's a hummer!" + +It was Barney's turn to get excited now. He jumped from his stool so +suddenly that his pen went clattering. + +"Let's have a look at her." He grabbed his cap and dashed out, Bruce at +his heels. + +Some Greek freight handlers were unloading the car when they reached +the track. The work was being done under the direction of a rather tall +man, erect and dignified. He, the boys felt sure, was the Major. His +face bore some peculiar scars, not deep but wide, and as he walked he +limped slightly. + +"Might be he's lost some toes," muttered Barney. "Had a cousin who limped +that way." + +"The machine's a Handley-Page bombing plane, made over for some purpose +or other," said Bruce, with a keen eye for every detail. "That's the +plane that would have bombed Berlin if the war had lasted long enough. +They're carrying mail from Paris to Rome in 'em now. Those machines +carried four engines and developed a thousand horse-power. This one is a +lighter model and carries two engines. One's a Rolls-Royce and one a +Liberty motor. The fellow that planned the Major's trip for him has +selected his equipment well. They don't make them any better." + +"Just look at the sweep of the planes," exclaimed Barney. "They were made +for high altitude work--up where the air's thin. No one would be coming +up here for a high altitude test, would he?" + +"Surely not; there's no particular advantage at this point for that." + +The boys watched the unloading with eager and experienced eyes. As Barney +put it, "Makes me feel like some shipwrecked gob on a desert island when +he sees a launch coming ashore." + +"Yes," grinned Bruce, "and soon you'll be feeling like your gob would +when the launch came about and put out to sea again. No chance for you on +that boat, Barney." + +"Guess you're right," groaned Barney. "Little enough we'll have to do +with that bird." + +As he spoke several of the men recklessly jerked a plane to free it from +its wrappings. The Major, his back to them, was superintending the +unloading of the Liberty motor. + +"Hey, you! Go easy there!" Barney sprang forward impulsively and showed +the workmen how to handle the plane. When the job was done he stepped +back with an apologetic air. The Major had turned and was watching him. + +"You seem to understand such matters," he smiled. + +"I've worked with them a bit," said Barney. + +"Would you mind letting me know where you are located?" asked the Major. +"My aviator and mechanic have disappointed me so far. You might be of +some assistance to me." + +"We're over at the bookkeeping shack--the office of the construction +company," said Barney, red with embarrassment. "He--that is, my bunkie +here, knows more about those boats than I do. Say, if we can be any help +to you, we'll jump at the chance. Won't we, Bruce?" + +"Surest thing," grinned Bruce, as they turned regretfully toward the +dull office and duller work. + +"Say, you don't suppose," exclaimed Barney that night at supper--"you +remember those awful wide planes of the Major's? You don't suppose he's +starting for--" Barney hesitated. + +"You don't mean?--" Bruce hesitated in turn. + +"Sure! The Pole; you don't suppose he'd try it?" + +"Of course not," exclaimed Bruce, the conservative. "Who ever thought of +going to the Pole in a plane through Canada?" + +"Bartlett's got a plan of going to the Pole in a plane." + +"But he's going from Greenland," said Bruce. "That's different." + +"Why" + +"Steamboat. Farthest point of land north and everything." + +"That's just it," exclaimed Barney disgustedly. "Steamboat and +everything. You're not a real explorer unless some society backs you up +with somebody's money to the tune of fifty thousand or so; till you've +got together a group of scholars and seamen for the voyage. Then the +proper thing to do is to get caught in the ice, you are all but lost. +But--the ice clears at the crucial moment, you push on and on for two +years; you live on seal meat and whale blubber. Half your seamen get +scurvy and die; your dogs go mad; your Eskimos prove treacherous, you +shoot one or more. You take long sled journeys, you freeze, you starve, +you erect cairns at your farthest point north, or west, or whatever it +is. Then, if you're lucky, you lose your ship in an ice-jam and walk +home, ragged and emaciated. A man that does it that way gets publicity; +writes a book, gets to be somebody. + +"You see," he went on, "we've sort of got in the way of thinking that it +takes a big expedition to do exploring. But, after all, what good does a +big expedition do? Peary didn't need one. He landed at the Pole with two +Eskimos and a negro. Well, now it ought to be easy as nothing for two or +three men in a plane, like that one of the Major's, to go to the Pole +from here. There's a fort and trading post on Great Bear Lake with, +maybe, a power-boat and gasoline. Then, if there happened to be a whaler, +or something, to give you a second lift, why there you are!" + +"Sounds pretty good," admitted Bruce. "But nobody would ever attempt it." + +"Of course not," retorted Barney. "It's too simple." + +The two following days the boys found themselves taking morning and +evening walks down the track to the airplane, which still lay piled in +sections by the track. They were surprised to see that no effort was +being made to assemble it. The reason for the delay was made clear to +them by an unexpected encounter on the evening of the second day. + +Finding the Major pacing up and down before the machine, his slight limp +aggravated by his very evident irritation, they were about to pass as if +they didn't know there was a plane within a hundred miles, when they +were halted by the upraised hand of the Major. + +Immediately both boys clicked heels and saluted. Then they felt foolish +for saluting in "civies." + +"I see you are military all right," smiled the Major. "But how much do +you really know about airplanes?" + +"Oh," said Barney, with exaggerated indifference, "Bruce, here, knows a +little and I know a little, too. Between us we might be able to assemble +your machine, if that's what you want." In spite of his heroic attempts +at self-control, his voice betrayed his eagerness. Truth was, his fingers +itched for pliers and wrenches. + +"That's part of what I want, but not all," the Major said briskly. "I am +not an aviator myself, and my man has failed me at the last moment; had a +trifling smash which resulted in a dislocated thigh. Out of service for +the season. I need an aviator and a good one. He says there's only one +other not attached to military units that he could recommend--a Canadian. +But the plague of it is, the man can't be located." + +"Might I ask the nature of your proposed trip?" asked Bruce--then bit his +lip a second too late. + +"You might not" The Major snapped out the words. Then in a kindlier tone, +"My secret is not entirely my own. I can say, however, that it is not an +exceedingly long trip, nor a dangerous one, as aviation goes, but it is +an important one, and besides, if it comes out well, and I believe it +will, I might wish to go on a more hazardous journey. In that case, of +course, you can see I should wish a veteran pilot at the wheel and one +who will take a chance." + +He turned to Bruce. "You are a Canadian, are you not?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then perhaps you can tell me of the whereabouts of this young Canadian +aviator. His name is--" the Major stopped to think. "His name is--ah! I +have it! It's Manning--Bruce Manning." + +Bruce's jaw dropped in astonishment. He was too surprised to speak. It +was Barney who, almost shouting in his excitement, said: + +"He's Bruce Manning, Major." + +"What?" The Major stood back and looked at Bruce. "You? Oh come; you are +hardly more than a boy!" + +"Yes," said Barney, "he's hardly more than a boy, but some of the best +flyers the Allies had were hardly more than boys. They were boys when +they went into it over there, but the boys who went up after the Germans +two or three times came down men, Major. Don't forget that." + +"You're right--and I beg your pardon," said the Major, bowing to them. "I +spoke thoughtlessly. So then I have the good fortune to be speaking to +the very man I seek?" he went on, turning to Bruce. "Now I suppose the +remaining questions are: Will you be at liberty to take up aviation again +and--do you want to?" + +"That," said Bruce, struggling to keep his voice steady, "will depend +upon at least one thing: If you will answer one question now, we will +promise you a definite answer to-morrow morning at seven o'clock." + +"The question?" + +"My friend here, Barney Menter, is quite as skilled an aviator as I +am. If I go, he goes. What there is in it in pay or peril we will +share equally." + +Barney stepped forward to protest, but Bruce held him back and +continued: "Your machine is equipped for two men besides yourself. Will +you take us both?" + +"Most certainly," said the Major heartily. "In case you decide to +accompany me, I shall wire the mechanic not to come and you two may +divide the work between you as you may see fit. + +"I might say," he added, "that the pay will be double that which you are +now receiving, and the journey will consume the remainder of the season. +Should we decide on something more hazardous, the pay will be in +proportion, and there is, besides, a substantial, I might even say a +rich reward offered, for the successful completion of this latter task. +However, enough of that for the present. You can give me your decision in +the morning, and I hope you accept." He bowed and strode away. + +"Now, why didn't you say 'Yes' on the spot?" demanded Barney, +impatiently. "We are required to give only a week's notice to the company +and the nights and mornings of that week we can use getting the machine +together and taking a trial flight." + +"I always sleep over a thing," answered Bruce. "It's a habit I inherited +from my father." Long after, in quite different circumstances, Barney was +to remember this remark, and bless Bruce's inheritance. + +Mail had been delivered during their absence. Barney found a letter on +his desk. He puzzled over the postmark, which was from some Pacific port. +He tore the envelope open, glanced at the letter, then read it with +sudden eagerness. + +"Bruce," he exclaimed, "listen to this. It's from an old pal of +mine, David Tower; entered the navy same time I did the army." And +he read aloud: + +"Dear Barney: + +"I'm off for somewhere far North; guess not the Pole, but pretty well up +that way. Second officer on a U. S. Sub. She's loaned to a queer old chap +they call Doctor. No particulars yet. Hope this finds you 'up in the +air,' as per usual. + +"DAVE." +"That _is_ a coincidence," said Bruce. "Perhaps we'll meet him up there +somewhere among the icebergs." + +"I'll suggest it!" exclaimed Barney, reaching for his pen. + +"Dear Dave," he wrote. "Am thinking of a little trip North myself. Our +ship's a 500 HP Handley-Page. Bring your guitar and oboe along. My +partner and I are bringing saxophone and mandolin. We'll have a little +jazz. Till we meet, as ever, + +"BARNEY." + +If the boy had known under what strange conditions this particular jazz +performance would be given, he might have felt queer sensations creeping +up his spinal column. + +"I say!" exclaimed Bruce suddenly, "who's this Major chap, anyway? I've a +notion he's something rather big, maybe the biggest--" + +"You don't mean?--" + +"I'm not saying anything," protested Bruce, "but this other man I'm +thinking of left a toe or two in the Arctic, and his face has freeze +scars on it. His name's--well, you know it as well as I do." + +"Shucks! It couldn't be," exclaimed Barney. "He wouldn't be up here alone +this way." + +"No, I guess not," sighed Bruce. "But it would be great sport if it were +he, after all." + +Ten days later, a girl in her late teens stood shading her eyes watching +a tiny object against the sky. It might have been a hawk, but it was not; +it was an airplane--the Handley-Page, with the two young pilots and the +Major on board. The girl was La Vaune. She stood there watching till the +plane had dwindled to a dot, and the dot had disappeared. Holding her +apron to her eyes to hide her tears, she walked blindly into the house. + +The adventurers were well on their way. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE STRANGE LANDING + + +"I don't like the way the Rolls-Royce is acting," Bruce grumbled through +his telephone to Barney, for, though they were not four feet apart, not a +word could they hear, so great was the din of their two powerful engines. + +"Same here," answered Barney. "Old Major ought to have given us more time +to try 'em out. Brand new." + +"Barren Lands far away. Forced to land in tree-tops. Good-night!" + +After that there came only the monotonous roar of the engines. The +Major's orders had been "Due north by west," and now, though they had put +fully two hundred miles between themselves and the last sign of +civilization, they were still holding to their course. They also had been +directed to fly as low as was safe. Three times the Major had barked an +order into the receiver; always to circle some spot, while he swept the +earth with a binocular as powerful as could be used in an airplane. Three +times he had given a second order to resume their course. + +"He seems to be looking for something," Barney said to himself, and at +once he began wondering what it could be. Mines of fabulous wealth were +said to be hidden away in the hills and forests over which they were +passing--rich outcroppings of gold, silver and copper. Perhaps the Major +was trying to locate them from the air. Here and there they passed over +broad stretches of prairie, the grass of which would feed numberless +herds of cattle. Perhaps, too, the Major was examining these with an eye +to future gain. Then, again Barney thought of the illegal wireless +station and he idly speculated on how it could be so important now that +the war was over. There was little to do but think as they scudded away, +now racing a cloud, then plunging through the masses of vapor, to +reappear suddenly in the sunshine beyond. Barney had always keenly +enjoyed watching the land slip by beneath him as he flew, but on this +journey there was the added joy of sailing over lands unknown. His +reflections were suddenly cut short by a strange jarring rattle from the +Rolls-Royce. Instantly the thunder was cut in half, as also was their +power. Bruce had stopped the big motor. If now something went wrong with +the Liberty, they must make a forced landing. This, with the level +stretches of prairie giving place to rough, rolling swells covered with +scrub timber, was not a pleasant thing to think of and even less pleasant +to attempt. + +The sun, sending a last yellow glow across the land, sank from sight, and +soon the moon, with silvery light and black bands of shadow, was playing +strange tricks with the stolid world beneath them. + +All day, when duties permitted, Bruce had kept an eye open for a cabin +hidden among the pines. Now he shouted through the telephone to Barney; + +"What'll I do if I catch a square of light below?" + +Barney knew he was thinking of the boy, Timmie, and La Vaune's money he +carried into the woods. A square of light, of course, would have been a +cabin window. + +"Kill your engine if you see a chance to light, and explain later," he +shouted back. + +But no square of light appeared, and soon the thought of it was driven +from their minds, for, of a sudden, the plane shuddered like a man with +a chill. It was the second engine. Bruce threw off the power. Then, +with a sput-sput-sput, started it again. Once more came the shudder. +Again he tried with no better results. Half its power was gone; +something was seriously wrong. He turned to the other engine. It would +not start at all. Here was trouble. They were passing over ridge after +ridge, and all were roughly timbered. Surely, here was no +landing-place. And if the second engine stopped altogether,--Bruce's +heart lost a beat at thought of it. + +He gave the engine more gas and headed the plane upward. She climbed +slowly, sluggishly, like a tired bird, but at length the keener air told +him they were a safer distance above the earth. + +"Better chance to pick a landing-place from here," thought Barney. + +They had scarcely reached this higher level when the engine stopped. No +efforts of the pilot availed to start it. His companions silently watched +Bruce's mute struggles. The Major, a perfect sport, sat stoically in his +place. Barney, knowing that suggestions were useless, also was silent. So +they volplaned slowly downward, every eye strained for a safe +landing-place. They knew what a crash would mean at such a place. Loss of +life perhaps; a wrecked plane at least, then a struggle through the woods +till starvation ended it. They were four hundred miles from the last +trace of white man's habitation. + +They had come down to three thousand feet when it became evident that +only rough ridges lay beneath them. No landing-place here, certainly. +They could only hang on as long as possible in the hope the ridges would +give way to level ground. Bruce thanked their luck for the wide-spreading +wings which would impede their fall. + +A moment later he groaned, for just ahead of them he saw a rocky ridge +higher than any they had passed over. Here then was the end, he thought. +But the tricky moonlight had deceived him. They cleared those rocks by a +hundred feet and just beyond Bruce gasped and looked again. + +"A miracle!" murmured Barney. + +"Or a mirage," whispered Bruce. + +Before them lay a square of level land, green,--in the moonlight. All +about the square the land was black with trees, but there was a landing +place. It was as if their trip had been long planned, their coming +anticipated, and that a level field was cleared for them. + +It was only a matter of moments till they were bumping along over the +ground. Soon they were standing free from their harnesses and silently +shaking hands. + +Barney was the first to speak. + +"Say, do you know," he said, "we're in somebody's wheat-field!" + +"Impossible!" exclaimed the Major. + +"See for yourself," The boy held before their astonished eyes a handful +of almost ripened heads of wheat. + +"Then what's happened?" demanded the Major. "Have you gone due south by +west instead of north by west?" + +"Unless my compass lied, and it has never done so before, we have gone +north by west since we started, and we are--or ought to be at this +moment--four hundred miles from what the white man calls civilization." + +"Well," said the Major, "since we are here, wherever that is, I suggest +that we unpack our blankets and get out of the man's wheat-field, whoever +he may be. The mystery will keep until morning." + +This they proceeded to do. + +A clump of stubby, heavy-stemmed spruce trees offered them shelter +from the chill night wind, and there, rolled in blankets, they +prepared to sleep. + +But Bruce could not sleep. Driving a plane through clouds, mist and +sunshine for hours had made every nerve alert. And the strain of that +last sagging slide through the air was not to be relieved instantly. So +he lay there in his blankets, a tumult of ideas in his mind. This +wheat-field now? Had he really been misdirected by the compass on the +plane? To prove that he had not, he drew from his pocket a small compass, +and placing it in a spot of moonlight, took the relative direction of the +last ridge over which they had passed and the plane in the wheat-field. +He was right; the compass had been true. They were four hundred miles +northwest of the last mile of track laid on the Hudson Bay Railroad, deep +in a wilderness, over which they had traveled for hours without sighting +a single sign of white man's habitation. Yet, here they were at the edge +of a wheat-field. + +What was the answer? Had some Indian tribe taken to farming? With the +forests alive with game, the streams with fish, this seemed impossible. +Of a sudden, the boy started. It was, of course-- + +The sudden snapping of a twig in the underbrush brought his mind back +with a jerk to their present plight. He wished they had brought the +rifles from the plane. Some animal was lurking there in the shadows. +Wolves, grizzlies, some unknown terror, perhaps? + +Then, in another second his eyes bulged. In an open space, between two +spruce trees, where the moon shone brightly, had appeared for a moment a +patch of white. Then, amid the crashing of small twigs, the thing was +gone. In childhood, Bruce had been told many stories of ghosts and +goblins by his Irish nurse. He had never overcome his dread of them. But +it was with the utmost difficulty that he suppressed a shout. Then he +laughed softly, for the crackling twigs told him he had seen a creature +of flesh and blood, no ghost. He chuckled again and far in the dark a +hoot-owl seemed to answer him and his company was a source of comfort. + +Yet, here was, after all, another problem: What was this white-coated +creature? Of all the wild things of the forest, none was white save the +Arctic wolf. It was doubtful if he roamed so far south, especially in +summer, and besides, this creature was too large and heavy to be a wolf. +Bruce thought of all the animals he knew and gave it up. It might have +been a cow. Cows in this wilderness did not seem more improbable than a +wheat-field, but the creature had been too light of tread for that. +Could it have been an Indian dressed in white, tanned deerskin? He was +inclined to take this for the right solution, and wondered if he should +awaken his companions. He could not tell what danger threatened. Finally +he decided to let them sleep. He would keep watch. The three of them +could do no more. + +Once more his mind turned to the problem of the wheat. What was it that +he had just concluded? Oh, yes, Timmie! Why might not Timmie have camped +here and planted this wheat? But twelve years? How had he lived? Whence +had come the seed wheat? There were a hundred questions connected with +such a solution. Ah, well, morning would tell. There would be a cabin +somewhere on the edge of the field and they would eat. Eat? For the first +time Bruce realized that he had not eaten for hours; was very hungry. +Securing some malted-milk tablets, carried for emergency rations, he +dissolved them in his mouth. A wonderfully soothing effect they had. +Propping himself against the trees, he closed his eyes for a second, and +before he could pry them open again, he, too, was fast asleep. + +When he awoke it was broad daylight and his companions were +already astir. + +"Did you fellows wake up last night?" he asked, rubbing his eyes +sleepily. + +Barney and the Major shook their heads. + +"Then you didn't see it?" + +"See what?" + +"The white thing." + +Barney stared. The Major's face was noncommittal. + +Bruce told them of his experience. + +"He's been seeing a ghost," declared Barney, with a laugh. + +"On the contrary," said the Major slowly, "I think he hasn't. There are +white creatures in the Arctic; just such ones as he has described. I have +seen them myself. No, not white bears, either. But I have never seen them +this far South. I will not say now what I think Bruce saw but I will say +I do not think it was an Indian." + +"Look!" exclaimed Barney suddenly in a whisper. + +He pointed to a thin column of smoke that was rising over the tree-tops, +to the left of the wheat-field. + +"Listen!" whispered Bruce. "Somebody's chopping wood." The freshening +wind brought the sound of the axe plainly to their ears. A second later +they heard the distant laugh of a child. + +"Come on," said the Major, throwing his roll of blankets at the foot of a +tree. "Where there's children there's no danger. Maybe they'll have +hot-cakes for breakfast!" + +A moment later found the three of them stealing silently through +the forest. + +What they saw as they peered into the clearing brought them up standing. +A man wielded an axe before a cabin. He was tall and strong, +smooth-shaven and clean. No Indian, but a white man. His clothing was of +white-tanned buckskin. The cabin was of logs, but large, with a +comfortable porch and several windows. The panes of the windows seemed +near-glass. It was impossible to tell, from where they stood, whether the +two laughing children who played by the door were white or half-breeds. +The appearance at that door of a neatly-dressed Indian woman seemed to +settle that question. + +The three men had gone half-way across the narrow clearing, before the +man, looking up from his work, saw them. Instantly his face blanched. +With a quick step backward, he reached for a rifle that stood by the +door. Then the arm fell limp by his side. + +"Well, you've come!" he said in a lifeless tone. "I could have +killed you, one or two of you, but I won't. I may be a thief, but +not a murderer. Besides, there are probably more of you back there +in the trees." + +"On the contrary," smiled the Major, "we are only three. We are not +armed. So you see you might easily kill us all. But why you should want +to, and why you expected us, when the last thing we thought to do was to +land in your wheat-field last night, is more than I can guess." + +"Landed?" The man's face showed his bewilderment. + +"I know," exclaimed Bruce impulsively, "I'll explain. You're +Timmie--Timmie--" he hesitated. "Well, anyway, that's your first name. I +know all about you--" + +Again the man's trembling hand half-reached for the rifle. + +"Then--then you have--come for me," he choked. + +Bruce, realizing his mistake, hastened to correct it. + +"You're mistaken," he said quickly. "We haven't come for you in the +way you mean. You won't need to go a step with us unless that is your +wish. Timmie, we're here to help you; to tell you that you were +forgiven long ago." + +"Is--is that true?" The man faltered. "The logging company?" + +"The partners are dead. Their only heir, La Vaune, forgives you." +"And the Province, the Red Riders?" + +"The Province forgot the case years ago." + +"Thank--thank God!" The man choked, then turned to hide his face. He +faced them again in a moment and spoke steadily. "I've got the money here +in the cabin, every cent of it. God knows I didn't mean to do it. But the +temptation was too great. And--and once I had done it, I was afraid to go +back. I would have died in prison. How did you come? Are you going back? +Will you take the money to the little girl, La Vaune?" + +"We're going farther," smiled Bruce, happy in the realization of what all +this meant to the maid in the camp. "We're going on. We flew here and +will fly back--or try to." "And we'll be more than glad to return the +money," he wished to add, but remembering that he would not have that to +decide, he ended, "La Vaune is no little girl now, but quite a young +lady. She needs the money, too. And--and," he laughed sheepishly, "she's +rather a good friend of mine." + +Timmie drew his hand across his eyes, as if to brush away the vision of +long years. Then, with a smile, he said briskly: + +"Of course, you'll have breakfast? We're having hot-cakes." + +"What did I tell you?" chuckled the Major, slapping Barney on the back. + +Eager as the visitors were to hear the strange story of this man of the +wilderness, they were willing that breakfast should come first. + +As they stepped upon the porch, the keen eye of the Major fell on some +white and spotted skins hanging over a beam. A close observer might have +noticed a slight nod of his head, as if he said, "I thought so." But the +boys were following the scent of browning griddle-cakes and saw neither +the skins nor the Major's nod. + +But Barney, missing a familiar pungent odor that should go with such a +breakfast in a wilderness, hurried back to the plane to return with a +coffee pot and a sack of coffee. + +Within the cabin they found everything scrupulously clean. Strange +cooking utensils of copper and stone caught their eye, while the +translucent window-panes puzzled them. But all this was forgotten when +they sat down to a polished table of white wood, and attacked a towering +stack of cakes which vied with cups of coffee in sending a column of +steam toward the rafters. + +With memories stirred by draughts of long untasted coffee, it was not +difficult for Timmie to tell his Story. + +"When I left the settlement," he began, as he turned his mooseskin, +hammock-like chair toward the open fireplace, and invited his guests to +do likewise, "I struck straight into the wilderness. I had a little food, +a small rifle and fishing-tackle. To me a summer in the woods with such +equipment was no problem at all. I meant to go northwest for, perhaps, +two hundred miles, camp there for the summer, then work my way back by +going southwest. I would then be far from my crime and would be safe. +That is what I meant to do. But once in the silent woods, I began to +think of the wrong I had done. I would have given worlds to be back. But +it was too late. I had to keep going. Fording rivers, creeping through +underbrush, climbing ridges, crossing swampy beaver-meadows, fighting the +awful swarms of mosquitoes, I got through the summer, living on fish, +game and berries. You see, I had become terribly afraid of the Red +Riders--the mounted police. I had heard that sooner or later they always +got a man. I was determined they would not get me. + +"At last, snow-fall warned me to prepare for winter. I was in this valley +that day, and I've been here ever since. If I had ever got any pleasure +from that stolen money, which I haven't, I would have paid for that +pleasure a hundred times that first winter. Fortune favored me in one +thing: the caribou came by in great droves, and, before my ammunition was +exhausted, I had secured plenty of meat. But at that, I came near dying +before I learned that one who lives upon a strictly meat diet must +measure carefully the proportions of lean and fat. Someway, I learned. +And somehow, starving, freezing, half-mad of lonesomeness, I got through +the winter, but I am glad you did not see me when the first wild geese +came north. If ever there was a wild man, dressed in skins and dancing in +the sun, it was I." + +"But the wheat?" asked Barney. "How did that happen?" + +"I am coming to that," smiled his host. "Early that spring," he +continued, passing his hand across his forehead, as if to brush away the +memory of that terrible winter, "the Indians came. They came from the +Dismal Lake region. Driven south by forest fires, they were starving. I +had a little caribou meat and shared it with them; that made them my +everlasting friends." + +"And you got the wheat from them?" interposed Barney. + +"Hardly. I doubt if they had ever seen a grain of wheat. + +"Well, we lived together that summer. But I am getting ahead of my story. +Shortly before they arrived, I noticed some strange-looking caribou in +the clearing. I had no ammunition, so could not shoot them. Anyway, they +were skin-poor and would be of little use to me. But they seemed +strangely tame, coming close to my cabin at night. They were company, and +I was careful not to frighten them away. One night, in the moonlight, I +caught a glistening flash from the ear of the oldest doe. Then, too, I +noticed that one of them had unnaturally short antlers. A closer look +told me that these antlers had been cut off. + +"Then came the wonderful discovery: these were not caribou, but reindeer +escaped from some herd in Alaska. + +"Right then I decided to capture and use them. I would put them in +pound until their rightful owners came for them, which would be +never." He smiled. + +"Well, I tried making a lasso of caribou skin. For a long time I could +not come near enough to reach them with the lasso. But one night, while +they rested, I crept up to them and my lasso caught one by the antlers. +Then there was a battle, and all the while I was thinking that now I +should have milk, butter and cheese, meat and clothing. And then there +was a snap; the skin-rope broke and away went the reindeer--and my hopes. + +"I then hit on the plan of building a corral and driving them into it. +This was a pretty big job for one man, but with trees lining both sides +of a narrow run, where the deer went to drink, I managed to weave willow +branches into the spruce trees and make a stout barrier. Well--one +morning, I found myself with six reindeer in pound--a bull, three does, a +yearling and an old sled-deer. Not long after, the herd was increased by +four fawns. + +"By good luck, just at this time, the Indians came. They were all for +killing the reindeer, but I stopped that. We fed, as I said before, on +my caribou meat, and then came the wild-fowl and the streams opened up +for fishing. + +"It was fortunate that the Indians came. They helped me to build corrals, +big enough to give the reindeer plenty of pasturage and pretty soon they +were fat and sleek." + +"Pardon me," interrupted the Major, "but were some of the reindeer +white?" + +"Two of them were milk-white. And now I have many of them running free in +the forest." + +Barney grinned, and Bruce poked him in the ribs. "My ghost," he +whispered. + +"The wheat," said the host, "was no great mystery, after all. The bank +cashier had put into the money-sack two samples of wheat and one of beans +which he wanted to have tried in this north country. I have tried them; +with what luck, you can see. I don't need to fence my reindeer now, for +in winter when the moss is buried deep under the snow I turn them in on +stacks of wheat hay. Finally when the Indians went back North the +following winter they left me a wife, as you see." He smiled toward his +dusky mate, who was industriously scouring a copper griddle. + +There was silence for some time. Then the Major spoke: + +"The thing that interests me is how you manage to keep up your standards +of neatness and cleanliness." + +"It is not so hard," said Timmie. "I came of a good old Scotch family. +When I was a boy my mother taught me that 'cleanliness is next to +godliness,' and I made up my mind that--well, that I would at least be +clean. That was all there was left for me to be, you know." + +"I think you may call yourself both," said the Major stoutly. "You have +paid well for your mistake by twelve years of exile, and as for the +money, we'll take that back with us." + +Timmie smiled. "I'll be happy for the first time in twelve years when +it's gone," he said. + +"I say, Major," exclaimed Bruce, "I've been thinking of those white +reindeer. Don't you suppose that solves the problem of Peary's white +reindeer?" + +There was a peculiar twinkle in the Major's eye, as he asked: "How do you +make that out?" + +"Well, there had been reindeer in Alaska for twenty-five years when Peary +discovered his on the eastern coast of our continent. There are many +white ones among the domestic herds, and they are constantly wandering +away, or being driven away, by packs of wolves. If they wandered this +far, might they not easily have gone on to the other side of the +continent?" + +"Possibly. Possibly," The twinkle in the Major's eye grew brighter, but +he said no more. Presently he rose and stepped outside. + +"Say!" exclaimed Barney, "I feel like turning right around and +going back." + +Bruce knew that he was thinking of La Vaune's money. "But we can't," he +sighed. "It's not our plane nor our expedition. We're bound by agreement +to go on. Besides, there's no real need of going back. La Vaune's all +right for the winter. I arranged for her at my old college at Brandon; +she will attend the academy and help in the dining-room." + +"Well, then," said Barney, "I guess it's us for union-alls and at +those engines." + +They were soon at their task. But, as Bruce worked that day, he thought +often of the mysterious twinkle he had seen in the Major's gray eyes, as +he spoke of the white reindeer. Who was this Major, anyway? And where +were they going? The Major alone could tell, and apparently he had no +intention of doing so. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +IN THE MIDST OF THE PACK + + +"I think," said the Major, on the third morning after their strange +landing, "that we would make a great mistake to set out again at this +time. We are not likely to have the luck of our last landing a second +time. Then too, if we remain here until the lakes and rivers are frozen +over, we can find a safe landing place every few miles. + +"And now," the Major continued, stirring the fire thoughtfully, "now I +think it would be right that I tell you something of the purpose of +this journey." + +The boys leaned forward, eager for the story. + +"Even now," he said slowly, "I do not feel like confiding to you what I +may consider my great secret plans--plans for which this journey is but a +trial-trip into the frozen North. That may follow in good time. But, as +for this present journey, you are perhaps aware that an illegal wireless +station has been operating somewhere in these woods and hills?" + +"Yes--yes; we saw the offer of reward!" exclaimed Barney. + +"The reward is a small matter," smiled the Major. "Should we be so +fortunate as to capture the culprit, or be able to certify to his death, +I will gladly turn over the reward to you boys." + +"Thanks," said Barney, who already had his share of the prize in +his purse. + +"First I shall tell you the purpose of that wireless and why it is so +important to locate it," the Major went on. "It is one of the links in a +chain around the world--a chain that threatens to bind civilization to a +burning stake of sedition, anarchy and bloodshed. The operator is an +anarchist, or, at least, belongs to an allied organization, and these, +one and all, have for their purpose the destruction of the present order +of things. Now, there is not one of us but believes that there are many +evils possible--yes, and put in operation under the present order, but we +do not believe that matters are going to be bettered by a +world-revolution. We believe that in time justice will come very much +nearer being done under the old system; therefore, we are fighting to +maintain it. That is why I volunteered to attempt to hunt out and if +possible destroy this powerful wireless station, which is relaying +revolutionary messages direct from Russia to all important points in +North America. My long experience in the North seemed to fit me for that +task; and it is a task that I am determined to accomplish. + +"It is my theory that this wireless is located on the shores of Great +Bear Lake. In fact, I believe it is run by an independent trader +operating at the east end of that lake, on Conjurer's Bay. A year ago he +brought in a small electric plant, to light his trading post, he said. +Now this plant is capable of producing an almost unlimited amount of +electrical power, provided only time is given. Batteries of great power +might easily be produced on the spot. Chemicals for producing acids are +found in abundance; so also are copper and zinc for the plate. All he +would have to do then would be to make wooden boxes for the chemicals, +erect his wires--he could string them from spruce poles--and the thing is +done. It was impossible to reach the station by water after I had guessed +its location, and there was of course the possibility that I was wrong, +that it was nearer civilization. In that case I might be able to locate +it, providing I made the trip by plane." + +"That explains why we circled three times during our first day's flight? +You were looking--" + +"For the wireless tower," smiled the Major. + +"And now," he went on, "I think we will just rest easy on our wings for a +few weeks. You will get the engines in shape; take a few trial flights, +if you wish, but be careful to conserve gasoline. We must have enough to +carry us to Great Bear Lake. There we will find a sufficient supply to +carry us on any other journey we may decide on. The trader uses gasoline +to run his electric plant and will have a supply. It will not be of very +high test, but with two engines I think we will make it answer our +purpose. If we find that my theory regarding the location of the tower is +not correct, we will buy a supply from him, and if it _is_ correct--" He +did not finish, but smiled and poked the fire again. + +"Take it all in all," said Barney to Bruce some time later, "I think our +trip promises to be dangerous enough to satisfy even a bloodthirsty young +savage from the Canadian army." + +"Or a young Cherokee from the wilds of Boston Commons," laughed Bruce, +heaving a wrench in the general direction of his companion. + +But, though they went about their work in a playful mood, they did it +with great care. After they had taken the two little Timmies for several +rides, they declared the airship quite ready for further voyaging. "And +as for gasoline," said Bruce, "we still have two hundred and forty +gallons in the tank which will give us a-plenty for the trip, and +several hours to spare; but coming back--that's another matter." + +Barney realized that this was, indeed, another matter, and, though he +shared the Major's hope of securing a supply at the trading station, his +face grew grave at thought of being stranded more than a thousand miles +from civilization at the beginning of winter, and with only a few days' +supply of provisions. What if this trading station was one of those myths +that float down from the North? Or, what if it had been abandoned? + +Barney shook himself free from these thoughts, and seizing his mandolin, +went to join Bruce and Timmie on saxophone and rudely-devised Indian +kettledrums in a wild-woods symphony, while the children danced wild +steps the boys had never seen. + + * * * * * + +"Well, we're off!" Barney said this, as he buckled on his harness and +touched the starting lever. The wheels of the starting gear bumped over +the thin-crusted snow and jolted through Timmie's wheat stubble, then +the great bird began to rise. + +Winter had set in. Now they glided over dark forests of spruce, and now +swept above great stretches of barren lands. The air was biting cold. +They were thankful enough for their face-protectors, their electric hand +and foot warmers, their fur-lined leather union-alls. But best of all was +the glorious freedom of it. Soaring on and on over untrodden +wildernesses, with no thought of dangers known and unknown, made them +feel like explorers of a new world. The engines worked in perfect +harmony. A gentle breeze from the south urged them on their way. The sun +soon set and a long night began, but what of that? The moon and snow +lighted the earth as if by day, and with a silvery glory. And now the +Northern Lights began to flicker, flash and shoot across the sky. + +Now they passed over a wide expanse of white, which they knew to be +Dismal Lake. This was frozen over; then surely Great Bear Lake, two +hundred miles farther north, would be frozen, too. Their safe landing +would be assured. + +But as they neared their goal the boys' minds could scarcely escape +misgivings. If the Major's suppositions were correct; if, indeed, this +trader was the hired agent of a fanatical clan, would he not be armed and +on the alert? Would he not, perhaps, have Indians and half-breeds hired +to help guard his secret? They were but three. The enemy might number a +score. As Barney thought of all this, he was thankful for one thing: by +some strange chance, a small machine-gun and two thousand rounds of +ammunition had been shipped north with the plane. Their first thought had +been to leave this behind, but after a discussion, they had decided to +bring it; and there it was now, hanging in its swivel before him. In an +emergency there remained but to load it and go into action. But it was +quite an unexpected emergency that soon made him bless that bit of +equipment. + +They were now well into the Arctic. The air cut like a knife and chilled +them to the marrow. Barney began to long for warmth, food and sleep. He +held his electric glove to the glass of the small clock before him. When +the frost had thawed he noted the hour. + +"Twelve o'clock! Midnight!" he muttered. "And no landing in sight yet." + +There remained but to "carry on." + +But what was this? Far to the North there showed a small, red ball of +light. And it was not the Aurora Borealis! They were traveling fast. The +ball of fire seemed to roll toward them along the earth at terrific +speed, growing larger and more lurid. And now, beside it, wafting from +it, like the tail to a comet, they could discern a swirling cloud, black +in the moonlight. + +"It's a fire!" Bruce gasped through his mouthpiece. + +"But what?--" began Barney. + +Just at that moment he caught the faint white line that marked the shore +of Great Bear Lake. They were, then, nearing their destination. Tilting +the plane upward, that they might get a better panorama of the region, +and so direct their course, Barney gave the great engine more gas. On +they swept. Presently the outlines of bays and frozen streams, of scrub +forests and barren lands were plainly visible. A map under glass was just +before him. Brushing the frost from it, Barney examined it by the light +of a small electric bulb. Then he looked away at the fire which was now +clearly visible. His heart sank. The trading post was, indeed, a reality, +or had been. At the present moment it was a ball of fire. + +"It's the trading post!" He barked to the Major. + +"'Fraid so," grumbled the Major, hoarsely. + +"And the gasoline for our return--" + +"There it goes," sang Bruce, with a note of despair. + +At that instant the whole ball of fire seemed to rise in air to burst +like some gigantic rocket. There was no question in the boys' minds but +that the supply of gasoline had been reached by the flames. + +After the great flash came blackness. The fire seemed for a time to have +been extinguished. Gradually here and there, far below, bits of burning +tinder gleamed, fiery stars in an inverted heaven. Soon the ruins were +again blazing. They soared close, but high, avoiding the dangerous +pockets of smoke gas. Did they see dark figures dancing about the ruins? +Or was it merely the flickering shadows of posts and tree stumps. + +"Indians!" murmured Barney. + +Instantly his mind mirrored to him pictures he had seen in histories of +painted savages burning a settler's cabin. His blood ran cold. Here they +were, three men in the frozen wilderness, with little gasoline for their +machine, with scant provisions and ammunition, and rushing toward perils +they could not even guess. To kill and to escape would both be easy for +these desperadoes. + +"Go along down the lake and back again. Use as little gas as possible, +but keep in the air. We better not land at present." The very steadiness +of the Major's tone told Barney that this experienced man of the North +expected the worst. + +As they rushed down the white expanse, many thoughts raced through +Barney's mind. It seemed that hunger and cold grew upon him with every +whirl of the engine-shaft. He thought of Bruce and La Vaune. Would they +ever return to La Vaune with the money which was rightfully hers? And +Timmie? Would they ever be able to help him blot the stain from his name? +Barney's friend, Dave Tower, who had gone North in a submarine on a +mission as mysterious as their own; would they ever meet? + +They had now turned and were making their way slowly back. The fire had +burned down to a dull red glow. The forest about had escaped the flames, +and this was fortunate. Should the Indians leave them unmolested, they +might possibly find a means of sustaining life by hunting and trapping. + +"When we get to the bay, might as well land," grumbled the Major. "It's +mighty tough up here!" + +Barney assured him that it certainly was tough. He was glad they were to +land, being very sure that if an Indian did shoot him he would not feel +it, so thoroughly benumbed was he with cold. + +Then, suddenly, he gave a cry of surprise. They were nearing a point +where Conjurer's Bay should appear. Instead of the bay he saw what +appeared to be merely a broad shoulder of frozen water, and beyond that, +perhaps two miles, was a small lake lined by the forest. It was on the +edge of this small lake that the fire smouldered. The boy rubbed his +eyes, then looked again. Had the cold benumbed his senses? Was he seeing +things? Was he asleep and dreaming? + +Apparently not, for from Bruce through the receiver came a groan, then; + +"What's happened? The whole shape of the lake has changed within an +hour!" + +Barney shut off the engines. In the welcome silence which followed, as +they drifted downward in a slow spiral, not a man spoke. Their eyes were +focused upon the earth. + +But now there came to their ears a sound like the distant rush of many +waters. This grew rapidly louder, and finally divided itself into +rattling and snapping sounds. + +Presently the Major let out a roar of laughter. + +"Caribou!" he exploded. "They pass south from the barren lands in herds +of hundreds of thousands, so thick they look like land! Tip her nose up +for another circle. See! There is the end of the herd away there in the +distance. We'll be able to land where they have passed in fifteen +minutes, an ideal landing-place--tramped hard." + +With a grin Barney obeyed orders, and, as his engines began to revolve, +felt himself shooting skyward. + +"Now it's clear," roared the Major. + +Barney did not respond on the instant. He was thinking of something he +had read about the "camp-followers of the barren-ground caribou." A chill +not of the wind and cold crept into his heart. But what was to be done? +He felt that another hour aloft would so benumb his senses that a crash +would be inevitable. To land at a point other than that trampled by the +caribou involved great risk, for there was undoubtedly a thick coating of +drifted snow on the lake's surface. So he stopped the engines and they +spiraled once more toward the earth. + +Now they were nearing the surface of the lake. The distance was a +thousand feet; now eight hundred. Did he see shadows flitting across the +ice? At five hundred feet he was sure that he did. He said nothing. So +intent on landing was he that no risk seemed too great. At three hundred +feet he saw them distinctly--gray streaks scooting across the trodden +snow or resting on haunches, their shadows stretching before them. + +"Great Scott!" he muttered, "must be hundreds of them! Oh well, they're +cowards!" He tilted the machine for the final glide. There came a sudden +exclamation from the Major, then from Bruce. They, too, had seen. It was +too late now, for their landing wheels were almost touching the surface +as they glided on. And now, strangely enough, some of the gray streaks +began to chase the plane. As if imagining it a bird with flesh to eat and +bones to gnaw, they came on. Then, all at once, Barney realized what they +followed--the scent of fresh meat. Timmie had killed a reindeer in honor +of their departure and had presented them with a hind-quarter. This was +now roped on the fuselage behind the Major. They would have a fight. He +knew that now. He thought of their weapons--two rifles. They were almost +useless against five hundred gaunt, hungry wolves. And they were gaunt; +he could see that as he flew by them. Evidently camp-following this year +had not given them an over-abundant supply of food. The season's calves +were fleet and strong by now, and every herd had its thousands of +antlered bulls that formed bristling hedges to defend their own. + +Bump! The plane struck the ice and bounded, then struck again. Barney's +mind was now working fast. Yes, there were other weapons--the +oxy-acetylene torch--yes, the machine-gun. He shouted to Bruce to get +the torch, and, as soon as the plane slowed down, freed his hands from +his gloves and began fumbling at the gun before him. The Major was +unstrapping the two rifles. The wolf-pack was crowding around in a +grinning circle. Barney caught his breath as his eyes swept the circle. +Five hundred if one, dripping-jawed, red-eyed, gray creatures-of-prey, +they waited, as ever, for the coward's chance to fight with great odds in +their favor. + +"Don't shoot until forced to," said Bruce, turning to the Major. "If you +do you may bring the whole pack down upon us." + +In this emergency, Bruce took the lead, and, assuredly, that was the +wise plan; for, reared as he had been in the forests and plains of the +Northland, he knew wolves. Just now he was dragging from their +hiding-place in the fuselage two iron tubes, perhaps eighteen inches +long and six in diameter. One tube contained oxygen, the other acetylene +gas. The tubes were connected by a set of registering valves. To these, +in turn, was fastened a wire-wound rubber hose with a long brass +nozzle. Once the valves were turned, the acetylene gas forced out by a +pressure of a thousand pounds and united with oxygen as an accelerator +would produce a shooting flame that burned metals as if they were +sun-dried pulp. + +The machine stopped and the pack crowded in. With an electric flash lamp +in one hand and the rubber hose in the other, Bruce stood watching. With +aching, clumsy fingers and bleared eyes, Barney worked on the +machine-gun that, with oil fairly frozen in its parts, seemed about to +refuse to respond. + +"Hurry!" exclaimed Bruce, as a gaunt form with patches of brown, and +double nose, telling of mixed blood, sprang forward, eager to drag the +fresh meat from the fuselage. + +Instead of firing, the Major beat the beast over the head, and with a +snarl he resumed his place in the ever-narrowing circle. + +And now the time for concerted action on the part of the pack seemed to +have come; for, with one savage snarl, the first row rushed straight on. +There came a flash, then the hiss of a white-tongued fiery serpent. As +the first wolf reared on his haunches, the smell of burning hair and +roasting flesh halted the half-maddened pack, and, falling over one +another, again they retreated. + +It was a tense moment. Slapping his hands to warm them, Barney adjusted +cartridges and swept the circle with an imaginary volley. What if the +machine-gun jammed? There could be but one result. The torch would not +long hold the beasts off. Besides, the gas would not last. + +"Well, shoot if you can!" exclaimed Bruce. "This gas is precious stuff. +We can't waste it." + +At that, there came the staccato music of the machine-gun. With steady +eye Barney swept the inner circle. They went down like grain before a +gale. With strange wild snarls they bit at their wounds, at one another, +at the snow. The gun swept again with its merciless fire. The furthermost +members of the pack began to slink away. Then as Barney raised his gun +and sent a rain of bullets pattering about them, the whole snarling pack +fled in yelping confusion. + +The battle was won. Bruce cut off the gas. Barney ceased his fire. The +Major, loosing his harness, stood up and stretched himself. Then they +looked at one another and laughed. + +"Some fight!" exclaimed Barney. + +"Some fight!" agreed Bruce. + +"Some fight!" reechoed the Major. "And the next thing is to put the +injured out of their misery. After that we must skin 'em and make a cache +for the meat." + +"Meat?" the boys questioned. + +"Sure," smiled the Major. "Wolf meat isn't bad at all. You perhaps forget +that we have not a hundred miles of gas in the tank. We may be here quite +some time!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A MODERN BATTLE WITH CRIMINALS + + +When Dave Tower, Barney Menter's one-time pal, received the letter +suggesting a bit of "jazz" somewhere within the Arctic Circle, he was on +twelve-hour shore leave. They were to start on that mysterious subsea +journey at high-tide next day. He grinned as he showed the note to Ensign +Blake, his commander. Then he went around the corner and purchased a +second-hand guitar and an oboe. + +"Look!" he exclaimed, pointing to a pair of battered kettledrums in the +corner. "There's the original pair--made by the Adam and Eve of the South +Sea Islands, or wherever kettledrums originated. I'll buy 'em and teach +some gob to drum. We'll have a whole band when we arrive." + +A few hours later found them aboard the snug, shapely hull of U boat N. +12 of the U.S.A. submarine fleet. The sub was a small one, patterned +after the most recent British model, known as the "K" class. Fleet as a +flying-fish, she made twenty-two knots on the surface and ten knots when +submerged. She presented a rather odd appearance, having a short, square +funnel, which was swung over into a recess in the deck when the craft +submerged. + +Her gun and torpedoes had been removed. The weight of those had been +replaced by an additional supply of oil and by quantities of provisions. +The provisions, together with bales of skin clothing, were packed into +every available space. + +She made splendid progress as she left the harbor and wound her way in +and out among the islands of Puget Sound, to emerge finally round Cape +Flattery and strike away into the open sea. + +It became evident at once that this was no coastwise journey. Further +than that, not even Ensign Blake knew its purpose. + +The sub was registered at the Navy-yard as "off on detached duty." The +crew of ten men were all volunteers for the trip. The expedition was +under the direction of a doctor. A man past middle age, he sat in a +wicker chair below, smoking innumerable cigars and saying nothing. + +"Far's I can dope it out," Blake said to Dave, "the old fellow did some +good service for the Government during the war. He's had plenty of +experience in the North; has some theories he wants to work out about +subs and the Arctic. The Government has some little trick they want +pulled off up in that North country. The Doctor volunteers to lead the +expedition, and here we are!" + +"But what do you suppose--" + +"Don't suppose a thing," said Blake, gazing astern at the last fading bit +of land. "There's a lot of things that might be; but like as not none of +my guesses is correct." + +"Let's hear you guess." + +"Well, first, you know, Uncle Sam has some valuable seal islands in the +Aleutian group. Maybe, during the war the Japs or Russians have got +careless about drifting around that way and carrying off a few hundred +skins. Might be, you know. + +"But I'm not saying that's it. A sub would be a mighty fine craft for +watching that sort of game, though. And then, there's another thing I've +thought of. There's gold in Russia, on the Kamchatkan peninsula; you know +that, don't you?" + +"No." Dave opened his eyes wide in surprise. + +"Heaps of it. Tons and tons! Just waiting for the digging. And before we +went into the war, when Russia was still with the Allies and needed +money, our Government, or independent capitalists, I don't know which, +furnished the Russians a lot of machinery for mining the gold; about a +million dollars' worth, I guess. Then came the revolution in Russia. I +doubt if a cent has been realized from the sale of machinery. Who's in +possession of that peninsula at the present time? God alone knows. Japan +would like to meddle there, I'm sure. Perhaps we're being sent up there +to conduct an investigation. + +"Those are my two guesses. Take 'em for what they're worth." + +"You don't think," said Dave, "that we'd attempt the Pole?" + +The ensign was silent for a time. "No," he said at last, "I don't. Of +course, Stefansson has said that a 'sub' is the most practical way to go +there; that ice-floes are never more than ten feet thick and twenty-five +miles wide, and all that; but there are too many unsettled problems +relating to such a trip." + +"But say!" exclaimed Dave, "who is this doctor of ours, anyway?" + +"Blamed if I know," said Blake, as he turned away to go below. + +"Well, anyhow," Dave remarked, "whoever he is, he's going to take us +where the white ice-floes are drifting. Look at the color of this craft; +blue-white, like the ice itself." + +The journey North, save for a storm, which they avoided by submerging, +was uneventful until they found themselves in the company of scattered +ice-cakes with the snow-capped ridges of the Aleutian Islands looming up +before them. + +In no time at all every man on the craft realized that on these islands +was to be found one of the objects of their quest; for, once they had +sighted the shores, the funnel was dropped, electric power applied, and +watchers, dressed in white to match the color of the craft, set to scan +the shores for signs of life. They stole through the water like some +ghost craft. + +"Believe it's that seal-fishery business?" asked Dave, as he and the +ensign took their watch. + +"No." + +Dave was certain from the tone that the doctor had confided his secret to +the ensign. He asked no more questions. + +So they drifted on. The wind had dropped. The swell rolled their craft as +it plowed along. Here and there a sea-lion thrust its ugly head from the +water. Twice a seal attempted to climb upon the slippery hull for a +rest, but, to the amusement of the boys, slid back into the water. An +offer to assist the third one was not appreciated, and the ridiculously +human-like head disappeared beneath the water with great alacrity. + +Dave had been searching the hills with his binoculars for some time when +he suddenly gave the glass to the ensign. + +"What's that tangle above the cliffs there?" he asked. + +The ensign studied the cliffs for some time. Then he touched a button +with his foot and they turned silently shoreward. + +"That's it!" He said with an air of finality. + +"What?" asked Dave eagerly. + +"The wireless." Then the ensign explained to Dave the purpose of their +journey. They had been sent into the Arctic to locate a wireless station, +supposed to be placed in the Aleutian Islands; a station run by radical +propagandists, part of a world-federation, which proposed to wreck all +organized society. Had Dave realized that the missions of sub and +airplane were alike he would have been startled. As it was, his face +took on a tense, expectant look, his cheeks burned hot with excitement. + +The Doctor was called to the conning-tower. After studying the contour of +the island for some time, he said: + +"Their shack, built of rocks and driftwood logs, is at the base of the +cliff. That is good. We will divide into two parties. Four of us will go +up the cliff and get above them, while four others will skirt the cliff +and, under cover, await my signal. Our supporting party will take ropes, +rifles and a machine-gun. I will go with the party to the top of the +cliff. We will carry only rifles and some special instruments of attack +which I have stored in canvas sacks below. Two men must remain on board. +Head in close to those rocks before us. They are out of sight of the +shack and there is ice stranded there--a straggler will scarcely tell our +craft from it. I have no doubt there are a number of them and that they +are hardy ruffians. We must proceed with great care. + +"Hark!" He put his hand to his ear. "They are sending messages now. + +"In the future," continued the Doctor, as he handed Dave two +strange-looking spheres, the size of a man's head, "the work of sheriffs, +policemen and other officers of the law is not going to be quite so +hazardous. When a criminal runs amuck, he will not kill a half-score of +brave men before he is captured. The officers of the law will do what we +will soon be doing, and a child can do the rest. Only," he continued, +"watch your step going up that hill. It doesn't take much of a bump to +get one of these funny little balls excited." + +Dave had been detailed to assist the Doctor. Ensign Blake would lead the +supporting party around the cliff, there to await the Doctor's signals. + +Besides the sack in which Dave carried the large spheres, there was +another carried by a seaman. This one gave forth a metallic clinking, +as if it were full of iron eggs. With the Doctor and the other seaman +carrying two rifles each, the four men made their way slowly around +the rocky hillside and were soon advancing silently, single-file, up +the surface of one of those perpetual snow-banks for which the islands +are noted. + +The rocks above were much larger than they had seemed from the sub. +Twice, as he climbed over them, Dave's foot slipped and each time his +heart was in his mouth. One stumbling misstep and all might be over for +him. But he had the clear, cool head of a clean boy who had lived right, +and an appreciation of the joy of living, which would take him far and +keep him safe through many an adventure. So, safely, they reached the top +of the cliff. + +The Doctor motioned Dave to come back with him to a box-like edge of +rock, which would give them a view of what lay some three hundred feet +below. All was still. The moon, a great yellow ball, floated in the sky +above and in the sea beneath. A lone sea-gull, awakened by the supporting +party, sailed screaming away. Not a move, not a sound was to be detected +below. Yet there, in a rocky cavern, were a number of world-criminals, +and behind some crag were three jackies and their commander. Soon all +this would be changed. Fighting, perhaps death, would end the quiet of +that Arctic scene. Dave's hand trembled with excitement as he arranged +the two sacks beside the Doctor. Even the Doctor's hand shook as he +opened one sack and drew forth a number of small iron objects, the size +and shape of a bicycle handle-bar grip. His face grew stern. + +"Understand Mill's grenades?" he asked. + +"Yes." + +"All right. When I say 'Go' drop ten of these as fast as you can release +the pins. Drop 'em on their shack." + +Dave's heart thumped violently. He had thrown Mill's grenades at manikin +"enemies," but never had he hurled them where human flesh was the target. +Slowly, mechanically, he arranged the ten grenades in a row. + +"Go!" The word sang in his ears. + +Ten seconds later from below came two sharp reports--his grenade and the +Doctor's. They were off together. Crash followed crash in quick +succession until the row was finished. Silence followed for a single +second. Then came the cries and curses of men, as they staggered from +their half-demolished shelter and began to scatter. Dave's heart thumped. +There were fifteen, at least. + +"Now!" exclaimed the Doctor, and lifting one of the large spheres he +dropped it over the ledge's edge. Just as that instance Dave saw one +of the rascals raise his rifle and fire. Immediately there came a cry +of distress. Dave thought he recognized the voice and a lump rose in +his throat. + +But now there came a dull muffled explosion--the strange bomb. Instantly +the men below began acting like madmen. Throwing away their rifles, they +staggered about, tearing at their eyes, their throats, their clothing, +and uttering wild cries of distress. At the same time three automatic +pistols cracked, and Dave knew the doctor had given his signal. + +To his surprise, he saw the three jackies emerge from hiding wearing gas +masks. Quickly they overpowered the wild men, tied them and carried them +around a point of land. As they did this the Doctor and his band kept +guard above, rifles ready for any man who might, by some chance, recover +sufficiently from the gas to shoot. But none did. + +"It won't do them the least bit of harm," the Doctor said, as he noticed +the look of surprise on Dave's face. "It's only chlorpicrin--a tear gas. +It comes in liquid form, so must be associated with an explosive which +transforms it into a gas and scatters it. You will see that our men are +carrying them out of it as soon as they have them secured. It's a safe +and harmless way of handling criminals. The war taught us that." + +"But the ensign?" exclaimed Dave, as he saw the last ruffian in the hands +of the jackies. + +"Something must have happened to him," said the Doctor rising hastily. + +"There was a shot," Dave reminded him. + +Together they hastily made their way down the rough hillside. Slipping, +sliding, falling, to rise again, they came to the lower surface and +hurried around the point where the prisoners had been carried. + +A strange scene awaited them. Sixteen men lying in a row, all tightly +bound. And what a motley crew they were--Japs, Russians, Mexicans, +Greeks, and even Americans, they had gathered here for a common purpose. +But it is doubtful if one of them could have told what the next step +would be, should their first task be accomplished. + +Off to one side, lay Ensign Blake, white and still. One of the seamen was +bending over him. + +"Got an ugly one in the chest," he said simply. "Think we can save him?" + +The Doctor bent over, and tearing away Blake's garments, made a thorough +examination. + +"He'll pull through," he said. "But we must get him to the mission +hospital at Unalaska at once. Begin throwing those rascals aboard. +There's a prison there for their accommodation." + +At that moment the two other jackies appeared, carrying a moaning burden +in the shape of a Jap radical. + +"One's done in for good," the foremost man explained. "We searched the +ruins. Maybe we can save this fellow." + +"Take him aboard," said the Doctor. Then, turning, he directed the men +who carried their fallen commander to the craft. + + * * * * * + +"Well, that about ends our present career in the Arctic." The Doctor was +speaking to Dave, and emphasized his word with a sigh. "I had hoped we +might do something really big, but Blake will not be out again this +season. He'll get around again all right, but it's a slow process." + +Dave sat thinking. Suddenly he jumped to his feet. + +"Doctor," he said eagerly, "there's a gob on board who is sure a wonder +at navigation. Don't you think--think, he and I might manage the sub for +you--your trip?" + +"H--m." The Doctor grew thoughtful, but a flash of hope gleamed +in his eye. + +"Tell you what," he said presently, "there's a considerable ice-floe +between the islands; the north wind brought it down last night. Have your +crew ready for a try-out in the morning." + +With a heart that ached from pure joy of anticipation, Dave hurried to an +ancient sealer's bunk-house where his men were housed. "A try-out, +try-out, try-out," kept ringing in his ears. What did it mean if they +were successful? Something big, wonderful, he was sure. Russian gold? +Charting Northeast Passage? North Pole? He did not know, but nothing +seemed too difficult for his daring young heart. + +And the next day the try-out came. And such an ordeal as it was! Gobs had +surely never been put to a test like that in any navy-yard training +station! For five long hours they dived and rose and dived again. They +rose suddenly, rose slowly; they tipped, glided, shot through the water. +They passed for miles beneath the ice-floe, to emerge at last and bump a +cake, or lift themselves toward a dark spot not larger than the sub +itself--a patch of open water in the midst of the floe. + +With mind all in a whirl, Dave gave the final command to make for port. +It had been a great day. + +That night, after "chow," the Doctor called Dave into his room at +the hospital. + +"Young man," he said, motioning the boy to a seat, "you and your crew +have surprised me beyond belief. I feel that we shall be risking little +in attempting what, to many, might seem the most difficult task ever +undertaken by a submarine. I do not yet feel free to tell you what that +trip will be; you'll have to take that on faith. I can only tell you +that we will proceed from here directly to Nome, Alaska. There we will +get more oil and provisions. We will then sail through Behring Strait +due North." + +For a time the two sat in silence. The Doctor's face grew mellow, then +sad at recollections of years that had gone. + +"I don't mind telling you," he said after awhile, "that I am an +explorer, you almost might say 'by profession;' that some years ago +another explorer and I sought the same goal. We went from different +points; both claimed to have reached it. But he got the honors." + +"And you really reached--" + +"Doesn't matter now what I did in the past," interrupted the Doctor +quickly. "What I am to do in the future is all that counts, and the +immediate future is big with possibilities." + +"The crew will be with you to a man," Dave assured him, as he rose to go. + +As he stepped into the cool night air, Dave found that his face was hot +with excitement. There was left in his mind not one doubt as to their +final destination: it was to be a try for the Pole. Only one thought +saddened him; that his good friend, Blake, would not continue as one of +the party. + +Two days later they crossed over to the island of the illicit wireless +station. They found the apparatus in perfect condition, and the Doctor at +once began sending messages. + +"I'm letting the world know of our purpose," he explained. "At least, +trying to. Sending messages by code to a friend of mine in Chicago. Hope +Seattle will pick it up, and if not, perhaps that radical operator who is +supposed to be relaying messages to Canada and the States from the +north-central portion of the Continent will catch it, and, thinking it +one of his own messages in a new code, pass it on." + +Had the doctor known what kind of radicals were in control of the station +on Great Bear Lake at that moment, perhaps he would have been more +careful what messages he sent. + +"If you don't mind," said Dave, "for the sake of my friends, and +especially of my mother, I wish you'd include my name in the message." + +"It's already done," smiled the Doctor. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AN INFERNAL MACHINE + + +When Bruce, Barney and the Major found themselves stranded on the shore +of a vast frozen lake at the beginning of an Arctic winter, they at once +took steps to conserve all resources. Building a cache between three +scrub spruce trees, they piled upon it their wolf meat and skins. To +Barney the thought of eating "dog meat," as he called it, was most +repulsive, but necessity gives man little choice in the Arctic, so he +munched his roast wolf's back that night in silence. But at the same +time, he vowed that, sure as the caribou had not all passed, he would +dine on caribou roast before long. + +Once the cache was completed, they began scouting the woods near the +ruins of the burned trading station. There they found plain signs of +Indians. A circle of beaten tracks made certain a pow-wow had been +held there. + +"Doesn't look very good to me," admitted the Major. "These Indians of the +Little Sticks are a fierce and cruel people, full of superstitions, and +living up to the old law of 'blood revenge.' There's only one thing in +our favor: they have a superstition about a giant creature, known as the +Thunder-bird. The stories of this terrible bird are known to almost all +Indian tribes, but the Little Sticks believe them literally. From the +tracks I should judge that they left in great haste. What could cause +this fright, save the sound and sight of our plane hovering over them? +Since it is almost certain that they have never seen an airplane, it +seems likely that they considered it to be old Thunder-bird come to carry +them off. If that is true, I shall not look for them back in a hurry." + +"What puzzles me is, where's the remains of the fellow's generator +and wireless?" said Barney. "Don't see anything down there in the +ruins, do you?" + +Instantly all eyes were turned toward the smouldering piles of ashes. + +"The place was wired all right," said the Major, pointing to a mass of +tangled lighting wire. + +"Say! What's that out in the center?" exclaimed Barney. "Looks like the +bones of a man?" + +"So it does," said the Major, "and surely is. Well, there can't be +any further doubt about the rascal being burned in the ruins of his +own house." + +Then there came a shout from Barney. He had been tracing out the masses +of blackened wire. + +"Look!" he exclaimed. "Here's where the lead-wires go into the ground. +Must be a separate power-house. Three lead-wires instead of two. What do +you suppose that means?" + +He clipped the soft wires off with his heavy knife, and bent them apart +to avoid short circuits; then, closely followed by the others, went +plowing away through the snow to search out the point where the wires +left the ground. They traced them through the scrub timber, and, almost +at once, came upon a strange frame-like structure, ending in a tall pole, +and having at its center a house built of logs. The whole affair was +quite invisible outside the timber. + +"It's his wireless station," breathed the Major. "No further doubt +remains." + +He stepped to the door and found himself gazing into a well-arranged +room--electric generator, storage batteries in rows and instruments of +every description along the walls and the floor. + +But what caught Bruce's eye was two rows of ten-gallon cans piled in the +rear. With a cry of joy he sprang toward them. But his joyful look +changed to an anxious one, as he lifted can after can and found it empty. +Only one contained gasoline, and that was but half-full. + +"Not enough to give our Thunder-bird a drink," he groaned disgustedly. + +"Well, at any rate," said the Major, "we've found a place that won't +make a bad shelter from Arctic blizzards. I suggest that we bring the +plane up to the edge of the woods nearest this point and camp here." + +"What's that?" exclaimed Bruce in a startled whisper, as he detected some +noise outside. + +He pushed the door open fearlessly, then laughed. There stood a dog. + +"Not a bad find," said the Major. "He may be a lot of help to us. And, +look! There are four others! They're the trader's dogs. Ran away when the +place burned, I haven't a doubt. Barney, run and get some wolf meat. +We'll have a team at once. And we'll need it. Can't move the plane +without it." + +They were soon on good terms with the strange dogs. The Major, who +appeared to know all there was to know about Arctic life, fashioned some +Eskimo style harness from wolfskin, and before many hours they had their +plane by the edge of the woods, and were settled in their new home. + +That night, after they had enjoyed reindeer steak as a special treat, +the Major rather playfully put the receiving piece of the wireless over +his head and clicked the machine. Almost instantly, he exclaimed: + +"Jove! I'm getting something! Give me a note-book and pencil." + +For fifteen minutes he scratched strange dots and dashes across +innumerable pages. At last he paused and removed the receiver. + +"Guess that's about all for this time. Let's see what we've got." + +Three heads bent over the message. But, after hours of study, the only +conclusion they could come to was that the message had been sent in a +secret code, which they might never be able to decipher. + +"Well," said the Major, with a sigh. "Station's closed for to-night. +Tell the gentleman to call again in the morning." At that he crept +into his sleeping-bag and was soon snoring. The two boys gladly +followed his example. + +Barney made the first announcement in the morning. He was going caribou +hunting. He had had quite enough "dog meat." Bruce offered to go with +him, but, on second thought, decided to try fishing through the ice. +Barney was soon lost in the wilderness of scrub spruce. But, though he +hunted far, he found no fresh caribou tracks. It was on his return trip +that he received the first surprise of the day. The wind was blowing fine +snow along the surface and he found his out-going trail half-buried. +Then, suddenly, he came upon strange footprints. The person apparently +had been going North, but upon seeing the white boy's track he had turned +and retreated. The tracks were fresh and had been made by a heelless +skin-shoe. + +"Indian!" Barney gasped. + +Even as he spoke he caught the gleam of a camp-fire through the trees; +then another and another. Without a moment's delay Barney started for the +camp two miles away. + +He had reached the open space where the trading station had stood, had +nearly crossed it, when out of the edge of the ruins there rose the form +of a man, not an Indian but a white man. Barney's first thought was that +it was Bruce or the Major. His second look brought action. He dropped +flat behind some fire-blackened debris. The man wore a tomato-colored +mackinaw, such as was not to be found in their outfit. Whoever he was, +his back was turned and he had not seen the boy. + +Creeping a little forward, Barney peered around the pile. What he saw +set the cold chills chasing up his back. The man had torn two of the +lead-wires from the frosted earth. Slowly he placed their points +together. In that instant the boy understood. He knew now the reason +for the three wires leading to the power-house. Two were for carrying +light to the building. If the third one was connected with the right +one of the lighting-wires, an infernal-machine would be set going, +and the power-house, with all in it, would be blown to atoms. And, at +this moment, Bruce and the Major were there. The man, whoever he was, +had, since the wires were broken, found it necessary to test the +pairs out. His first trial had been wrong. He was bending over for a +second try when something struck him, bowling him over like a +ten-pin. It was Barney. + +The man was heavier than Barney, and evidently older. He was fit, too. +One thing Barney had noticed--the gleam of an automatic in the man's +hip-pocket. In his sudden attack he had managed to drag this out and drop +it upon the snow. + +The struggle which followed was furious. Holds were lost and won. Blood +flecked the snow, arms were wrenched and faces bruised. Slowly, steadily, +Barney felt his strength leaving him. + +At last, with a gliding grip, the man's hand reached his throat. It was +all over now. Barney's senses reeled as the grip tightened. His lungs +burned, his head seemed bursting. He was about to lose consciousness, +when through his mind there flashed pictures of Bruce and the Major. He +must! He must! With one last heroic effort, he threw the man half from +him. Then, faintly, far distant, there seemed to echo a shot, a single +shot; then all sensation left him. + +When the boy felt himself coming back to consciousness, he hardly knew +whether he was still in the land of the living. He dared not move or open +his eyes. Where was he? What of the stranger? The Major and Bruce; had +they been blown into eternity? Again and again these problems whirled +through his dizzy mind. + +Then all at once, he heard a voice. + +"I think he's coming 'round," someone, very far off, was saying. + +It was the gruff voice of the Major. Barney opened his eyes to find his +companions bending over him. + +"What happened?" he asked weakly, his eyes searching their faces. + +"That's what we'd like to know," answered Bruce; "we heard a shot, and +hurrying out here found you unconscious beside a dead man." + +"Dead?" Barney sat up dizzily. + +"Sure is. Did you shoot him?" + +"Shoot--I shoot--" The boy tried to steady his whirling brain. "No, I +didn't shoot him." + +Gradually the world ceased whirling about him and he was able to think +clearly. Then, together, they pieced out the story. Barney told what had +happened, and you may be very sure it was a sober pair that listened. + +"Well, my boy," said the Major solemnly, "we owe our lives to you; +there's no doubt about that. As for him," he added, pointing to the dead +man, "he must have rolled upon the automatic when you made your last +effort, and accidentally discharged it. He has a bullet-hole in the back +of his head where a pin-prick would have killed him. A case of pure +Providence, I'd call it." + +"Let's get out of here," said Barney, showing signs of weakness. "I've +had quite enough of it." + +With an arm on either of his comrades' shoulders, he made his way back to +the station, where a bowl of hot reindeer broth completely revived him. + +"The next thing," said Bruce, "is to hunt out that infernal contraption +which threatens our lives." + +It was a delicate and dangerous undertaking, but little by little, they +traced out the wires and disconnected them. At last they found it in a +small box which had been skillfully fitted into a beam. + +"Innocent looking little thing," said Bruce, holding it up for +inspection. "To-morrow I am going to take it out to the lake, hook it up +with a couple of batteries and see if it's got any kick." + +After a hearty meal, the three resumed their previous evening's +occupation, attempting to decipher the strangely coded message. + +"Here's a theory to try out," said Bruce. "A message is usually composed +of nearly an equal number of words of one to three letters and of those +having more than three. These are likely to be used alternately. If then, +you find two or three words of four or more letters, it's likely to be a +name. The man, whoever he is, has signed only a code name, but there may +be more names in the body of the message. Look it over." + +"Yes, here are two words together of five letters each," exclaimed +Barney. + +"Think of names you know that are spelled with five letters," said Bruce +excitedly. + +Instantly there came into Barney's mind the name of his former pal. + +"There's Dave Tower," he said. "He'd sign it David, of course." + +"Just fits," exclaimed Bruce, more excited than ever. "And by all that's +Canadian, the first and last letters of the first name are the same, just +as they are here. I believe we're on the right track." + +"But what would his pal have to do with it?" asked the astonished Major. + +"He went North about the time we started." Barney danced over the floor +in his excitement. + +While the boys were too excited to do further deciphering, the Major's +cooler brain was busy. Soon he rose and began pacing rapidly back and +forth across the room. His face wore anything but a pleased expression, +and his limp was greatly increased by his irritation. + +"Did you get it?" asked Barney. + +"I should say I did!" exclaimed the Major. "Right in the neck! And to +think," he sputtered, "here we are without gasoline to carry us a hundred +miles, and he starting with everything in his favor. If we just had gas +for three hundred miles. There's plenty on the schooner, Gussie Brown. I +called Nome yesterday and found that out. But they can't bring it to us, +and we can't go to them. We're stuck; stuck right here! And he's starting +to-morrow!" + +The boys stared in speechless amazement, as the Major, dropping into a +chair, covered his face with his hands. + +It was many minutes before he was calm enough to tell them the simple +truth of the matter, which was, of course, that the wireless message was +that one sent by the Doctor on the Aleutian Islands, telling of his +intended journey Northward; also that this same doctor was a hated rival +explorer, whom he had beaten a few years before; that he had not intended +going North at this time, but this action of his rival made it imperative +that he do so now. Finally, that the trading gasoline schooner, Gussie +Brown, was frozen in the ice three hundred miles north of Conjurer's Bay +and Great Bear Lake, and had an ample supply of gasoline. + +"But after all, I guess we're beaten," said the Major wearily. "If we +succeed in getting out of this scrape alive we'll be fortunate." + +"Cheer up! The worst is yet to come," smiled Barney. "Let's turn in." + +Two interesting problems awaited the party in the morning. Was the man +who had been accidentally shot the night before the anarchist trader? If +so, who was the person whose bones lay in the ruins? Was the +infernal-machine a genuine affair, and if so, would it explode? While the +Major was still brooding over his disappointment, the boys were so eager +for these investigations that they quite forgot the affair of the +wireless message. + +The identity of the dead man was soon established by papers found in +his pockets. He was the trader. The skull found in the ruins was +unmistakably that of an Indian. A break in this skull showed that the +person had died a violent death and had not been caught by the fire. The +conclusion the boys arrived at was that the trader had killed the Indian +and had fled to the woods. The Indians in revenge had burned his trading +station. That he had intended to destroy the explorers was beyond +question. He had, therefore, met a well-deserved fate. His body was +buried, Eskimo-style, on top of the ground, with stones piled over it to +protect it from wolves. + +When this work had been completed, the two boys took the infernal-machine +down to the frozen surface of the lake where there could be no danger +from an explosion, and connected it with wires which they laid along the +surface from the steep, snow-buried shore. + +"Must be twenty feet of snow in there!" exclaimed Bruce, as for the third +time he lost his footing and slid to the bottom of the slope. + +Presently they were well behind the ridge in the forest, and out of range +of any flying splinters of machine or ice. + +"I feel as I used to when I was a schoolboy, and hid with the rest of the +gang out in the woods and shot off charges of gunpowder in a gas-pipe +bomb," grinned Barney, as he screwed one wire to a post of a battery. + +"Now we'll--" he exclaimed breathlessly. + +His last word was lost in the roar of a tremendous explosion. The shores +of the bay took up the sound and sent it echoing and reechoing through +the forest. Fine bits of ice came rattling down through the trees, while +a great cloud of smoke and mist floated lazily over their heads. + +"Whew! Some explosion!" murmured Barney. + +Bruce was silent. His face was white. + +"What's up?" asked Barney. + +"Nothing. I'm all right," Bruce smiled grimly. "I was only thinking what +might have happened yesterday." + +"Forget it," grumbled Barney. "C'mon, let's see the ruins." + +"Fish!" exclaimed Bruce, as they emerged from the forest. And assuredly +there were fish in abundance. The thirty-foot wide pool, from which the +ice had been blown, was white with them. There were salmon, salmon-trout, +white-fish, lake-trout, flounders, and others the boys did not know. +Hundreds and hundreds of them, stunned by the explosion, floated on the +surface only waiting to be harvested. + +"We'll have to work carefully," said Barney, starting forward. "The ice +is pretty well shattered. A plunge in that water, and the temperature at +thirty below, wouldn't be pleasant, but I believe we can save every one +of them. Get a pole." He began cutting a large branch from a spruce tree. +Bruce followed his example. + +"Now!" Barney exclaimed, preparing to slide down the bank. But he +paused in surprise. The snow-bank, shattered by the blast, had gone +tumbling down to the surface of the lake. And what was that protruding +above what remained of the snow? It was dark and V-shaped, like the +gable of a roof. + +Barney was for investigating at once, but Bruce was more practical; the +fish must be secured immediately. This food might yet stand between them +and starvation. + +They were soon whipping the pool with their poles, and, as the fish +came to the ice edge, they gathered them in. Some were monsters, two or +three feet in length. It was, indeed, a great haul. They piled them on +the ice like cord-wood. Already they were freezing; they would remain +fresh for months. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE RACE IS ON + + +"And now for the lakeside secret," exclaimed Barney, tossing the last +fish upon the pile, and throwing his frosty pole aside. + +Eagerly Bruce sprang to his feet. Together they raced around the pool. +Clambering over the tumbled avalanches of snow, they were soon within +sight of the strange triangle. Barney's heart beat fast. What was it? +Could it be only a bit of bent timber lodged there on the log-roof of a +long-abandoned Indian shack? Or was it--was it what he knew Bruce hoped +it might be--a supply-house for gasoline, or perhaps a motor-boat with a +supply of gasoline on board? + +Excitedly they attacked the piles of snow. Lacking shovels, they +worked with hands and feet. Hope grew with every kick and scoop. This +was no mere bit of timber, nor yet an abandoned shack; it was too +recently built to leave a doubt about that. And now they had reached +the top of the door. + +"I say we've found it," panted Bruce, redoubling his efforts. + +"Wait. Don't hope too much," gasped Barney, tossing aside snow like a dog +burrowing for a rabbit. + +The door had a spring padlock on it. Barney, hurrying to the lake for +some pieces of ice, cracked the lock as he would a nut between stones. +Then, prying the door open a bit at the top, he tried to peer in. + +"Dark," he muttered. "Can't see a thing." + +Breathlessly they resumed work. + +And now the door was free to the very bottom. It was Bruce's turn. +Forcing the door open a foot, he took one good look, then let out a +whoop. + +"Gasoline!" he shouted. "Bedons of it!" + +"May be empty," suggested Barney. + +"I'll see," said Bruce. An instant more, and having crowded himself +through the narrow space, he struck a hundred-gallon steel bedon with his +fist. No hollow sound came from it. + +"Full," he exclaimed, and, the strain over, sank to the floor with a sigh +of relief. + +The more hardy Barney began to explore the place. To the back was a small +gasoline launch, apparently in perfect condition. Ranged along the right +wall were the bedons, five of them, all full but one, and each containing +a hundred gallons. + +"Well," said Barney, sitting on a bedon, and kicking his heels against +its steel side, "now we can take the Major to the moon, or any other did +place he wishes to go; that is, if we want to." + +For a long time Bruce was silent. Now that the excitement was over he +realized he was homesick. Then, too, the dangers of yesterday had shaken +his nerves. He was thinking, also, of La Vaune working her way through +the academy when money, much money, belonging to her lay idle; and of +Timmie, who awaited their return to assist him in the retrieving of his +good name. But there came the after-thought: had it not been for the +Major's trust in him and in Barney, none of these things would have been +possible. Yes, they owed a debt to the Major and that debt must be paid. + +"And I guess we want to take him where he wants to go," said he, +straightening up as he looked his friend in the eye. + +"Good!" exclaimed Barney. "I was going to leave it to you, but I knew +you'd do it. It's the chance of our lives. I'm sure he means the +Pole--the North Pole! Think of it! And, then, there's the reward!" + +"Guess we'd better squeeze out of here and go break the glad news," said +Bruce, "He's up there fairly eating his heart out." + +"The race is on," muttered Barney, as they hurried up the bank. + +"The race is on," echoed the Major, a few minutes later, as he walked the +floor in high glee. + +"Yes, sir, it is," said Barney, "and a good clean race it will be if Dave +Tower is skipper of that submarine. I never knew a squarer fellow." + +The Major, limbering up his wireless instruments, sent a message +snap-snapping across the frozen expanse. + +"What you doing?" asked Barney. + +"Just letting that foxy old rival of mine know I got his message and that +I'm on the job," chuckled the Major. "I'll get off other messages every +three hours for a time." + +"Would you mind mentioning my name in the message?" asked Barney. "You +see, I've got a date for a little jazz with Dave up at the Pole, and I'd +like him to know I'm planning to keep the appointment." + +The Major chuckled again, and included this in his message: + +"Barney Menter, pilot." + +The party at the Aleutian station caught the Major's second sending of +the message. The Doctor's face grew gray, as he realized its meaning. + +"Great Providence!" he exclaimed. "Will he beat me again?" Then striking +the table with his fist. "He will not! We're crippled by the loss of an +important member of our party. He has the swiftest conveyance, but it is +not the surest. We will win! We start to-morrow. The race is on!" + +As for Dave, he was more than glad at the prospect of meeting Barney at +the Pole. He was confident that both expeditions would succeed. The only +question in his optimistic young mind was, which would arrive first? If +his trying could decide it, the sub would get there first. He and Barney +had been chums since boyhood, but they had been keen competitors in all +their play, study and work. Now their wits were once more fairly matched. + +"It's the army and the navy!" he exclaimed. "A fair, square race. And may +the best one win." + +"I might say," remarked the Doctor, "that there is a bountiful prize +offered to the first person who next reaches the Pole, and who brings +back three witnesses who can make readings of latitude and longitude +to testify to the facts. Should we win, the prize will go to you and +the crew." + +"I'll go tell them," said Dave, donning his cap. A moment later the +Doctor heard cheers which sounded like: + +"Rah! Rah! Rah for Doctor! Rah! Rah! Rah for the North Pole!" + +The race was on! + +Her secret service days over for the present, the "sub" had been given a +coat of black paint. Now, as she scudded through the dark waters of +Behring Sea, Dave, standing in the conning-tower, thought how much she +must resemble a whale. During the war many a leviathan of the deep had +met death because he resembled a submarine. Now, in peace times, in this +feeding ground of the greatest of all prey, the tables might be turned, +the submarine taken for whale. + +The race was on. Across Behring Sea they sped through foam-flecked waves +and driving mists. Pausing only a day at Nome, they pushed on past Port +Clarence, rounded Cape Prince of Wales, and entered boldly into the +great unknown, the Arctic Ocean. A million wild fowl, returning to the +Southland, shot away over their heads. Here and there they saw little +brown seals bob out of the water to stare at them. Once they ran a race +with a great white bear, and again they sighted a school of whales. They +gave these a wide berth, for should they grow friendly and mix their +great flippers with the sub's propeller, trouble would follow. Walrus, +too, were avoided, for they had a playful habit of bumping the +under-surface of any craft they might chance to meet. + +At last, far to the North there appeared a glaring white line. They had +reached the ice. Their days of merry sailing on the surface were +well-nigh over. From this time on life would be spent in stuffy, +steel-lined, electric-lighted compartments. But for all that, it would +not be so bad. Openings in the floes would offer them opportunities to +rise for a breath of fresh air, and dangers seemed few enough, since +the ocean everywhere was deep, and ice-bergs, sinking dangerously to a +great depth below the surface, were few. Only the piles of ice and +great six-foot-thick pans would make a white roof to the ocean, which +was not without its advantage, for here the water would always be +delightfully calm. + +Shutting off the engines, dropping the funnel, closing the hatch, they +sank quickly beneath the water's surface, and were soon passing below a +marvelous panorama of lights and shadow. Through the thick glass of the +observation windows there flooded tints varying from pale-blue to +ultramarine and deep purple. No sunset could vie with the color schemes +that kaleidoscoped above them. Here a great pile of ancient ice gave the +whole a reddish tinge; and here a broad pan of transparent new ice cast +down the deep-blue of the sky; and again a thicker floe admitted a light +as mellow as expert decorators could have devised. + +"It's wonderful!" murmured the Doctor. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A STRANGE PEOPLE + + +Ten hours after the start of the submarine, Dave Tower's eye anxiously +watched the dial which indicated a rapidly lessening supply of oxygen, +while his keenly appraising mind measured time in terms of oxygen supply. +They were still scudding along beneath that continuous kaleidoscopic +panorama of green and blue lights and shadows, but no one noticed the +beauty of it now. All eyes were strained on the plate-glass windows +above, and they looked but for one thing--a spot, black as night itself, +which would mean open water above. + +"There it is to starboard!" exclaimed the Doctor. Careful backing and +steering to starboard brought merely the disclosure that the Doctor's +eye-strain had developed to the point where it produced optical +illusions. + +The oxygen was all this time dwindling. To avoid further waste of time, +Dave told his first mate to close his eyes for three minutes while he +kept watch, then to open them and "spell" him at the watch. + +"Straight ahead! Quick!" muttered the mate, as the dial hung +fluttering at zero. + +Seizing a lever here and there, watching this gauge, then that one, Dave +sent the craft slanting upward. Like some dark sea monster seeking air, +the "sub" shot toward the opening. + +And now--now the prow tilted through space. Another lever and another, +and she balanced for a second on the surface. For a second only, then +came a crash. Too much eagerness, too great haste, had sent the +conning-tower against the solid six-foot floe. + +With lips straight and white Dave grasped two levers at once. The craft +shot backward. There followed a sickening grind which could only tell of +interference with the propeller. Too quick a reverse had sent it against +the ice astern. Shutting off all power, Dave allowed her to rise +silently to the surface. Then, as silently, one member of the crew +opened the hatch and they all filed out. + +"Propeller's still there," breathed one of the gobs in relief. + +"'Fraid that won't help," said Dave. + +"Jarvis," he said, turning to the engineer, "go below and start her up at +lowest speed." + +In a moment there followed a jangling grind. + +The engineer reappeared. + +"As I feared, sir," he reported. "It's the shaft, sir. She'll have to go +to shore for repairs. Only a hot fire and heavy hammering can fix her. +Can't be done on board or on the ice." + +"Ashore!" Dave rubbed his forehead, pulled his forelock, and tried to +imagine which way land might be after ten hours of travel in the +uncharted waters of the great Arctic sea. + +"I'll leave it to you, Jarvis," he smiled. "If you can locate land, and +show us how to get there across these piles of ice with a disabled +submarine, you shall have a medal from the National Geographic Society." + +The engineer was not a gob, strictly speaking. He was an old English +seaman, who had often sailed the Arctic in a whaler. Now he went below +with the words: + +"I'll find the nearest land, right enough, me lad; but as to gittin' +there, that's quite another matter." + +Thereafter the engineer might be seen from time to time dashing up the +hatchway to take an observation, then back to the chart-table, where he +examined first this chart, then that one. Some of the charts were new, +just from the hands of the hydrographic bureau. These belonged to the +craft. Others were soiled and torn; patched here and there, or reinforced +by cloth from a discarded shirt. These belonged to Jarvis, himself; had +been with him on many a journey and were now most often consulted. + +"Near's h'I can make it, sir," he said, at last, "we're some two hundred +miles from Point Hope on the Alaska shores and a bit farther from a point +on the Russian shore, which the natives call On-na-tak, though what the +place is like h'I can't say, never 'aving been there. Far's h'I know, no +white man's been there, h'either; leastwise, not in our generation." + +He studied the charts and made one further observation: + +"Far's h'I can tell, sir," he smiled, "On-na-tak's h'our only chance. +Current sets that way h'at three knots an hour. That means we'll drift +there in four or five days. There'll be driftwood on the beach, and, with +good luck, we can fix 'er up there. Mayhap there's coal in the banks by +the sea, and that's greater luck for us if there is." + +The Doctor, who had sat all this time in silence, smoking his black +cigars, now rose and began pacing the deck. + +"Four or five days? Four or five, did you say? Great Creation! That will +mean the losing of the race!" + +Jarvis nodded his head. + +"H'anything less would mean that and more," said the old engineer. "Going +down with such a shaft would mean death to all of us." + +The Doctor sighed. "We can't help it, I suppose--but it's a cruel blow." + +"There's many a break in a long airplane voyage anywhere," he consoled +himself, "and I think the chances for accidents in the Arctic are about +trebled. I don't wish our rivals any fatal catastrophe, but a little +tough luck--say a wing demolished; or an engine burned out--might not be +so much to my displeasure." + +The days that followed were spent in various ways. Hunting seals and +polar bears was something of an out-the-way pleasure for seafaring men. +Then there were checkers and cards, besides the daily guess as to their +position at noon. + +Strangely enough, for once in the history of Arctic currents, they found +themselves being carried where they wanted to go, in a direct line for +Point On-na-tak, and during the entire four days and a half there was +hardly a point's deviation from the course. On the evening of the fourth +day, Dave thought he sighted land, and the midnight watch reported +definitely that there was land to the port bow; two points, one more +easily discerned than the other. This news brought the whole crew on +deck. And for two hours there was wild speculation as to the nature of +the country ahead of them; the possibility of inhabitants and their +treatment of strangers. Azazruk, the Eskimo, thought that he had heard +from an old man of his tribe that the point was inhabited by a people who +spoke a different language from that spoken by the Chukches of East Cape +and Whaling, on the Russian side of Behring Strait. But of this he could +not be sure. If the old engineer knew anything of these shores other than +the facts he had already stated concerning wood and coal, he did not +venture to say. And no one asked. + +So they drifted on until the bleak, snow-capped peaks showed plainly. +Morning revealed a bay lying between the two points. Toward the entrance +to this bay they were drifting. One obstacle remained between them and +land. A half mile of the floe in which they were drifting lay between +them and the black stretch of open water which extended to the edge of +the solid shore ice, upon which the submarine might be dragged and over +which the shaft might be carried to land. But how was that stretch of +tumbled icefloe to be crossed? This, indeed, was a problem. + +It was finally decided that Dave and the old engineer should spend the +forenoon exploring the ice to landward for a possible narrow channel that +would open a way to the water beyond. For this journey they took only +field-glasses, alpine staffs and a lunch in a sealskin sack. Had they +known better the nature of the land they were about to visit, they might +have gone more fully equipped. + +"H'I don't mind tell' y', lad, that we was 'eaded for this point way +back some'ers in the late nineties," said the engineer, "but there +come a Nor'wester, an' the cap'in, 'e lost 'is 'ead and turned to run. +We'd froze in for the winter, but we'd a seen things if we 'ad. We'd a +seen 'um." + +They were struggling over some pressure ridges and neither had breath to +spare for further talk just then. But presently, as they paused on a +high ridge of ice for a survey of their surroundings, Jarvis said: + +"H'I said back there they might be coal in the banks. There is, an' other +minerals there are 'ere, too. H'it's a rich land, an' now we're 'ere we'd +make our fortunes if that daffy doctor wasn't 'eaded straight fer the +Pole, an' nobody 'ere to stop 'im." + +"What do you make of it?" Dave, who had been studying the shore with the +glass, handed it to Jarvis: "Do you see something like a village?" + +"Sure I do!" exclaimed the other excitedly. "Sure, there's a village, a +'ole 'eap of bloomin' 'eathen live up 'ere, h'only they hain't dull and +stupid like them down below." + +"It's a strange-looking village." + +"Sure, it is. Made all of reindeer skins and walrus pelts. Sure +it's different. Them natives up 'ere 'ave got reindeer, 'erds and +'erds of 'em." + +"I suppose they've got walrus ivory, too," said Dave, warming to +the subject. + +"Ho, yes, walrus h'ivory a-plenty, them 'eathen 'ave got. But walrus +h'ivory hain't so much. Too 'eavy to make a good cargo, an' not 'alf so +good as h'elephant h'ivory. But there's minerals, 'eaps of minerals, an' +we'd all be rich men an' it wasn't for the bloomin' doctor." + +No channel to the shore having appeared, they were now making their way +along the edge of the open water. Suddenly the old engineer started: + +"Did you see 'im?" he whispered. + +"What? Where?" Dave stared at the old man, thinking he had suddenly +lost his head. + +"H'it was a man. 'E popped 'is 'ead out, then beat it. One o' them +bloomin' 'eathens." + +"Probably we'd better turn back." + +"Huh!" sniffed the old man. "'Oo cares for the bloomin' 'eathen? 'Armless +they is, 'armless as babies." + +They continued their travel, but the old man seemed distinctly uneasy. He +saw heads here and there. And soon, Dave, who did not have the trained +eye of the seaman, saw one also. At once he decided that they must turn +back to the submarine. + +Hardly had they taken this course, when heads seemed to be peering out at +them from every ice-pile. It was when they were crossing a broad, flat +pan that matters came to a crisis. Suddenly brown, fur-clad figures +emerged from the piles at the edge of the pan and approached them. Their +soft, rawhide boots made no sound on the ice. Their lips were ominously +silent. There was a sinister gleam to the spears which they bore. + +Half-way to the men, at a sign from the leader, they all paused. Then a +little knot gathered about the leader. Three men did the greater part of +the talking. They appeared to be urging the leader to action. + +Dave, who knew that the old seaman was acquainted with several native +dialects, said: + +"What do you make of it?" + +"Can't get 'em straight," said Jarvis. "But them three 'eathen that's +talkin' loudest, them's 'eathen from another tribe 'er somethin'. +They're not the right color. Their eyes hain't right an' they don't speak +the language right. I think they got it in their 'eads that we h'ought +ter be pinched fer trespassin' 'er somethin' the like. But we'll fight +the bloomin' 'eathen, we will, h'if they start a bloomin' rumpus." + +"What with?" smiled Dave. + +The old seaman looked nonplused for a moment. + +"Ho, well," he grinned, then. "Can't be any 'arm in goin' with the +bloomin' idgits a piece, h'if they request it." + +The horde of natives did, at last, request it in a rather forceful and +threatening way. The three men, whom Jarvis had singled out as "'eathen +from another tribe," became so insulting that Dave could scarcely +restrain Jarvis from braining their leader on the spot. + +They were led to the edge of the ice-floe where, hidden in a remote +corner, was an oomiak, a native boat of skins. + +From here they were quickly paddled over to the shore. They were then +led up a steep bank, down a street lined with innumerable dome-like +houses covered with walrus-skin, and were finally dragged into the +largest of these houses and rudely thrust into an inner room. The door +slammed, and Jarvis laughed. + +"Humph!" he chuckled. "Fancy putting a man in a bloomin' jail made +of deer skin. Much 'ead as the bloomin' 'eathen 'ave. Let's 'ave a +look at 'er." + +He scratched a match and the look of astonishment that Dave found on his +face, as he stared about the inclosure, caused him to laugh, in spite of +their dilemma. + +"H'ivory, walrus h'ivory! Walls, floor and ceilin' all h'ivory. Who'd +ever thought of that!" muttered the old seaman. "Wood'll burn and iron'll +rust; but h'ivory! h'ivory! Who'd ever thought of that for a prison?" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE WALRUS HUNT + + +Meanwhile, on the ice-locked shores of Great Bear Lake, preparations for +departure were being made by the airplane party. The gasoline must all be +strained through a chamois-skin to insure them against water in the +engines, and this, with the temperature at thirty to forty below, was no +mean task. There was a careful selection of foodstuffs to be taken along. +It was decided also that the five dogs should go, for they would provide +transportation, in case of accident, and could be killed and eaten as a +last resort. The entire equipment was given a thorough overhauling. All +this took three days of arduous toil. + +When, at last, all was in readiness, and the earth began to drop away +beneath them, the dogs put their noses in the air and chorused a canine +Arctic dirge. But their howls were lost in the noise of the engines. + +As for the boys, their cheeks burned. Truly, this was to be their +greatest adventure--"An adventure quite worthy the heart of a true +soldier," as the Major had expressed it. Many problems they left +behind unsolved, but these were quite crowded out of their minds by +the one supreme problem: Would they reach the Pole, and would they +reach it first? + +Somewhere on the shores of Melville Bay, near the banks of Melville +Island, frozen in the ice for the winter, was the little gasoline +schooner which had engaged to furnish them fuel for the last lap of the +journey north and the return. The gas would cost a pretty penny, to be +sure, for it would compel the trader to return to Nome earlier than he +had intended doing, but money seemed no object to the zealous explorer. + +Setting their course a little east of north, they shot directly away. +Bruce, who was driving, settled back easily in his place. The machine was +soaring beautifully. The engines worked in perfect time. Everything +promised a safe and speedy trip. Now and again a belated flock of +snow-geese, as if drawn by an invisible thread, shot by them; and now, +far below, they caught sight of moving brown specks, which told of +caribou still passing southward from the summer pasture in the unexplored +lands far to the North. The fleeting panorama was of constantly changing +interest and beauty. + +Soon they left the land behind. They were passing over Prince Albert +Sound. Its surface was already white with ice. Land again, then Melville +Sound--last lap on this three hundred mile journey. Bruce found himself +unable to believe they were over a great body of salt water. Surely these +squares, rising from the surface, white and glistening in the moonlight, +were village roofs covered with snow. Surely, these other squares lying +flat upon the surface were town lots, and the broader ones stretches of +field and meadow, where grain would ripen in summer and flowers bloom. +And the spots of open water, made black by the whiteness about them, +were fishing-ponds where one might lazily dip his line and dream. + +But as he shook himself back into reality, a startling question had come +to him. His lips put it in words. + +"How are we going to tell that schooner when we see it?" he barked +through the Major's telephone. "Won't she be buried in snow?" + +"Probably will," admitted the Major, "but there's sure to be a native +village near by, and though their houses are built of snow, they always +have a litter of black things about--sleds, hunting implements, skins, +and the like. We can't miss it." + +"Natives. M-m-m," Bruce mumbled. "Nagyuktogmiut, or something like that. +Hope the white man happens to be about when we land. I've read +Stefansson's account of them. They treated him all right, but when old +Thunderbird, his own self, brings them some white men, they may not be so +glad to see them, and those chaps have copper-pointed spears and arrows, +not to speak of rifles." + +"The Indians didn't bother us," phoned back the Major. + +"That's right. Well, I hope this is our lucky day." Bruce again gave his +whole attention to driving. Then, as they made out in the distance some +high elevations, that might be land or might be clouds, he dropped to a +lower level and scanned the surface of the ice for a black spot which +would tell of human habitations. The village, he knew, might be fifty +miles from land, for these Eskimos lived on the ocean's roof during the +entire winter and hunted seal and great-seal, moving only now and again +when game became scarce. + +"There they are, over to the right," he exclaimed presently. He set his +machine in the general direction indicated. Soon a black patch began to +appear among the lights and shadows. Surely here was the village they +sought. The realization set his heart thumping violently. + +"Drop in close and look for a landing." + +The Major twisted in his seat and scanned the ice narrowly as he spoke. +"Just beyond them seems to be a broad flat pan. Looks safe. Try it" + +Bruce cut off his engines and began circling down. It was the dead of +night. Apparently every person about the village was asleep. Now he could +distinguish sleds and skins hung on ice-piles to dry. Now he located the +double rows of dome houses. They were going to pass right over these, but +high enough to miss them. + +Then, rapidly, things happened. A vagrant current of wind seized them and +they "bumped" in air. The next instant it was evident that a crash was +inevitable. They were swooping straight down upon a row of snow-domes. +But the machine was heavy, the snow-houses, mere shells, without the sign +of a shock, yielding to the compact, went spinning away in little bits, +revealing scores of sleepers snug beneath their deerskins. They had +awakened Bedlam. Men shouted, women and children screamed, dogs barked. + +"Like knocking over a bee-hive," chuckled Barney. + +Bruce, with a remarkably cool head, brought his machine to the smooth +surface beyond. In a moment she was slowing up to a perfect landing. +"Quick! The machine-gun!" exclaimed Barney. + +Bruce gave one startled look behind them, then began working feverishly. +Already Barney and the Major were unstrapping themselves. + +Across the ice in the vague moonlight a motley throng, a hundred strong, +was charging down upon them. Half-naked, their brown arms gleaming, they +seemed the inhabitants of some South Sea isle rather than Eskimos of the +Farthest North. Copper-pointed spears gleamed yellow and gold, while here +and there the dark barrel of a hunting rifle was to be seen. + +"Go slow," warned the Major. "Remember it's men, women and children +instead of wolves this time. They're wild, but they're human. Send a +volley into the ice-piles at the left. Show 'em what you've got and +they'll stop--perhaps." + +As Bruce turned the barrel of his deadly weapon, he caught the low +rumble of many voices. The natives were chanting a witching song to +destroy the power of evil spirits. + +"Tat-tat-tat-tat." The machine-gun spoke. Bits of ice flew wildly. The +mob halted for a moment, then plunged on, still chanting that +maddening song. + +Just at the moment when a massacre seemed inevitable, there came a roar +from the right. Turning, Bruce saw the form of a bearded man apparently +rising from a hole in a giant ice-cake. At the sound the wild mob halted. + +"Hey! You fellows!" the stranger bellowed. "What's the matter with you?" +Then he turned to the natives and began to harangue them in a tongue +quite unknown even to the Major. + +The instant Bruce saw the red-whiskered giant rise, seemingly from the +ocean, his hand relaxed on the machine-gun and he stood in ready +expectation. The Eskimos appeared to understand the words which the +stranger flung at them, for, though they continued their weird +incantation, they lowered their weapons and did not attempt to approach +nearer the white men. + +Presently their weapons began clattering to the ice. Taking this as a +sign of friendliness, the explorers stepped out to meet them. Seeing +this, the natives gathered into a compact group, their song rising to a +wild humming howl, but they made no move to attack. When the strangers +were quite close, one native, braver than his companions, stepped +forward. Still chanting, he handed each explorer a small cube of whale +blubber. One cube remained in his own hand. This he proceeded to +swallow, indicating at the same time that the strangers were to follow +his example. + +The moment the cubes disappeared the wild chorus ceased and the natives +crowded forward to extend a hearty welcome. + +It was, however, a very long time before one of them was persuaded to +come near the airplane. + +"I haven't a doubt," said the Major, "that they still believe that we +rode here on the back of old Thunder-bird himself. And why not? If we +can build schooners many times as large as their largest skin-boats and +run them by noise alone, if we can kill at a distance by a magic of great +noises, why couldn't we tame the Thunder-bird himself and make him carry +us? It is my firm conviction that if one of us were to return here in a +year or two, he would hear the most outlandish tales of the Kabluna who +rode the Thunder-bird." + +The natives had returned to their camp to dress and to repair the damage +done by the airplane. The white men were approaching what appeared to be +the den of the bearded stranger, when the Major gave a cry of joy: + +"Masts! Boys, we have finished the first lap of our journey. The den of +the stranger is the cabin to his schooner. He is the trader who is to +furnish us gasoline!" + +The Major's surmise proved to be correct, and they were soon sitting +happily around a rough galley table, sipping at steaming "mulligan"--a +rich Arctic stew--and coffee. + +"And now," said the Major, "for a few hours of sleep. After that your +time is your own for twelve hours." + +"Twelve hours!" exclaimed Bruce in surprise. "Don't we start for the +Pole at once?" + +"Young gentlemen," said the Major smiling, "your enthusiasm is gratifying +in the extreme. But flying, especially in high latitudes, is very trying +on the nerves--even such nerves as yours. Remember that in the Arctic, +where anything at all is liable to happen at a moment's notice, we must +always be at our best. So get some relaxation. What will you do with your +twelve hours?" + +"I heard a walrus barking a half-hour ago!" exclaimed Barney eagerly. + +"I'm for a walrus hunt," agreed Bruce. + +"Good! That will stretch your legs a bit," said the Major. "But don't go +too far, nor take too many chances. Remember you have a mission to +accomplish here in the North." + +The three adventurers were soon sleeping soundly in the bunks of the +Gussie Brown, and far away, bobbing his head through a water-hole +and shaking the icicles from his moustache, a great bull-walrus +barked at the moon. + +When they awoke from dreamless slumber, the boys' first thought was of +the promised walrus hunt. They scrambled into their fur garments, and +hurrying to the surface of the floe, listened for the hoarse call of +their quarry, the walrus. They did not have to wait long. + +"There he barks!" exclaimed Bruce, putting his hand to his ear. + +"And again," Barney hurried below to secure a native harpoon and +skin-rope. Bruce provided himself with a high-power magazine rifle. + +"We're off!" Barney shouted joyously to the Major, as he gulped down a +cup of steaming coffee and took a last bite of sour-dough bread. + +"Good luck! And may you come back!" bantered the Major. Had he known how +real was his jesting prophecy of danger, he would not have joked. + +As a rule, walrus-hunting in the Arctic is not a sport, it is a task--the +day's work of providing food for a village. It is as exciting as the +"hog-killing day" of a middle-west farmer. The hog may run amuck of the +farmer, and so may the walrus of the hunter; the chances are about equal. +The walrus seldom shows fight. Before he is harpooned, he either is quite +indifferent to the presence of the hunter, or slips away to the water at +sight of him. If harpooned, he makes every effort to escape, and only in +rare instances shows fight. The boys had been told all this by the trader +over their coffee the night before. + +It was evident, then, that they must slip up on their prey without being +seen. This would be a comparatively simple matter, since the tumbled +ridges of ice afforded ideal hiding-places. When close enough, Barney, +who was the stronger of the two, was to drive the harpoon-point through +the thick skin of the creature. This harpoon-point was fastened to a +rawhide rope. He must instantly drive a copper-pointed lance into the +ice, and wrapping the skin-rope about it, close to the ice-surface, hold +on like grim death until Bruce dispatched the creature with his rifle. +Wherever the beast was, in a small water-hole kept opened by himself, or +a larger one formed by the shifting floes, their success would depend on +Barney's ability to keep the rope free from jagged edges which might cut +it, and Bruce's skill at quickly getting in a fatal shot. At regular +intervals the walrus must rise for air, and this would give the +opportunity for Bruce to get in his work. + +"He's a moose!" whispered Bruce, as they crept close to the rather broad +waters-hole and eyed the creature through a crack between upended +ice-cakes. + +"Tusks two feet and a half long! Must weigh a ton and a half!" Already +Barney felt his muscles ache from the strain. + +"Well, here's for it!" He exclaimed, coiling his skin-rope. The next +instant there came a loud thwack, which told that the boy's shaft had +found its mark. Instantly there was a hoarse bellow and then a wild +splashing in the water. Bruce was at the top of a pressure ridge, ready +for action. Barney had made his shaft secure, but then there came a +strain that made the veins stand out on his forehead. Suddenly the strain +slackened. + +"Be ready! He's coming--" Barney did not finish, for from the churning +water the walrus thrust his massive head, snorting and foaming. The +rifle cracked. + +Silently the great creature sank, but this time the foaming water showed +a fleck of red where the walrus disappeared. + +"Got him!" cried Bruce triumphantly. + +But this time the strain on the lance was redoubled. + +"Try--try to hit a vital--vital spot," panted Barney, as the strain +lessened once more. "Behind front flipper--in the eye." + +Again the water foamed. Again the rifle cracked. More blood! Another +plunge, and again the strain seemed redoubled. + +"I--can't--hold much--longer," Barney gasped. + +Springing down from the pinnacle, Bruce ran to the edge of the pool, +and, leaping upon a floating ice-cake, waited again. + +This time his aim was better. + +The strain when the walrus sank was not so great. + +"Doing fine," breathed Barney. "Next time we'll--" + +Again he did not finish, for, unexpectedly, his friend shot up in the +air, to fall sprawling upon the cake of ice and cling there while it +tilted to an angle of forty-five degrees. The walrus had risen beneath +the cake and split it in two. Bruce was stunned by his fall, but Barney's +warning cry roused him. One glance revealed his perilous position. The +piece of ice to which he clung had been thrust toward the center of the +pool. Even now the gap was too wide for him to leap. To plunge into the +water, with the thermometer forty below, was to court death. + +While he hesitated, the walrus rose to the surface. With a bellow that +sprayed bloody foam about him, he charged the cake of ice. If ever there +was need for a cool brain, it was now. Bruce, gripping his rifle, +crouched and waited. Reaching the cake, the walrus hooked his tusks over +its edge till it tilted to a perilous angle. Bruce's feet shot from +under him, but by a quick movement he caught the upper edge of the ice. +Pulling himself up till he could brace his feet, he took steady aim at +the beast's wild and bloodshot eye. It was a perfect shot. The walrus, +crumpling, began to sink into the water. Seeing this, Bruce clung to the +cake until the tusk slipped off. In another moment the uncertain raft +was at rest. + +"Well, we got him," he panted, sitting limply on the ice. "But for mine +in the future, give me the cozy dangers of aviation. I don't see much +relaxation in this game." + +The ice-cake soon drifted so that Bruce could jump ashore. With their +combined efforts the boys were able to draw the dead walrus close in and +tie him securely to the ice edge. Then they returned to camp to send a +happy band of natives out for the meat and blubber. + +"That head will make a fine trophy to hang in the front parlor of +that five-room bungalow," laughed Barney, as a native brought it in +that night. + +"You may have it for your den," said Bruce with a shiver. "I never want +to look a walrus in the face again." + +"To-morrow," said the Major, as they prepared to retire, "the race will +be resumed." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +FIGHTING THEIR WAY OUT + + +A careful examination of their "ivory jail" showed Dave and the submarine +engineer that they were in a narrow chamber completely lined with walrus +tusks. The tusks had been so ingeniously cut and fitted that only the +grain of the glistening surface told where one tusk joined another. As +for the door, so closely was it fitted that it was not to be located at +all. In two corners were seal-oil lamps. These had feed-pipes of some +form of dried sea-weeds. They could thus be fed from without. Two narrow +openings, strongly barred with ivory tusks, one in the floor and one in +the ceiling, permitted air to enter, but one peered through them into +utter darkness. + +"Tain't no wonder they left us our knives," grumbled Jarvis. "The +bloomin' 'eathen knowed we'd wear 'em away before we made any +h'impression on that ivory. But mind you, lad, this hain't the work of no +bloomin' 'eathen--not no regular 'eathen it hain't. 'E hain't smart +enough for that, your regular 'eathen hain't. 'Twas some one else, it +was. Shouldn't be surprised if it was them three strangers." + +As for Dave, he was worried less about himself than about his companions +out in the bay. Knowing the growing impatience of the Doctor, he was +prepared to expect him to attempt anything in case of their prolonged +absence. Should he try to submerge the craft to bring her to land under +the ice, it was an even chance every one on board would perish +miserably--caught in the sunken "sub." + +That he and Jarvis might be kept prisoners indefinitely seemed certain, +for after some five or six hours, food was thrust in to them and they +were left, apparently for the night. The food consisted of boiled fish +and liver, probably walrus liver, soaked in rank seal oil. They ate a +little fish and thrust the liver through the opening in the floor, the +better to escape its nauseating odor. + +"H'I'd die before h'I'd h'eat 'is bloomin' victuals," snarled Jarvis +contemptuously, "that bloomin' 'eathen!" + +He began poking about the narrow confines of the jail. Not being able to +see to suit himself, he struck a match and touched it to the mass, placed +on the edge of a brimming seal-oil lamp, in lieu of a wick. Immediately a +line of fire was kindled and its light, reflected again and again by the +dazzling whiteness of their prison walls, made the whole place as light +as day. At once Jarvis gave a cry of surprise and began crawling toward +the farthest side. + +"H'I told you there was minerals," he exclaimed. "E's a rich un, this +bloomin' 'eathen. H'it's gold, h'I'll be blowed!" + +He began digging away with his knife at some yellow spots in the ivory. +They were bits of inlaid gold. + +"What's the idea?" asked Dave in surprise. "Are all prisons up here made +of ivory inlaid with gold?" + +"Y' can't tell, lad. 'E's a queer one, the bloomin' 'eathen, and if h'I +be 'anged," sputtered Jarvis, "what's one pole more or less, when you've +gold calling to come and take it. What--" + +He paused, his mouth agape, words unsaid. The door of the ivory den had +been softly opened, and framed in it were the dark, crafty faces of the +three natives who had brought about their captivity and imprisonment. In +their hands gleamed knives with long blades of a curious oriental type. + + * * * * * + +But we must return to the Doctor and his crew of gobs who had been left +on the submarine. + +When the young captain and his chief engineer did not return at sunset, +deep concern for their safety was felt. Three searching parties were sent +out, while, from time to time, flares were lighted to show them the way +to the submarine, should they chance to have lost their directions on +the ice-floe. The flares guided the searching parties back to the boat, +but so far as finding trace of the missing ones was concerned, neither +flares nor searchers were of any avail. + +In the meantime, the Doctor paced the deck anxiously. They were losing +valuable time. If only they could find a way to shore, the damaged shaft +might be repaired and, during the interval, the captain and engineer +would doubtless turn up. + +At the first hint of dawn the watch discovered a lead half-way through +the ice-floe. At once the Doctor ordered the submarine run into this +narrow channel. The result was what might have been expected; the ice +closed in and the "sub" was locked in the center of the floe. There +remained but one way it could move--down, under the ice. Otherwise, it +might drift indefinitely in this solid mass of ice. They would be carried +away from the bay, away from their friends, and all hope of rescuing them +would be lost. It was, indeed, a terrible plight. + +Just at this time a bright young gob, Tom Rainey, came forward with an +ingenious scheme. The "sub" carried a sufficient length of steel cable to +reach to the farther edge of the ice-floe. Why, he reasoned, might +they not pole this cable beneath the rather loosely-joined ice masses +until they reached the open water, then submerge the submarine and, with +a capstan, drag it like a hooked trout to the channel. It was a wild +scheme, but the doctor was in a mood for anything. The crew were set to +work at once, cutting holes in the ice-floes here and there and passing +the cable from opening to opening. It was slow and freezing work, but in +time the job was done. + +When the cable was ready, the Doctor insisted that a sufficient crew be +aboard the submarine when she submerged to man her in case she broke +loose. This was, indeed, a hazardous mission, but volunteers were not +lacking. And, with all speed, the trial was made. + +The scheme worked better than they had dared to hope. When the "sub" +passed from beneath the ice-floe, the second engineer in his +superabundance of joy hazarded a few turns of the disabled shaft. +This set the whole craft vibrating and drove her half-way across the +narrow channel. + +As the submarine rose to the surface the doctor saw a dark shadow pass +over the glass window at the top. At the same time he felt a slight jar. + +"Must have tilted a small cake of ice," he chuckled. + +Then, as he lifted the hatch: "By Jove! No, it wasn't. It was a skin-boat +full of natives! There they are in the water! Watch them scramble back +into their boat. If we had a safer power, we'd go to their rescue. But +they'll be all right. Now, they're all aboard." + +That the natives were in a frenzy of fear while in the water, the doctor +attributed to their dread of attack by a walrus. But when they began +paddling away at top speed, he opened his eyes in wonder. + +"Ah, well!" he said, at last, "who'd marvel at that? Ships are not in the +habit of coming up out of the sea in the Arctic. And now I wonder--I +just wonder, did they have anything to do with the disappearance of our +friend Dave and the engineer?" + +When all hands were on board lunch was served. By the time this was over +the submarine had drifted to the solid shore-ice. She was at once tied up +with the aid of ice-anchors, and preparations made for dragging her out +of the water. + +"But first," said the Doctor, "let us visit our friends, 'the bloomin' +'eathen,' as Jarvis styles them." + +It was a strange sight that met their gaze as they entered the village. +Men, women and children, with a wild wail, threw themselves flat on +their stomachs, uttering the most melancholy moans that ever came from +human lips. Interspersed with the cries were apparent appeals addressed +to the visitors. + +"What's all this rumpus?" the Doctor demanded of Azazruk, the Eskimo. +"Can you understand their jargon?" + +"They say," said the Eskimo, showing his white teeth in a grin, "that +they know we are spirits--spirits of dead whales, since we come out of a +whale's back, that came up from under the sea. They say not kill them us +please. They say this that one. They say, kill plenty whale that one +chief native. They say, fire for spirit of dead whale not make that, +them. They say that, this one native. But they say not kill them and for +sure they make fire, sing song for spirit of dead whale." + +The Doctor, who understood this to be one of the superstitions of the +natives, and knew that they had taken the submarine for a whale, began to +laugh. But at once he checked himself. + +Turning a scowling face at the only two standing natives, one of whom had +a fresh cut across his cheek, he stormed: + +"And why have these fellows no shame? Tell them to fall down at once, or +I will step on them." + +Azazruk repeated the message, and, surprised and frightened, the two +men obeyed. + +The Doctor eyed the two curiously for a moment as they lay there +squinting up at him, their slant eyes gleaming with suppressed anger. + +"Look like they'd been in a fight," he remarked. + +And so they did. The darker of the two had the cut on his cheek, +before mentioned, his fur parka was torn half off him, displaying some +ugly bruises. His companion had lost half a sleeve and his right hand +was bleeding. + +"They're surely rascals, but you must play the good Samaritan at all +times," he said, as he bent over one of them. "Rainey, get my case from +the locker, will you?" + +Rainey hurried to the submarine, a half mile away, while the natives, +still half sprawling on the frozen earth, eyed the hardier fellows, while +the Doctor bent over them, as if expecting at any moment to see them drop +dead as a result of the magic power of these great spirits from the belly +of a whale. + +It was Jarvis and Dave who were responsible for the condition of the two +natives of the strange bearing. When Jarvis saw their ugly faces and +gleaming knives at the door of the ivory prison he was ready for a fight. +His face turned purple, as he muttered between clinched teeth: + +"H'it's our chance. 'Ere's where h'I make a killin'. At 'em Dave!" + +And, led by his sturdy engineer, Dave hove at them right royally. + +Their knives were short but their arms long, and as for skill, there were +no better trained men in the army than Dave and Jarvis. + +They made quick work of it. The "bloomin' 'eathen," surprised by the +sudden onslaught, were on their backs in a trice. Two of them fared as I +have said, and as for the third, he came out with a head so badly +pummeled by Jarvis' fist that he was content to crawl into a dark igloo +and stay there. + +Once outside the prison Jarvis and Dave glanced quickly about them for a +hiding-place. Much to their surprise, they did not see a native about the +village. Made bold by this, they skirted the rear of the last row of +huts, and, dodging down a snowed-in ravine, hid at last in the ice-heaps +not twenty rods from the submarine. Not being aware, however, that their +friends had succeeded in reaching the shore-ice, they crouched in their +icy shelter, their teeth chattering from cold and excitement. + +Jarvis had an ugly slash on his right arm. Dave had just succeeded in +binding this up when they heard footsteps approaching. Jamming themselves +hard into a crevice of ice, Jarvis whispered: + +"H'I'll fight t' a finish before h'I go back to that white prison of the +bloomin' 'eathen." + +Dave made no response. + +The steps came nearer, then began to die away. + +"Didn't sound like the bloomin' 'eathen," muttered Jarvis. "No near's +soft and glidin'. 'Ere 'e comes back. H'I'll 'ave a look." Creeping close +to a corner, he peered cautiously out, then with a roar: + +"Blime me, it's Rainey!" He sprang from concealment, almost embracing +the young gob in his delight. + +It was a joyful meeting that took place between the united parties. + +When Jarvis saw the Doctor working over the disabled natives he roared +first with laughter, then with anger. His last desire was to put them out +of the way at once. + +"For, sir," he argued, "them hain't no natural, ordinary 'eathen, indeed +not, sir. They are the very h'old Nick 'isself, sir." + +But Dave suggested putting them in their own ivory prison, and this +advice prevailed. After their wounds were dressed they were thrust in and +the door barred from without. Wiser men than the "sub" crew have learned +that a man is seldom safe in a prison of his own making, but the sailors +never gave the prisoners another thought. + +"Rainey," said the engineer, as he found himself alone with the young +gob, "we'll all be rich men." + +"How?" asked his companion. + +"There's mineral! Mineral! Gold, me lad, tons of it!" The older man's +wrinkled face caught the tints of the sunset and seemed to take on the +hue of the metal of which he spoke. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +TO THE TREASURE CITY + + +Once all the members of the submarine party were reunited, their one +thought was to repair their damaged craft as soon as possible and start +again on their way to the Pole. Perhaps the engineer wasted a thought now +and again on the supposed great mineral wealth of that peninsula, but if +he did, he said nothing. + +The men were divided into three groups. The first, the mechanics, +undertook the task of removing the shaft; the second guarded the craft +against possible attack by the natives, while the third was dispatched up +the beach to search for firewood which the mechanics must have. + +The work of the guard seemed a joke. Not one of the natives could be +induced to approach the dark "spirit-whale" which some of their comrades +had seen rise from the water. Even after the steel shaft had been +brought ashore as tangible evidence that the craft was a thing of metal, +they could not be induced to approach it. + +The wood hunters found their task a hard one, for, either there never had +been much driftwood on these shores, or the natives had used it for +summer camp-fires. They searched far down the bay without finding a +sufficient quantity to make "a decent fire over which to roast +'hot-dogs'," as Rainey expressed it. + +But as the engineer rounded a point, he suddenly exclaimed; + +"There! Ain't h'I been sayin' hit! I 'ates to think 'ow jolly stupit +som'ums of ye are." + +He was pointing to the banks which overhung the sea. The men, who were +looking only for driftwood, did not at first see the cause of his +exclamation. + +"Coal, my lads!" Jarvis exclaimed, half beside himself. "Coal cropping +from the bank!" + +It was true. A careful examination showed a four-foot vein of soft coal. +It was not long until reindeer sleds, secured from the natives, were +drawing quantities of the fuel to a point beneath a cliff, where a crude +forge had been made out of granite rock. + +While this work was going on, the engineer disappeared in the +direction of the village. In a half-hour he came tearing back, his +face red with rage. + +"They're h'out!" he sputtered. "The bally, blithering unnatural 'eathen +hev flew the h'ivory coops. T'was to be expected. I 'ates t' think what +h'I'd a-done, 'ad h'I 'ad the say of it." + +"Oh, well," said the Doctor, who was inclined to take Jarvis' quarrel +with the natives rather lightly, "in twenty-four hours we'll be away from +these shores never to return." + +"Return?" exclaimed Jarvis. "H'I'll return, an' Dave 'ere'll return. +We'll be rich men, we'll be. I 'ates t' think 'ow rich 'im an' me'll be!" + +But the Doctor was too busy hurrying the mechanics in their repairs to +heed the words of the excited engineer. + +Finally the forge was ready and as by the Arctic moonlight a black smoke +rose higher and higher above the cliffs, and a fire blazed a thousand +times larger and hotter than that black shore had ever known, the natives +appeared to grow more and more certain that these men who came up from +the depths of the sea were, indeed, the spirits of all the dead whales +that they and their forefathers before them had killed. They looked on in +silent awe. + +It was with the greatest difficulty that Jarvis succeeded in finding one +of them who was able to speak the Chukche language of Behring Strait, a +language that was understood by Azazruk, the Eskimo. When, at last, he +did find a man who knew Chukche and who was not too frightened to talk, +he plied him with many questions. + +"Who were the three strange-appearing natives who had attacked him and +his companion in the jail? Where did they come from? What were they doing +here? How did they happen to have such a strange jail? How did they +chance to have a jail at all? Where did the gold come from that had been +used to inlay the ivory? Was there much of it to be found?" + +These, and many other questions, the engineer put to the trembling +native, while, with one eye, he watched the operations of the mechanics +who labored by the fire. + +The man did not know the exact place from which the three strangers had +come; it was somewhere far South, known as Ki-yek-tuk. The three had been +a long time in the village and had inspired all the people with a great +dread by telling them of a giant race who wore fierce beards like the +walrus; who killed with a great noise at long distances, and who would +break any jail except one of ivory. They had said that probably one or +two of these fierce men would come at first, and, perhaps, if these were +made prisoners, no others would follow. Hence the jail. And hence, too, +the imprisonment of Dave and Jarvis. The natives had felt sure that they +were the advance guard of these wicked, cruel men who had come to rob and +kill. But now, of course, they knew they were spirits of dead whales, +and would do them no harm. + +As for the tusks with the inlaid gold, the man said they had been traded +for by a very old man who had made a journey with a reindeer, ten nights +and days from their village, due west. There, beside a great river, he +had found a numerous people, who lived in houses of logs, very large and +warm. He said, too, that these people had great quantities of this yellow +metal. Their houses were decorated with it; their fur garments glistened +with it; their council house was encrusted with it. + +"But," he added at the end, "the metal was too soft for spear points and +arrowheads, too heavy for garments, and not good for food. As for houses, +did they not have their deerskins and walrus-pelts? So the old man never +went back for more." + +Dave had been sitting by the old engineer as he secured this information +bit by bit through the interpreter. His eyes sparkled with excitement +when he spoke. + +"Well," he asked, when the native had finished, "what do you make of +it?" + +"Make of it?" exclaimed the old man. "It's plain as the nose on your +face. H'as h'I see it, there's gold in this land just h'as h'I said +before, plenty of it. H'and this 'ere tribe, way west there some'ers; +they's been driven there by the Roosians, er by other tribes. Mayhaps +they's Roosian h'exiles themselves. Mayhaps they's one of the seven lost +tribes of h'Israel, what you read of in the Book. 'Owever that may be, +it's there, and h'I 'ates to think 'ow rich you h'and h'I'd be h'if h'it +wasn't fer this 'ere crazy Doctor's achin' to see th' Pole." + +"Jarvis," Dave leaned forward eagerly, "we'll take the Doctor to the +Pole, then we'll hire a submarine or a schooner and work our way +back here." + +"We will that, me lad," said the old man, gripping the boy's hand. "But +then," he added more soberly, "maybe it won't be a bit o' use. Maybe the +Japs will get it first." + +"The Japs." + +"Sure! The Japs. Ar' ye that blind? Don't ye know all the time the three +rascals we well-nigh killed was Japs? Can't ye see 'ow they don't want +the h'Americans or th' Roosians to git t' the treasure of this peninsula? +Can't ye see 'ow bloomin' easy h'it'd be for 'em to put two or three +spies in h'every bloomin' native village on the whole Roosian coast, and +take the entire peninsula fer th' Jap Kaiser, or whatever they call 'im? +Can't ye see 'ow th' thing'd work?" + +Dave sat a long time in thought. At last he decided what to do. + +"Perhaps you're right, Jarvis," he said finally, rising. "But our first +job is the Pole. The shaft must be nearly fitted by now. Let's see how +they're coming. Perhaps we'll be away in the morning." + +As they rounded a block of ice by the shore, Jarvis gave a start and +seized his companion by the arm. + +"D'y' see 'im?" he whispered "'E was starin' h'at us from behint them +ice-piles. 'E was a Jap. I'll swear it." + +"Aw, you're seeing Japs to-night," laughed Dave. + +"Ow is she?" Jarvis asked of a gob whom they met. + +"Right as they make 'em--now. But I'll say it was some job that. The +shaft was twisted something awful--like a corkscrew. But it was some +steel, that shaft, and we just het her up an' twisted her straight again. +The Doc said he guessed it would be a bit short, but when we got her back +in place she fitted like paint. Then we slid the old boat back in the +water and tried her out and she runs like a watch." + +"Grand. We're off in the mornin'." + +Dave and Jarvis turned to make their way to the submarine where a single +gob, pacing the white ice-surface, had laughed at his job of watching +natives who could not be induced to come within a half-mile of him. + +Suddenly the engineer jumped forward. + +"Did y' see that?" Jarvis grabbed Dave by the arm and urged him into a +run. "'E went down--the guard, I saw 'im," panted Jarvis. "I saw 'im, +then h'I didn't. H'it's the Japs. Listen!" + +There came distinctly the sound of a dragging hawser. + +"H'it's the Japs; the blooming bloody 'eathen," Jarvis panted. "They're +h'after the submarine!" + +Dave dragged him behind an ice-covered boulder. + +"Quick!" he whispered. "If the submarine goes, we go with her, inside or +outside, somewhere. We've got to take the chance." + +Darting from ice-pile to ice-pile, they soon reached the water's edge. +There lay the guard, unconscious, an ugly bruise on the side of his head. +And there lay the submarine, silent and closed. + +"She's off!" breathed the engineer. + +It was true. The craft already showed a line of dark water between her +and the shore. + +Without hesitation, the old engineer sprang upon her deck and crouched by +the conning-tower. Instantly Dave followed him. Their soft skin-boots +made no sound. And, as they crouched there, the submarine headed for the +channel and then toward the west. + +"To the treasure city, h'I'll be bound," whispered Jarvis. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A BATTLE BENEATH THE ARCTIC MOON + +"THE TREASURE CITY" + + +"We'll stick 'ere behint th' connin'-tower," the engineer explained to +Dave, as the submarine, turning, put off up the dark channel which +separated the solid shore-ice from the great drift of ice-floe that +lay beyond. + +"If they submerge," suggested Dave, "we'll have a slim chance." + +"H'I doubt if they understant that much," mumbled the engineer between +chattering teeth. "H'anyway, right 'ere's where h'I stick, h'and once th' +bloomin' 'eathen show a 'ead above the 'atchway, h'I 'ates t' think +what'll 'appen to 'im." + +"Perhaps the channel will close in and drive them ashore," suggested Dave +hopefully, as he drew his mackinaw more closely about him and crouched +nearer to the conning-tower, that he might avoid the cutting air and icy +spray which reached him from the prow of the submarine. + +"Mayhap," mumbled the engineer, snuggling close. + +But the channel did not close. Also, the submarine did not submerge; it +plowed straight on through the dark waters of the channel. + +Night passed and the pale Arctic sun revealed the two figures huddling, +half-frozen, behind the conning-tower. Daylight brought little comfort, +serving only to remind them that they had no coffee for breakfast; +indeed, had no breakfast at all. This set the engineer to muttering +threats against the stranger who had stolen the submarine, and caused him +for the hundredth time to remark: + +"H'I 'ates t' think what'll 'appen t' 'em, once h'I gets me 'ands on +'em." + +But the intruders stayed below while, slowly, the sun ran its brief +course and then painted the ice-spires with shadows of deep purple. As +the night came on, the two men were forced to move about to keep from +freezing. Tip-toeing along, avoiding heavy glass windows, they conversed +in low tones. + +"We've been h'at h'it now goin' h'on twenty-four 'ours," murmured Jarvis. +"H'it's two hundred h'an' forty miles, h'an' h'our course u'd be shorter +than a reindeer's. H'if that bloomin' 'eathen that spoke of th' treasure +city told truth, h'I'm one fer believin' we're nearin' th' spot." + +Jarvis spoke more cheerfully than he had at any time during the strange +journey. Dave smiled, as he wondered whether this was due to the fact +their walk had warmed them somewhat, or his rising hopes that they would +at least get to see the fabled treasure city. + +"Tell me," Jarvis whispered, "do my h'old h'eyes deceive me, or h'is +there a line of dark h'over t' th' right of y'?" His hand trembled as +he pointed. + +Dave looked long and earnestly. The moon shone very brightly. The snow +brought out dark objects with such vividness that it would not be too +much to expect to see large objects twenty miles away. + +"I think your eyes are all right," he said slowly. + +"Then that 'ud be th' forest by the river. Th' treasure city 'ud be just +by the 'arbor h'at th' mouth of th' river, Dave. H'I 'ates t' think 'ow +richer we'll be." The old man gripped Dave's hand. + +As for Dave, he was silent. He was thinking first of the struggle that +could not now be far distant. It would be a bitter fight, with odds in +favor of the other party. However, he hoped the enemy had been weakened +by the earlier combat. Then he thought of the men they had so +unexpectedly left behind; of the Doctor who depended upon him, and of the +gobs who had served under him, a boy, so faithfully. Such thoughts left +him in no mood to think of treasure. + +He was about to say as much to his companion when there came a rattle at +the hatch of the sub. + +Quickly he and the engineer crouched behind the conning-tower. Their +breath coming hard, their hearts beating fast, they waited. + +The throbbing of the engine stopped. The submarine glided silently +on. The deathlike stillness was ended by the dull groan of a +hatchway lifting. Armed each with a knife and a heavy ice-anchor, +the two men waited. + + * * * * * + +In the meantime, during this twenty-four hours, so eventful to Dave and +the engineer, other things were happening on the shore by the native +village. When Rainey, who had been on guard at the time of the stealing +of the "sub," had been found and brought back to consciousness, he could +give no account of affairs, other than that he had been struck a violent +blow on the head, and after that, remembered nothing. + +For a single moment dark suspicion rested on Dave and the engineer. Some +of the crew had heard them talking of the treasure city ten days' journey +to the west, and had heard Jarvis remark that he "'ated t' think 'ow +rich they'd be." Could it be possible they had seized the submarine and +deserted the party for the sake of gain to themselves? For a moment faith +wavered, then their better natures triumphed. + +"Not them," they declared. "Not Dave and old Jarvis." + +To this the Doctor heartily agreed. And, though his disappointment was +great at having the expedition again delayed, and, perhaps, entirely +thwarted, he turned his mind at once to matters of the hour. + +Gathering his men about him, he outlined hastily a line of action for +them in the present crisis. They were, he reasoned, in a perilous +situation. + +Several hundred miles west of any point reached by white whalers and +traders, marooned with two hundred superstitious natives, who to-day +worshipped them, but to-morrow, upon discovering the disappearance of the +"spirit-whale," might turn upon them, they would be obliged to make use +of every resource and every strategy to save their lives, should the +submarine fail to return. His plan was, to deal fairly with the natives +and keep their good will, if that were possible. + +Fortunately, they had taken from the submarine ten good rifles with a +hundred rounds of ammunition. Natives were seen at all hours of the day +dragging behind them the carcasses of seal, oogrook (big-seal), and even +polar bear. If these could be secured with the aid of such primitive +weapons as harpoon and lance, they with their rifles might hope to +secure an ample supply of the meat. And it had been proved that even a +white man could live the winter through on a diet of meat and blubber in +right proportions. They might also, at times, be able to trade for +reindeer meat. + +They would remain at the village until no hope remained that the +submarine would return, then they would endeavor to get a store of meat, +some reindeer, and deerskin sleeping bags, and make their way east to +some point reached in summer by traders. + +Three of the large skin-houses had already been turned over to them by +the natives. These would provide ample shelter. Two were at once arranged +as bunk-houses and the third as cook-shack. + +When this had been done, with two men on guard, they turned in and slept. + +Next morning, at six o'clock, four hours before daylight, every man was +called out and assigned duties. It was the custom of the natives to +depart for the hunting-ground at that hour. They should follow the same +custom. Dividing themselves into two parties, one to watch camp, the +other to hunt, they immediately set about their tasks. + +The first day's hunt was under the direction of Azazruk, the Eskimo. The +results were more than gratifying. Two ringed seals, one oogrook, ten +feet long, and one young polar bear were the bag for the day. + +"A full week's supply of meat," smiled the Doctor, rubbing his hands in +high glee. In his interest in this new game, he had for the moment quite +forgotten his great disappointment at the loss of the sub. + +It was while they were smacking their lips over a hamburger, made of bear +meat, that they were surprised by a young native, who rushed into their +tent without the accustomed shouted salutation, seemingly quite beside +himself with fear. + +For some time nothing intelligible could be gathered from his excited +chatter. But finally Azazruk made out that only an hour before, as he +watched the reindeer, a great hairy monster had dashed at the herd, +scattering it far and wide, and carrying away a yearling buck as easily +as if it had been a rabbit. + +"Probably a white bear," suggested Rainey. + +"Not probable," said the Doctor. "A bear would eat his prey where it +was slain." + +"A wolf?" + +"Couldn't do it." + +"Well, what then?" + +All eyes were turned toward the Doctor. + +"You will judge me insane if I tell you what I think it was," he +answered. "But here you are; I think it was a tiger." + +"A tiger?" + +"Tiger?" + +Every man voiced his unbelief. + +"A tiger in the Arctic?" + +"Impossible!" + +"That's absurd." + +For answer the Doctor drew from his notebook a newspaper clipping, +bidding Rainey read it aloud. The article was entitled "THE RUSSIAN +TIGER" and was an account of the slaying of a gigantic man-eater by an +American officer when American troops were stationed at Vladivostok, in +eastern Russia. + +"At that point," explained the Doctor, "they have about eight months of +winter with a thermometer that drops far below zero. It may well be +considered a part of the Arctic. Yet, as you see, they have tigers there; +indeed, I am told they are not at all uncommon. So why not up here?" No +one had a ready answer, and at last the Doctor spoke again: + +"In the meantime, what are we going to do about it? It would seem that +the natives are appealing to us for aid." + +Rainey at once sprang to his feet, exclaiming: + +"Count me one to go hunt the beast, whatever it is." + +At once the others were on their feet shouting their eagerness for the +hunt. + +The Doctor chose a gob named Thompson to accompany Rainey on his +"tiger hunt," or whatever it might prove to be. Rainey was well +pleased at the choice, for Thompson was a sure shot and a cool, nervy +hand in time of danger. + +"If I don't hear from you by morning," said the Doctor, "I shall send a +relief expedition." + +Rainey had fully recovered from the affair of the previous day. Both he +and Thompson had been among the guarding party that day, so were fresh +and keen for work. They found the moonlight making the wide stretches of +ice and snow light as day. + +"_ Some_ night and _some_ game!" murmured Rainey, as they emerged +from the tent. + + * * * * * + +When the men in native garb, who had stolen the submarine, lifted the +hatch to take an observation, they were utterly unaware of the presence +of two figures crouching behind the conning-tower. This, in spite of the +fact that the men wore their long knives strapped to their waists, gave +Dave and the engineer a decided advantage--an advantage they were not +slow to make the most of. + +Fortunately, the robbers crowded up the hatchway, all eager to catch a +first view of the reputed gold valley, in which lay the treasure city. + +As the third head peeped above the hatch, Jarvis sprang at them. Swinging +his ice-anchor, an ugly cudgel of bent iron with a chilled steel point, +he sent two of the villains sprawling at a single blow. Meanwhile, Dave, +who had grappled with the third man, made a misstep and together they +plunged down the hatchway. His opponent landed full on Dave's stomach, +and so crushed the breath from him that for a second the lad could not +move. But instantly, he realized that he must act. The man was attempting +to draw his long knife. Thrusting out a hand, Dave gripped the point of +the blade in its soft leather sheath so tightly that it could not be +withdrawn. + +Struggling with every ounce of strength, the two men were rolling over +and over on the deck. The stranger was heavier and evidently older than +Dave, but the American had one advantage. He was dressed only in woolens. +The heavy skin clothing of his antagonist hampered his action. In spite +of this, Dave felt himself losing out in the battle. The stranger's hand +was gripping closer and closer to his throat, and he felt his own hand +losing its hold on the knife-blade, when he heard a welcome roar from the +hatchway. It was Jarvis. With one leap he was at Dave's side. For an old +man, he was surprisingly quick. Yet, he was not too quick, for the +murderous knife was swinging above Dave's chest and a hand was at his +throat, when Jarvis clove the assailant's skull with his ice-anchor. + +With a groan the man collapsed. The knife clattered to the deck. Jarvis +dropped to the floor panting. + +"Are you hurt?" he gasped. + +"No! Are you?" + +"Not a scratch. Some jolly little weapon, them ice-h'anchors. H'I'll wear +one of 'em h'in me belt from now on! H'I 'ates t' think 'ow cold th' +water was when h'I pitched 'em h'in, them other two." + +"Kill 'em?" + +"Not that bad. But mebby they'll drown. H'I'll go see. H'I'd 'ate t' see +'em climbin' back." + +He hurried up the hatchway, followed closely by Dave. + +Not a sign of the two men was to be seen, either on the submarine, in the +water or on the solid shore-ice, a few rods away. + +"What d' y' think of that?" asked Jarvis, mopping his brow. "They're +gone!" + +"Perhaps they drowned." + +"Mebbe drowned--mebby they're 'id h'in th' h'ice." + +"Well, anyway, we're rid of them," said Dave. "We'll sew the dead one up +in a blanket and throw him overboard; then we'll be going back. Think how +all fussed up the Doctor will be." The boy chuckled. + +"Going back?" Jarvis stared, as if unable to believe his ears. "Going +back? And the treasure city within peep of h'our h'eyes. Going back, did +y' say? H'I 'ates t' think 'ow rich we'll be, you an' me." + +The sun was setting behind the dark line of timber. Some object at a +point where the timber ended and the tundra began cast back the sunlight +with a golden glow. + +"D' y' see it, lad?" exclaimed the excited old man. "D'y'see it? +H'it's gold." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE RUSSIAN TIGER + + +When Rainey and Thompson, accompanied by the native, left the village to +hunt the strange creature that was working havoc with the village +reindeer herd, they walked directly away from the rows of deerskin houses +toward the tundra at the foot of the hills where, some five miles away, +the deer were herded. + +The five miles were accomplished mostly in silence. Each man was busy +with his own thoughts. As for the little native, he seemed quite without +fear as long as he was with the powerful "spirits of dead whales." + +When they approached the brown line of the herd that spread itself across +the horizon, the boy led them around it to a point beyond where the beast +attacked the young deer. + +There, though the ground had been much trampled by the maddened herd, +they found many traces of the attack. Splotches of blood stained the snow +and made a well-defined trail where the creature had carried off its +prey. Soon they were beyond the patches of trampled snow and then the +native left them to follow the trail alone. + +Faintly, from the distance, came the rattle and clatter of reindeer +antlers as the herd moved about. Above them, in all its silver glory, +shone the moon. Now and again the hunters gave a start, as a ptarmigan, +roused from its slumbers, went whirring away. To them every purple shadow +of rock or bush or snow-pile might be the beast crouching over his kill. + +"The Doctor's right!" exclaimed Rainey, bending over the trail, which +still showed a bloodspot here and there. "It's no polar bear--here's the +scratch of his claws where he climbed this bank. Polar bears have no +claws, only a sort of hard lump on the end of each toe." + +"No wolf, either," said Thompson, examining the tracks carefully. "The +scratches are too long and too far apart. But, for that matter, who +would even dream of a wolf large enough to carry off a two hundred +pound deer?" + +The beast's soft paws on the snow, hard-packed by Arctic winds, left a +trail very difficult to follow. But, bit by bit, they traced it out. + +At last the creature, having climbed a hill, had taken down a narrow +ravine where scrub willows grew thick. And here they found +unmistakable evidence that it had been some form of a great cat that +had passed this way. + +"Just like a cat's track," said Rainey. "And look at the size of 'em; +must measure five inches across!" + +They paused at the edge of the willows. They were brave men, but not +fools. Only fools would venture into that thicket, where every advantage +would be on the side of the lurking monster. + +"There's a ridge up there running right along the side of this scrub," +said Rainey. "We'll climb up there and walk along it. May get a glimpse +of him. Then, again, he may have come out on the other side and gone on." + +They climbed the bank and started along the ridge. Every yellow bunch of +dead willow leaves at once became for the moment a crouching tiger, but +each, in turn, was passed up. So they walked the ridge and had passed the +willow clump, when Rainey gripped his companion's arm, whispering: + +"What's that down there to the right? I think I saw it move." + +Thompson gazed down the narrow pass for a moment, then whispered: + +"C'mon. It's the very old chap. We can skirt the next bank of rocks and +be right above him. We're in luck. It will be an easy shot!" + +Creeping on hands and knees, with bated breath and nerves a-tingle, the +boys came presently to a point above the half-hidden beast. As they +peered down at him they could barely suppress exclamations of surprise. +It was, indeed, a tiger. And such a tiger! Never, in any zoo or +menagerie, had they seen his equal. He was a monster, with massive head, +deep chest and powerful limbs; and his thick fur--nature's protection +against the Arctic cold--seemed to emphasize both his size and his +savageness. + +"You're the best shot," whispered Rainey. "Try him!" + +Thompson lifted his rifle and with steady nerve aimed at a point back of +the fore-leg. + +The tiger, who up to this time had apparently neither heard nor scented +them, but had been crouching half asleep beside his mangled prey, seemed +suddenly to become aware of their presence. Just as the rifle cracked, he +sprang up the bank. His deafening roar told that the bullet had found a +mark, but it did not check his charge. + +Then came a catastrophe. Rainey leaned too far forward, causing some +rocks and loose snow to slide from beneath him, and, in another second he +shot down a steep incline to what seemed certain death. + +To his surprise, he found himself dropping straight down. A hidden cliff +here jutted out over the drifted snow. To his much greater surprise, +instead of being knocked senseless, he was immediately engulfed in what +seemed an avalanche of snow leaping up to meet him. His alert mind told +him what had happened. A blizzard of a few days previous had driven great +quantities of snow against the cliff. This snow was not hard-packed, and +he had been buried in it by the fall. The problem now was to avoid the +tiger, who was sure to spring upon him at the first glimpse and tear him +in pieces. Then, suddenly, there flashed through his mind a picture left +over from his boyhood days. It was that of a cat endeavoring to catch a +mole, which burrowed industriously beneath the snow, raising a ridge as +he burrowed. Could he play the part of the mole, as the tiger was sure to +play the part of the cat? It was his only chance. His companion would not +dare to shoot until he knew where Rainey was. + +Putting himself in the position of a swimmer, the sailor began pawing at +the snow and kicking it with his feet. The snow was hard packed against +his face and he thought his lungs would burst. But he was making +progress. Now, he dared back off a trifle and take a long breath of air +from the burrow he had made. Then a sound stirred him to renewed effort. +It was the thud and jar of an impact. The tiger, having made his first +leap, had missed. How many more times would he do this? The boy once more +jamming his head against the snow renewed his swimming motions. Again he +was obliged to pause for breath. Again the tiger sprang; this time, +seemingly, he was more accurate. Again the race was renewed. The boy's +mind was in a whirl. Would his companion understand and risk a shot as +the tiger prepared for another spring? He hoped so. Surely, he could not +endure the strain much longer. One thing he was certain of, he could not +hear the report of the rifle if a shot were fired. He must struggle on in +ignorance of what was going on above him. The thought was maddening. The +air in the narrow channel was stifling; yet, he burrowed on, and heard +again the heavy impact. + +He had burrowed his length and backed off again for breath, when he was +forced to the realization that he could endure the air of the channel no +longer. Apparently, the tiger's last leap had completely closed it. + +Resolving to fight his way out, and then to trust all to flight, he +thrust his hands upward and again began to burrow. With dizzy brain +and wildly beating heart, he felt at length the fresh, frosty air upon +his cheek. + +But what was this that reached his ears? Surely not the roar of the +tiger. Instead it was the joyous cry of his companion. + +Dragging the snow from his eyes, Rainey stared about him. There, not five +paces from him, lay the tiger with a bullet in his brain, while beside +the body stood Thompson. + +"Well," said the hunter with a grin, "you're sure some mouse!" + +"And you're some shot!" said Rainey, floundering through the snow to his +companion's side. "I guess that's the finest tiger skin in the world." + +"It's yours as much as mine," answered Thompson. "We'll go share and +share alike." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +BRUCE AND THE BEAR + + +During this time of mishaps and adventures for the submarine party, what +was happening to the boys and the Major in their airplane? With fair wind +and weather they might well have been on the return journey from the +Pole. But fair wind and weather are not for long in the Arctic. They +were, indeed, on their way. As they shot away into the air from the +native village near the trader's schooner, they heard the natives calling +one word in unison. It was the Eskimo name for Thunder-bird. + +The Major smiled happily at the boys as the plane soared upward. + +Barney was again at the wheel. Two things he dreaded now: engine trouble, +which might be brought on by poor gasoline, and an Arctic blizzard. If +forced to land at any time, they would be in great danger of a crash, +and a storm would double the danger. + +But there could never have been a more wonderful day than that on which +they left the little camp for the great adventure. Not a cloud whitened +the blue dome of the sky, not a breath of air stirred. Soon the sun sank +from sight, and twilight, strange and wonderful, lasting through three +long hours, faded slowly into night. Then below them lay yellow lights +and deep purple shadows, with here and there a stretch of black, which +told of open water between floes. + +The air grew colder as night came on, and speeding northward they saw the +thermometer dropping degree by degree, and felt the chill creep through +their garments in defiance of their electrical heating device. Barney +began to worry about the effect of this intense cold on the tempered +steel of his engines and the many-layered wood of his propellers; but as +they sped on hour after hour, this restlessness left him. + +But what was this? He found the machine shooting through space with +greater freedom. One answer there was: a storm. They had been caught in +the advance of a blizzard; how great and terrible, none could tell. + +"Going to storm. Better land," telephoned the Major. + +Obeying his orders, the boy dropped to a lower level. Here the wind was +more intense and the air was filled with fine particles of snow which +raced with them, only to glide away into the background. The whole +ice-floe was already gray and indistinct from the drift. To pick a +landing-place seemed impossible. For several moments of agonizing +suspense they sped on; then, just as they were about to despair, there +appeared before them a long expanse of white. Wide as three city +boulevards, endless in extent, it appeared to offer just the opportunity +they were seeking. + +With a sign Barney shut off his engine, and, sailing on the wind, waited +for a lull to give him a safe landing. + +The lull came, then with a swoop, like a wild duck seeking water, they +hovered, settled, then touched the surface. + +The landing-wheels were shooting along over the snow with Barney's keen +eyes strained ahead that he might avoid possible rough spots, when there +came a cry of dismay from Bruce. With one startled glance about, Barney +saw all. To the right and left of them the ice seemed to rise like the +walls of an inverted tent. "Rubber-ice," his mind told him like a flash. +They had attempted to land where the water had but recently frozen over, +and was covered with a deceptive coating of snow. Only one hope remained: +to rise again. Once the weak rubber-ice--thin, elastic salt-water +ice--gave way, nothing could save them. + +Tilting the planes and tail to their utmost capacity, Barney set first +one engine in motion and then the other. But the yielding ice gave them +no purchase. At the same time, it impeded their progress by offering them +the slope of a mountain side to climb. One thing favored them. The peril +of a moment before became a blessing. The wind freshened at every blast. +At last, with a terrific swoop, it seized them and sent them whirling +upward. In the down-swoop, they were all but crashed on a towering pile +of ice, but escaping this fate, once more they were away. + +Despite this near-catastrophe, Barney was determined to make a landing. +The chill of the storm was so benumbing to muscles and senses that +further flying could only result in stupor, then death. + +Again he sank low and scudded along on the wings of the wind. To his +great joy, he soon saw that they were passing over flat stretches of +white. There could be no mistake this time; they were ice-pans, perhaps a +quarter-mile across, such pans as form in quiet bays, to float away and +drift north in the spring. Again he stopped his engines, determined, if +he must, to circle and return to the flats he had passed. This did not +prove necessary, however, and, to their great relief, the three were soon +threshing their arms and stamping their feet on a solid cake of ice, and +so vast that it seemed they must be on land, not hundreds of miles from +shore on the bosom of a great ocean, which might, at the very point they +stood, be a half-mile in depth. + +Their first concern was to make camp. This storm might rage for days, and +already they saw white spots forming on one another's cheeks, telling of +frost-bites. + +"We can't camp here in the open," said the Major. "Have to carry our +blankets and sleeping-bags to the rougher ice yonder, where we can build +a house of snow." + +The suggestion was no sooner made than the boys were delving into the +inner recesses of the plane and dragging out equipment and supplies. + +"Primus stove, dried potatoes, pemmican, evaporated eggs, pickled butter, +hard-tack, chocolate, beef tea, coffee," Barney called off. "Not bad for +near the Pole." + +The dogs were hitched to the small sled and soon all were racing away +before the wind to the spot chosen for the camp. In a short time they +were busy constructing a rude shelter, and the airplane for the moment +was forgotten. + +In the meantime, the wind was increasing, and the wings of the plane, +catching first this swirl, then that one, began making great gyrating +circles, cutting the air with a crack and a burr that might be heard +rods away. Though these sounds did not reach the men, busy with the +snow-shack, they did reach listening ears--a great white bear, wandering +the floes in search of some sleeping seal, stood first on all fours, +then on his haunches, to listen. Then, with many a misgiving and many a +pause, he made his cautious way to the edge of that particular ice-flat +where the plane rested. Thence, after more misgivings, he trundled his +awkward body across the flat and took a position close to the plane, +where, on his haunches, he stood and watched the apparently playful +antics of the plane as if he thought it some great bird that had come to +infest his domain. + +Presently, when the plane nearest him seemed about to swoop down and +touch the ice, he moved to a position beneath it, and, with tongue +lolling, stood on his haunches again and swinging his giant paw to +accompany the swing of the plane, struck out as it approached him. To his +surprise, the plane did not come within twenty feet of the ice surface. +He sank back on his haunches and awaited further developments. + +When the snow-hut was completed, the first thought of the Major and the +boys was of something to eat. + +"Something hot!" exclaimed Barney, rattling away at the primus stove. +Then he sat up with a look of disgust on his face. + +"The needles for the primus," he groaned. "They're still over in +the plane!" + +"I'll get them," said Bruce, beginning to draw on his heavy parka. Soon +he was fighting the wind back to the position of the plane. He had not +battled with the elements long before he began to realize that all would +not be well if the plane were left in its present position, unanchored as +it was. And when he caught the hum and whirr of the wind through the +wings, he was more thoroughly convinced of the fact than ever. As he +came near and could see the long tilting toss of the wings, he realized +that something must be done and at once. For a second he hesitated; +should he return and call his companions, or should he attempt to anchor +the plane, temporarily at least, unaided? He decided upon the latter +course, and went at once to the body of the plane where were stored +light, strong ropes of silk, and ice-anchors. He did not see the bear +sitting patiently on his haunches beneath the tip of the long wing. +Indeed, the snow-fog made it impossible, and it was equally impossible +for the bear to see him. + +Having secured four ropes and four ice-anchors, Bruce took two of the +ropes and began climbing out on the right wing of the plane. His plan was +to attach the ropes to the extremity of the wing, cast them down to the +surface where he would anchor them later in each direction away from the +tip of the wing. He would repeat the operation with the other wing, and, +drawing the ropes down snugly, thus make the plane tight and steady. + +He had climbed quite to the extremity of the wing and was about to tie +his first rope, when a fierce gust of wind threatened to tear him from +the rigging and crash him to the ice, a dangerous distance below. With a +quick clutch, he saved himself but lost the rope. It was with a grunt of +disgust that he saw it wind and twirl toward the white surface below. +Then it was, for the first time, that he saw the yellowish-white object +huddled there on the ice waiting. + +"A bear!" he groaned, and instinctively reached for his automatic. + +But at that instant there came a fresh swoop of wind that set the plane +gyrating more violently than ever. + +Clinging grimly to the bars, Bruce felt the wing swing down, down, then +in toward the bear, till it seemed it must crash into the great creature. +Before the plane rose Bruce felt a chill run down his spine. Not ten feet +beneath him was the savage face of the bear. All his gleaming white teeth +showed in an ugly grin, as he stood on his haunches one mighty fore-paw +raised in air, like a traffic policeman signaling a car to stop. + +Then again the wing whirled to dizzy heights. Bruce was now quite ready +to climb back the length of the wing and depart for camp to summon +assistance. But to loosen his grip, even of one hand for an instant, was +to court death. Again he felt the sickening sink of the plane, as if it +were an elevator-car loosed from its cable. And this time, he felt +instinctively, the wing would scrape the ice. And the bear, if he were +still there? Well, there was going to be a crash and a general mix-up. + +Bruce had been a football player in his day and was aware that there were +times, if one were at the bottom of the heap, when relaxation was the +play. As far as his position made it possible, he relaxed. And, in the +meantime the plane swept downward. + +For one fleeting instant he saw the white traffic cop of the Arctic +wilderness still standing with paw upraised. Then everything was a +blinding, deafening crash of ice and snow, wood, canvas and white bear. + +Bruce gathered himself up some rods from the scene of the crash. Relaxed +as he was, he had rolled like a football over the ice and had escaped +with a few bruises. But the plane? As he caught a fleeting glimpse of it +disappearing in the murky fog, he felt sure that it would take days, +perhaps weeks, to repair it. + +"And the worst is not yet! She's still swinging!" he groaned, +rising stiffly. + +But immediately his mind was turned to the white "cop." How had he fared? +The boy felt for his automatic. Fortune favored him; it was still in his +holster. This was well, for the white bear, very much shaken but still +game, having wrought further havoc with the debris left by the demolished +wing, was charging down upon him. + +Standing his ground, Bruce waited until the bear was within six paces. +One stroke from that giant paw would end the struggle. His aim must be +true and certain. Suddenly his hand went to his side for a hip-shot. +Put-put-put-put. Four bullets smashed into the bear, bringing him to a +standstill. Put-put-put-put. With a roar, the bear sank to the ice. In a +second he was dead. + +It was with a feeling almost of regret that Bruce bent over the giant +beast. But it was with a sense of new power that he noted that seven of +his bullets had crashed through the Arctic Goliath's skull. + +Again his mind was turned toward the plane. Cold and hungry as they were, +he realized that he and his two companions must spend the next hour +making their craft safe from further damage. + +Three hours, indeed, elapsed before they were again seated in the +snow-cabin. This time the primus stove was going and the coffee coming +to a boil. + +"Well," said the Major, "I'm glad we're all here. We'll be delayed for +several days. We may have lost the race. But we won't give up. As long as +our plane has wings we'll keep on. No race is ever lost until the goal +is reached and passed. Let's eat." + +"Anyway," said Barney, as he sipped his cup of hot coffee, "we won't run +out of dog meat and hamburger soon. I'll bet Bruce's bear weighs a +thousand pounds dressed." + +"Fourteen inches between the ears," grinned Bruce proudly. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +"BOMBED" + + +Standing silently beside the aged engineer, Dave Tower gazed thoughtfully +at the golden dome that flashed, then slowly darkened in the setting sun. +That yellow gleam did not lure him on, for the honor of helping to reach +the Pole was more to him than money. But Jarvis? He perhaps had learned +in his long years of labor that "the paths of glory lead but to the +grave," and now that he was growing old wealth would mean escape from +toil and worry. Perhaps, too, somewhere in the States a gray-haired wife +awaited him to whom just a little of that gleaming gold would mean rest +and peace as long as she might live. + +So Dave looked at the golden dome and pondered what he ought to do. When +at last, he spoke, his tone was kind: + +"Jarvis," he began, "as you know, I am in command of this craft. The +fact that it has been stolen and won back, more by your efforts than by +anything I have done, does not change matters any. I am still commander." + +Jarvis looked up with an impatient gesture, as if about to speak, but +Dave kept on: + +"As captain of this submarine, I might order you below, and your refusal +to do so would be mutiny. But from the time we came aboard this craft we +have been more like pals than commander and engineer. I give you my word +of honor I will never order you below. If you go, you go of your own +free will." + +Jarvis raised his face for a moment, and upon it was a look of +growing hope. + +"You know," Dave continued, "what our duty is. We shipped under the +orders of the Doctor. Those orders still go. No matter how fine the +chances are that we are letting slip, we are bound to do as the +Doctor wants. + +"More than that, we have friends back there who had only two days' supply +of food when we left them. They are living in a village of +superstitious, treacherous savages, who may attack and murder them at any +moment. Jarvis," he touched the old man's hand, "we are American seamen. +Will you forget your flag and your shipmates for gold?" + +For a second the old man stood in silence, then with a rush, he stumbled +down the hatchway, and in another moment Dave heard him tinkering away at +his engines. + +Before Dave wrapped the dead stranger in his burial blanket, he searched +the pockets of his clothing. There was no mistaking the garments; they +were oriental in make. And had there remained any doubt, it would have +been dispelled by two packets of papers taken from an inside pocket. +These bore the official stamp of that oriental government which had been +named by Jarvis. + +"I must tell Jarvis," said the boy to himself. "It will please him to +know that he was right." + +And that night, while they glided silently back toward the native +village they had left not many hours before, leaving the treasure city +a mystery unexplained, he _did_ tell Jarvis. As he finished, the old +man's face lighted. + +"The thing that's troublin' me just now," he said slowly, "is the +question of th' two bloomin' 'eathen that faded from h'our h'eyes. H'I +'ates to think they live, an' h'I 'ates to trust my 'opes they're done +for. If they're h'alive, they may get the treasure yet, an' h'I 'ates t' +be beat by a bloody, bloomin' 'eathen." + +"They're a long way from home base," said Dave with a grin. "They may +find the treasure, but getting it home's another thing." + +"I want you to know," he went on, huskily, "that I appreciate your +standing by me, and if we get out of this alive, you and I, with our +discharge papers, I promise I'll be your partner in this new +enterprise--the quest for treasure; that is, if you'll take me on." + +"Will h'I?" Jarvis sprang to his feet, a new glad light in his eye. "Will +h'I? 'Ere, give us a 'and on that. H'and we'll win, lad; we'll win! An' +that in spite of th' bloomin' 'eathen!" + +It was early the next morning that the Doctor, who was enjoying, with +the gobs, the native festival of rejoicing over the killing of the great, +and to them unknown, beast which had attacked their reindeer herds, he +noticed a young native come running from the direction of the sea. He +paused now and again to shout: + +"Tomai! Tomai!" which was the native call for the arrival of a boat. + +Instantly the crowd was thrown into commotion. Natives rushed hither and +thither. But the white men realized at once that this could mean nothing +less than the return of the submarine, and, while they did not at all +understand it, they whooped their joy and rushed toward the shore to see +a dark body rounding the point. + +"The sub! The sub! Hurray! Hurray!" they shouted, tossing their caps high +in air. And the submarine indeed it was. Dave and Jarvis were overjoyed +to rejoin their companions. + +The stories of adventure were soon told and then everyone was set to +hustling the last bit of equipment on board. There would be neither +meals nor sleep until everything was in readiness and they were away. + +As the Doctor and Dave stood on deck watching the casting off of the +ropes, the Doctor spoke of his plans. + +"We may have lost the race," he remarked rather grimly, "but we're going +to the Pole just the same. It will mean something to you boys, at least, +to be able to say that you've been there. It was my purpose to lay our +course directly for the Pole without establishing a base, but since we +have been carried out of our way so far, and have used so much fuel, I +feel that it will be wise to head for the farthest-north point of +Alaska--Point Barrow. + +"I was assured, in Nome, that there were two oil-burning whalers +wintering near there, and I have no doubt that we can depend on them for +extra fuel." + +The hatches were lowered, the submarine sank from sight amid the +"Ah-ne-ca's" and "Mat-na's" of the awe stricken natives who lined the +cliffs a half-mile away. The sub, with all on board, was again on its +way to enter the race for the Pole. + +"The race is on," said Dave. + +"I wonder?" smiled the Doctor. + +Three times they rose in dark waterways for air. The fourth time it +seemed they must be nearing land-- + +Yes, as the submarine bumped the edge of an ice-floe, a point of land +showed plainly to port. + +Dave, with field-glass in hand, sprang to the nearest ice-cake, then +climbed to a pinnacle to take an observation. + +"Clear water to the left of us," he reported. + +"Too close ashore?" asked the Doctor. + +"I think not," was Dave's answer. "We'll have to submerge for three or +four miles; then we'll be clear of the ice." + +Signal bells clanged, and again they were gliding under the ocean's +armor of ice. + +As he listened to the hum of the machinery, one question puzzled Dave. He +had seen something along the end of that ice-floe. What was it? A sail? +If so, it was a very strange one--half white and half black. He could +not be sure it was a sail. But what else could it have been? + +But now they had swept out from under the ice. It was time to rise. +Instantly he pressed the button. The craft slowed again. Another press, +and as before they rose. This time no white surface would interrupt them. +A current coming from land caught them forward and tilted the craft. She +slanted from fore to aft. This did not matter; she would right herself on +the surface like a cork. + +But what was this? As the point shot from the water, something rang out +against the steel. This was followed immediately by what, in the narrow +apartments, amounted to a deafening explosion; then came the sound of +rushing waters. + +"Great God! We're bombed!" shouted the Doctor. + +Dave's cool head saved them for the moment. His hand seized an electric +switch and he pulled it desperately. The bow compartment was quickly +closed, checking the rush of water into the rest of the "sub," +Fortunately, no one had been forward at the time. + +But now they were sinking rapidly. Then came the throb of the pumps +forcing out the water from the compartments aft. Slowly the sickening +sinking of their ship was checked. + +"Will she rise again?" asked the Doctor, white-faced but cool. + +"I think so, sir," responded Dave. + +Dave watched a gauge with anxious eyes. The pumps were still working. +Would the craft stand the test? Would she rise? + +One, two, three minutes he watched the dial; then a fervent "Thank God!" +escaped his lips. The sub was rising again. + +But once more his brow was clouded. What awaited them on the surface? + +"One more," he muttered, "just one more, and we are done for." + +Every man aboard the submarine had a different explanation for the bomb +which had disabled their craft. Jones, the electrician, had just finished +reading the adventures of a young British gunner in these very waters +somewhere back in the eighties. The story had to do with the defense of +seal fisheries against the Japs, and Jones was sure that a Japanese +seal-poaching boat had bombed them. McPherson, who had seen active +service chasing German subs, was certain they had encountered one of the +missing U boats. Wilder believed it had been a Russian cruiser, and, of +course, Jarvis blamed it to the "bloomin' 'eathen." + +The first and third of these theories could be discarded at once, since +no craft was to be seen when last they submerged, and a cruiser or +schooner of any size could scarcely have escaped their attention. + +As for Dave, he had another theory, but was too busy to talk about it. He +had read a great deal regarding the Eskimos and their methods of hunting. + +Meanwhile the submarine was rising slowly toward the surface. She was +coming up with her stern tilted high this time, for the water in her +forward compartments disturbed her balance. Every heart beat fast as the +water above grew lighter. + +"McPherson, be ready to throw open the hatch the minute we are clear," +commanded Dave. "All life belts on?" he asked. + +"Aye, aye, sir!" came in chorus. + +"Rifles?" + +"At hand, sir." + +"Ready then." + +There came a sudden burst of light, the creak of hinges, the thud of the +hatch, then the thud of feet as the men rushed for the deck. + +In another moment the crew found themselves outside clinging to the +tilted and unsteady craft, blinking in the sunlight, and seeing--? +Principally white ice and dark water. Off in the distance, indeed, +was an innocent-looking native skin-boat. There were, perhaps, ten +natives aboard. + +"Thought so," chuckled Dave. + +"You thought what?" demanded the Doctor. Every eye was turned on the +young commander. + +"Thought we'd been shot by natives with a whale-gun. Took us for a +whale, don't you see? Whale-gun throws a bomb that explodes inside the +whale and kills him. In this case, it exploded against us and raised the +very old dickens. Here they come. You'll see I'm right." + +And he was right. The crew of christianized natives were soon alongside, +very humble in their apologies, and very anxious to assist in undoing the +damage they had wrought. + +"Have we any extra steel plate?" asked the Doctor. + +"Yes, sir. Have to be shaped, though," replied Dave. + +"Can we do it?" + +"I think so, on shore." + +"All right, then. Get these natives to give us a hand and we'll go on the +sand-bar for repairs. Bad cess to the whaling industry of the Eskimos! +It's lost us a full two days, and perhaps the race! But we must not give +up. Things can happen to airplanes, as well." + +It took a hard half-day's work to bring the craft to land, but at last +the task was done and the mechanics were hammering merrily away on the +steel with acetylene torch sputtering, and forty natives standing about +open-mouthed, exclaiming at everything that happened, and offering +profound explanations in their own droll way. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE MYSTERY CAVERN + + +Once their craft was repaired, the submarine party pushed northward at an +average rate of ten miles an hour. It was two days before any further +adventure crossed their path. But each hour of the journey had its new +thrill and added charm. Now, with engine in full throb, they were +scurrying along narrow channels of dark water, and now submerging for a +sub-sea journey. Now, shadowy objects shot past them, and Dave uttered a +prayer that they might not mix with the propeller--seal, walrus or white +whale, whatever they might be. In his mind, at such times, he had visions +of floating beneath the Arctic pack, powerless to go ahead or backward +and as powerless to break through the ice to freedom. + +Wonderful changing lights were ever filtering through ice and water to +them, and, at times, as they drove slowly forward, the lights and shadows +seemed to have a motion of their own, a restless shifting, like the play +of sunlight and shadow beneath the trees. Dave knew this was no work of +the imagination. He knew that the ice above them was the plaything of +currents and winds; that great cakes, many yards wide and eight feet +thick, were grinding and piling one upon another. Once more his brow +wrinkled. "For," he said to himself, "it may be true enough that the +average ice-floe is only twenty-five miles wide, but if the wind and +current jams a lot of them together, what limit can there be to their +extent? And if we were to find ourselves in the center of such a vast +field of ice with oxygen exhausted, what chance would we have?" + +Dave shuddered in answer to the question. + +He was thinking of these things on the eve of the second day. They were +plowing peacefully through the water when, of a sudden, there came a +grating blow at the side of the craft. It was as if they had struck some +solid object and glanced off. + +"What was that?" exclaimed the boy. He cut the power, then turned to +the Doctor: + +"Ice or--" + +"There it goes again!" exclaimed the Doctor. + +This time the blow was heavier. It sent them against the side of the +compartment. + +"Ice beneath the ocean? Impossible!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Must +be rocks!" + +Another blow hurled them in the opposite direction. Both realized the +gravity of this new peril. If one of these blows caught the craft +squarely it would crush the sub like an egg-shell. + +But the boat was slowing up. There was hope in that. Dave, attempting +to look out of one of the portholes, was thrown to the floor by +another shock. And this time the craft seemed to have stuck, for she +did not move. + +"Where can we be?" asked Dave, rubbing a bruised head. + +It was a strange sight which met their eyes as they looked from the +conning tower. On every side appeared to be giant pillars of ice. +Between these were narrow water passages, while above they could make out +a mass of ice far more opaque than any they had yet passed beneath. + +"One of two things," said the Doctor. "We are beneath an iceberg or the +end of a glacier. Probably a glacier, and the pillars which support it +reach to the bottom, which must not be far below us." + +"We have driven between two pillars and stuck there like a mouse in a +trap," said Dave, "and if we cannot set ourselves free, we are--" + +"It must be done!" exclaimed the Doctor. "Start the power slowly and see +what the propeller will do." + +Dave gave the signal. There followed a harsh, grating sound, but the boat +did not move. + +"Stuck!" muttered Dave. + +"Not so fast." said the Doctor. "There's hope yet. Shut off the power and +order all hands aft." + +"Now," said the Doctor, when they were assembled. "We will go to the +starboard side, then all together dash to port, and throw our weight +against the side. Then turn and rush back--we want to make her roll. Are +you ready? Go!" + +The craft stirred a trifle at the shock. The second attempt seemed to +promise still better. After they had repeated the operation half a dozen +times, they were getting considerable side-wise movement out of the +trapped submarine. + +"Now," said the Doctor, "start the power slowly, engine reversed. The +instant she is free, shut off the power. On the precision of this +operation depends all our lives, for should the propeller strike one of +those pillars it will be torn away and our hope of escape gone." + +Dave's hand trembled as he moved the lever. For one second the propeller +spun around. Then, with a shudder, the craft started backward. That +instant Dave shut off the power. The submarine drifted free. So far, they +were safe. + +The Doctor consulted his watch. + +"Time of low tide," he observed "Guess we should be able to rise and get +some air. Try it." + +Slowly they rose to the surface, and there the craft rested. + +It was an eager throng that rushed from the conning-tower and it was a +wonderful and awe-inspiring sight which met their gaze. + +"Cathedral of the Polar Gods!" exclaimed the Doctor. And, indeed, so the +great cavern seemed to be. Great pillars of ice, not yet worn away by the +wash of water, supported giant arches of ice, blue as a mid-June night. +The least echo was echoed and reechoed through the vast corridors. The +murmur of distant waves seemed to come from everywhere. + +"What I want to know," said Dave, "is, which way is out. The careless +gods seemed to have neglected to mark the exits." + +"We'll find an exit," said the Doctor, "and we'd better be about it, for +it'll be much easier at low-tide than at high." + +The engine was started, and slowly they steered their way through +countless aisles and broad halls, but the finding of the way out did not +seem so easy after all. They had penetrated far enough into the cavern to +hide them from the pale outer moonlight, and they were not certain that +their course was not taking them farther from it. + +Dave was thinking of turning about when the sub came to a stop with a +suddenness which threatened to pitch the party into the sea. + +"What now?" demanded the Doctor. + +Ordering the power shut off, then flashing a light before them, Dave +exclaimed: "A beach, a sandy beach!" Then, with the enthusiasm of a boy, +he sprang forward, leaping into shallow water and wading ashore. + +Once ashore he flashed his light about in the icy caverns which left but +a narrow sandy beach. Then, with a cry of horror, he sprang backward. +Before him towered an immense hairy monster, with tusks three times the +length of a man's arm. + +The instant the cry had left his lips, he knew the laugh was on him. But +the cry had gone forth, echoing through the corridors. It brought the +jackies and the Doctor splashing through the water to his rescue. + +"Only a frozen mastodon," he grinned sheepishly, as they came to his +side. "Guess he's been dead ten thousand years, to say the least. But +honest, doesn't he look natural standing there in the ice?" + +He flashed the light suddenly upon the ice-encased monster, and the +jackies jumped, as if they, too, expected to be attacked. + +"A beautiful corpse, I'd say," exclaimed one of them. + +"A most remarkable specimen," commented the Doctor. "I've heard of cases +like this, but never saw one before." + +"Say!" exclaimed Jones. "If we could only get him out of here like that +and put him down in alcohol, we'd have a side-show that would make Barnum +jump out of his grave!" + +"Not a bad idea," said the Doctor. "The only hitch would be getting him +out of here." + +As Dave backed away for a better view, his foot struck something hard. +Flashing his light upon it, he found it to be the skull and tusks of a +walrus. They were as black as coal. + +"I've made a find!" he exclaimed. "These tusks we may take with us, and +old ivory is about as valuable as precious stones." + +The discovery seemed to waken the Doctor to their peril. + +"That walrus," he said, "wandered in here and was drowned by the rising +tide. He can breathe under water, but cannot stay down over ten minutes. +We can't breathe at all under water. The tide is setting in." + +These words sent the crew scurrying back to the submarine. Already the +tide had risen sufficiently to float the craft. All hands hastened to +re-embark. + +"If we set our course directly at right-angles to this beach and keep it +there," said Dave, "it should bring us to safety." + +This was done, and, after many a turn and twist, they caught a gleam of +light. Submerging, they were soon beneath the ice-floe once more. With a +sigh of relief, Dave gave the order to rise at the first water-hole. +There they might take their bearings. + +A half-hour later the party was gathered on the deck gazing away at an +island above which there towered a snow-capped mountain. Down the side +of the mountain might be distinguished the winding, blue course of a +great glacier. + +"Our glacier!" said Dave. "Some glacier, I'll say!" + +"Our glacier!" repeated a jackie. "Long may she glide!" + +The course was set at an angle to the island. This would carry them past +any treacherous sand-bars. They would then take another tack and resume +their former course. + +At a few minutes before noon that day they rose far from the island. The +sun, a pale yellow disk, shone through a thin haze close to the surface +of the pack. And yet it was high noon. This was, perhaps, to be their +last bearing taken by the light of the sun. Henceforth, the moon and the +stars must guide them. Whereas all former polar expeditions were carried +forward only during the summer months, when the sun shone night and day, +they, as well as their rivals, must drive on straight into the deep +mysteries of the dreaded Arctic night. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +WRECKED + + +"All aboard! Change here for all way stations; our next stop is +the Pole!" + +Barney, the daring aviator, sang the words cheerfully, as he settled +himself in his place at the wheel. He hardly felt the cheerfulness his +tone implied. True, they had spent twelve days repairing the damage done +to the plane by the wind and its collision with the white bear, but it +was a rather patched-up affair now it was finished--as it needs must be +with the few materials and tools at their command. As he had expressed it +to Bruce only the night before: they had a crippled wing, and a bird with +a broken pinion never soars so high again, even if it is a bird of +fabric, wood and steel. + +However, he was truly glad to be getting away on what they hoped might be +their last lap. The grave-like silence of the Arctic, with its +glistening whiteness everywhere, had gripped his nerves. + +"Well, here's hoping," he murmured to Bruce, as the plane hopped off. + +As for the Major, he sat with face fixed as a bronze statue. His gaze was +toward the Pole. + +For fourteen hours they soared steadily onward. Only the air, which +grew crisper and more stinging as they advanced steadily northward, +told them they were nearing the Pole. Observations from the plane were +impossible. The sun, which had been appearing less and less each day, +was now quite lost to them. Only the moon in all its glory tinted the +blue ice-piles with wavering ghost colors. The wind for once was still. +Not a bird appeared in the sky, not an animal met the gaze of their +binoculars as they peered below. It was as if the whole Northern realm +had become suddenly silent at the magnificent spectacle of three men +sailing alone over spaces never yet traveled by man, and where dangers +lurked at every turn. + +The plane, too, was surprising its driver. It answered his least touch +on the lever controls. The engines were working perfectly. Only now and +again he caught a faint lurch which told his practiced senses that some +of the rudely improvised splices were working loose. Even these gave him +no great alarm; at least, they did not seem sufficiently serious to +warrant an immediate landing. + +But suddenly, as they were soaring over the wildest, most +treacherous-looking stretch of floe ice that eyes have ever rested upon, +the plane gave a lurch. A shudder ran through her from wing to wing, and, +with a plunge, she shot side-wise. The outer half of her right wing had +doubled up on the inner half, like a blade to a jack-knife. + +Bruce took in the situation at a glance. Before a hand could stop him, +he had unbuckled his straps, and, creeping to the extremity of the +remaining half of the wing, he clung there, thus adding his weight to +its balancing power. + +Already Barney had shut off the engines. With the added weight to the +right the plane became steadier. Danger of a whirling spin to the +ice-surface seemed for the time averted. + +"What a landing-place!" groaned Barney, almost touching the starting +lever in his eagerness to save the plane. But he stayed his hand; to +start the engine under such conditions would be madness. Some form of +landing they must make, even if it was but to "crash." + +So they sped steadily downward, realizing that the goal they sought must +now, with the aid of their dog-team, be easily within their grasp; yet +realizing also that all means of returning was likely to be denied them, +unless, indeed, one were to call five dogs a means of traveling over +hundreds of miles of tangled, tumbling mountains of ice. + +Suddenly, Barney's heart leaped for joy. Just before them, within +possible area of landing, lay a perfectly level stretch of ice. It +was not large, was, in fact, perilously small, yet it offered a +possible landing. + +Tilting the left plane to its utmost, adjusting the tail, Barney glided +onward. With bated breath he saw the white plain rise to meet them. With +trembling hand he touched a lever here, a button there. Then--a jar--the +landing-wheels had touched. They touched again. The moving plane fairly +ate up the scant level space, yet she slowed and slowed until at last, +with hardly a tremor, she rested against the outcropping ridge of ice at +the floe's edge. + +With a glowing smile the Major unstrapped himself to reach out his hands +in thanks and congratulation to his pilots. + +But--where were they? They had disappeared. He found them in front of the +plane calling to him for assistance. Then he saw the danger their more +practiced eyes had already noticed. The ice at this point was piling. At +this moment the very cake against which they had stopped was beginning to +rise. Within a space of moments, the plane, unless turned and thrust +backward, would be crushed beneath hundreds of tons of ice. +"If we can get her back we can save her!" panted Bruce. + +"Swing her!" shouted Barney, throwing his whole strength against the +right wing. + +"Now she moves!" yelled Bruce joyously. "Now! Heave ho!" + +The great craft turned slowly on her wheels. Now the plane was clearing +the ice. Now--now in just a second--she would be safe. + +But no--the right wheel caught in an ice-crevice. Three desperate efforts +they made to free her, then, just as the giant cake towered, crumbling +above them, the Major shouted the word of warning that sent them leaping +back to safety but cost them their machine. + +True, it stood there, still. The mechanism was perfect, the engines +uninjured. But the right wing was completely demolished. Buried beneath +tons and tons of ice, the craft that had carried them so far was crushed +beyond all hope of repair. + +With despair tugging at their hearts, the three stood looking at the +wreckage. But they were not of the breed that quits. + +"We'd better get our stuff and what's left of the plane out of the way +of danger," said Bruce at length. + +"The stuff--blankets, grub and the like, yes, but"--Barney smiled in +spite of himself--"why the plane? She's done for." + +"Because," said Bruce, "you can never tell what will happen." + +The pressure which was piling the ice diminished rapidly, and the back +edge of the cake proved a safe place to make camp. Soon they were boiling +tea over a small oil stove and discussing the future as calmly as they +might have done had they been in the old office-shack back on the Hudson +Bay Railroad. + +"Now to find where we are," exclaimed the Major, knocking the tea leaves +from his cup. + +The interest in this project was keen. After working out his reckoning, +estimating the speed of their flight and counting the hours they had been +in the air, the Major laid down his pencil. + +"Fifty miles southeast of the Pole," he said at last. "Shall we attempt +to go on or turn back?" + +The boys looked at one another. Bruce read in his companions' eyes the +desire to attempt the return with the dog-team. At the same time, he +realized that the real genius of an explorer lay in his desire to push +on. The Major had that genius. + +"As for me," Bruce said finally, "I never decide anything of great +importance until I have slept over it." + +Barney smiled in spite of his anxiety and weariness. + +But the Major, seeing the strained expression in the boys' faces, +realized that the ultimatum of Bruce was a good one. + +Soon the three companions were snug in their sleeping-bags, dreaming of a +land of grass and flowers far, far away. + + * * * * * + +As soon as the submarine was safely on its course after the glacier +incident, Dave, who had not slept for many hours, turned in for "three +winks." His three winks had stretched on into hours, when he was wakened +by a sudden jarring that shook the craft from stem to stern. He was on +his feet in the passage-way at once. + +"What happened?" he demanded of a sailor. + +"Blamed if I know," said the other. He was white as a sheet. + +One thing Dave made sure of as he hurried toward the wheel-room; they +were drifting under the ice-floor of the ocean. Was the motor simply +dead, or was the propeller gone? He had but an instant to wait. There +came the purr of the motor, then the sudden sound of racing machinery, +which told plainer than words that the worst had happened. + +"I think it was a walrus, sir," said Rainey, who had been in charge of +the wheel-room. "I had just caught sight of a dark blotch gliding by and +reached for the power when the racket started." + +"What were you making?" asked Dave quietly. + +"Our usual ten knots." + +The compartment they were in was filled with levers and adjusting wheels +of all descriptions. The walls were lined with gauges and dials of many +styles and sizes. A person on entering and taking the operator's +position, might fancy himself in the center of a circle of gears and +driving wheels of many automobiles. + +Dave glanced at a gauge, then at another. He touched a wheel, and the +hand on the second dial began to drop. They were now rising. As a usual +thing, they traveled some forty feet below the surface. Icebergs were +scarce in these waters, and the ordinary floe did not lie more than +twenty feet below sea-level; still, it was safer lower down. But now--now +their safety rested in gliding to a point beneath a water channel or +hole, and, once they were under it, they must not fail to rise. + +"No, not if it takes our conning-tower to do it!" Dave said savagely, as +he finished explaining. + +They were still drifting through the water at a rather rapid rate, but +little by little a speed gauge was falling. Soon they would be lying +motionless beneath the Arctic floe, as helpless as a dead whale; and +should no dark water-hole appear before that time came, they were doomed. + +Dave wiped the cold perspiration from his brow, as the hand on the dial +dropped lower and lower. He touched a wheel again, and they rose another +ten feet. "Must be nearly bumping the ice by now; but at such a time as +this one takes risks," he muttered. + +What was that? Did he sense the dark shadow which always presaged open +water? Surely, if walrus were about, there must be open water to give +them air. And, yes--there it was; a hole in the floe! + +His trembling hand again touched the wheel. The hand on the dial had +dropped to nearly nothing. If the water-hole was narrow; if they +missed it! + +But no--up--up they shot, and in just another moment men were swarming +from the conning-tower. + +"Say!" exclaimed Dave, wiping his forehead. "Do you remember the +obstacle-races they used to have at county fairs when you were a boy?" + +The jackie he spoke to grinned and nodded. + +"Well, this is an obstacle-race, and the worst I ever saw. The worst of +it is, there are two prizes--one's the Pole and the other our own lives!" + +The open water they had reached at so fortunate a moment proved to be a +channel between floes. They were in no immediate danger now, but to +repair the damage done to the shaft and adjust a new propeller, it was +necessary that they drag the submarine to the surface of a broad +ice-cake. This task was not as difficult as one might imagine. With the +aid of ice-anchors, iron pulleys and cables, they without much delay +harnessed their engine and finished the job all ship shape. + +"Look!" said one of the seamen, pointing at the narrow stretch of water. +"She's closin' in!" + +As the men looked they knew it to be true; the channel was certainly +narrower than when they first rose upon its surface. + +Securing a light line, the Doctor attached it to a plummet. Throwing the +plummet across the space, he drew the line taut. He then marked the +point where the ice-line crossed it. Then for five minutes he divided his +attention between the line and his watch. As he rose he muttered; + +"Two hours! Two hours! How long will it take to complete the repairs?" + +"Four hours, at least," Dave replied calmly. + +"Then we're defeated!" The Doctor began pacing the surface of the ice. +"We're stuck--beaten! In two hours the channel will be closed, and there +is not another patch of open water within five miles!" + +If Dave seemed unnaturally calm on receipt of such news, it was because +he had in his "bag of tricks" one of which the Doctor was not aware. +While in Nome he had made the acquaintance of a former British seaman, +who had cruised Arctic waters in the late eighties, when Japan was +disputing the rights of Great Britain and the United States to close the +seal fisheries. This man had told him how the gunboats had opened their +way through the ice-floes. The idea had appealed to the young skipper. +Consequently, on boarding the submarine, he had carried under his arm a +package which he handled very carefully, and finally deposited in the +very center of a great bale of fur clothing. There it still remained. + +"I suppose I might tell him," he said to himself. "But I guess I won't. +'Blessed is he that expecteth nothing,' The trick might not work. I'll +wait." He turned to where the mechanics were hard at work adjusting the +new propeller. + +The repairing had gone on for something over two hours. The water-channel +had completely closed. The Doctor was pacing the ice, lost in reflection. +Like a flash, there came into Dave's mind a new problem: would the +current be content merely to close the channel, or would the ice soon +begin to buckle and pile? With an uneasy mind, he urged the workmen to +hasten, at the same time keeping an eye on the line of ice where the +channel had so lately been. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"SO THIS IS THE POLE" + + +Many of the disasters which threaten us in this life pass us by. So it +was with the impending disaster of piling ice near the submarine. It +did not pile. + +But there remained the problem of getting the submarine through that +six-foot roof to the water beneath. How was it to be done? + +The Doctor still paced back and forth, his unrest written in the furrows +of his brow. The jackies, cheerful as ever, worked at their shift of +repairing the craft, or, when not at work, played at "duck-on-rock" with +chunks of ice. Once a seal appeared in a water-hole. Had he not departed +promptly, there would have been fried seal steak and roast seal heart for +supper. A lumbering bear, that had evidently never seen a human being +before, was not so fortunate. His pelt was added to the trophies of the +expedition, and his meat was ground into rather tough hamburger. + +Finally the mechanics announced that the submarine was again in perfect +condition. Now was the time to try Dave's last trick. Sending three men +to stretch a hundred-fathom cable from the submarine, and to anchor its +farther end to a great ice-pan, he dropped below to return at once with a +package. Cautioning the men not to follow him, he walked away +seventy-five yards, bent over the center of an ice-pan, seemingly to +adjust certain things and put others in order. This done, he strung a +black cord-like affair from his little pile of objects. He then measured +off ten paces, and repeated these operations. He then lighted a small +gasoline torch, and held the tip of the second cord-like affair to it, +then raced to the other for the same purpose. When this was done, he sped +away toward his companions. His actions were quickly understood by the +watching crew. The furrows on the Doctor's brow had become mere lines. He +was smiling hopefully. When Dave tripped over an ice boulder there was a +cry of alarm, but he was up in a second, and found shelter with his men. +Instinctively everyone ducked. Then came two roaring explosions in quick +succession. Bits of splintered ice fell around them like hail. Before the +ice fragments had ceased falling, everyone was climbing to the top of the +ice-pile. What they saw caused a shout of joy. Where the ice-pan had been +was a long stretch of black water that slowly widened until it was quite +large enough to float the submarine and allow it to submerge. + +At once every man was at his task. The submarine moved slowly toward the +water. There followed a dip, a great splash, a wild "Hurrah!" and five +minutes later they were once more on their way to the Pole. + +But, during this time, Dave's active mind had been working on another +problem, which might appear to have been settled, but had not been: the +drift of the floe. If the ice did not pile when the floes came together, +why was it? It seemed to him there could be but one answer; other +water-channels beyond the drift, under which they now traveled, were +being closed by counter-currents. And if they closed, one after the +other, more rapidly than the advance of the submarine, what was finally +to become of the submarine crew? Would they not perish for lack of air? +Dave did not share the cheerful mood of the Doctor and the crew; it was +his turn to look worried. + +Many hours later, his worst fears having been realized, he found himself +again in the little room of many wheels and dials. Hour after hour they +had shot beneath the varying surface of the floe, but not for one hopeful +second had they caught the dark shadow of open water. As near as he could +reckon, allowing for the ever-present currents, Dave believed they were +nearing the Pole. But his brain was now throbbing as if a hundred +trip-hammers were pounding upon it. Moments alone would tell the tale, +for the oxygen in the air was exhausted. Already half the crew were +unconscious; others were reeling like drunken men. The Doctor had been +the first to succumb to the poison of polluted air. + +In this crisis Dave was not alone at the wheel. The Eskimo boy, Azazruk, +was by his side. It was for just such a time as this that he had taught +the bright young native something of the control of the mechanism. + +Each wheel of the operating devices was numbered. He had taught the +Eskimo a formula by pains-taking repetition. + +"If ever the time comes when all are sick, no one can move but you," he +had said many times, "and if at that time you see black waters above, act +quickly. One--seven--ten--three--five, remember that. One wheel at a +time, quickly but surely; one--seven--ten--three--five." + +"One--seven--ten--three--five," the Eskimo boy had faithfully repeated +after him, and rolled his eyes half in amusement and half in terror. + +"Wheel one is for rise, seven for fans, ten to stop, three to lift the +outer-hatch, five the inner-hatch," Dave had explained. "But you only +need to remember one--seven--ten--three--five." + +Somehow, Dave had come to believe that this hardy young Alaskan, reared +as he had been, under perfect conditions of food, air, light and +exercise, could, if the test ever came, survive his civilized companions. + +Now, as he reeled and a great wave of dizzy sickness came over him, +while he sank to the floor, Dave was glad he had taught Azazruk; for the +boy, with a strange, strained look of terror in his eye, stood still at +the wheel. + +Dimly he felt, rather than saw, a dark shadow pass over them. As in a +dream he whispered the magic formula: + +"One--seven--ten--three--five." + +Faintly he heard the grind of the wheels, felt the fan's breath on his +cheek, then all was lost in unconsciousness. + + * * * * * + +After ten solid hours of sleep the airplane party awoke to find their +dogs whining and pawing at the entrance to their shelter. + +"Guess they're hungry," said Barney, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Now if +we could only locate a seal in some water-hole, it would help out our +scanty supply of food." + +"Suppose we try," said Bruce, slipping into his skin garments and looking +to his rifle. + +"All right," said Barney, and without delay they were hurrying to a +pressure ridge of ice from whose top they might hope to locate the +nearest water-lead. This took them some distance from their camp, but +since the air was still and the moon flooded everything with light as of +day, this did not worry them. + +They had reached the height, and were scanning the long lead of water +something like a mile to the left of them, when Bruce gave a cry of +surprise, and, pointing to the south end of the lead, exclaimed: + +"What's that immense black thing rising from the water? Can't be a whale +up here, can it?" + +"Impossible! And, look! There's something rising from the center of it! +It can't be--yes--it is! It's the submarine!" + +Barney tumbled from the ice ridge and went sprinting away over the ice. +His boyhood pal, Dave Tower, was on that submarine. + +With greater deliberation, Bruce attracted the attention of the Major. +Together they hurried after their companion. + +The sight that met their eyes as they reached the edge of the +water-channel filled them with consternation. The Eskimo boy and Barney +were hurriedly carrying limp, motionless forms from the submarine into +the outer air. + +Their worst fears were groundless, however, for after two hours of +faithful work they restored the last one of the crew to consciousness. +The last to recover was the Doctor. + +"Which goes to prove," smiled Dave, "that when you most need a doctor, +that's the time he's most likely to be sick." + +There was a moment of joyful reunion between the two pals, Barney and +Dave. As for the explorers, after the danger had passed, they seemed to +take little notice of one another. + +The Doctor soon was able to rise unsteadily, and, supported by two of +his men, he dragged himself back and forth across the ice. When, at last, +he had full possession of his faculties, he suddenly darted into the +submarine, reappearing a moment later with instruments. + +At sight of these, the Major's attention once more turned to the task he +had left. With backs turned, not twenty yards apart, the two great rivals +began taking observations. Carefully they spread lines of mercury for an +artificial horizon, and painstakingly adjusting their instruments, began +to take readings. Then, turning to their nautical almanacs, they figured. +For some time an awed silence fell on the little group. Presently the two +men rose, facing one another. Smiles played about their lips. For a +second they stood thus, then starting toward each other, they extended +hands for a clasp--the grip of a mutual admiration. + +"Gentlemen," said the Major, the huskiness in his voice betraying his +emotion, "we are now within five miles of the Pole, and that is as close +an observation as any man can hope to make." + +"Might as well call it the Pole," smiled the Doctor. "I make it +three miles." + +For a time silence again reigned, then it was Dave who spoke. + +"So this is the Pole!" he exclaimed. "Well, then, it's time for a bit of +jazz. Bring on your instruments of torture." + +Jazz always was imperfect music, and here, with untutored musicians and +rude instruments, it was imperfection itself; but it is doubtful if any +music ever soothed unstrung nerves as did this bit of jazz that rent the +midnight silence at the top of the world. + +The applause which followed awakened echoes among the ice-piles, and sent +a lone doveky away into the shadows. + +"Well," said the Doctor, as the echoes of the last burst of jazz died +away, "Major, I suppose we are to have the pleasure of your company on +our return journey. Am I right?" + +"I am afraid so," the Major smiled a bit wanly. "Guess our plane is at +last beyond repair." + +"But I say," ejaculated Barney, "you can stow the remains of our plane +somewhere below, can't you?" + +"Why--er--yes," smiled the Doctor. "We've considerable space now, +since using the fuel and food. But why freight the junk? What's the +grand idea?" + +"I think we can get a bunch of sled-timber and canvas from the whalers at +Point Barrow and rig her up again." + +"Why? You'll be welcome to come with us all the way." + +"Bruce here, and I," began Barney, and Bruce grinned at the mention of +his name, "have a very special mission that takes us cross-country +rather than by water. Much as we should like to accept your kind +invitation, our mission makes the other route imperative, if it is at +all possible to take it." + +He told them the story of La Vaune, of Timmie and the ancient pay-roll. + +"That being the case," agreed the Doctor, "I shall be glad to assist you +by freighting your plane to Point Barrow, and I now release my entire +crew to help you in demounting it and bringing it to the submarine." + +As the gobs joined the two young aviators in a wild race across the +ice-floes, with Jarvis straining after them, the Major turned a smiling +face toward the Doctor, as he remarked: + +"As fine a bunch as I ever saw." + +"You're right," said the Doctor, "and deserving of a rich reward." + +"Speaking of rewards," said the Major quickly, "how about that ten +thousand which comes to some of us? I had promised it to my boys, +had I won." + +"And I the same," smiled the Doctor. + +"The puzzle is, who's won!" + +"Suppose we split, fifty-fifty, and, following our original plan, each +give his share to his boys." + +"Splendid! Just the right thing!" exclaimed the Major. + +"It's a go!" The Doctor grasped the Major's hand. + +And this was the glad news that awaited the men as they returned, some +dragging poles, some carrying rolls of canvas, while others urged, pushed +and pulled at the dog-team drawing a sled on which was loaded the Liberty +motor. To the aviators was to go five thousand dollars; to the jackies, +five thousand. + +"Nothing of the kind!" exclaimed Bruce indignantly. + +"I should say nix!" echoed Barney. + +"Why, what could be fairer?" said the Doctor, a puzzled look on his face. + +"Why," Barney declared, feeling sure he was also speaking for his +partner; "we each get two thousand five hundred, and your men who have +worked as hard and risked as much, each get a fraction of that sum. I +say, nothing doing. Share and share alike, man for man, them's my +sentiments. Get out your pencil and see how many times ten goes in ten +thousand. A thousand times? A thousand apiece, that's something like! +Enough to have a whale of a good time on, or buy a farm. Pay your money +and take your choice. Step up, gents, and try your luck!" + +When the gobs realized that this wild harangue meant that the aviators +wished to split the whole reward with them, they were at first urgent in +protest, and, when this availed them nothing, they went wild with cheers +for the true sports of the aviation department. + +Of course this all called for another burst of jazz, after which came the +work of packing away the parts of the airplane, in which task the gobs +showed an enthusiasm which told better than shouts what they thought of +the young aviators. + +After the stars and stripes had been planted on a high ice-pinnacle, a +rather solemn supper was eaten in the lee of a giant ice-cake. Then, with +the jazz band playing "Star Spangled Banner," the submarine sank and the +homeward journey was begun. + +A fortunate voyage brought them to Point Barrow in sixty-eight hours. +There the aviators found the supplies they needed, and began at once +preparing for the overland trip. The Doctor and the Major decided to +proceed down the coast by dog-team to Cape Prince of Wales, where +they would catch the first boat in the Spring. The submarine crew +were put "on their own" and instructed to follow down the coast in a +safe and leisurely fashion, to report their arrival at the naval +station in Seattle. + +Bruce and Barney succeeded in rigging out the plane in a very +satisfactory manner, and one day in early Spring they again alighted in +Timmie's stubble, much to the joy of the entire family. And a few days +later they made a landing in the old athletic field of Brandon college, +where a very happy girl, who had been watching the plane with a wistful +eye, came rushing out to meet them. + +When Bruce pressed into her hand a package, and told her of its contents, +tears came to her eyes--tears of joy that her struggles were over, but +also tears of thankfulness for the safe return of those who had done so +much for her. + +The submarine crew arrived in Seattle in due time. There, before they +separated for a long leave, which was sure to be followed by honorable +discharge, five of them agreed to pool their share of the prize money to +charter a craft, preferably a submarine, and go in search of the +treasure city of Siberia. There was talk, too, of an attempt to induce +Bruce and Barney to join them on the expedition, as an airplane, which +could be stowed in the submarine when not in use, would be of +inestimable service to them. + +Bruce and Barney in due time collected the reward offered for the +destruction of the outlaw wireless station. + +As for the Major and the Doctor, there is still much speculation in many +quarters as to their identity. And, as for myself, I am not able to add +any information on the subject. + + * * * * * + +The solving of the mystery of the City of Gold was, at last, left to +David Tower and Jarvis. The story of this adventure will be told in the +next volume of the Snell Mystery Stories for Boys series which will be +entitled "Panther-Eye." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lost In The Air, by Roy J. 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