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diff --git a/42382.txt b/42382.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 3b27945..0000000 --- a/42382.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7561 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wilderness Castaways, by Dillon Wallace - -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: The Wilderness Castaways - -Author: Dillon Wallace - -Illustrator: Henry S. Watson - -Release Date: March 21, 2013 [EBook #42382] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WILDERNESS CASTAWAYS *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan, -Matthew Wheaton and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - THE WILDERNESS CASTAWAYS - - [Illustration: He waited, his axe grasped in both hands - [_Page 272_]] - - - - - THE WILDERNESS CASTAWAYS - - BY DILLON WALLACE - - AUTHOR OF - "THE LURE OF THE LABRADOR WILD," "THE LONG - LABRADOR TRAIL," "BEYOND THE - MEXICAN SIERRAS," ETC - - - ILLUSTRATED BY - HENRY S. WATSON - - - CHICAGO - A. C. McCLURG & CO. - 1936 - - - COPYRIGHT A. C. MCCLURG & CO. - 1913 - - Copyrighted in Great Britain - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I GETTING ACQUAINTED 1 - II THE FIRST BEAR 23 - III A HUSKY CAMP 34 - IV THE WILDERNESS PRIMEVAL 49 - V WRECKED 64 - VI THE CASTAWAYS ABANDONED 86 - VII ADRIFT ON AN ICE PAN 95 - VIII FACING STARVATION 111 - IX THE WATERS CLEAR 124 - X A NARROW ESCAPE 140 - XI A DEATH STRUGGLE 151 - XII FACTOR MACTAVISH OF FORT RELIANCE 163 - XIII WINTER SHELTER AND HARD WORK 184 - XIV A LONELY CHRISTMAS 194 - XV THE TRAPPER FROM INDIAN LAKE 209 - XVI RELEASED FROM BONDAGE 219 - XVII THE SNOWSHOE JOURNEY TO INDIAN LAKE 231 - XVIII STALKED BY WOLVES 252 - XIX ON THE FUR TRAILS 270 - XX WINNIPEG AT LAST 285 - XXI BAD NEWS AND GOOD 295 - XXII HOW PAUL AND DAN MADE GOOD 306 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - He waited, his axe grasped in both hands _Frontispiece_ - "Keep un nerve," soothed Dan 84 - Dan struck up a tune 116 - Fired several more shots after the retreating birds 136 - He could feel its sharp claws tearing his flesh 162 - The Eskimos were watching them curiously from the beach 174 - "You're a big coward" 180 - The boys were startled. They had heard no one approach 208 - The three put their heads together 286 - - - - -THE WILDERNESS CASTAWAYS - - - - -CHAPTER I - -GETTING ACQUAINTED - - -"Dan Rudd," roared Captain Zachariah Bluntt, "if I has to tell you -again to keep that mouth organ below decks, I'll wring your neck! Yes, -wring your neck! By the imps of the sea, I will!" - -"Aye, aye, sir," answered Dan Rudd, a robust, sunny-faced sailor lad -of sixteen, quickly slipping the offending harmonica, upon which he -had been playing a lively air, into his pocket. - -Captain Bluntt, impatiently pacing the deck, was plainly in ill humor. -His great red beard, standing out like a lion's mane, bristled -ominously, and his shaggy eyebrows were drawn down in an unpleasant -scowl. - -It was two o'clock on a mid-July afternoon, the last case of -provisions had been lowered into the hold, the last lighter-load of -coal stowed into the bunkers, steam was up, and the staunch little -Newfoundland steamer _North Star_, riding at anchor in Sydney harbor, -had been ready to sail for three hours, and for three hours Captain -Bluntt had been impatiently awaiting orders to get under way. - -Two clean-cut, smooth-shaven, alert young men of thirty or thereabouts -were standing at the port rail aft. Their sun-tanned faces marked them -as men accustomed to out-of-door life, and their sinewy, muscular -frames and keen but good-humored eyes proclaimed health and genial -dispositions. They were intently, and with visible impatience, -watching a wharf from which a boat was putting off. As the little -craft shot out into the open one of them raised a pair of binoculars -to his eyes, studied it for a moment, and announced: - -"There he is at last! Here, take a look through the glass, Ainsworth," -and he passed the binoculars to his friend. - -"Yes, that's he," said Ainsworth, after a moment's observation, "and, -Remington, he's sitting back smoking a cigarette as unconcernedly as -if he hadn't kept us waiting half a day for him." - -"I'll tell the skipper, and ease his mind," suggested Remington, and -striding forward he called out cheerily: - -"All right, Captain Bluntt, Master Densmore is coming. You may put out -as soon as you please when he's aboard." - -"Very vexing! Very vexing, Mr. Remington!" exclaimed Captain Bluntt. -"Fair wind, fair tide, and losing advantage of it, sir! All right, -sir, all right. We'll weigh anchor at once, sir." - -In a moment sailors were working at the windlass, anchor chains were -clanking, and the men singing in rhythmic unison as they swung up and -down at the crank handles. Then the engines began to pulsate. - -The _North Star_ had been chartered by the two young men--George -Remington and Henry Ainsworth--for a summer's voyage to Hudson Bay. -Both were enthusiastic sportsmen, and Remington, who had once before -visited the region, had promised Ainsworth some exciting polar bear -and walrus hunting, as well as excellent sport fishing the coastal -streams for salmon and trout. - -Paul Densmore, the only son of John Densmore, a multimillionaire ship -owner and a friend of Remington's, had been invited by Remington to -accompany them as his guest. When Remington and Ainsworth went aboard -the _North Star_ upon the morning our story begins, Paul had remained -ashore in Sydney to make some purchases in the town, promising to -follow them within the hour. Captain Bluntt had been instructed to -make ready for departure accordingly. But Paul had failed to keep his -promise, and with hours of idle waiting for the appearance of the -delinquent youth Captain Bluntt had worked himself into the high state -of ill humor in which we find him. - -"The Captain was just at the point of blowing up," laughed Remington -when he rejoined Ainsworth, "but he'll be all right presently. He's a -very impatient old fellow." - -"He's had good reason to be impatient," said Ainsworth. "I can safely -prophesy more breakers ahead. Judging from the little I've seen of -that boy, Remington, you'll be heartily sorry you brought him before -we get back to New York." - -"I'm heartily sorry already," admitted Remington, "but I couldn't help -it. Densmore is one of the best fellows in the world. He pulled me out -of a tight place once when I was caught in the market, and when he -asked me the other day if it would be an imposition upon friendship if -he asked me to invite Paul, there was nothing to do but invite the -youngster to come." - -"Oh, don't think for a moment I'm finding fault with you, old man," -Ainsworth hastened to explain. "I see your position, and I'd have done -the same under the circumstances, but it's a pity nevertheless that we -have to put up with him." - -"Yes, it is a pity," agreed Remington. "That boy has no sense of -responsibility. Never keeps an appointment or a promise. -I never saw any one quite so lacking in consideration of -others--selfish--selfish--that's the word." - -"Why did his father ever let him grow into such a cad, anyway? What he -needs is a good sound thrashing every day for a month. That would cure -him." - -"Fact is, I don't think Densmore ever knew much about him until -recently. Too many irons in the fire to give much thought to his -family. This steamship company's his pet scheme just now, but he's the -head of half a dozen other big things, and even when he's home his -mind is all taken up with business. He left the boy's training to the -mother, and it's the old story of an only child. She's coddled and -indulged and pampered him till she's spoiled him. He failed in the -final tests at school this year--he attends a select boys' school -uptown somewhere--and the head master wrote Densmore that there was no -use sending him back unless he took more interest in the work, adding -something to the effect that he seemed strangely void of ambition, -never obeyed rules unless convenient, and was a disturbing element in -the school. I think that brought Densmore to his senses about his -son's condition." - -"And he shoved the boy off on us for the summer," said Ainsworth -ill-naturedly. - -"Oh, no, not for the purpose of getting rid of him," Remington -hastened to explain. "Densmore's all right. He wouldn't intentionally -cause us inconvenience. He had two reasons for asking me to bring him. -He learned Paul was addicted to cigarettes, and he wanted to get him -away somewhere where cigarettes aren't to be had. He thought, too, -that good, wholesome exercise in the open, and a complete change of -environment, might give him a new view of life and awaken his -ambition. The boy's mother has never permitted him to take part in -what she calls rough games--baseball, football and real boys' -sports--and she'd never let him go camping with other fellows, though -he's begged to go. Afraid he'd get hurt. It took a lot of argument on -Densmore's part to get her permission to let him come with us." - -"One of those young hopefuls, isn't he, that thinks his father is rich -and there's no use of his ever doing anything but spend money?" -suggested Ainsworth. "From the little I've seen of him, he'll spend -it, all right, too." - -At that moment the boat hove alongside, and a tall, sallow-faced lad, -perhaps seventeen years of age, a cigarette hanging at the corner of -his mouth, tossed a bill to the boatman, languidly rose to his feet, -caught the rope ladder lying over the ship's side, and with difficulty -climbed to the deck. - -"Glad to see you, Paul," greeted Remington. "We were getting a bit -worried about you. You're late." - -"Oh, I didn't think there was any rush," said Paul indifferently. -"Stopped for luncheon at the hotel. Horrible stuff they serve there. -It really isn't fit to eat." - -"I'm afraid your appetite isn't very good, Paul," suggested Remington. -"Wait till you get your lungs full of salt air, and rough it a bit; -you'll think anything is good then." - -"Oh, I don't know," Paul remarked indifferently, as he lounged back -upon a chair, drew a fresh cigarette from a silver case, lighted it, -flicked some ashes from his white flannel trousers and casually -surveyed the deck. "What a rum old ship this is!" he continued. "I -thought we were going to have a comfortable yacht." - -"The _North Star_ isn't much to look at," admitted Remington, "but -she's the best sort of a ship for our trip. No ordinary yacht would -do. We're going to rough it good and plenty, you know." - -"That so? What kind of roughing it?" - -"Hunting, fishing, camping, and that sort of thing. I hope we'll have -some good bear hunting before we get back." - -"Bear hunting!" Paul was interested at once. "What kind of bears shall -we run across? Grizzlies?" - -"No," laughed Remington, "Polar bears." - -"Polar bear hunting! Cricky, but that'll be great!" Paul sat up -excitedly. "Where're we going, Mr. Remington? I didn't pay much -attention to what Father said about it. I thought it was just an -ordinary yachting trip." - -"You didn't seem to have much interest in it, coming over on the -train," said Remington, and as he explained the region, the -prospective hunting and fishing, and the adventure, Paul forgot his -cigarette. - -"That's just the kind of trip I've wanted to take all my life," he -exclaimed. "May I shoot too?" - -"Yes, I've a rifle and a shotgun among my things for you." - -"May I see them? I've always been just crazy for a gun!" - -"Wait a moment." - -Remington went below and presently returned with a modern high-power -rifle and a beautiful double-barreled shotgun. Paul's eyes sparkled -with delight and he listened with close attention while Remington -explained their manipulation, with due caution as to their handling. -Then he exclaimed: - -"Good old Dad! He is a good scout to let me come with you! Ever so -many thanks, Mr. Remington. Where are the cartridges?" - -"They're with mine. I'll get them for you when you need them. You may -as well take the guns down to your stateroom, though, when you go." - -"I guess I'll go now, and unpack my things." - -"Very well. The steward will show you your room. You'll find -everything there. Abner," turning to a bareheaded young sailor clad in -blue flannel shirt, with sleeves rolled up, and trousers tucked into -the tops of high sealskin boots, who was standing near the -companionway, "this is Master Densmore. Will you show him to his room? -Abner is the steward, Paul." - -"Yes, sir; this way, sir," answered Abner, respectfully. - -"He seems interested," remarked Ainsworth when Paul had gone below. -"I'm inclined to think he's a pretty good fellow at heart after all. -Just spoiled." - -"That's so," agreed Remington. - -A moment later Paul reappeared from the companionway, and asked: - -"Where are my trunks, Mr. Remington? The steward took me to a room he -insists is mine, but my trunks aren't there; just some canvas bags. -Guess he's trying to put me in the wrong room." - -"I left your trunks ashore, Paul." - -"Ashore! Why, all my things are in them! I can't go without them! I've -no clothes with me!" - -"The canvas bags contain all the clothes you'll need. Look through -them and see what you think of the outfit. Your father selected them." - -"But my cigarettes! I packed them in one of the trunks!" - -"I'm afraid you'll have to do without them. You'll find you can shoot -straighter if you don't smoke. Cigarettes knock a fellow's nerves all -out, you know." - -"This is rum!" exclaimed the angry lad. "No cigarettes! Well, I'll go -down and see the stuff." - -"You'd better put on one of the warm suits you'll find in your bags, -Paul," suggested Remington. "We're getting out to sea, and it'll be -chilly on deck." - -Paul vouchsafed no reply, but he profited by the advice, and donned a -complete new outfit of clothing suited to his surroundings. - -"Look like a dago laborer, don't I?" he asked Remington, whom he met -at his stateroom door half an hour later. - -"You look comfortably dressed," was the reply. "You see I've adopted -similar clothes." - -"You do look funny," laughed Paul, "and that's the way I feel. Mother -_would_ have a fit if she saw me now," glancing down at his flannel -shirt and heavy trousers and shoes. "Mr. Remington," he continued, -hesitatingly, "I--I want to apologize for what I said about the trunks -and cigarettes. I can get on without cigarettes if they'd spoil my -shooting." - -"That's all right, Paul. They certainly would spoil your shooting." - -Captain Bluntt was in excellent humor when he took his place at the -head of the supper table. - -"So you're the young rascal," he said to Paul, "who kept us waiting at -Sydney." - -"Oh, I guess there wasn't any great rush," answered Paul, somewhat -nettled. "We're on a pleasure trip, and not trying to break a -record." - -Captain Bluntt looked at him curiously for a moment under his shaggy -eyebrows. - -"Not much of a sailor, I guess, youngster. Well, you'll learn -something before you gets home. Got a wonderful lot to learn, too." - -Paul flushed angrily, and retorted impudently and boastfully: - -"Oh, I don't know. This isn't my first yachting trip. I know a thing -or two about sailing. Captains of yachts don't usually tell the guests -what they're to do." - -"Yacht, eh?" And Captain Bluntt laughed good-naturedly. "Well, well, -don't get grumpy. No offence meant. No doubt you're a great sailor; -you look it. Yes, you look it!" Turning from Paul as from a child -whose presence he had quite forgotten, he remarked: - -"She's off in fine style, Mr. Remington, fine style! And we'll make a -rare fine run, sir, if the weather holds. Yes, sir, if the weather -holds!" - -"Is there much ice reported off the Labrador coast?" - -"We'll meet some ice, sir; bay ice. No trouble with that, sir. Plenty -of bergs! Wonderful crop of bergs, sir!" - -They had finished eating, and Captain Bluntt was striking a match to -light one of Remington's cigars which he had accepted, when strains of -music floated down to them. He paused with lighted match in mid air, -an ear cocked to one side, his red beard bristling. - -"By the imps of the sea!" he blurted. "There's that Dan Rudd with his -mouth organ, and I _told_ him to keep un below! The rascal! Wring his -neck! Yes, sir, I'll wring his neck!" and he sprang up as though bent -upon carrying his threat into immediate execution. - -"I rather like it," remarked Ainsworth. "May he play for us, Captain?" - -"If you likes un, sir, if you likes un. But I don't call un playin', -sir; I calls un just pipin' a racket!" - -"We would like to hear him," said Remington. "Suppose we go above." - -On deck they found Dan working away with all his will at his -harmonica, keeping time with one foot, while a sailor danced a -breakdown, and other sailors clapped their hands and encouraged the -dancer with: - -"Go at un, Bill! Go at un, b'y! You're a spry un, Bill!" - -Then Dan glimpsed Captain Bluntt, slipped the harmonica into his -pocket, and the dancing ceased. - -"Oh, don't stop playing--don't mind us," encouraged Remington. "We -came to listen." - -"The skipper don't like music, sir," said Dan, looking regretfully -after Captain Bluntt, who was disappearing in the chart house, leaving -a cloud of smoke from his fragrant cigar in his wake. - -"Captain Bluntt said you might play if you wished, so please do not -stop." - -A little encouragement induced the dancer to resume his breakdown, and -presently the fun was in full swing again. Another sailor took a turn, -and then Dan suggested: - -"Now Jack Griggs sing us 'Th' Minnie Dart.'" - -"An' you plays th' tune," assented Jack. - -Dan struck up a lively tune and Jack began to bellow the song, which -began: - - "Th' Minnie Dart were as fine a craft - As ever sailed th' sea; - She were eighty ton, an' a fore an' aft, - An' as smart as she could be," - -and closed with a weird description of the going down of the Minnie -Dart with all her crew. - -The music at an end, Remington and Ainsworth lounged aft to smoke and -chat, while they enjoyed a perfect evening. A full moon had risen, -transforming the gentle swell of the sea into molten silver, and to -the right, in hazy distance, lay in faint outline the Newfoundland -coast. - -Paul strolled forward and soon became interested in watching the -compass and the man at the wheel. - -"What course are you sailing?" he asked. - -The man made no reply. - -"Let me try it. I can handle the wheel all right," he continued, -attempting to take the spokes. - -At that moment Captain Bluntt observed him. - -"By the imps of the sea!" he roared, striding forward and grasping -Paul's arm with a steel-like grip that made the youth wince as he -vainly struggled to free himself. "Keep away from that wheelhouse or -I'll heave you overboard. By the imps of the sea I will! Heave you -overboard! Heave you overboard!" - -"I guess I can go where I want to," answered Paul impudently, but none -the less frightened. - -Without releasing his grasp, or deigning to reply, the Captain half -led, half dragged, Paul to Remington. - -"This youngster must keep aft of the wheelhouse, sir! He was talking -to the steersman, sir! Talking to him! I'll not permit it, sir!" - -"I'm sorry," apologized Remington. "I'm sure he didn't understand that -he was doing wrong, and he won't do it again." - -Captain Bluntt, mollified but still ruffled, returned to his duties, -and Paul, almost in tears, lounged alone, amidships, sulking. - -Dan had witnessed the disciplining of Paul, and in the hope of -smoothing matters presently wandered over to the lad, who was still -sulking and nursing his injured dignity. - -"Th' skipper's wonderful gruff sometimes," ventured Dan, "but he don't -mean nothin'. 'Tis sort o' his way." - -"Mr. Remington hired this old tub, and I'm his guest, and I guess I -can go where I want to on it." - -"'Tis an able craft, an' no old tub," resented Dan. "Th' skipper is -master at sea. 'Tis a rule of the sea." - -"He isn't my master." - -"No, not that way. He's just master o' th' ship. Your folks is payin' -th' owners for th' voyage, an' they is payin' th' skipper t' run th' -ship safe, an' he has t' make rules t' run un safe or we'd be foulin' -reefs or gettin' off our course." - -Paul deigned no reply, and after an awkward pause Dan inquired: - -"What's your name?" - -"Paul Densmore." - -"Mine's Dan Rudd. Dan's short for Dan'l. It's after Dan'l that was -in th' lion's den, Dad says. Yours is from th' Bible, too. I reckon -you was named after th' apostle Paul." - -"No, after my grandfather." - -"'Tis th' same name, anyway. Dad reads out o' th' Bible nights when -he's home. We live in Ragged Cove, but Dad's fishin' down on th' -Labrador now with th' _Ready Hand_." - -"The '_Ready Hand_?' What's that?" - -"She's a spry little schooner. Dad's part owner. I been down with her -twice." - -Dan told of fishing adventures on the Labrador. Paul described his -home in New York, the great buildings, the subway and elevated -railroads, the great transatlantic steamships--a thousand wonders in -which Dan was intensely interested. - -In the recital Paul soon forgot his injured dignity. He was glad of -the companionship of a boy of his own age. No one, indeed, could long -resist Dan's good nature, and when the sailor lad finally said it was -time to "turn in," and they parted for the night, each was pleased -with his new acquaintance--an acquaintanceship that was to ripen into -life-long friendship. They little guessed that they were destined to -be companions in many adventures, to share many hardships, to face -dangers and even death together. - -The _North Star_ rounded Cape Charles the following evening, passed -into the open Atlantic, and turned her prow northward. Innumerable -icebergs, many of fantastic form and stupendous proportions, were -visible from the deck, their blue-green pinnacles reflecting the rays -of the setting sun in a glory of prismatic colors. On their port lay -the low, storm-scoured rocks of Labrador's dreary coast, its broken -line marked by many stranded icebergs. Now and again a distant whale -spouted great columns of water. The white sail of a fishing schooner, -laboring northward, was visible upon the horizon. The scene, grim, -rugged, but beautiful, appealed to Paul's imagination as the most -wonderful and entrancing he had ever beheld. - -That night Paul was suddenly awakened from sound slumber by a -tremendous shock. He sprang from his berth with the thought that the -ship had struck a reef or iceberg and might be sinking. Terrified, he -rushed to the companionway, where he was nearly thrown off his feet by -another shock. At length he reached the deck. Spread everywhere around -the ship he could see, in the shimmering moonlight, nothing but ice. -From the crow's nest, on the mizzenmast, came the call of the ice -pilot: "Port! Starboard! Port! Starboard!" - -The lad's terror increased as he witnessed the changed condition of -the sea. It seemed to him that the great mass of heavy ice which -closed upon the ship on every side must inevitably crush the little -vessel and send her to the bottom. As he ran forward, another and -heavier shock than any that had preceded sent him sprawling upon the -deck. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE FIRST BEAR - - -Paul had scarcely regained his feet when the gruff voice of Captain -Bluntt exclaimed: - -"Well! Well, lad! And what brings you out o' your snug berth at this -time o' night?" - -"What's--what's happened? Are we wrecked?" asked the frightened Paul. - -"Wrecked? No, no, lad! Just a bit of ice--just a bit of ice. 'Tis all -right, b'y. Go below and sleep. 'Tis wonderful raw above decks for -them thin clothes you're wearin'." - -Paul, dressed only in pajamas, his feet bare, was indeed shivering. -Much relieved, he turned down the companionway, glad to tuck himself -in his warm berth, presently to fall asleep to the distant, monotonous -call of the ice pilot, "Port! Starboard! Port! Starboard!" and in -spite of repeated shocks, as the vessel charged the ice, alternately -backing and forging ahead at full speed in her attack upon the pack. - -The ice was left behind them during the night, and when morning dawned -a stiff northeast breeze, cold and damp, had sprung up, and a sea was -rising. The ship began to roll disagreeably, and at midday Remington -encountered Paul, deathly pale, unsteadily groping his way to his -stateroom. - -"What's the matter, Paul?" he asked. - -"I--I feel sick," Paul answered. - -The call had come for dinner, but Paul was not interested, and retired -to his berth. The fog mist thickened, and all that afternoon and night -the fog horn sounded at regular intervals, a warning to fishing craft -of the vessel's proximity. - -For three days Paul, in the throes of seasickness, was unable to leave -his berth, but on the morning of the fourth day he reappeared on deck, -where his friends greeted him with good-natured jokes. - -They were entering Hudson Straits. On their port, near at hand, lay -the rocky, verdureless Button Islands, and far to the southward rose -the rugged, barren peaks of the Torngaek Mountains in northeastern -Labrador. To the northward in hazy outline Resolution Island marked -the southern extremity of Baffin Land. - -Here and there, spread over the sea, were small vagrant ice pans, -messengers from the far Arctic, which gave evidence of the high -latitude the ship had attained. - -Now and again seals showed their heads above the water for a moment, -quickly to disappear again. Sea gulls, their white wings gleaming in -the sunlight, circled about, but nowhere was a sail or any indication -of human life visible upon the wide horizon. - -It was a new world to Paul, and different from anything he had ever -imagined. The utter absence of vessels, the apparently uninhabited and -uninhabitable land, the awful primitive grandeur of it all gave him a -vague, indescribable sense of fear--such a feeling as one ascending -for the first time in a balloon must experience upon peering over the -rim of the basket at the receding earth. This sensation quickly gave -place to one of exultation--the exultation of a wild animal loosed in -its native haunts after long confinement. Paul became possessed of a -desire to shout. His blood tingled through his veins. He drank the -pure atmosphere in great draughts, and it stimulated him like wine. He -felt almost that he could do anything--fly if he wished. - -This was the first awakening in Paul of the primitive instinct which -every human has inherited from prehistoric ancestors--an inborn love -of the glorious freedom of the great wide wilderness where individual -man stands supreme in his own right and where he may roam at will -without restraint; where he feels that he is a person and not an atom; -where he may meet nature face to face, and fearlessly match his human -skill against her forces. - -Too often this instinct to retreat for a time to the wild places of -the earth, to stand with bared head under the open sky, to breathe -great lungfuls of pure atmosphere undefiled by the smoke of chimneys, -to make the acquaintance of rocks and trees, of mountains and sea--to -renew one's faith in God--is smothered by the luxuries and pamperings -of civilization. So it had been with Paul. - -Standing on the deck of the _North Star_ that bright July morning, in -the midst of nature's most rugged abode, that primordial instinct -slumbering in his breast had then its first awakening. He seemed to -expand. He felt himself grow. He longed to set foot upon those -mysterious shores--to wrest from them their secrets. Presently he was -to do so. Perhaps, had he known how close to the condition of his -prehistoric ancestors he was to drift, he would have shrunk from his -destiny. It is well for our peace of mind that an all-wise God hides -from us today the happenings of tomorrow. - -At length the _North Star_ passed out into the wider waters of Ungava -Bay, and directly after dinner Remington suggested: - -"Suppose you bring your rifle, Paul, and I'll get a box of cartridges. -We'll try it out and see how you can shoot." - -Paul had been looking forward to this opportunity, and a moment later -he appeared with the rifle. - -"Now draw a bead on that bit of ice out there," said his instructor, -"and we'll see how you hold. Run your left hand farther forward on the -stock--can't hold steady with it away back like that--a little farther -out--that's better. Now you can stand straight and not have to bend -backward like a woman does when she tries to shoot. Do you get the -ice? Look through the notch on the rear sight, and bring the bead on -the front sight in contact with the bottom of your object. Got it? Try -it again. Now we'll load. Now try it." - -Paul, a loaded rifle in his hands for the first time, took aim, and -pulled the trigger. The shot went wild. - -"You closed your eyes at the last moment, and wobbled the gun," said -Remington. - -"Guess I did," admitted Paul. "I was afraid to be so near the -explosion." - -"Well, throw in another cartridge. That's right. Throw the lever -forward; now back. Be careful! It leaves it cocked, you see. Always -remember, when you're not going to shoot again immediately, to put the -hammer down, and never carry a cocked gun. That's a bad habit some -sportsmen have, but a man that isn't quick enough to cock his gun -after he sees his game should practice until he can do it, and never -go out with his gun until he can. With a rifle it's never well to -carry a cartridge in the chamber. You can throw one in as quickly as -you need it. Now try again." - -Bang! The shot struck just beneath the bit of ice. - -"Bully! Bully!" exclaimed Remington and Ainsworth together. - -Paul flushed with pleasure and excitement. With the next shot he took -more careful aim, and simultaneously with the crack of the rifle bits -of splintered ice flew from the floating cake. This was indeed a good -shot, for by this time the vessel had left the ice well behind. - -"How was that?" asked Paul, with conscious pride. - -"Good work!" Remington encouraged. - -Several more practice shots were fired with varying success, the rifle -cleaned, and Remington and Ainsworth went below to overhaul their -fishing outfit. - -Paul, with just pride in his initial achievement with the rifle, -strolled forward to exhibit his gun to Dan, who was splicing a rope -near the foremast, and had been an interested spectator of the target -practice. - -"Hello, Dan," he greeted. - -"Hello, Paul. Been ailin'?" - -"Ailing! I was awfully sick for two days." - -"We were havin' a bit of nasty sea. 'Tis bad for the seasickness." - -"You bet it got me, all right. Would you like to see my rifle?" - -"Yes, I were wantin' t' see un." Dan took the rifle, looked it over, -threw it up to his shoulder and sighted it, like one accustomed to the -use of firearms. - -"She's a wonderful fine gun!" he exclaimed. "A rare fine gun! An' -she's pretty, too. I never seen such a fine gun--and such a pretty -un." - -"Can you shoot?" - -"I does some shootin'. I hunts with Dad in winter. He traps furs in -winter, and he's took me with him two winters." - -"Did you ever shoot anything?" - -"Oh, yes; lots of partridges and rabbits. Last fall I kills a deer and -gets a crack at a bear, but misses; and last winter I shoots two -foxes." - -"You must be a dandy hunter. I've never hunted any yet, but I expect -to. Never went before where there was anything to hunt. This is my -first gun. I've got a shotgun too." - -"That's the gun for partridges, unless you shoots their heads off with -the rifle. Mostly I shoots their heads off with a rifle, but sometimes -I misses. Mine's a 44--Dad's old one. He got a new 30-30 and gave me -his old one." - -"I'd like to see it. You got it with you?" - -"Yes, it's down in the fo'c'sl." - -"Here! Bring your gun, youngster! Bring your gun! Here's a shot for -you!" called Captain Bluntt. "Here now!" - -Paul ran forward. - -"Where? What is it?" he asked excitedly. - -"There, on that pan! That yellow spot. See un? See un? That's a water -bear, and he's asleep. Get ready now and shoot un!" - -Paul's excitement was intense. He nervously slipped some cartridges in -the magazine and raised the rifle to his shoulder. - -"Set up your sights, lad! Set up your sights! And cock your piece! -Cock your piece! You can't shoot till she's cocked. Dan, look sharp -now, an' tell the gentlemen there's a bear sighted! Now, youngster! -Now! Don't hurry. Take your time. Why you're shakin'! Steady down! -Steady down! That's right. Careful!" - -With tremendous effort Paul steadied his nerves, and bang! The yellow -spot rose. Sure enough, it _was_ a bear, and it began to bite at its -side. - -"You hit un! You hit un, lad! Fine! Fine! Give un another!" - -Paul fired again, but his nerves had got the better of him, and the -shot went wide, as did several other shots. Captain Bluntt rang the -engines to "stop," as Remington and Ainsworth, rifles in hand, reached -the deck. The bear had slipped off the ice pan and taken to the water; -at which Remington called-- - -"Launch the power boat!" - -In a jiffy Captain Bluntt had men at the ropes. - -"Come, Paul, we're going after him," said Remington. - -"Take the tiller, Dan! Take the tiller of that boat!" commanded the -Captain. - -In less time than it requires to relate, the boat was off and in -pursuit, Dan steering with skill, Remington, Ainsworth, and Paul ready -with their rifles. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -A HUSKY CAMP - - -The boat gained upon the bear rapidly, and had nearly overtaken it -when suddenly it turned to the left, interposing a small pan of ice -between it and its pursuers, effectually hiding it from their view. - -Dan made a short cut around the opposite side of the pan, and as the -boat shot out behind the ice its bow nearly struck the bear. The -pursuers were no less surprised than the pursued, and as the boat -darted past, the bear made a vicious lunge with its powerful paw, -caught it amidships and nearly capsized it. - -Dan made a graceful swing, and brought the hunters almost too close to -the animal to permit the use of guns. It charged them again, but Dan, -on the lookout for this maneuver, neatly avoided it. - -"Now, Paul," advised Remington, "shoot!" - -The bear was less than twenty feet from the boat, but Paul was still -in so high a state of excitement that he missed two shots, and it was -only at the third attempt that he struck the animal in the head, and -it collapsed. - -"It's a stunning big fellow!" Remington declared, while he slipped a -rope over the animal's neck to tow it to the ship. - -"That was a splendid shot from the ship--I doubt if I could have made -it," said Ainsworth. "And you've got the first game of the trip, -Paul." - -"'Twere a rare fine shot," put in Dan. "I were standin' by, an' I've -missed many a better." - -When the bear was at length hoisted on deck it proved indeed to be a -monster polar bear, and Captain Bluntt declared it one of the largest -he had ever seen. - -Paul's pleasure was beyond bounds. His face, which was already losing -its sallow, yellow appearance, glowed with delight. He was in a fair -way to have his head turned by the unstinted praise of his companions. - -The fine smoking roast which came on the supper table that evening -certainly had an appetizing appearance, but when Paul received a -helping he fancied he detected a fishy odor, and when he tasted the -meat he made a wry face and exclaimed: - -"Ugh! Why, it's strong with fish!" - -"A bit fishy in flavor, lad. A bit fishy," agreed Captain Bluntt. "But -a man o' the sea _and_ a sportsman shouldn't mind that." - -"Well I don't like it," asserted Paul, "but I killed it and I'm going -to eat some of it anyway." - -"That's the right spirit," said Remington, "but I think I'll pass it -by. I never could bring myself to eat polar bear or seal. Perhaps -because I never had to." - -"I can't say that I care for it," admitted Ainsworth. - -"'Tis fine meat, I thinks," declared Captain Bluntt, helping himself -liberally. "I finds it fine. Bear's meat is rare strong meat." - -"I don't think I can go it," said Paul, who had tried another -mouthful. "It's strong, all right--too strong of fish for me." - -"I weren't meanin' that kind o' strong. No, no! 'Tis good, wholesome, -strengthenin' meat. 'Tis not so high flavored of fish, either, as old -swile, an' swile is good." - -"Swile? What's that?" asked Paul. - -"Seal, lad, seal. We calls un swile in Newfoundland and down on the -Labrador. Swile an' ice bears live on fish, lad, and 'tis but natural -they should carry a bit of the flavor of fish. That rascal the cook -should have given un an extra parboil." - -"I didn't suppose any one but Eskimos ate seal." - -"Only Eskimos eat seal! No, no, lad! We all eats un an' likes un. Old -seal is a bit high flavored, but white coats I finds as sweet an' fine -as mutton or fowl." - -"What are white coats?" - -"Never heard of white coats? Well! Well! You sure _has_ some things to -learn of the North. White coats is young seals--very young uns." - -"I never heard them called that." Paul felt some resentment at the -implication that he was not well informed. - -The sun went down that night in a blaze of wondrous glory. No human -artist would dare be so prodigal with his colors or resort to such -marvelous blendings of shades as the Almighty Artist paints into His -sunsets upon the sky of the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The sunset -on this occasion was unusually gorgeous. Brilliant reds shaded up into -opalescent purples, deep orange into lighter yellow, reaching to the -very dome of heaven. The water reflected the red, and the _North Star_ -seemed steaming through a mighty heaving, throbbing sea of blood. It -was as though the earth's very heart had been laid bare. - -For a long time it lasted. Paul and his friends stood enthralled. It -made them breathe deeply. They felt that they were in the presence of -some mighty power, that very near them was the Master Himself, He who -guides the world in its eternal journey, and holds in their places the -innumerable millions of stars and untold other worlds that reach out -into infinite space. - -"Isn't this wonderful--wonderful!" exclaimed Paul, at the end of a -period of breathless awe. - -"I never saw anything to compare with it!" declared Ainsworth. "It's -beyond the dreams of my wildest imagination!" - -"It's nowhere but in the North that such sunsets are ever seen," said -Remington. - -"Fine sunset, sir. Fine sunset," remarked Captain Bluntt, as he passed -them on his way to the chart house. - -"It promises a good day tomorrow, doesn't it?" asked Remington - -"Not so sure of that, sir. Not so sure of that." - -Captain Bluntt's pessimistic prophecy of the morrow's weather was well -founded. When day broke the sea was enveloped in a blanket of -fog--thick, stifling, impenetrable. The rigging dripped moisture, the -decks were wet and slippery, the atmosphere was heavy, clammy, -difficult to breathe. - -For two days the fog lay over the sea like a pall. The _North Star_, -her engines working at slow speed, felt her way cautiously, for she -was in uncharted waters. The tremendous tides of Ungava Bay render -navigation here dangerous, even under the most favorable conditions, -and Captain Bluntt was not the man to take undue risks, though he was -a fearless seaman, and in his time had done many dashing and daring -deeds, when circumstances had demanded. - -Following the fog came several hours of cold dismal rain, accompanied -by sleet. Then the clouds broke, and as though some fairy hand had -brushed them away, the sky cleared and the sun shone warm and -beautiful to cheer the depressed world. - -"And there lies Cape Wolstenholm, sir," said Captain Bluntt, pointing -toward a low-lying coast off their port bow. "We'll soon be in Hudson -Bay now, sir, and what's your pleasure?" - -"While the fine weather holds I think we'd better do some fishing," -answered Remington. "Besides, I think we all want to get ashore to -stretch our legs." - -"As you say--as you say, sir! But we'll have to locate some huskies, -sir, and get a native pilot." - -Upon rounding Cape Wolstenholm, which occupies the northwestern -extremity of the Labrador peninsula, the ship swung in close to the -coast, and, proceeding with great care, the leadsman calling his -fathoms, felt its way between several small islands, until, the -following morning, a safe anchorage was found outside a large island -near the head of Mosquito Bay. - -"We'll be sure to find huskies up this bay, sir," assured Captain -Bluntt. "We can't risk the ship any farther, sir. It won't do, sir. -But it's a short run for the power boat to the head of that bay, and -unless I'm mistaken there'll be plenty of huskies there, sir. Yes, -sir, plenty of 'em. I'll send Tom Hand. Tom Hand speaks their lingo. -Tom! Tom Hand!" he called. - -"Aye, aye, sir." - -"Go ashore, Tom. We wants a husky pilot; a good one. A good husky, -now! Dan! Here, you rascal! Go ashore with Tom, and help him look -after things!" - -"Come, fellows, we'll go along," suggested Remington to Ainsworth and -Paul. "We'll not be in the way, will we, Captain." - -"No, no! Go ashore if you likes. Better take some grub with you. Dan, -tell the cook to put up some grub! Look sharp, now!" - -Presently they were off, pointing toward the head of the inner bay. -Paul took three or four shots at harbor seals which raised their heads -now and again above the water, but always missed them. - -"'Tis wonderful hard t' hit un from a boat," said Tom. - -Soon they discovered a column of smoke rising from the north shore. - -"There un is! Turn she int' th' smoke, Dan," directed Tom. "Th' -huskies is camped in there. Th' smoke is a signal t' call us t' un. -They's seen us." - -Dan swung the boat in, and upon rounding a point and entering a cove -two skin tents or wigwams were discovered, and several people gathered -upon the shore as if expecting them. - -"There's th' huskies, an' their families; leastways they has two -tupeks," commented Tom. - -"Tupeks?" asked Paul. - -"Aye--skin tents. In summer they lives in skin tents, an' in winter in -snow igloos." - -"They seem to be all men and boys," said Paul. - -"No, they's women too, but husky women wears trousers. You'll see th' -difference when we comes closter." - -"Well, they are a rocky looking crowd!" exclaimed Paul. - -There were two men, three women and four children, one a half-grown -girl. All wore skin garments and were bareheaded, their long black -hair, coarse and straight, reaching to the shoulders. One of the women -carried an infant in her hood, and its round, bright eyes peered -wonderingly over the mother's shoulders at the intruders. - -"Oksunae," greeted Tom upon stepping ashore. - -"Oksunae," answered the Eskimos, who came forward laughing to shake -hands with their visitors, their round, greasy faces beaming good -nature and welcome. - -Tom began his negotiations at once, conversing with the Eskimos in -their native tongue, for they could understand no English. - -"Ainsworth and I are going up this stream a little way to try the -salmon. Want to go along, Paul?" asked Remington. - -"No, I'll get fishing enough later. Guess I'll stay and look this -crowd over." - -"All right. Don't make eyes at that young Eskimo girl." - -"No fear!" - -Skulking about were several big, vicious looking dogs, which reminded -Paul of timber wolves he had seen at the Zoo. - -"I don't like the looks of those beasts," said he. "Are they -dangerous?" - -"They're cowards so long as you keeps on your feet an' has somethin' -handy to beat un with," reassured Dan. "Your gun'll do for that. But -let un get th' best o' you once, an' they'll just rip you up like -wolves. They is wolves." - -"They look it," agreed Paul. - -The lads wandered about the encampment, examining the kayaks and crude -hunting implements and paraphernalia of the Eskimos. Upon approaching -the tupeks a stench met their nostrils, which they found came from -half putrid seal meat and fish within. - -"They eats wonderful bad meat," remarked Dan. - -"Why, they don't eat that stuff!" exclaimed Paul. - -"Yes they does," said Dan. - -"What pigs they must be!" - -"No, 'tis just th' way they always been used to doin'. They has -wonderful hard times t' get things t' eat sometimes." - -At the end of an hour Remington and Ainsworth returned. - -"Not a strike," said Remington, "though I'm certain there are plenty -of salmon in the stream. We're a little far north for them to take the -fly. But Ainsworth got our dinner. That's something." - -"Ran into a bunch of ptarmigans," said Ainsworth, holding up a half -dozen birds. - -"How are you making out with the huskies, Tom?" asked Remington of -Tom, who had joined them. - -"Kuglutuk, th' old un, sir, will go with us. He's ready to start any -time, sir. We has t' land him at Cape Smith or Cape Wolstenholm, sir, -when we comes back." - -"All right, Tom. Can't we get brush enough around here to broil these -grouse and make some coffee? I'm famished." - -"Yes, sir. Dan, get th' axe, b'y, an' put on a fire, whilst I dresses -th' birds." - -When Tom drew the birds, to Paul's amazement the Eskimos gathered up -the entrails, placed them on the end of a stick, broiled them slightly -over the fire Dan had lighted, and ate them as they might a delicacy. - -"Well, I never!" exclaimed Paul. "I'd starve before I'd do that!" - -"Maybe," said Tom, "but I'm thinkin' you'd eat un an' like un if you -was hungry enough. They's no tellin' what a man'll eat. Th' huskies -eats un because they likes un, an' entrails ain't so bad, an' you gets -used t' un, though I'm hopin' you'll never have t' eat un, lad." - -"I never would," positively asserted Paul. "I'd die first." - -Luncheon eaten, they bade adieu to the Eskimos, shaking hands again -all around. Kuglutuk, his kayak in tow, took his place in the power -boat, "Oksunae" was shouted by those afloat and those on land, and -the little settlement was quickly lost sight of around the point at -the entrance of the cove. - -On board the _North Star_ again, a conference was held as to the most -probable point at which salmon and trout could be found, Tom acting as -interpreter. It was at length decided, upon Kuglutuk's recommendation, -to visit the rivers flowing into Richmond Gulf, which, considerably -farther south, offered greater promise that salmon would take the fly, -though Kuglutuk assured them that both varieties of fish abounded in -all the streams of the coast. - -Three days later found the _North Star_ in the latitude of Richmond -Gulf, and with much careful maneuvering under the guidance of -Kuglutuk, and with frequent heaving of the lead, a safe anchorage was -found in Nastapoka Sound, behind the islands which shut out the wider -sea beyond. - -The entrance to Richmond Gulf is an exceedingly narrow, treacherous -channel, through which Kuglutuk declared no vessel so large as the -_North Star_ could pass in safety. Through this channel he said the -rising and ebbing tide poured with so terrific a rush of the waters -that dangerous whirlpools were formed, which rendered its safe passage -for kayaks and small craft impossible save at the time of the turning -of the tide. - -It was late afternoon when the ship made her anchorage, and it was -decided to prepare for the passage of the dangerous strait in the -power boat when the tide should reach flood at ten o'clock the next -morning. - -Kuglutuk, Tom Hand and Dan Rudd were to accompany the three sportsmen, -and it was planned that the party should carry a full camping -equipment, and remain at the head of Richmond Gulf one week. - -The weather was propitious--mild, clear, delightful. This was to be -Paul's first experience in camp. Before him lay a rugged, unpeopled, -unknown wilderness. He was to enter it and be a part of it. The -romance of it thrilled him, and he lay awake that night a long while, -feasting anticipation and imagination, too restless to sleep. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE WILDERNESS PRIMEVAL - - -The passage of the channel leading into Richmond Gulf was accomplished -without adventure, and within the gulf the power boat took a -northeasterly direction, passing several small islands. Many wild -ducks, gulls and other water fowl and birds flew about the islands, -hovered over the water or rested upon the waves. - -Presently Kuglutuk turned the boat into the mouth of a river, and -ascending the stream for a little distance, against a strong current, -made a landing near the foot of a rushing, tumultuous rapid. - -"Tom," declared Remington, when they were ashore, "I'm as hungry as -seven bears. Fry some bacon and make some coffee, won't you, before -you pitch the tents?" - -"Aye, aye, sir. We'll put on a fire an' have un ready in a jiffy. Dan, -b'y, bring up the things from the boat." - -"Come fellows, we'll get our rods up while Tom's getting dinner," -suggested Remington. "I'm aching to try my luck." - -"Which of these rods shall I use?" asked Paul. "I never used a rod in -my life, and I guess you'll have to show me." - -"Try this one," selecting a good weight steel fly rod. "That's got -strength, and if you strike a big one you're not so likely to break it -as that lighter one. You'll be able to handle the lighter one after -some practice." - -In the meantime Tom cut a pole about eight feet in length, sharpened -the butt, which he jabbed firmly into the earth, inclined it at an -angle over a fire which Kuglutuk had kindled with moss and dead -sticks, and in such a position that the upper end of the stick came -directly over the blaze. On this he hung a kettle of water. Then he -sliced bacon. In ten minutes the water had boiled, coffee was made, -the kettle removed from the stick, placed close to the fire on the -ground, and the bacon sizzling in the pan. - -"Oh, cracky!" said Paul, sniffing the air, "that's the best thing I -ever smelled." - -"Doesn't it smell bully!" exclaimed Remington. "I thought I'd have -time to make a cast or two before Tom was ready for us, but he's been -too quick for me." - -"Now," said Remington, when they were through eating, "we'll see if -there are any hungry fish in that pool." - -Paul looked on while the older sportsmen made one or two casts. Then -he attempted it, at first very clumsily, but gradually improving. He -was not very enthusiastic, however. - -"I don't see any fun in this," he said finally. - -"Keep at it, and you'll learn," encouraged Remington. - -At that moment "whiz-z-z" and Ainsworth's reel fairly hummed, with -forty yards of line run out before he could check it--a flash of -spray--a great silver bar in the air! The leap was full two feet! -Splash! It doubled, demanded more line, fought as only a salmon can -fight, the supple steel rod bent and curved, but the angler, his face -tense with excitement, held his advantage. - -"Good! Bully!" shouted Remington with each play. "Look out! That's the -way! Easy! That's it!" - -Again and again the fish fought for the head of the rapid, but at -length, conquered, it was drawn in, and with Remington's assistance -landed--a fine big salmon. - -"That was great!" exclaimed Paul. "Guess there is some fun in it after -all." - -"Fun! Just strike one, and you'll say it's the best ever!" Ainsworth -was justly proud. - -A few minutes later, "Whiz-z-z" again, and "Whiz-z-z!" Two silver -flashes! Two fountains of spray! Two mighty splashes! Paul and -Remington had each hooked a salmon at nearly the same instant! And -then there was fun! Ainsworth could hardly contain himself as he -watched the play, shouting directions and cautions to one and the -other. There was danger of getting their lines tangled when both fish -darted up stream at once, or made dives for the bank at the same time, -in efforts to free themselves. Finally Paul's fish rushed in upon him, -gained slack line, shook loose the hook and was free. - -Paul could have cried with disappointment and vexation. - -"Just my luck!" he exclaimed, as he saw Remington land a fine salmon. - -"Oh, no, don't get discouraged. You did mighty well for the first -time," encouraged Remington. - -"I notice you landed yours, all right," said Paul pettishly. - -"But I may lose the next one. The uncertainty of whether you'll land -them or not after you've hooked them is half the fun." - -"I can't see that----" - -"Whiz-z-z"--away went his line again before he could finish. For half -an hour, directed by Remington, he played the fish, and was at length -rewarded with as fine a salmon as Ainsworth's--considerably larger -than Remington's. - -"What fun! Oh, but it's great!" he exclaimed as, all a-tremble with -excitement, he examined his catch. - -"They're here all right, and they're taking flies. We've got all the -fish Tom can take care of today, and we've had a week's fun in two -hours. What do you fellows say to climbing that barren hill?" -suggested Remington. "I'm anxious to see what the country is like -behind those cliffs." - -Paul was loath to go. The sport had set his blood a-tingling with -excitement and he would much have preferred to remain behind and fish, -but Ainsworth agreed with Remington, and his sense of courtesy to his -host bade him join them. - -"We'll stretch our lines to dry before we go, Paul. Never put your -line up wet or it will rot, and some day you'll lose a fine fish," -advised Remington, who had noticed Paul lean his rod against a tree. - -Their lines stretched, they wandered up the defile down which the -river plunged in its mad impatience to reach the sea. Here they were -in a dark forest of stunted spruce, but very quickly, as they began -the ascent of the hill, trees gave way to straggling brush, and brush -at length to bare rocks. - -"There's a view for you," said Remington when the summit was reached. - -"Magnificent!" exclaimed Ainsworth. - -"Pretty rough country." - -"But grand! Stupendously grand!" - -To the west, a shimmering vista, lay Hudson Bay; to the east, to the -north, to the south, stretched a tumbled, boundless mass of rocky -ridges, interspersed with starved forests of spruce. Here and there a -lake sparkled in the distance. Below them the river, a twisting, -winding thread of silver, coursed down to the sea. - -The sensations that had come to Paul in Hudson Strait when he first -beheld the distant wilderness and the sailless sea, thrilled him -again--first fear and shrinking, then an inward, inexplicable sense of -power and freedom. - -"And no one lives there," he said, more to himself than to his -companions. - -"No one but Indians," said Remington. "Eskimos on the coast. They all -live as close to nature as man can live, and they fight that -wilderness pretty constantly for existence. It's a land of the -survival of the fittest." - -Later, on other occasions during their stay in Richmond Gulf, Paul -visited the barren hill. He would steal away alone, and for an hour -at a time sit upon its rocky summit, and revel in the rugged beauties -of the landscape. Here he felt a something well up within him, a -desire to _do_ something--an indescribable longing he could not -define. - -The lure and the power of the wilderness were exerting their -influence. This was the world just as God had made it, untouched by -the hand of man. Rugged mountains, patches of green forests, sparkling -lakes, the distant sea, the blue sky, and silence. There were no brick -walls to limit the vision, no tall chimneys belching out smudges of -black smoke to defile the atmosphere, no rushing crowd to distract. -Nowhere does one get so close to God as in the wilderness. The -wilderness is the temple of pure thoughts, of high ambitions. Here -man's soul expands as nowhere else on earth. - -When the three returned to camp they found the tents set up and -everything snug and in order. A fragrant and cozy seat of spruce -boughs had been arranged by Dan and Kuglutuk before a roaring log -fire, and, by no means the least attractive of the preparations, a -delicious supper of salmon awaited them, which they attacked with a -will, for the exercise had given them an unusual appetite. - -"I never ate such fish before," Paul declared, between mouthfuls. - -When supper was finished the two men lighted cigars, and chatted, -while Paul reclined upon the boughs and gazed into the blaze. -Presently Tom and Dan joined them, and Dan, producing his harmonica, -began to play a soft, low air, while Tom cut some tobacco from a plug, -rolled it between the palms of his hands, stuffed it into a pipe, -lighted it with a brand from the fire and handing the plug to Kuglutuk -who followed his example, contentedly settled back to smoke and enjoy -the warmth, for the evening was chilly. - -"Them was fine salmon you gets this evenin'," Tom remarked. - -"Yes," said Remington, "fine ones, and I hope we'll have more -tomorrow." - -"Dandies!" broke in Paul, "and dandy fun landing them!" - -"Yes, 'tis rare sport landin' un. And does you like troutin'?" - -"Yes, to be sure. We expected to get trout here," answered Remington. - -"Th' husky's tellin' me they's plenty to be had a bit up the streams, -sir, and big uns--wonderful big uns, by his tell, sir." - -"We'll have to try them tomorrow." - -"Where did you learn to speak Eskimo, Tom?" asked Ainsworth. - -"Where'd I learn un, sir? I never learned un. I allus knew un. I were -born, sir, on the Labrador. My mother were a woman of Zoar, sir, an' a -half-breed. They talks mostly husky thereabouts. The first words she -ever says to me, sir, was husky, an' when I were a wee lad she talks -all her baby talk to me in husky." - -"But your father was a white man?" - -"Oh, aye, sir, he were from Conception Bay. He were down on the -Labrador fishin', an' he meets my mother, an' likes she, an' th' -missionary marries un. Then he stays at Zoar an' traps in winter, an' -there I were born, sir." - -"Are your parents still living, then?" - -"Oh, no, sir. They both dies when I were a bit of a lad, sir--seven -year old or thereabouts. 'Twere in winter, an' my father is out to his -traps. My mother expects him home in th' evenin', an' when it gets -dark an' he never comes she's much worried, for he's always before -comin' when he's promisin', sir. He were a wonderful true man t' keep -his word, sir, even t' wallopin' me when I does things he's denied me -to do, an' is deservin' th' wallopin'. - -"Well, as th' evenin' gets on an' he's not comin', my mother cries a -bit an' says somethin's been befallin' he, sir, out in the bush, an' -when she rouses me from sleep before the break of day th' next -mornin', she's in a wonderful bad state worryin'. She tells me she's -goin' t' look for he, an' I'm t' watch th' baby. - -"She goes, sir, an' she don't come back that day or that night or th' -next day. Snow comes fallin' thick an' th' weather grows dreadful -nasty. Th' baby cries most o' th' time, an' I carries un some. I knows -th' baby's hungry, but I has no way t' feed un. After awhile it stops -cryin' when I lays un on th' bed. - -"That were a wonderful cold night, sir. When mornin' comes th' baby's -still quiet, an' I says to myself, 'I'll let un sleep.' - -"Th' bread's all gone, an' I only has a bit of salt fish t' eat, an' -th' fire I puts on in th' stove burns slow. But th' snow's stopped in -th' night. - -"Th' baby don't cry no more, but I does, for I don't know why my -father an' mother don't come, an' I'm cryin' when I hears dogs -outside. I wipes away th' tears quick, for I'm wantin' no one t' catch -me cryin'. - -"Then in comes th' Moravian missionary from Nain, a wonderful kind -man. He asks where my mother is. I tells he how my mother goes away to -look for my father an' never comes back, an' th' hard time I has. That -th' baby were hungry, but she's sleepin' now. - -"He goes an' looks at un, an' then very quiet he covers un over with -th' blanket, an' puttin' his hand on my head an' lookin' in my eyes, -he says: 'Is you brave, lad? We all has troubles, lad, an' you must -be brave to meet yours.' - -"Then he calls old Muklutuk, his driver, to bring in some grub. They -puts on a good fire, an' gives me a plenty t' eat, an' goes away -sayin' they'll be back by night. - -"When they comes back the missionary holds me up to him, and he says, -very kind: 'Lad, I'm goin' to take you to a new home, for your father -and mother has been called away to heaven by th' Lord. He'll be -needin' 'em there, an' they can't come back t' you, but th' Lord wants -me t' take you with me.' - -"I were wonderful lonesome when he says that, at not seein' mother an' -father again, but I holds back th' tears, for mother has often been -tellin' me that some day th' Lord might be callin' she or father away -t' live in heaven, an' not t' cry or feel bad about un, for 't would -be right, as everything th' Lord done were right. - -"Well, th' missionary takes me on his komatik t' th' station where he -lives, an' th' women there cries over me an' makes a wonderful lot o' -me, an' every one there is wonderful kind." - -"What had happened to your father and mother?" asked Ainsworth, after -a pause. - -"I were comin' t' that. He'd been meetin' with an accident, his gun -goin' off an' shootin' his foot off. She finds him in th' snow, an' -tries t' carry him home, but 't were too much for she, an' when it -comes on t' snow again she sticks to him, an' they both freezes t' -death. Leastwise that's what th' missionary thinks, for he finds un -froze stone dead. Mother has her arms around father, holdin' he close -to her bosom, as though tryin' to keep he warm. - -"So you sees, sir, how I come t' speak th' Eskimo lingo. My mother -were a half-breed of th' Labrador." - -"The baby?" asked Paul, much moved by the story. "What became of -that?" - -"The baby were dead for a long while ere th' missionary comes." - -Tom rose and threw some fresh wood on the fire, cut some fresh tobacco -from his plug, refilled his pipe, and sat down again. - -"But you live in Newfoundland now, Tom?" Remington asked. - -"Oh, aye, sir. My father's brother comes down t' the Labrador fishing -the next summer, and takes me home with he. I'd like wonderful well -for you t' meet my woman, and my little lad and lass, sir. There's no -likelier lad and lass on the coast, sir. They're wonderful likely, -sir." - -Dan resumed his soft music on the harmonica. Twilight gave way to -darkness. Beyond the campfire's circle of light the forest lay black. -Below them the rapid roared. In the North the aurora flashed up its -gorgeous glory. - -"Well," said Remington at length, rising, "I reckon it's time to turn -in for we want to be out early and make the most of our time." - -His warm sleeping bag seemed very cozy to Paul when he crawled into -it, this first night he had ever spent in camp, the perfume of his -spruce bough bed very sweet, and quickly he fell into deep and restful -slumber, to be suddenly awakened by the sharp report of a rifle. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -WRECKED - - -It was broad daylight. Remington and Ainsworth were gone. Bang! Bang! -Bang! The shots came in quick succession, and not far above the camp. -Paul was frightened for a moment, then highly excited. He disentangled -himself from his sleeping bag, sprang to the front of the tent and -shouted to Tom, who was unconcernedly cooking breakfast: - -"What is it? What's up?" - -"Bears." - -He drew on his clothes as quickly as possible, grabbed his rifle and -ran in the direction of the shooting. A little way up the ravine he -came upon Remington, Ainsworth, Dan and Kuglutuk, surveying the -carcasses of two polar bears. - -"Hello, Paul, you're a little late for the fun," greeted Remington. - -"Got two," said Ainsworth. - -"Why didn't you call me?" - -"No time for that. Dan was poking around up here and saw them coming, -and we had to hustle as it was." - -"It would only have taken a minute to call me." - -"Yes, but that would have been a minute too long, if they had happened -to get a sniff of camp, and only for the north breeze they would have -anyway, and been off before Dan saw them." - -"Did they put up any fight?" - -"Didn't have a chance. We got them quick. Close shot and no trick at -all. Nothing like your shot." - -"I'm sorry I wasn't up earlier. What were they doing on land? I -thought they kept to the ice." - -"No, we're liable to see them anywhere on these shores. Guess they -were going down to catch a salmon breakfast in our pool at the foot of -the rapid." - -They saw no more bears while encamped on Richmond Gulf, though they -caught plenty of salmon and trout, and now and again took excursions -back into the hills and along the streams where ptarmigans were found, -or took advantage of excellent duck and goose shooting on near-by -lakes. Mallards and black ducks were plentiful, great flocks of wavies -flew overhead and the Canada gray goose was fairly numerous. - -The sport was so good, in fact, that the week which they had -originally planned to remain ashore lengthened into two, and it was a -fortnight after their arrival when reluctantly they broke camp one -morning and returned to the _North Star_, carrying with them enough -salmon and trout to supply both cabin and forecastle for several days. - -"Glad to see you! Glad to see you!" greeted Captain Bluntt as they -drew alongside the ship. "Good sport? Have a good time?" - -"Bully!" answered Remington. "Never better. Salmon and trout hungry -for flies, and we got two bears in the bargain." - -"Good! Good, sir! And how did you find it, youngster?" - -"Fine and dandy," answered Paul. "Best time I ever had in my life." - -"Good! Good! Glad you're aboard, Mr. Remington--glad you're aboard. -Barometer falling rapidly--outlook for bad weather--northeast blow, -I'm thinkin'. Bad anchorage here. We'll make for open sea. Get right -away. Growing a bit nervous about it, sir--just a bit nervous." - -"All right, Captain," said Remington. "We're ready to go." - -Anchor was weighed, and slowly the _North Star_ felt her way out of -the uncertain waters toward the wide bosom of Hudson Bay. - -"Now," asked Captain Bluntt, when they had gained "elbow room," as he -expressed it, "what's your pleasure, sir?" - -"Well," said Remington, "we want to have a little walrus hunting, we'd -like to pick up another bear or two, and I'm mighty anxious to get a -crack at caribou before we leave the country. Kuglutuk says, though, -that all the caribou on this side are far inland on the highlands, and -out of reach. I've been thinking that we might cross to the other side -somewhat south of Chesterfield Inlet, and perhaps find caribou there, -then cruise back along the islands looking for bear, and stop up -toward Mosquito Bay a few days for our walrus hunt before we strike -for home. Kuglutuk says the Eskimos up there will help us." - -"Good plan! Good plan, sir! But we must try to be through the straits -by middle of September. Taking chances, sir--taking chances with ice -if we're any later, sir." - -"All right, Captain. That'll give us over three weeks. We won't spend -much time with walrus, but we'd like to get two or three heads for -trophies." - -The blow that was predicted came. It began with driving rain and -sleet, which swept the sea in blinding sheets, and a rising northeast -wind pounded Hudson Bay into a fury of wild white-crested waves that -tossed and buffeted the _North Star_. But Captain Bluntt was an able -master. He kept well offshore, faced the storm, and lay to, using only -enough power to permit him to hold his position, and making no attempt -to proceed upon the voyage. - -Thus a week was consumed, and September was near at hand, when at -length the clouds wearied of their task, and the sun again shone out -of a clear sky through a glorious, transparent atmosphere. - -But the northeast gale had reaped a harvest of ice from the Arctic -waters, sweeping it down into Hudson Bay, where the packs broke into -fragments, and vagrant pans were distributed far and wide, steadily -working their way southward. This was not bay ice such as had been -encountered off the eastern coast of Labrador, but the adamantine -product of the Arctic. There was little difficulty, however, in -avoiding the larger and widely distributed pans, and the smaller -fragments bobbing here and there in the swell were quite harmless to -the strongly built little steamship. - -"Looks bad for the straits, sir, bad," remarked Captain Bluntt, -descending from the barrel in the foremast. "I'm thinkin' th' straits -has plenty of ice now, plenty, sir. Bad place to meet ice, sir! Bad -place! But if the weather holds calm for a week most of it'll work -out." - -"Are we likely to have trouble getting through the straits, Captain?" - -"No! No! We'll get through all right, sir, we'll get through, with no -more nor'easters or northers. A bit of a westerly breeze would clean -the straits, sir, sweep the ice right out. Yes, sir, sweep it out!" - -They turned northward, cruised close in along the Ottawa Islands, -where Remington shot another bear, and then turned westward, where at -length anchorage was made at 60 deg. north latitude opposite Egg River and -nearly a mile from its mouth. - -"Not safe to run too close in," explained Captain Bluntt. "Never like -to anchor too close inshore when I've no cover, sir. Not safe, not -safe. Always afraid of the rocks, sir, if a squall should strike me." - -"This is near enough," said Remington. "It's a short pull to the river -mouth." - -"Now what's the plan, sir? Going ashore to hunt caribou, you say? -Well, you may find them in there around the lakes, sir. Must be lakes -back there. Yes, sir, and caribou." - -"That's the way we figure it. This is Sunday. Tomorrow morning as -soon as we can see, Ainsworth and I will start, and take Kuglutuk with -us, and I'd like to have Tom if you can spare him, Captain." - -"Spare him? Yes! Yes! To be sure I can spare him." - -"We're not going to take Paul, for we'll have some hard tramping to -do, and I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to keep the pace." - -"No, no, don't take him. Too soft; couldn't stand it. 'Twould kill him -in a day. Yes, sir, in a day." - -"We'll take one light shelter tent, a blanket each, a couple of axes, -and besides our rifles only four days' provisions. We can carry them -easily, and we'll be back to the place where the boat leaves us on -Thursday afternoon, no later than two o'clock. So a boat may come over -for us then, and will surely find us waiting." - -"All right, sir, all right. But suppose you gets your deer the first -day? What then, sir?" - -"Why then we'll come down to the shore and shoot. If you hear us -shooting, why, send for us." - -"Very good, sir, very good. All very good." - -"I suppose Paul will set up a kick against our leaving him, but it's -out of the question to take him. Can't you let Dan and him have a -small boat to go ashore every day and hunt ptarmigans, or fish in the -river? Dan is perfectly reliable, isn't he?" - -"Yes, yes, sir. Dan reliable? True and sure, sir. Good as a man. Good -head, sir. Good head. Only a lad, sir, but good as a man. Be a skipper -himself, sir, some day. Yes, yes; Dan can take the youngster over." - -Paul, who had been standing aft, examining the coast through -binoculars, came forward at this juncture to join Remington and -Captain Bluntt. - -"Pretty rough looking country over there," said he. "What have you -planned to do? Are we going to hunt caribou?" - -"Yes, Ainsworth and I have planned to go ashore tomorrow and hike back -into the hills for three or four days, to see if we can't run on some -caribou. I'm afraid, though, you are not hardened up enough for it -yet. We've got to travel fast and there'll be no sleeping bags. -You'll stay here and Dan will take you ashore to hunt and fish, and -you can amuse yourself that way until we get back on Thursday." - -"Oh, now, that's pretty tough! I'm sure I can walk as fast as you -can." - -"And carry a back load of stuff?" - -"Of course I never tried that, and I don't see why I should. There are -men enough to do the work." - -"The more men there are the less ground can be covered, and this is a -hunting trip where we've got to do fast work, and every one must do a -man's work. No, Paul, it's too hard for you. You and Dan can have a -good time here till we come back." - -"There won't be anything to do here but hang around the old ship. I -think you might let me go with you fellows." - -"As I said, you won't have to hang around the ship. You and Dan go -ashore. Take one of the tents if you'd like, and camp over there. Dan -knows how to handle things. He'll give you a good time." - -"Well, I suppose if you don't want me I can't go, but I think it's a -pretty rough deal just the same," and he went off sulking. - -Paul had not yet learned that he could not have or do anything his -fancy craved. But he held his host in high esteem. He was thoroughly -grateful for the opportunity to take part in the expedition, and at -the end of half an hour, when he had had time to consider his actions, -he became quite ashamed of his childishness and his lack of courtesy -to his host, and, naturally of a frank and open disposition, he -approached Remington, put out his hand and said: - -"Mr. Remington, I want to apologize for the way I acted and what I -said awhile ago. I'm sorry for it. You've given me the greatest time -of my life and I appreciate it." - -"That's all right, Paul," and Remington shook his hand warmly. "It's -given me a lot of pleasure to have you along. I knew you'd look at -this thing right. I'd like to take you with us, but you can see it -would be too hard work for you. You haven't been at the game long -enough yet." - -"I guess that's right." - -Remington and Ainsworth did not appear at breakfast in the morning, -and when Paul took his seat he asked: - -"Where are the others, Captain?" - -"Gone. Gone these two hours. Away up country by this time. For my part -I can't see the fun in it. No, by the imps of the sea! Cruising over -rocks and mountains just for deer. Just for deer! Fun, though, maybe, -for them that likes it. Yes, maybe 'tis. Give me th' sea, an' a good -deck under my feet. Good enough for me! Yes, good enough for me, or -any sensible man." - -"Mr. Remington said Dan could go ashore with me and camp." - -"Yes, yes, of course. Dan knows. I told him. Ready any time. Told him -to get ready. Hope you'll have a good time." - -"We'll have a good time all right." - -"Comin' back tonight? Going to camp? Oh, yes, you said you would -camp." - -"Yes, we'll camp. No need of coming back till Thursday. The other -fellows won't be back till then." - -"Very well, very well; stay till Thursday. Two o'clock. Remember be -aboard at two sharp. Got to get away, get through the straits. No -being late, now! Remember Sydney! Felt like wringing your neck that -day. I did, by the imps of the sea. Heave you overboard or wring your -neck if you're late!" - -Paul glanced up at Captain Bluntt and discovered a good-humored -twinkle in the Captain's eye, though there was no doubt that he was -quite in earnest as to the admonition to return on time. - -"All right, Captain; we'll be on time," Paul laughed. - -"That's right. That's right. Always be on time. When you says you'll -do a thing, do it." - -But Paul had not yet learned his lesson. - -Dan stowed sufficient provisions in a light punt to meet the needs of -a few days' camping excursion, a light axe, a small sheet-iron tent -stove--for Dan was uncertain of finding sufficient wood for an open -camp-fire to keep them comfortable during the cold evenings -evenings--a small tent, a tarpaulin, cooking utensils and two -sleeping bags. Each carried his rifle--Dan's a light 44-40 -carbine--and Paul did not forget his favorite steel fly rod. - -"Two o'clock Thursday. No later! No later than two, now!" Captain -Bluntt admonished as they drew away from the ship. - -The mile to the mouth of Egg River was a short pull for Dan, and he -found that with a little maneuvering he was able to work the boat a -considerable distance up the river itself, to the first clump of -straggling spruce trees. - -Here it was decided to make camp, and while Dan pitched the tent and -put things in order Paul wandered up the stream and soon had a fine -trout on his hook. - -Fishing was good, many delightful tramps were taken over the rolling -hills, and only too quickly Thursday rolled around. - -"What's the hour?" inquired Dan as they finished their dinner. - -Paul looked at his watch. - -"Half past twelve." - -"We'll have to be gettin' back t' th' ship." - -"All right. Pack things up. While you're doing it, guess I'll have -one more try at the fish." - -"Now don't be goin' too far," cautioned Dan, who had learned Paul's -failing. "Th' skipper's wonderful keen on bein' on time." - -"Oh, I won't go far." - -Half an hour later, when Dan had the camp things stowed neatly in the -boat, and all was ready for departure, he called: - -"Hello-o, Paul!" - -No answer. - -He followed up the river bank, calling again and again, but had gone -nearly a mile before he received an answering "Hello!" - -Paul had a big trout hooked, and was playing him. - -"Great sport. Didn't get a strike till I hit this pool just now and -this is the second, already." - -"'T is time t' be off," said Dan, "and late." - -"Oh, there's no such rush as that. I want to take some trout back with -me." - -"Th' skipper's wonderful keen on bein' on time." - -"Oh, he didn't mean _just_ two o'clock, but around that time. -Besides, they weren't going after the other fellows till two." - -"'T was two o'clock." - -Dan was patient for fifteen minutes longer, while Paul fished. - -"We can't tarry, Paul. We _must_ be goin'." - -"Now don't nag." - -"'T is no naggin'. Th' skipper'll be wonderful angry." - -"Oh, I don't think he'll mind if we're not there exactly at two." - -It was half past two when Dan finally said: - -"An' now we're goin'," with a tone of finality that angered Paul. - -"Oh, are we?" Paul was unhooking a trout. - -"Th' sky looks nasty to me, an' th' wind's breezin' up, an' there's a -fog settlin' below." - -"I don't see any fog, and the sky looks all right to me." - -"Comin'?" - -"No." - -"But you is." - -"You ain't my master. I guess I'll do as I please." - -"You is _comin'_." - -Dan had stepped close to Paul, who was preparing to make another cast. - -"When I get ready." - -"You is comin' _now_," and Dan took Paul forcibly by the arm. - -"Let go of me!" - -"You is comin'," and he tightened his grip. - -"Take that!" Paul slapped Dan square in the face with open palm. - -Then a whirlwind seemed to strike Paul, and before he knew what had -taken place he found himself on the ground, and Dan on top of him. - -"Is you comin'?" - -"Yes! Let me up!" Paul was half crying with anger. - -"You'll be sorry for this!" he exclaimed when he was free, but he -followed Dan sulkily down to the boat. - -Dan was right. A fog was settling below. Even then it was pushing its -way up the river, and before they reached the open sea it had -swallowed up the river bank, which had become quite invisible beyond -the river's mouth. The boys could scarcely see two boat's lengths -ahead. The murky cloud enveloped sea, land, everything. Ice pans -seemed much more numerous than when they went ashore. Now and again a -pan would loom up in the fog, ominously near, rising and sinking with -the swell. It was uncanny, and Paul became frightened. Dan pulled -steadily at the oars for some time. At length he paused. - -"We should have been comin' on she," said he. "I'm fearin' we're a bit -too far t' th' s'uthard." - -He shifted his course somewhat. A moment later a huge bulk of ice -appeared directly in front of them. Dan swerved the boat to port, but -he was too late, and almost before they realized their danger the pan -struck them with the rising swell, and nearly capsized the boat. Water -at once poured in through a great rent in the starboard bow, and -immediately it became apparent they were sinking. - -Like a flash, painter in hand, Dan sprang upon the ice pan. - -"Jump! Quick!" he shouted to Paul, who, without knowing how he did -it, sprang to the pan, slipped, gained his feet, and was safe upon the -ice. - -"Take this! Hold on tight!" commanded Dan, passing the painter to -Paul. Working like mad, while Paul steadied the boat, Dan transferred -their belongings from boat to pan, save one sleeping bag and one oar, -which were washed away in spite of him. The boat lightened of its -burdens, he baled the water out, and drew its bow around to the ice. - -"Now pull!" He had grabbed the bow of the boat. "Pull! Pull!" he -encouraged, and their united strength drew the boat upon the pan. - -Paul had not, until then, had an opportunity to appreciate their -position. Now he looked about him, and with one glance took in the -critical situation in which they were placed. The pan of ice was -not over sixty feet in diameter, waves were breaking over its -edges, they were out of reach of land, the boat was quite -useless. Then came a flash of the imagination--lost in the dark -water--struggling--drowning. All this he saw in an instant. Panic -seized him--a wild, awful fear of impending death--and he screamed: - -"Help! Help! Save us! Save us! We're lost! Help! Help! Help!" - -"That's right," said Dan, "holler. If the ship ain't too far off -they'll hear," and he joined his voice to Paul's. But no answering -call came out of the fog. At length Dan said: - -"Tide's risin', wind's n'uthard, an' our drift's strong t' th' -s'uthard. They ain't hearin'. Get your rifle, an' I finds cartridges. -We'll be shootin' signals." - -The outfit hastily thrown in a heap was pulled over by Dan. Paul was -too excited and nervous to remember in which of his two bags the -ammunition was packed, and Dan could not find the cartridges for his -own carbine. Finally, after unpacking both bags, Dan discovered not -only Paul's cartridges but his own, which Paul had inadvertently -thrown in one of his bags the previous day. - -Paul's rifle was quickly loaded, Dan fired, and they listened -intently. No response came, and he fired again and again, until -presently the welcome sound of a distant rifle shot came faintly out -of the fog. Their hopes rose, but the distant shots in response to -their own grew fainter and fainter, and at length could no longer be -heard. - -Dan finally laid down the rifle, with the remark: - -"They ain't no use shootin' any more. Th' wind's comin' down from th' -ship, an' if we can't hear they, sure no one will be hearin' us. Th' -skipper's not knowin' we been wrecked, an' he'll not be sendin' a -boat. He'll be thinkin' we'll pull for th' ship with the shootin' t' -guide us. 'T ain't no use." - -Paul's hope of rescue, which had become a certainty when he heard the -shots, now gave place to despair, and he threw himself upon the ice, -moaning: - -"We're lost! Oh, we're lost! We're lost!" - -"Keep un nerve," soothed Dan. "They ain't no knowin' what'll happen. -Dad tells un, 'When you gets in a bad place, Dan, keep un nerve. More -folks,' says he, 'dies from losin' they nerve than dies from most -anything else. Whilst they's life they's a chanst,' says he." - -[Illustration: "Keep un nerve," soothed Dan] - -Finally Dan's philosophy quieted Paul to some extent. Black darkness -settled upon the sea. The fog, if possible, grew denser. It obscured -the stars--everything, even the lapping waves which were steadily but -surely eating away the edges of the ice pan. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE CASTAWAYS ABANDONED - - -"Glad to see you! Glad to see you! What luck?" greeted Captain Bluntt -as the boat with the returned caribou hunters pulled alongside the -_North Star_, shortly after two o'clock. - -"Hello, Captain!" Remington and Ainsworth called out in unison. "Got -three," said Remington in response to the Captain's question. "What do -you think of those heads?" straightening up three pairs of antlers for -inspection. - -"Fine! Fine! Where'd you get 'em? Have to go far? Get 'em far up -country?" - -"No, tramped over a lot of country but never got a shot till this -morning, half a mile in," explained Remington, mounting the ladder to -the deck. "Came on a bunch of four just above here, and got three of -them." - -"Good! Good! And you brought all the meat! Great treat! Caribou -meat's fine venison." - -"Yes, we had plenty of time to pack it down before the boat came. -Where's Paul?" - -"Ashore. Went ashore with Dan Rudd the day you leaves. Told 'em to be -back at two o'clock today. Two o'clock. No later! The rascals! It's -two-thirty an' a fog's settlin'! The rascals!" - -"Why what can be keeping them? I hope they won't get caught ashore in -the fog." - -"Went up the river. Must have camped along the river. Didn't you see -'em? Couldn't have missed 'em if you came down the river." - -"We didn't come down the river. We made a circuit and came down from -the north. But that fog is settling fast! It looks bad!" - -"Looks bad! Looks bad!" agreed Captain Bluntt. "Nasty weather ahead. -Ice working up too. Lot of ice worked up from the north since you -left. Want to get out of here. Told those rascals to be prompt. Never -can depend on youngsters. Can't depend on 'em." - -"They won't miss the ship in the fog, will they, Captain?" - -"No, no, they won't miss us. Dan'll find us. Yes, Dan'll find us. -Shoot to signal us. Can't miss us." - -Before three o'clock the fog had settled into a heavy black pall, so -intense that, standing at the companionway aft, Remington could -scarcely make out the foremast. A strong breeze had also sprung up -from the north, portending increased drift of ice southward. - -"I wonder if Paul will ever learn to keep his appointments and be on -time," Remington remarked to Ainsworth. - -"He seems to have no sense of responsibility," said Ainsworth. - -"I wish he were aboard. I'm worried at this delay. I hope nothing has -happened to the boys." - -"Oh, I think there's no cause to worry. Dan will take care that -nothing goes wrong. Paul wasn't ready to return when he was told, and -thought an hour or two wouldn't matter. It's characteristic of him. -They'll be along pretty soon." - -Captain Bluntt was growing impatient and ill-humored. He had ordered -steam up, and prepared for instant departure to the open sea the -moment Paul and Dan came aboard. They were now an hour past due, an -unheard of delinquency on Dan's part. - -"By the imps of the sea! I'll wring those youngsters' necks when I -gets hold of 'em!" he exclaimed. "By the imps of the sea I will!" - -"Could anything have happened to them?" asked Remington anxiously. - -"No, just taking their time. Just taking their time, th' rascals! Dan -Rudd can take care of himself. Take care of the other youngster too. -Yes, yes, they're all right. Dan Rudd'll see to that!" - -Nevertheless Remington's anxiety grew, and at the end of another half -hour, when he approached Captain Bluntt again, he found the Captain's -face serious. - -"Can't fathom this! Can't fathom it!" the Captain exclaimed. "Dan Rudd -always sharp to the minute before! Never behind! Thought first the -other youngster delayed him. Couldn't delay him like this. Dan Rudd -wouldn't let him, with a fog settlin', an' a norther threatenin'. No, -sir! No! Somethin' 's wrong. Somethin' 's gone wrong." - -"Do you think----" - -"Listen! What's that?" Captain Bluntt held up his hand. - -Faintly they heard a rifle shot in the fog, and in a moment another, -fainter and hardly distinguishable. - -"Tom Hand! Jake Griggs! Here, you fellows! Man a boat! Be smart now!" - -With quick, gruff commands Captain Bluntt had a boat in the water, -with four seamen at the oars and another at the tiller, as quickly as -man could do it. - -"Pull for your lives now! Pull for your lives! Save those lads! Pull, -pull, you men!" - -"Get your gun, sir! Get your gun, and shoot signals!" he commanded -Remington, and in a moment Remington had his rifle on deck, shooting -at regular intervals. - -Two or three shots were heard far away, and very faint, and then came -silence. Remington, Ainsworth and Captain Bluntt, in a state of -intense suspense, listened between the shots that Remington fired, and -waited. - -An hour passed, and another hour before they heard the clank of -oarlocks, and presently the boat loomed up in the fog and gathering -dusk. - -"Did you find them? Did you find them, Tom Hand?" shouted Captain -Bluntt. - -"No, sir, they's no findin' un," reported Tom. "They's lost, sir. We -picks up an oar an' a sleepin' bag, but we's not seein' th' boat, -sir." - -"Lost! Lost!" exclaimed Remington in consternation. - -Captain Bluntt stood speechless and overcome. When Tom Hand reached -deck, with the sleeping bag and oar, he examined the things -critically, and asked: - -"Where did you find these? Where'd you find 'em?" - -"Full two miles t' th' s'uthard, sir. We hears shots an' pulls for un, -and then th' shots stop. We keep pullin' t' the' s'uthard till we most -loses th' sound o' your shootin', an' here we picks up th' oar, an' a -bit farther th' sleepin' bag. We hollers an' hollers, but gets no -answer, an' we pulls around through th' fog, but finds no more, an' we -comes back. 'Twere growin' dusk, sir, an' no use lookin' farther sir." - -"No, 'twere no use lookin' further. No use." Turning to Remington, -"They's lost, sir. They's lost," and Captain Bluntt blew his nose on -his handkerchief and gave an order to Tom Hand in as gruff a voice as -he could assume, that he might hide his emotion. - -"My God! Is it possible!" said Remington, quite stunned. - -"This is awful! Awful!" Ainsworth exclaimed. - -"I can never go back home without Paul--never! Never! How could I face -his father?" Remington half moaned. - -Ainsworth could offer no consolation. There was nothing to be done. No -tragedy ever came more unexpectedly, and the young men were made sick -with the realization of it. - -"There's nasty weather comin', an' we'll move out into the open and -lay to for th' fog to clear," explained Captain Bluntt a little -later, to the two sportsmen whom he found sitting dejectedly in the -cabin. "Barometer falling. Blow comin'. Hard blow comin', I fears. -Cruise to th' s'uthard when fog clears and look for wrecked boat. No -use though. No use!" - -That night they drew out into deep water, and the next day lay to in -the fog. Then the gradually rising wind increased in velocity, the fog -was blown away, and a terrific northeast gale broke upon them. For two -days and two nights it swept Hudson Bay with its fury, and when it -ceased a jam of Arctic ice blocked the western coast of the bay, -rendering any search for the wreckage of the boat quite useless. - -A conference was held, and upon Captain Bluntt's advice Remington, -against his desires, however, finally agreed to turn homeward. - -The passage of Ungava Bay and Hudson Straits, now blocked with a -shifting ice pack, was accomplished without accident, and once in the -open Atlantic the _North Star_ steamed for St. Johns, putting in at a -Newfoundland outport, en route, to permit Remington to cable Mr. -Densmore in New York, to meet him at Sydney to receive bad news. This -he did that the shock of Paul's supposed death might not come to the -parents too suddenly. - -The two young sportsmen proceeded at once by train from St. Johns to -Port a Basque, and when their steamer from that place reached Sydney, -they found Mr. Densmore awaiting their arrival at the dock. - -They boarded the train, and in a stateroom in the parlor car Remington -gave the grief-stricken father a detailed account of what had -occurred. - -"It is a terrible blow to me, and his mother will be prostrated," said -Mr. Densmore. "But, Remington," placing his hand on the young man's -shoulder, "rest assured I am satisfied everything possible was done to -save my boy. You were guilty of no negligence, and I shall always have -a kindly remembrance of the interest you took in Paul's welfare." - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -ADRIFT ON AN ICE PAN - - -A steady and gradually strengthening breeze was blowing from the -North. The boys, wet to the skin, huddled close together on the center -of the drifting ice pan and in the lee of the boat. Presently Paul, -less inured to cold and exposure than Dan, began to shiver, and Dan -suggested: - -"Get in your sleepin' bag. 'Tis rare cold, an' you shakes like un had -th' ague." - -"No, I'd be afraid to lie down," objected Paul, "but maybe we could -wrap a pair of the blankets around us. There are three pairs in my -bag." - -"Now maybe we could be doin' that," said Dan. "I'll get un." - -He felt in the dark among the things which had been piled together, -and presently drew the inner pair of blankets from the bag. This they -wrapped around their shoulders, drawing it close about them, with a -camp bag for their seat and the boat at their back. - -"Is there no help for us--no hope that the ship's boat will pick us up -in the morning?" asked Paul. - -"I'm not sayin' that," comforted Dan. "Th' ship'll sure cruise t' th' -s'uthard with daylight, an' if th' fog clears she'll be findin' us, -an' th' ice holds together." - -"Do you think the ice will hold together until morning?" - -"I'm hopin' so. An' with light I'll be tryin' my hand at fixin' th' -boat, an' I'm thinkin' we may fix un." - -They were quiet for a long while, when Dan asked, softly: - -"Sleepin'?" - -"No." - -"Cold?" - -"Freezing." - -"Snuggle closter." - -Paul drew very close to Dan, who drew the blanket tighter. - -"Warmer?" - -"Yes, that's better." - -"Ain't so scairt?" - -"No--I don't know--I'm getting used to it, I guess." - -"Yes, we'll be gettin' used to un before day, an' then we'll be doin' -somethin'. Dad says always keep un nerve an' be plucky, an' th' worst -fixes can be got out of someway." - -"This is a pretty bad fix, though. Guess your dad was never in a fix -like this." - -"Oh, yes, he were. Dad were on th' old _Narwhal_ when she were nipped, -an' twelve of her crew were lost. He were adrift on th' ice for a week -before he were picked up. An' he's been on four vessels as were -wrecked. Dad's been in some wonderful bad places, but he always gets -out of un for he always keeps his nerve--an' when they ain't nothin' -he can do for hisself, he prays. Dad's a wonderful religious man." - -"Can you pray?" - -"Oh, yes; I been prayin' quiet to myself, settin' here. Can you?" - -"I know the Lord's Prayer. Mother taught me to say it when I was -little." - -"Say un to yourself. 'Twill do good." - -Another long silence, and Dan asked: - -"Been prayin'?" - -"It won't do any good; I'm sure it won't. I said it once but it don't -seem to belong to this fix." - -"'Twill help us if we prays the best we can. Dad says: 'Do everything -you sets your hand to the best un knows how; if 'tis workin', work the -best un can; if 'tis prayin', pray the best un can.'" - -"Oh, Dan, if I'd only stopped fishing when you called me! If I'd only -gone back to the ship then, we'd have been all right! Oh, why didn't I -go! Why didn't I go!" - -"Maybe the Lord were plannin' to have us go adrift, and He were -keepin' you fishin'. Dad says sometimes th' Lord does such things to -try folks out an' see what they'll be doin' for theirselves." - -"No, Dan, it was my fault. Oh, why didn't I go when you called me! Now -we'll both be drowned, and it's all my fault." - -"Don't be feelin' so bad about un, Paul," Dan soothed. "While they's -life they's a chanst. Dad's always sayin' that, an' he says, 'If you -ever gets in a tight fix, lad, do all you can to get out of un, an' -when they ain't nothin' more _you_ can do, an' you're sartin' they -ain't, then pray to th' Lord, an' leave un to He. But,' says Dad, -'don't waste no time prayin' an' askin' th' Lord's help when they's -anythin' you can do yourself. He won't pull you out of no scrape when -you ain't doin' th' things He's laid out for you to do first.'" - -"But what can we do?" - -"Nothin' but pray now. We hollered an' fired th' guns. I been tryin' -to think of everythin', an' they ain't nothin' else I can think of -till 'tis light enough to see, an' then maybe we'll be findin' a way -to fix th' boat; an' maybe if we prays th' Lord'll show us a way to do -un." - -The lads again lapsed into silence, to be broken finally by Paul. - -"Dan?" - -"Yes." - -"Isn't it most morning?" - -"'Tis a long while till mornin' yet. I'm thinkin' 'tis about two -bells." - -"One o'clock?" - -"Yes. I'll strike a match, an' you looks at your watch." - -The flash of the match disclosed the hour as ten minutes past twelve. - -"Time goes wonderful slow." - -"Yes. I thought it was almost morning." - -"Were you sleepin'?" - -"No." - -Another silence, and Dan remarked: - -"You got a wonderful lot o' ca'tridges in your bag. What you bringin' -so many for?" - -"They're what Mr. Remington gave me." - -"Wonderful lot of un. More 'n you'll need in a year." - -They settled down again, and when Dan looked up a faint light was -showing through the fog blanket. He stirred and Paul awoke. - -"We been sleepin', Paul, an' day'll soon be breakin'." - -"Where are we?" asked Paul, rubbing his eyes. - -"Cruisin' to th' s'uthard on a bit of ice in Hudson Bay," answered -Dan, adding facetiously: "We ain't got no log, an' I've lost th' -reckonin'." - -"Oh!" exclaimed Paul, sitting up and looking around him. "I remember -now! I was dreaming of home, and when I woke up I thought we were in -camp. My, but I'm stiff and cold." - -"'Tis a kind of camp, but not a shore camp." - -As daylight grew the outlook appeared more dismal than ever. The fog -if possible was more dense than the evening before, and while the boys -slept a corner of the pan had broken off. - -"Do you think we can mend the boat?" asked Paul. - -"'Tis too dark yet," answered Dan, "but we'll be tryin' soon as we can -see." - -"I'm hungry. I haven't eaten a thing since twelve o'clock yesterday." - -"So is I hungry, an' we'll be eatin' while we can't do nothin' else." - -An investigation of the provision box disclosed a can of corned beef, -three cans of baked beans, a small piece of bacon, a dozen ship's -biscuits, a few pounds of flour and some tea, left over from their -fishing trip. - -"We'll open one of the cans of beans, and each have a biscuit," -suggested Dan, "but they ain't nothin' to drink." - -"That's so; we can't make tea without a fire." - -"No, an' the water's salt." - -"We're up against it good and hard. Now you speak of water, I'm -famishing for a drink," said Paul as he ate. - -"Th' ice is sweet, an' after you eats I'll chip a cupful of un, an' if -you holds un under your jacket she'll melt." - -"I never would have thought of that. These beans are mighty good. -Let's have another can. I'm not half satisfied." - -"No, we got to be careful of un. They's no tellin' how long 't will be -before we gets picked up, an' we got to be careful of the grub." - -"I'm fearfully hungry, but I guess you're right." - -"Yes, I knows I is. Dad's often sayin' to me, 'Dan, if you ever gets -in a tight place, an' not much grub in sight, be wonderful careful of -what you has, and make un last.'" - -It was full light now. Dan chipped some ice with the axe, filled a -cup, and Paul held it carefully beneath his jacket. - -An examination of the boat was not reassuring. The forward planks on -the port side were stove far in, and an attempt to repair the damage, -even temporarily, appeared at first a hopeless task. - -"I'm not seein' just how to mend un," remarked Dan, contemplating the -damaged planks, "but Dad, he says to me, 'Always try. Do un best. What -looks like a hard job is very like to be an easy one in the end.' He -says to me, 'Do all un can, anyhow, howsoever hard the job looks. The -Lord may have you marked up to live to sixty or seventy year,' says -he, 'and to die in bed, but if you gets in a tight place, and they's -somethin' you might be doin' to get out of un if you tries, and you -lets un go without tryin' because you're not seein' how to do un at -first, the Lord'll be sayin' to the recordin' angel, just change that -feller's markin', and put he down to die now, and make un drownin'. -Dad says the Lord'll just be thinkin' 'tain't no use keepin' a feller -around the world what don't care enough about livin' to do what he can -to save hisself, but leaves it all to the Lord to do.'" - -Encouraged by this philosophy of his father's, Dan worked with a will, -and at the end of an hour succeeded in forcing the stove-in planking -back into place. - -In the meantime Paul's ice had melted, and, refreshed by a half cup of -slightly brackish water, he turned his attention to Dan's success with -the boat. - -"Won't that go all right without leaking much?" he asked. - -"No, 'twill leak like a sieve," answered Dan, surveying the boat. "I -were seein' that much to do from the first, but I weren't seein' how -to make the planks hold where I put un, or how to make un tight, and -I'm not seein' 't yet. Now if we had some bits of board and some -nails, I'm thinkin' we might make un tight." - -"There's the grub box. Couldn't we knock that to pieces, and use the -boards and nails in it?" - -"The grub box! Well there! And I never were thinkin' of un!" - -Dan soon had the box in pieces and the nails removed. - -"I'm wonderful slow to think of things sometimes," remarked he as he -worked. "Now why weren't I thinkin' of this box first off?" - -Cleats were fashioned by Dan from the pieces of box, with the axe as -his one working tool, and he was finally ready to nail them in -position, where they would hold the broken planks in place. Nails were -few, and it was necessary that great economy be practiced in their use -and that each be driven where it would do the most good. - -The swell was increasing, the north wind was rising, and with every -hour the position of the boys was becoming more dangerous. The first -cleat had scarcely been nailed down when a wave broke over the pan, -washing its whole surface, not deep enough to carry the things away, -but suggesting the possibility that another one might presently do so. -Dan had fortunately put his cleats in the boat as he made them, or -the wave would certainly have carried off the light pieces of wood. - -"Paul, you be loadin' the things in the boat," said Dan, "while I does -th' mendin'. Th' next swell breakin' over th' pan may carry th' bags -overboard. Load th' light bags first." - -Paul obeyed, and when the next wave, a little heavier than the first, -broke over the pan the outfit was out of its reach. - -It was well past noon when the last cleat was placed, and Dan began to -caulk with strips torn from a shirt, using as his tool a wedge made -from a piece of the box. - -The caulking was not yet half done when the boys were startled by a -loud report, like that of a gun. - -"There she goes!" exclaimed Dan. "I were lookin' for un! Th' pan's -busted!" - -And sure enough, fully a third of their pan had broken loose from the -main body of ice which held them. - -Heavier swells, now and again moving the boat slightly, swept the pan. -Dan worked desperately at his caulking; Paul, sitting in the boat -clinging to his seat, was expecting every moment to be washed from the -ice. As he looked out into the fog and beheld the growing anger of the -sea his apprehension grew. He realized fully their imminent peril, and -he began to doubt the ability of the frail boat, even had it been free -from damage, to weather the high piling waves. - -All at once he thought he saw something in the distance, a faint -splotch in the fog, and he called out: - -"Dan! Dan! See there! What is that?" - -Dan raised his eyes from his work and looked. - -"Land! 'Tis th' land!" he exclaimed. "'Tis th' land and we'll soon be -ashore." - -The tide was carrying them in, and more and more distinct a rocky -outline of coast loomed up. Dan did not stop his repairs, however, and -presently the task of caulking was finished. - -"There," said he, "she's caulked, an' she'll do to take us ashore." - -"Can't we float her now and land?" asked Paul, in feverish -excitement. - -"That's a p'int of land," said Dan, "We're driftin' in around un, and -I'm thinkin' th' tide'll carry us to the lee, an' we'll have less sea -to launch in, if we waits a bit." - -"Oh, but I want to get ashore!" exclaimed Paul. "Couldn't we launch -off here?" - -"We might and we mightn't," answered Dan cautiously. "We can't move -th' boat without unloadin' she. If we launches on the lee, th' ice'll -be likely to ram in, an' smash un ag'in, before we gets free, an' if -we tries to launch on ary other side th' waves'll be smashin' un -ag'in' th' ice before we gets th' outfit aboard. And anyway, if we -unloads th' outfit on th' ice th' sea's like to work un overboard -before we gets th' boat launched. I'm thinkin' we'd better tarry a -bit." - -Dan's surmise proved correct. The ice slowly swept past the point, -and, carried upon the bosom of a rising tide, they gradually passed -into a bay, and calmer water. - -"Now," announced Dan, who had been watching his opportunity, "we'll -try un." - -The things were taken out of the boat, the boat pushed off and -alongside the pan and easily reloaded in the now gentle swell, and the -boys with their outfit aboard shoved out into the bay. - -The one remaining oar Dan took astern, dropped it between two pegs -placed there for the purpose, and working the oar adeptly back and -forth both propelled and steered the boat shoreward. The damaged bow -was found to be so well repaired that it leaked very little, and in a -few minutes a safe landing was made upon a sloping, gravelly bit of -beach. - -For several minutes the boys stood silent, looking toward the -fog-enshrouded sea from which they had just been delivered. Dan at -length broke silence: - -"Thank the Lord, we're safe ashore," said he reverently. - -"Yes, it's almost too good to believe." Tears of joy stood in Paul's -eyes as he spoke. "When the ship finds us and picks us up, Dan, I'm -going to tell Captain Bluntt that it was all my fault we didn't go -aboard when he told us to, and I'm going to tell everybody how you -saved our lives by mending the boat. We never could have got off the -ice if you hadn't mended the boat." - -"'Twere nothin' to mend th' boat," deprecated Dan. - -"Oh, yes, it was," insisted Paul. "There aren't many could have done -it, and when the ship picks us up I'll tell them all about it." - -But they were not to see the _North Star_ again, and they were not to -be picked up. They were destined to face the rigors of a sub-Arctic -winter in the unknown wilderness upon whose shores they had drifted. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -FACING STARVATION - - -Paul and Dan surveyed their surroundings. So far as they could -discover, in the dense fog, which enshrouded land as well as sea, they -were stranded upon a desolate, verdureless coast. Behind them rose a -ledge of storm-scoured rocks which reached out into the sea in a -rugged cliff to the eastward, and formed the point they had rounded to -enter the bight. And out on the rocky point they could hear the -breakers in dismal, rhythmic succession, pounding upon the rocks. - -The sounding breakers made Paul shudder as he realized how narrowly he -and Dan had escaped a fate of which he scarcely dared think. He was -profoundly thankful for their deliverance, and rugged as their coast -was he had no thought of complaint against the fate that had placed -him upon it. - -Nowhere was there a tree or even a bush to be seen. Even the moss -that here and there found lodgment in crevasses of the rocks seemed to -struggle for an uncertain existence. Some driftwood, however, strewn -along the beach, offered fuel for their tent stove. - -"'Tis a wonderful bleak place," said Dan, "but I'm thinkin' 'tis -better inside, with timber growin' an' maybe a river comin' in, t' -bring this drift down." - -"But it's too late to go up there tonight," protested Paul, dreading -to venture upon the fog-covered water again, even in the boat. - -"Aye, 'tis too late to go t'night. 'Tis already growin' dusk, an' I'm -not thinkin' t' cruise around in th' fog, on land or on water. 'Twould -be temptin' th' Lord t' send us adrift ag'in, after settin' us safe -ashore." - -"We're both wet to the skin, and I'm freezing. Can't we make a fire?" -suggested Paul, his teeth chattering. - -"We'll be settin' up th' tent in th' lee o' this rock. 'Tis lucky we -has th' jointed tent poles, with nary a tree about." - -"Can't I help?" asked Paul, as Dan jointed the poles and unrolled the -tent. - -"You might be carryin' up th' outfit, an' we gets th' tent up, we'll -put un inside. 'Twill warm you up t' be carryin' un." - -In fifteen minutes the tent was up, the tent stove in place, and Dan -was cutting driftwood for a fire while Paul stowed away their -belongings, and in another fifteen minutes a fire was roaring in the -stove. - -"Oh, but this is cozy," exclaimed Paul, reclining close to the stove, -"and now I'm ravenously hungry again." - -"'Tis wonderful cozy in th' tent," agreed Dan. "I'll take th' kettle -an' look for water, an' when I comes back we'll boil th' kettle an' -have a snack." - -Almost immediately Dan was back with his kettle of water. - -"They's a spring just up here, an' we're lucky t' have un so clost," -he remarked, setting the kettle on the stove. "I'm thinkin' we're in -for a blow, an' we'll not be gettin' away from here till she's over." - -"Don't you think the ship will come tomorrow if the fog clears?" asked -Paul anxiously. - -"No," replied Dan discouragingly, searching for the bacon. "Let's put -on a light; they's some candles left." He found the candles, lighted -one, and discovered the bacon. "I'm not expectin' th' ship in th' blow -that's comin'. 'Tis a dangerous coast," he continued, as he sliced the -bacon, "an' th' skipper'll be takin' no chances cruisin' inshore in a -gale." - -"Well, we're safe enough, and the tent is as cozy a place as I ever -struck," said Paul, now thoroughly warm, and basking in the stove's -genial heat, his wet clothes sending forth a cloud of steam. - -"'Twill be fine so long as th' grub lasts. But they's no tellin' how -long we'll be held up, an' they ain't much grub. But maybe we can kill -somethin.' I'll take a look at th' country, an' th' fog clears -tomorrow." - -"I should think we'd find plenty of game. We've seen ducks and -ptarmigans everywhere we've been. Oh," sniffing, "but that bacon -smells dandy." - -"Yes, I'm thinkin' we'll find ducks an' pa'tridges, but they's no -knowin', an' we'll be wonderful careful o' th' grub we's got till we -finds out. Dad says always be careful of what you has till you sees -more comin'." - -The kettle had boiled and Dan threw some tea into it and set it on the -ground close to the stove, then he put half of the bacon he had fried -on Paul's aluminum plate, the other half on his own plate, carefully -dividing the bacon grease between them, gave Paul two ship's biscuits, -took two for himself, and filled their aluminum cups with tea. - -"Now we can fall to," he said. "They's plenty o' tea, but we can't be -eatin' more'n this much grub to onct, an' we'll not be havin' more'n -one biscuit apiece at a meal after this. I'm givin' us two now for we -been a rare long time without eatin'." - -"It looks like a mighty little, with my appetite, but I guess you're -right about it," admitted Paul. - -"Hear that!" - -"What?" - -"Th' wind. I knew she'd be comin' up. Th' fog'll be blowin' away by -midnight." - -"That'll be good." - -"If she don't blow too strong an' too long." - -"But this bacon grease is great!" exclaimed Paul, taking a spoonful of -the warm grease. "Funny I like it, though. When I'm home I can't bear -to eat fat." - -"Grease is fine grub for cruisin', an' when th' weather's cold. When -Dad an' me goes trappin' winters we just takes fat pork an' flour an' -tea an' molasses." - -"It does make a difference, I guess. I was just thinking that I'd -never in my life eaten anything so good as this bacon and hardtack. If -I was home I wouldn't look at them. I'll never find fault again if my -meat's a little too rare or too done, or not just what I happen to -like best." - -"Dad says anythin's good when a feller's hungry." - -It was a meager supper, indeed. A bit of bacon, two ship's biscuits -and tea could hardly satisfy the appetite of a boy who had eaten but -once in thirty hours, and then but lightly. - -"I'm hungrier than ever!" declared Paul, when he had eaten the last -morsel of his portion. - -"So am I. 'Tweren't much," admitted Dan, as he drew his harmonica -from his pocket, wiped it on his coat sleeve, and struck up a tune. - -[Illustration: Dan struck up a tune] - -But with relaxation from the long hours of anxiety and exposure which -had preceded Dan soon found himself too drowsy to play. Paul was -nodding in a brave attempt to keep awake. Dan put the harmonica aside, -they made their bed and were soon in heavy slumber, not to awaken -until broad daylight. - -The wind had risen to almost the force of a hurricane, and upon -looking out of the tent they beheld the waters of Hudson Bay beaten -into a wild fury. Mighty foam-crested waves were rolling in upon the -rocky point below, breaking with a continuous thunderous roar. The fog -had passed, and black, broken clouds scudded the sky. - -"She's wonderful mad because she didn't get us," remarked Dan. - -"My! But weren't we lucky to drift in last night!" said Paul, -shuddering at the scene. - -"'Tweren't luck," corrected Dan. "Th' Lord were sendin' us in ahead o' -th' blow. Dad says 'tain't luck, but th' Lord, as helps folks out o' -bad places." - -After an unsatisfactory breakfast of beans, Dan shouldered his rifle, -cautioned Paul not to go out of sight of the tent, and started out to -explore and hunt. Late in the afternoon he returned with a big gray -goose and a rabbit. Paul, who was in the tent, sprang up when Dan -pulled back the flap and looked in. - -"Oh, but I'm glad to see you, Dan!" he exclaimed. "I never was so dead -lonesome in my life!" - -"'Tis a bit lonesome bidin' alone in camp," admitted Dan, "but see now -what I'm gettin'," and he dropped his game at Paul's feet. - -"A goose and a rabbit! Oh, Dan, what luck! Now we can have a feast, -and I'm so hungry I can hardly move." - -"An' I'm wonderful hungry, too, with th' long tramp. Now I'll be -dressin' th' goose, an' you puts a kettle o' water on an' cuts some -wood." - -Paul went at his task with a vim. He wielded the light camp axe very -clumsily, for he had never used an axe before; it was, in fact, his -first attempt at manual labor. He had, however, a good supply of wood -piled up by the time the goose was dressed and in the kettle, and he -and Dan sat down to enjoy the appetizing odor of cooking fowl while -they chatted. - -"Do you know, Dan, we're having such a dandy time here, I'll feel -almost sorry when the ship comes. This tent is so cozy," he declared. - -"'Tis cozy an' fine, but I'm thinkin' we'll be wantin' t' see th' ship -bad enough before we sees her." - -"But she'll be along tomorrow, won't she?" - -"No, nor th' next day neither. I were lookin' t' th' n'uthard from th' -rise back here, an' I sees a wonderful drift o' ice workin' up, an' if -th' blow holds tomorrow, as 'tis sure to hold, there'll be a pack o' -ice up from th' n'uthard that the ship'll never be gettin' through." - -"What! You don't mean the ship won't come at all?" - -"I'm not sayin' that for sure, but it's how 'tis lookin' t' me now." - -"Oh, but Dan, that can't be! What will we do if we're not picked up?" - -"I've been thinkin' un over, an' figurin' un out. Tom were sayin' -they's tradin' posts t' th' s'uthard, an' I been figurin' we'll have -t' make for un. We'll have t' hunt for our grub, but onct we gets t' -th' posts we'll be safe." - -"Do you really think we'll have to do that, and stay here all winter? -It would just kill my mother, for she won't know where I am." - -"I'm just sayin' what's like t' happen, but 'tain't no way sure. A bit -inside I finds a river runnin' in th' head o' this bight, an' plenty -o' timber. 'Twere near th' river I kills th' goose. 'Tain't such a -wonderful bad country." - -This was a possibility that had not occurred to Paul. He had harbored -no doubt that the _North Star_ would presently cruise southward along -the coast, pick them up, and he would go home in comfort. The bare -possibility that they might not be rescued was a shock. All pleasures, -all comforts, all hardships and privations are measured by contrast. -The tent had seemed very cozy, for unconsciously Paul had compared its -warmth and security with the hardships he had experienced on the ice -pan. Now the possibility that he might have to spend the winter in a -tent in this northern wilderness led him to compare such a condition -with the luxurious comforts of his home in New York, and the -comparison made him shrink from the hardships that he instinctively -attached to tent life in winter in a sub-Arctic wilderness. With the -comparison, also, came an overwhelming desire to see his father and -mother again. - -"Dan, it would kill me to have to spend the winter here. Oh, that -would be awful." - -"Not so bad if we finds grub. Th' grub's what's troublin' me. An' -we'll be needin' more clothes when th' cold weather comes. But we'll -not let un worry us till we has to. Dad says it never does no good t' -worry, for worryin' don't help things, an' it puts a feller in a fix -so he ain't much good t' help hisself." - -"But I can't help worrying." - -"Maybe they ain't nothin' t' worry about. Dad says most all th' -things folks worries about is things they's afeared will happen, but -never does happen. Let's ferget t' worry now, an' get at that goose. -She must be done, an' I'm wonderful hungry." - -The present rose paramount. The boiling goose was done, and soon drove -from their minds all thought of the future. The water in which it was -boiled, well seasoned with salt, made excellent broth, and with no -bread or vegetable--for Dan would not draw upon the few biscuits -remaining--the two boys, with ravenous and long unsatisfied appetites, -ate the whole bird for their dinner. - -Full stomachs put them in a pleasanter frame of mind, the tent again -assumed a cozy atmosphere, and Paul declared he was having the -"bulliest time" of his life. - -During the two days and nights that followed there was no abatement in -the wind. Dan spent the daylight hours hunting, while Paul remained in -the vicinity of camp, making frequent tours to the summit of the rocky -hill behind the tent, where he had a wide view of Hudson Bay. With -sinking heart he looked out of the tent one morning to find the bight -jammed with ice, and upon climbing the hill as usual beheld a solid -mass of ice reaching westward from the shore as far as he could see. - -At length the wind somewhat diminished in force, though it was not -until the fourth morning after their arrival that they arose to find -the sun shining brilliantly from a clear sky, and dead calm -prevailing. Several inches of snow had fallen during the night and the -air was sharp with frost. Their world seemed cold and cheerless -indeed. - -Dan's hunting expeditions had resulted in nothing, after the first -day. Once he had started a flock of ptarmigans, but in windy weather -ptarmigans are very wild, and this flock flew so far that he was -unable to discover them again after they had alighted. - -This failure to secure game had forced them to cut down their daily -ration to a point that left their appetites far from satisfied. Even -then they were alarmed to find that, practicing the utmost economy, -but one day's scant provisions remained, when at length the weather -cleared. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE WATERS CLEAR - - -Paul went to the spring for water, while Dan kindled the fire. Paul -was learning now to do his share of the camp work. He had become -fairly adept in the use of the axe, and to pass the hours while Dan -was absent on hunting expeditions, he had collected sufficient wood to -last them for several days, and had cut the greater part of it into -proper lengths for the stove. - -When he returned with the kettle of water and placed it on the stove -to heat for tea, he sat down in silent dejection. Starvation seemed -very near. He was always hungry now--ravenously, fearfully hungry--and -he could see no relief. Both he and Dan were visibly thinner than when -they left the ship, and Paul was worried beyond expression. - -Dan, squatting before the stove, his knees drawn up to his chin and -his arms locked around them, gazing intently at nothing, appeared not -to notice Paul as he entered. He was evidently in deep thought, and -Paul watched him anxiously, for he had learned that when Dan assumed -this position he was making plans for the future. - -Paul had grown to place great confidence in Dan and his plans. In fact -he had come to look upon Dan as quite a wonderful person as well as -true friend. - -Never once had Dan admitted that he was greatly worried at the turn -things had taken. On the contrary, while he had owned that their -position was serious, he had always ended by assuring Paul that there -was some way to overcome any difficulty which they might meet, and -that they could find a way to do it, no matter how obscure the way -might appear, if they but applied themselves earnestly to the task of -searching it out. - -Presently the kettle boiled, and as Dan arose to make the tea he -remarked: - -"They's no knowin' how fur 'tis t' th' nearest post, an' I'm not -knowin' yet what's best t' do. Th' river's too big t' ford, an' if we -goes afoot we'll have t' raft un, for with ice in th' bight we can't -launch th' boat. - -"If we walks we can't pack th' tent or much of th' outfit, you never -done no packin', an' I'd have t' carry most of what we'd be takin'. -If't were far, with other rivers we'd be like t' meet an' have t' -raft, th' cold weather'd be on before we'd be gettin' anywheres, an' -with no tent the things I'd carry wouldn't be enough t' do both of us. - -"Th' wind's veered clean around from th' nor'east t' th' s'uthard, an' -I'm thinkin' she'll veer t' th' west'ard in a day or so, an' if she -freshens up from th' west'ard she'll clear th' ice out. Then we could -be usin' th' boat, an' cruise t' th' s'uthard till we finds th' post -or th' ship picks us up. 'Tis too early for winter t' be settin' in t' -stay, an' we'll sure be findin' ducks along th' coast." - -"But we haven't anything to eat. We'll starve before that time." - -"I'm wonderful troubled about un," admitted Dan. "They's no danger of -th' tent blowin' away, an', with th' ice on th' coast, no chanst of -th' ship comin', so I'm thinkin' 'tis best for us both t' go huntin'. -They ain't no use you stayin' in camp. I'll be showin' you how to make -rabbit snares while I hunts. With a bit of snow on th' ground, an' no -wind, they's more chanst of findin' game." - -This was very agreeable to Paul. It would take him from the -monotonous, lonely hours in camp, and he was eager to get away--to do -something. - -Their last half can of beans was divided between them for breakfast, -and this disposed of, they prepared for a day's hunt. - -"Better take your shotgun instead of your rifle," suggested Dan. "I'll -be takin' my rifle, but 'tis easier t' get birds on th' wing with a -shotgun. I been missin' un most every day with th' rifle." - -"You weren't afraid to ask me for the shotgun, were you, Dan?" - -"She's so pretty I weren't knowin' as you'd like t' lend un, an' I -takes my rifle hopin' t' get a long shot at a goose, or maybe a bear -or deer. Don't forget th' shells for un." - -"Why, Dan, you could have had the shotgun. Just take any of my things -when you need them." - -Dan carried the axe as well as his rifle, and set a good pace up the -shore of the bight. Presently turning around a bluff they saw the -forest reaching down to the ice-choked bight. - -"'Tis there th' river comes in," remarked Dan. - -"Don't walk so fast, Dan. I'm most winded." - -"I weren't walkin' fast," said Dan, slackening his pace, "but you -ain't been walkin' none lately, an' 'tis a bit hard until you gets -used t' un." - -Presently they reached the spruce forest and the river, and a little -way up the timbered valley through which the river flowed found rabbit -tracks in every direction in the light snow. - -"They's plenty of un here," remarked Dan. "Now here's a run--that's a -trail they takes reg'lar back and forth. We'll be settin' a snare in -un." - -Dan cut a spruce sapling and laid it across, and supported a foot -above, the run by brush growth on either side, first trimming the -branches off the side of the sapling placed downward, that they might -not obstruct the run. He then placed an upright stick on either side -of the run and about five inches from it, leaving an opening about ten -inches wide between the sticks, with the run passing through the -center. Then he blocked the space along the sapling on each side of -this opening with brush, remarking: - -"That's t' keep th' rabbits from leavin' th' run." - -He now produced a hank of heavy, smooth twine, cut off a piece and on -one end of it made a slip-noose that would work easily. The other end -he tied securely to the sapling directly over the run, first spreading -the noose wide, until the bottom swung about three inches from the -ground, the sides touched the upright sticks on either side, and the -top hung just below the sapling. Small twigs, so placed as not to -obstruct the opening in the noose, were stuck in the ground at the -bottom and on the sides to keep it in position. - -"'Tis poor string for snarin'," he said, contemplating his work, "but -'tis all I has, an' 'twill have to do. Wire's better'n string. Rabbits -eats string off if 'tain't set just right t' choke 'em so's they -can't." - -"Will that catch rabbits?" Paul asked incredulously. - -"Yes, that'll catch un. You see, they comes along th' run, an' when -they tries t' jump through th' noose she just slips up around their -necks and chokes un. Now you can be settin' snares, an' I looks for -pa'tridges." - -"Where'll I set 'em? Anywhere around?" - -"Anywheres you finds runs. Work up through th' timber an' don't lose -sight o' th' river. Mark th' places where you sets un by blazin' a -tree clost by un, like this," and as high as he could conveniently -reach with the axe, Dan chipped a piece of bark as big as his hand -from either side of a tree, where the white bared wood could be -readily seen by one following up or down the river. - -"I'll take th' shotgun an' leave my rifle with you. 'Twill be easier -t' get pa'tridges with th' shotgun, an' I sees any." - -"Will you come back here for me?" - -"Yes, I'll be lookin' you up," and Dan strode away. - -Setting snares was a novel occupation for Paul, and he found the work -intensely interesting. Upon every new run that he discovered he -duplicated as exactly and as carefully as possible the snare that Dan -had set, and then blazed a tree to mark its position. - -He was thinking now constantly of good things to eat, and feasts that -he would have when he reached home. This kept his mind occupied with -pleasant thoughts while his hands were at work. - -Several hours had passed, several snares had been set, and he was -still busily engaged when Dan, right at his elbow, said: - -"Feelin' hungry?" - -"Oh!" and Paul jumped. "Dan, I didn't see you. You frightened me." - -Dan laughed. - -"See what I'm gettin'," and he held up seven fat ptarmigans. - -"Oh, Dan, but that's fine!" exclaimed Paul, handling the birds -caressingly. - -"Let's put on a fire an' have a snack," said Dan. "Seems like I can't -walk no farther till I eats." - -Dan collected some small dry twigs and a handful of the dry moss which -in northern forests collects beneath the limbs of spruce trees. With -his foot he scraped the snow from a small area, baring the ground. In -the center of this he placed the moss, arranged the sticks about it -with much care, struck a match to the moss, and in an incredibly short -time had a cheery fire blazing. - -"Break some boughs for a seat, Paul, while I plucks th' pa'tridges," -he suggested. - -Two of the birds were quickly plucked and drawn, Dan placing the -entrails carefully aside on clean snow. Then he cut two dead sticks a -couple of feet in length, sharpened them at each end, impaled a -ptarmigan on each, and stuck the other sharpened end of the sticks in -the ground in such position that the birds were near enough to the -fire to broil without burning. - -"'Tis wonderful extravagant for each of us t' be eatin' a whole -pa'tridge," said he, as he sat down upon the seat of boughs Paul had -provided, "but we ain't been eatin' much lately, an' I finds myself -gettin' weak, an' I'm thinkin' we'll be hungry yet after we eats un, -for one pa'tridge with nothin' t' go with un ain't much." - -"I feel as though I could eat both of them myself. I wonder if I'll -ever get enough to eat again," said Paul. "I've been planning the -things I'm going to eat when I get home." - -While Dan turned the birds now and again they planned feasts and -talked of good things they had eaten and longed to eat again, until -Dan finally announced: - -"Well, they's done." - -"It was just enough to make me hungrier," declared Paul when the last -morsel had been eaten, even to the tender bones, and thoroughly -enjoyed, though they had no salt for seasoning. - -Dan reached over for the entrails, wound one upon the end of each -stick, and, handing Paul one of the sticks, began to broil his own -over the coals. - -"What you going to do with them?" asked Paul. - -"Eat 'em," announced Dan. "You remember th' way th' huskies done? I'm -thinkin' if they's good for huskies they's good for us." - -"I don't know," said Paul, hesitating. Then like one plunging into a -cold bath he followed Dan's example, remarking, as he watched the -swelling, sputtering things: "It's funny the way people change. When I -saw the Eskimos eat them I thought it was a terrible thing to do, but -it doesn't seem so bad now." - -"Dad says folks can eat most anything if they's hungry enough." - -"I guess he's right." - -"They're not so bad," said Dan, tasting an end of his. - -"They're really pretty good," asserted Paul, gingerly taking a -mouthful. - -"I was thinkin' we better not waste un. We'll have t' save th' little -grub we has in th' tent for a time when we'll need un more, an' be -livin' now on what we kills." - -It was a day of good fortune. On their return to camp they made a wide -detour, exploring a section that Dan had not yet visited, and -suddenly, while skirting a marsh in the center of which was a pond, -Dan grabbed Paul by the arm. - -"Geese!" he exclaimed. - -The pond was discovered to be a widening of a brook, flowing to the -southward to join their river. - -"Now we'll crawl up along th' willow brush, an' don't be shootin' till -I says to," directed Dan. "When I says 'shoot,' take th' nighest one -with one barrel an' th' next nighest with t' other barrel, an' be -steady, fer 't means grub. I'll give 'em bullets with th' rifle." - -Cautiously and silently they crawled foot by foot along the lee of the -willow bushes that lined the brook. Once Paul inadvertently broke a -twig and an old gander held up his head in alarm. They threw -themselves flat and lay like logs in the snow until the gander -assuming that he was mistaken in his premonition of danger, resumed -feeding. It was a moment of intense excitement for the young hunters. - -"Now," whispered Dan, when they had at length come abreast of the -geese, "an' be careful." - -Slowly they brought their guns to their shoulders, still lying flat on -the ground, and fired. - -Instantly there was a great commotion among the geese, which, instead -of rising and flying away, half ran on the surface of the water, -flapping their wings to help them in their retreat. - -The guns rang out again. Before Paul, in his excitement, could reload, -the game was quite out of range of his shotgun, but Dan with his rifle -fired several more shots after the retreating birds. - -Five geese lay upon the water when the fusillade was over, and the -boys hugged each other in an ecstasy of delight. - -"How'll we get them? They're away out in deep water," asked Paul. - -"I'll get un," said Dan, beginning to undress, "I'll go in for un." - -"Let me do it, Dan," suggested Paul. "You do all the hard and -disagreeable work." - -"Oh, I don't mind goin' in. 'Tain't so cold," declared Dan, who was -now stripped, and plunged fearlessly into the icy water. - -[Illustration: Fired several more shots after the retreating birds] - -It was but a moment's work to secure the geese, and Dan, standing -barefooted in the snow, donned his clothes as quickly as possible, -declaring the moment he was dressed that he "felt fine and warm." - -"What luck!" exclaimed Paul, lifting goose after goose to test its -weight. "We've got enough to last us a whole week." - -"'Tis not luck," remonstrated Dan, who never admitted that anything -came by mere luck. "Th' Lord were skimpin' our grub so's we'd be -careful of what we gets when we gets un, an' then He sends along th' -pa'tridges an' geese. Dad says 'tis th' Lord's way, when a feller's -doin' all he kin for hisself." - -"Anyhow we got the geese." - -The boys were in position to live very well now. They had no bread, -for scarcely enough flour remained for one meal, and this little flour -and a small bit of bacon were all that was left, save tea and salt, of -the provisions they had brought from the ship. - -The morning after the goose hunt two rabbits were found in Paul's -snares and he was greatly elated at his success, and on the same day -several ptarmigans and a black duck were killed by Dan, materially -increasing their stock of provisions. - -Then came a night of rain, and another morning found the land washed -clear of snow. The sky had cleared, and a strong, steady breeze sprang -up from the westward, as Dan had prophesied it would. Gradually under -this influence the ice pack began to loosen and move seaward. - -The boys returned early from their hunting trips on succeeding days -that Dan might devote the afternoons to repairs on the boat, that it -might be made as seaworthy as possible. The repairs completed, he -fitted a mast forward, and with the light tarpaulin improvised a sail. -He also provided a long stiff oar, which he fashioned with the axe, -explaining to Paul that it was to be used in the stern to propel and -steer the boat at times when the wind failed them, just as he had used -the small oar when they went ashore from the ice pan. - -Gradually Paul had learned to cook their simple meals of game. He -assumed this responsibility, provided fuel and attended to the -general camp duties, not only that Dan might be free during daylight -hours to devote his undivided attention to preparations for departure, -but because he wished to feel that he, too, was doing his full share -of the work. - -The weather had settled. By day the sun shone brilliantly, by night -the stars and aurora lighted the heavens. The ice continued to move. -The bight was soon quite free from it, and at length the sea itself -was so little obstructed that one day Dan announced it quite safe to -begin their voyage of exploration to the southward. - -Preparations for departure had curtailed their hunting hours, but -nevertheless they had four full days' provisions when they broke camp -and set sail in their frail craft. The wind was fair, and it was a -beautiful, perfect morning. Their hearts were full of hope and -expectancy, though they knew much less of the surrounding sea and -dismal coast than did Henry Hudson, the great explorer, when he was -set adrift upon the same waters by a mutinous crew nearly three -hundred years before. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -A NARROW ESCAPE - - -"Hurrah!" shouted Paul, as Dan trimmed the sail and it filled with -wind. "Hurrah! We're off!" - -"I'm hopin' th' wind'll breeze up a bit; an' she does, we'll be makin' -fine time," remarked Dan, pointing the boat for the open sea. "She's a -rare good sailin' craft." - -"Let me take the tiller, Dan. I can handle it, and I want to do -something. You manage the sail." - -"An' you wants," said Dan, surrendering the tiller and settling -comfortably amidships. "Head her just outside that p'int o' land," he -directed. - -"Isn't it fine to be moving!" exclaimed Paul. "But the old camping -place grew to seem homelike to me. Wasn't it cozy when we first landed -there from the ice, after we got our tent up and a fire started?" - -"Yes, 'twere wonderful snug an' fine, but I finds it a rare sight -better afloat, an' s'uthard bound." - -"Do you know, Dan, it gives me a sort of scarey feeling to think we're -out here alone in this little boat when there's not another boat in -sight, and likely there isn't another within hundreds of miles of us, -unless it's the _North Star_; and we know that no one lives on the -land. It's a queer sort of feeling--nothing but a great big wilderness -everywhere, and just us in it. But I'm glad to be here. I wonder what -there is below that point and over the hill?" - -"'Tis a wonderful bleak country, I'm thinkin', an' I'm wishin' we were -knowin' where th' fur traders is, an' where we're goin'." Dan produced -his harmonica as he spoke, drew it across his sleeve, and putting it -to his lips blew a chord or two. - -"It's because we don't know, I guess, and the uncertainty about it, -that makes it interesting to me. I feel like an explorer. It's simply -great to sail along and wonder all the time what we'll see next, and -no way of finding out till we get there. That makes it exciting and -romantic." - -"I don't know as 'tis very exciting," said Dan, removing the harmonica -from his lips, "but 'tis a wonderful sight better 'n stayin' around -camp, with winter nigh, an' 't would be better yet if th' ship came -cruisin' along t' pick us up--which she won't, as th' ice sure drove -she out." - -With this, and as if to dismiss the subject, he struck up one of his -favorite tunes, playing softly, and ceasing only long enough to say to -Paul: "A bit t' port. That's it, steady." - -The morning air was crisp and frosty. The sun illumined the eastern -heavens in a blaze of wondrous colors, and presently raised his face -above the glistening sea. Even the bleak coast, austere and rugged, -possessed a unique grandeur and compelling beauty. The wind sprang up -with the rising sun, and the little boat bowled along at a good speed, -upon a gentle swell. Now and again Dan would trim the sail, and give -an instruction to Paul, "Port lee a bit," or "Starb'rd a bit," and -return to his music. - -Paul was thinking of home, of his mother and father, and his -homecoming--some time. He had no doubt that he and Dan would extricate -themselves from the wilderness, for he had grown to have unbounded -faith in Dan's resourcefulness and ingenuity. He wondered what his -parents would say, when Mr. Remington returned without him, if Dan's -assurance that the ship could never have remained in the face of the -ice were correct. - -While he realized and regretted the anxiety his absence would cause -his parents, it did not occur to him that any one would believe that -he and Dan were drowned. He believed that his father would send a -vessel for them when the ice passed out of Hudson Bay the following -summer, and that in the meantime he and Dan would be quite comfortable -at some trading post which they should presently find. - -He was thrilled with the delights of adventure, now that any real -danger seemed past, and he made for himself pleasant pictures of his -return to school and the role of hero he would fill in the eyes of the -other fellows. - -Presently Dan ceased playing, and they chatted intermittently. Once a -great sea creature raised its back directly in front of them. - -"What's that?" asked Paul. - -"A white whale," answered Dan, as the thing sank, to appear again much -farther out to sea. - -At another time they passed several seals, and Paul wished to shoot at -them, but Dan advised: - -"'Tis rare hard t' hit un, an' if you did hit one an' kill un, she'd -sink before we could get un. An' we'll be needin' all th' cartridges," -so Paul did not shoot. - -The sun was close to the western horizon when, ravenously hungry, for -they had eaten nothing since breakfast, they ran into a little cove, -unloaded their belongings, hauled the boat to a safe position, and -made camp. They had kept steadily going all day, for Dan had been -unwilling to lose advantage of the fair wind, and had they gone ashore -to cook dinner it would have consumed at least an hour of valuable -time. - -"Th' days is growin' wonderful short," said Dan, "an' we'll have t' be -usin' all of the daylight when th' wind's fair an' good. 'Twill save -grub, too, if we eats only twice a day." - -During the four succeeding days they made indifferent progress. The -weather was glorious, but the wind for hours at a stretch died to a -dead calm, the sail hung slack, and to keep in motion they were -compelled to work at their stern oar, and progress by this means was -slow and tedious. - -They were very sparing of their provisions. A couple of geese were -killed and added to their store, but nothing else. Then came another -day with a good breeze, but when they went into camp that night they -had only a gull to divide between them for supper. It was an -unpromising shore for game, and Dan expressed himself of the belief -that it would be quite fruitless to hunt. - -"If we sees any place tomorrow that looks like a river, or a likely -place for huntin', we'll land an' try un," he commented as, very -hungry, they settled for the night. - -There was not a scrap to eat for breakfast. Paul declared he could eat -his shoes, and Dan facetiously advised that he fill up on water, the -one thing that was abundant. They set sail as the first light of dawn -appeared in the east. Paul shivered in the frosty atmosphere, and both -of the young voyagers sat despondently quiet, until the sun pushed his -big glowing face above the eastern waters, and seemed to laugh at -them. - -"Dad says, 'Keep a stiff upper lip, do th' best un can, an' she'll -work out all right,'" encouraged Dan, at length, breaking the silence. -"They ain't nothin' we can do but keep goin' an' watch out for game. -Th' Lord's been watchin' out for us right along, an' He's got His eye -on us now, I'm thinkin'. We ain't been lookin' much for grub. We been -thinkin' too much about gettin' on. An' we looks out, we'll be gettin' -grub before night. They's been chances t' kill grub every day, but we -been goin' right on an' not takin' un." - -"We'll have to get something pretty soon or we'll starve to death," -said Paul. "I wonder how long people can live without eating?" - -"I'm not knowin' just how long. Dad's been a week more 'n once -without eatin', an' he says 't were just makin' he a bit weak, but not -hurtin' he none." - -"I'm sure I never could stand it for a week." - -"Oh, yes, un could. Dad says 't is bad when folks gives up, an' thinks -they's goin' t' die after fastin' for a bit." - -"But we can't live unless we eat," insisted Paul. - -"No, but we can go a wonderful time without eatin' before we dies, if -we only thinks we can." - -The wind was rising. White caps were appearing upon the surface of the -sea, and presently the boat began now and again to ship water. - -"We'll have t' make shore th' first promisin' place," suggested Dan. -"We're sure in for a blow. There's a p'int ahead, and we'll make for -th' lee of un." - -The wind was in the northeast, and it drove the little craft before it -at a terrific rate. In an incredibly short time it had developed into -a tempest. The angry waters piled about them and tossed the boat -about upon the wave crests like a leaf. While Paul held the rudder Dan -lowered the sail, and they ran before the gale with bared mast. Dan -resumed the rudder and Paul baled out the water, working as he had -never worked before. - -"We'll never make it, Dan!" he shouted at length. "We'll swamp, sure!" - -"Oh, yes; we're gainin' on un," encouraged Dan. "We'll make un." - -Dan's face, however, was tense, and it was plain that he was not so -confident as his words seemed to indicate. - -They had almost passed the point when a great wave broke over them, -nearly swamping the boat, and leaving it half full of water, but they -made the point, and passed into less tempestuous waters before another -wave caught them. - -Even here the sea was as rough as the little boat could weather, for -the shore was not so well protected as it had seemed, and it was lined -with jagged rocks, making a landing impossible, for to have attempted -it would have resulted in the boat's smashing to pieces and perhaps -their being carried away before they could reach safety. - -Dan watched for an opening, as they paralleled the shore a safe -distance from it, and at length discovered a bit of gravelly beach -reaching down between high boulders. - -It was a difficult landing to make, but it was their only hope, and he -headed directly for the opening. - -"Get t' th' bow an' jump th' minute we strikes!" he shouted to Paul, -and Paul obeyed. - -For an instant it seemed that in spite of Dan's best effort they must -strike upon the rocks, the next instant the danger was past, the boat -drove hard upon the gravel, and both boys sprang ashore for their -lives, to escape a breaker which swept over the boat. - -One on either side they grasped the bow, and as another wave came -rolling in, pulled with all their might. Thus, aided by the force of -the water, the boat was drawn sufficiently high to permit them to -unload, bale out the water, and haul the boat to safety. - -"We made un all right," remarked Dan, when everything was beyond -danger. - -"Yes," said Paul, "but it was a narrow escape." - -"'T were that," admitted Dan. "'T were wonderful close we was t' bein' -swamped." - -The boys themselves and all their things were drenching wet. Not a -stick of driftwood was to be found. The wind was bitterly cold. They -had eaten nothing since the previous evening, and then only the -unsatisfying gull, and the barren coast was destitute of game. But -they had escaped death, and were thankful for their deliverance. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -A DEATH STRUGGLE - - -"We'd better open th' outfit up, an' let th' wind be dryin' un while -we hunts grub," suggested Dan, as he unfolded a blanket and proceeded -to spread it upon the ground, after they had made a brief survey of -their immediate surroundings. - -"I'm so dead hungry and empty I can hardly move," said Paul, sitting -impotently on a rock. "I feel weak, too. The scare, and pulling on the -boat, just about knocked the ginger out of me." - -"We'll be findin' timber clost by, an' they's a good chanst t' kill -some grub before night. 'T ain't noon yet. We'll start soon's we get -th' things spread, an' I'm thinkin' we'll be good an' snug by night," -encouraged Dan. - -"It's all my fault that we ever got into this scrape, Dan," Paul -remarked dejectedly, as he arose to assist in unpacking the wet -things. "If I'd listened to you, and done as I promised, we'd have -been safe on the ship now, instead of starving to death out here." - -"They's no tellin'," Dan consoled. "I'm thinkin' 'twould have been the -same anyhow. Maybe 'twas meant we be goin' adrift. Leastways 'tain't -no use botherin' about un now. Dad say what's done is done, an' -'tain't no use botherin' our heads about a thing after she's done an' -past. What's past might as well be forgot. Dad says 'tain't what was, -but what is, as counts. He says: 'If you weren't doin' things right -yesterday, 'tain't goin' t' help none t' bother about un t'day, but -just do th' things you has to do t'day right, an' do un th' best un -can, an' what you weren't doin' right yesterday won't count ag'in -you.'" - -"Maybe you're right, Dan, and I may as well quit worrying about it. -One thing's certain. When I promise to do anything at a certain time -again, I'm going to do it. And I'm going to do the best I can now, and -stop complaining. I wish I could do things as well as you do. You know -how to do everything." - -"They's a wonderful lot o' things I'm not knowin' how t' do. I'm -knowin' how t' sail a boat an' do things around camp, because I always -had t' do un. 'Twon't be long till you knows how t' do un too, an' -then you'll know a lot more 'n I do. Where you lives you had t' learn -t' do other kinds o' things, an' them things you knows how t' do I -don't know nothin' about. Dad says learnin' t' do things is like -plants growin'. 'If you plants a turnip seed t'day,' says he, 'you -can't pull a turnip from un th' same day. Th' turnip's got t' have -time t' grow after th' seed's planted, an' you can't learn t' do -things what's worth knowin' how t' do,' says he, 'in one day. You got -t' keep learnin' a little about un every day till you learns how t' do -un.' You learn about doin' things in camp wonderful quick, Paul." - -"Thank you, Dan. You always encourage me. I'd have given up long ago -if it hadn't been for you." - -"Oh, no, you wouldn't. You'd have been findin' out how t' do things. -You got a rare lot o' pluck." - -By this time the things were spread where wind and sun could dry them, -with boulders placed upon them as a precaution against the wind -carrying them away. - -"Now," said Dan, shouldering his rifle, "we'll be goin'. 'Twill be -best t' bring your shotgun an' plenty o' shells, an' I'm thinkin' -we'll find grub, an' be feelin' better when we makes camp this -evenin'." - -Three quarters of a mile inland lay a ridge of low, barren hills. Dan, -in the lead, directed their course toward it, and set a good pace, -with Paul, who was learning the trick of walking over rough, untrailed -country with less effort than formerly, close at his heels. - -Paul bore small resemblance now to the sallow, listless youth who in -July climbed the ladder to the deck of the _North Star_, lying in -Sydney harbor. His face was brown and ruddy, his eyes bright, his -limbs lithe, his step springy, and he had grown eager and alert. Both -he and Dan were, however, now conscious of a growing weakness, the -natural result of insufficient food for several days, and particularly -due to their unbroken fast of several hours. - -At the foot of the ridge they encountered a growth of straggling -spruce brush. Above the brush, near the summit, the hills were of a -reddish hue, in marked contrast to the surrounding gray. This red -coloring, they presently discovered upon ascending the ridge, was -given the hills by masses of red berries, half the size of ordinary -cranberries but resembling them in flavor and appearance. - -The wind swept the ridge with terrific fury, and was very cold, but -they fell upon their knees, uncomfortable as it was, and partially -satisfied their hunger with the fruit. - -"They ain't so bad," remarked Dan, "but they's so sour I'm thinkin' we -better not eat too many t' onct." - -"They are pretty sour," admitted Paul, reluctantly rising to follow -Dan, "but they taste mighty good." - -"If we don't kill nothin' we can eat more of un when we comes back. -But I'm thinkin' we'll find pa'tridges along here, feedin' on un. -Pa'tridges is wonderful fond o' berries, an' they'll not be missin' a -feedin' ground like this. Th' kind that takes t' th' hills is bigger'n -better'n them that sticks t' th' willers. They both turns white in -winter, an' they's both better 'n th' spruce pa'tridges that sticks t' -th' spruce timber." - -"Maybe you better take the shotgun, Dan. You can shoot quicker than I -can, and if we see any partridges we've just got to get them." - -"You shoots fine, but I knows better how t' look for th' pa'tridges, -an' I'll take un. With th' wind they's like t' be wonderful wild." - -Dan passed his light rifle over to Paul, and with Paul's shotgun -proceeded to the top of the ridge, keeping a careful lookout, as he -walked, while Paul followed a little distance in the rear. On the -summit Dan halted until Paul joined him. - -"'Tis fine," said Dan; "look now." - -Below them lay a wooded valley, the green spruce trees splotched with -golden yellow patches, where groves of tamaracks had taken on their -autumnal coloring. To the westward a small lake shimmered in the -sunlight, and leading to the southward from it could be traced the -winding course of a creek which was presently lost among barren hills -beyond. - -"Isn't it fine!" exclaimed Paul. - -"An' 'tis like t' be a game country." - -"Oh, I hope so!" - -"Now I'll be leadin' ag'in, an' you follows a bit behind." - -A little way down the slope Dan stopped again, and when Paul overtook -him, pointed to the berries at his feet. - -"See th' signs? They's been feedin' right here. Just over there they -been wallerin' in th' sand." - -He went forward again noiselessly, carefully scanning the receding -slope ahead. Presently he began a more cautious advance, halting now -and again and then advancing. - -All at once, quick as a flash he threw the gun to his shoulder and -fired--bang! bang!--both barrels almost as one. Quickly he dropped two -fresh shells in the gun, and running forward fired both barrels again. -As he did so a great flock of ptarmigans, with a noise like the wind, -rose and flew far away, apparently alighting at the edge of the timber -below them. - -Paul hurried down to Dan, who was gathering up the fruits of his hunt. -There were eleven fat birds, now nearly white, in their winter dress. - -Paul, in happy thankfulness, could scarcely control his emotion. - -"It seems almost too good to be true, Dan!" he said finally. - -"I finds un fine too," admitted Dan. "They was wonderful tame for a -windy day, an' just runs instead of flyin' after I fires th' first -shots. That gives me time t' load an' shoot ag'in." - -"But how did you get so many with just four shots? Oh, Dan, I believe -it's just as you always say; it was Providence sent us here and let -you get so many." - -"'Twere that. On th' ground I lines 'em up, an' knocks over two or -three to a shot, except th' last shots, when they flies away, I only -gets one on th' wing. 'Tis hard t' get more 'n one when they's flyin'. -Th' Lord just kept 'em on th' ground!" - -"And now we can eat again!" exclaimed Paul. - -"Yes, an' th' finest kind o' eatin' too. I'll be lookin' for th' -flock, where they flies to, an' try for another shot, while you -plucks two, an' cooks un," suggested Dan, and when they reached the -edge of the timber he directed: - -"Go straight in here till you comes t' th' creek, an' put on your fire -there, an' I'll be findin' you." - -Entering the timber, Paul found himself sheltered from the wind, in -pleasant contrast to the open hills. Scarcely two hundred yards from -where he parted from Dan he came upon the creek. Though he had no axe -he made his fire without difficulty, profiting by the wood lore -learned from Dan. He had also learned the knack of plucking birds -quickly, and in a little while had the two ptarmigans, impaled upon -sticks, broiling before the blaze, while he basked in the warmth, and -filled in his time plucking the remaining birds. - -Dan had not yet put in his appearance when Paul decided that the -ptarmigans were quite done. He removed them from the fire, and with a -strong exercise of self-restraint waited for Dan to join him in the -repast. Presently, however, hunger got the better of him. - -"There isn't any use waiting for Dan," he finally said to himself. "I -simply can't stand it another minute," and he ate one of the birds -with a relish beyond anything, he thought, that he had ever before -experienced. The temptation to eat the other was very strong but he -turned his back upon it, and, lying down, was presently dozing. - -How long he had been asleep he did not know, but at length he opened -his eyes, suddenly wide awake, with a consciousness that something was -watching him. The fire had died to smouldering coals, and he was cold, -but fear of the watcher impelled him to remain motionless and still, -while he peered into the shadow of the timber. - -Presently he discovered in a clump of bushes on the opposite side of -the creek a pair of glowing amber-green eyes. They were malicious, -piercing eyes, and Paul's heart stood still for a moment. Then he -remembered what Dan had often told him: "They ain't nothin' in this -country t' be scared of unless you comes on a big pack o' wolves, an' -they's mostly cowards," and his courage returned. - -Very cautiously he reached for Dan's rifle, and with exceeding care -sighted it upon a spot just between the glistening eyes. Then -steadying his nerves, and holding his breath for an instant, he fired. - -Simultaneously with the explosion something sprang into the air and -then fell back upon the ground. Whatever the thing was, he had hit it. -Highly excited, he dropped the rifle, and regardless of the icy waters -forded the creek, dashed up the opposite bank, and without doubt that -the animal was quite dead, ran directly in, incautiously, toward the -clump of bushes where it had fallen. - -Suddenly, when less than ten feet from the bushes, a great snarling, -malevolent cat-like beast appeared at the edge of the cover, directly -before him. - -Paul stopped, stupefied at the unexpected appearance. The animal -crouched for a spring. It was too late to retreat. Paul's heart stood -still. A cold chill ran up his spine. He had left his rifle at the -fire, and was quite defenseless, save for the hunting knife at his -belt. He grabbed the knife, and as the beast leaped toward him -instinctively threw up his arms to guard his face. - -Its fore paws landed squarely upon his shoulders. With one hand he -grasped its throat, and with a tremendous, unnatural strength pushed -it from him, while with the other hand he slashed blindly with his -knife at its body. He could feel its sharp claws tearing his flesh. -Then the earth began to reel, darkness came, and he fell unconscious. - -[Illustration: He could feel its sharp claws tearing his flesh] - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -FACTOR MACTAVISH OF FORT RELIANCE - - -When Paul opened his eyes he felt very damp and uncomfortable. As his -vision cleared he beheld Dan standing over him with his hat full of -water, which Dan was undoubtedly about to dash into his face. - -"Don't Dan! Don't throw that on me!" he plead weakly. "What you -wetting me down that way for?" - -"You comin' to all right?" asked Dan. "You fainted, an' I were sousin' -you t' bring you to. I'm thinkin' I better souse you this un. 'T will -do no harm." - -"Oh, Dan----" - -But Paul's protest came too late, and he received the contents of the -hat full in his face. - -"There," said Dan with satisfaction, "I'm thinkin' that'll be enough, -an' bring you to, all right. How you feelin'?" - -"All right now." His voice was stronger, but still weak. "That thing -'most killed me, didn't it?" - -"You're a long way from dyin' yet, but you were havin' a rare fine -fight with th' varmint, an' when you kills un you faints. Feelin' -stronger? I'm thinkin' a bit more water'll be helpin' you, now." - -"No! No, Dan!" plead Paul, trying to rise, but still too weak. "Don't -throw any more water on me. I'm soaked and freezing with it now." - -"Well, maybe you're havin' enough," said Dan, uncertainly. "Dad says -th' best thing t' bring a feller around when he gets done up is plenty -o' water." - -"What kind of an animal was that? When it came leaping at me I thought -my time had come." - -"'Twere a lynx, an' a wonderful big un, too, an' nice an' fat. He'll -make fine eatin'. How'd he come t' fight? I never heard o' one -fightin' before. They always runs." - -"Why, I shot him, and thought I'd killed him, and when I came over -without the rifle he jumped on me." - -Dan examined the bloody carcass of the great lynx lying by Paul's -side. - -"There's where your bullet comes," said he, pointing at a furrow along -the top of the head. "'T were breakin' th' skin an' stunnin' he. He -just comes to, like you're doin' now, when you gets over, an' bein' -sort o' cornered he jumps on you. That's th' way of all beasts. -Anything'll turn on a feller when 'tis cornered." - -"I thought I was a goner, and I don't understand how I ever killed it. -Do I seem to be hurt much? I feel sore all over." - -"Not so bad. Scratched a bit, but 't ain't no account. You sticks your -knife in his heart. Feelin' like gettin' up now?" - -"I'll try." - -With Dan's assistance Paul rose to his feet, but he felt very weak, -and uncertain on his legs. - -"I never can walk back to the boat, Dan." - -"We'll not be goin' back t' th' boat this evenin'. There, keep a good -holt of me, an' we'll cross th' creek an' put a fire on. You're -shiverin' with th' cold." - -Dan piloted the tottering Paul to a comfortable place beside the -embers of Paul's former fire, relighted the fire and presently had a -cheerful blaze. Then he broke some spruce boughs for a couch, and when -Paul said he was quite comfortable and feeling "bully good again, -except for the sore spots," Dan spread out before him a porcupine, a -big Arctic hare and five more ptarmigans. - -"That's what I were gettin' on th' hunt," he announced proudly. "Now -what you thinkin' o' un?" - -"Dan, that's just fine. Why, we can live like kings now. I suppose -that's a porcupine, isn't it? And of course it's good to -eat--everything seems to be good to eat in this country." - -"Yes, they's rare fine eatin'. I likes un as well as deer's meat. Now -I'll have a snack an' then pack th' tent an' beddin' in here. I feels -wonderful gaunt." - -"Dan, you're a wonder! Here you've been tramping after game all this -time, and stopping to help me, without a thing to eat since -yesterday." - -"If a feller gets game he's got t' keep after un when he sees un," -commented Dan, between mouthfuls of the now cold ptarmigan Paul had -cooked for him. "An' 'tis tastin' wonderful fine, now I gets un. We'll -be havin' a good feed when I gets back, an' we'll find th' tent rare -snug in this timber, free from th' gale. She's blowin' wonderful stiff -outside." - -"I'm strong enough now, I guess, to go along and help carry the -things. I don't want you to do it alone, Dan. You do all the hard -things," and Paul attempted to rise. - -"You'll be stayin' where you is," objected Dan, forcing Paul back upon -his couch. "'Tis but a light load for me. I'm used t' packin', an' -I'll not be long." - -"I do feel pretty weak," admitted Paul, settling on his couch again. - -When Dan returned an hour later the sun had set. He brought with him -the tent, blankets, cooking utensils and stove, but declared they were -not heavy. He declined Paul's assistance in pitching the tent, and -working with the skill of a woodsman soon had all in readiness for -the night, a fire in the stove, and three ptarmigans stewing in the -kettle. - -"They's a wonderful rough sea runnin'," he remarked when he finally -sat down. "I'm thinkin' we'll not be gettin' out o' here for two days -yet. Th' wind's shifted t' th' west'ard an' she's blowin' a gale, an' -she's kickin' up a sea as won't settle in a day after th' blow stops." - -Dan's weather prophecy proved quite correct, and three days passed -before they were permitted by weather and sea to break camp and resume -their journey. Paul's wounds were not serious, though the deep -scratches he had received were painful and troublesome. However, he -was able while they remained ashore to attend to camp duties, while -Dan hunted. - -Under Dan's direction he roasted the four quarters of lynx and the -porcupine, together with another porcupine Dan had secured, as a -reserve supply of food. The porcupines were placed upon the coals and -the quills and hair thoroughly singed off, after which they were -scraped. This done, a big log fire was built. On either side and -slightly in front of the fire a stake was driven, and a pole extending -from stake to stake was tied in position. From the pole, and directly -before the fire, the porcupines and quarters of lynx were so -suspended, each at the end of a string, that they hung just high -enough to clear the ground. By occasionally twirling the string upon -which each was hung, every portion of the roasting meat was exposed to -the heat and thoroughly cooked. - -Paul found Dan's estimate of porcupine not at all overdrawn. He -declared it not unlike, and even superior to, roasted young pig; and -the lynx he insisted was equal to the finest veal. - -Dan's hunting during this period brought them, besides the second -porcupine, forty more ptarmigans and three snowshoe rabbits. Thus when -they broke camp they were not only well fed but were well supplied -with provisions for several days. - -It was early dawn of a keen, cold morning when they turned toward the -boat with the outfit on their backs. The frost crackled under foot, -and when the sun broke out, as they were crossing the berry-covered -ridge, it set the frost-covered earth sparkling and scintillating, -transforming it into a fairy world strewn with diamonds. - -From the hilltop they could see the sea stretching far away to the -eastward in a silvery, shimmering sheen. - -"Isn't it immense!" exclaimed Paul, as they sat beside their packs for -a brief rest. "I've learned to love the sea, in spite of the rough way -it's knocked us about, and I'll be mighty glad to be afloat again." - -"'Tis wonderful fine," admitted Dan, rising to lead the way down. - -A gentle swell was running, and with a good sailing breeze from the -northwest they made excellent progress. To their astonishment, -however, they discovered early in the afternoon a long coast line, -just discernible, directly east of them. - -"Now this must be a bay we're runnin' into," suggested Dan when this -new coast was discovered, "and I'm thinkin' 't will be best to cross -un, for if we runs t' th' head of un we'll be losin' a rare lot o' -time." - -Accordingly they took an easterly course, and with sunset made a -comfortable landing and cheerful camp, where driftwood in plenty was -to be found for their stove. It was a cozy, snug camp, and a savory -supper of hot broth and boiled birds, added to the satisfaction of -having accomplished a good day's voyage to the southward, made them -very jolly and happy. - -When they had eaten Dan produced his harmonica and blew a few notes. -Suddenly he ceased the music and listened intently, then springing to -his feet left the tent. Paul, aware that something of importance had -happened, was close at his heels. Outside Dan listened again, keeping -silence for several minutes. Then he asked excitedly: - -"Does you hear un? Does you hear un?" - -"Yes, what is it?" asked Paul, also excited. "Wolves?" - -"Dogs! 'Tis husky dogs! They's huskies clost by t' th' east'ard, an' -them's their dogs howlin'! Hear un!" - -They were silent again for a moment, to be certain that there was no -mistake, and as the distant "How-oo, how-oo, how-oo" came up from the -eastward, Paul shouted: - -"Hurrah! Hurrah!" and then threw his cap in the air in an ecstasy of -delight. - -"They's down t' th' east'ard, an' we'll sure see un tomorrow," said -Dan. "When I first hears un in th' tent, I were thinkin' 't were -wolves howlin', they howls so like wolves. But 't ain't wolves, 'tis -sure husky dogs." - -"And tomorrow we'll meet people again, even if they are huskies, and -our troubles will be ended! Oh, Dan, I'm so thankful I can hardly -contain myself!" - -They sat and talked about home and the hope of the morrow until late, -and even when they did lie down excitement and anticipation kept them -still talking and awake until at last they fell into restless sleep. - -Long before daybreak Dan arose very quietly for a look at the weather -and to light the fire, but quiet as he was Paul heard him. "Is it time -to get up, Dan?" he asked. - -"'T will soon be time," answered Dan. "I wakes an' gets up, for we're -wantin' t' be early, sure, so's t' be fair ready t' start soon's we -can see." - -"I can hardly wait to get away!" exclaimed Paul. - -Breakfast was eaten in darkness, and the boat loaded and ready for the -start before the first hint of dawn appeared in the east. In spite of -their impatience Dan deemed it unwise, however, to venture upon the -unknown waters until it was sufficiently light to avoid submerged -reefs and treacherous bars, and for nearly an hour they were compelled -to walk up and down the shore to keep warm, for the morning was -stinging cold. At length Dan announced: - -"We may's well be goin' now. 'T is fair light." - -They hugged the shore closely, turning the boat into every cove and -bight, that there might be no possibility of missing the Eskimos for -whom they were looking. - -"There!" said Dan at length. "There they is!" - -Deep down in a cove, in a shelter of a towering ledge of rocks, stood -a skin tupek of the Eskimos. Two men and some women and children, who -had discovered the approaching boat even before Dan had discovered -them, were watching them curiously from the beach. - -The welcome was most hospitable, as the welcome of Eskimos always is, -everyone shaking hands with Paul and Dan, laughing and greeting them -with "Oksunae." - -Presently they learned that one of the men could speak broken English, -and Dan related to him, making him understand with some difficulty, -their adventures. - -"Kablunok soon," said he, "close." - -"No understand. What's 'kablunok'?" Dan asked. - -"Kablunok, white man. Very close." - -"Where is un?" - -"Post; there," pointing south. "Very close. Mr. MacTavish." - -The Eskimos indicated a direction apparently inland from their -position. - -"No water?" asked Dan. "We walk?" - -[Illustration: The Eskimos were watching them curiously from the -beach] - -"No; water plenty. Big point," explained the Eskimo, drawing on the -sand two parallel lines, rounded together at one end. "Land," he -explained. "We here," indicating a point on one side of it, "post -here," indicating another point almost directly opposite. "Umiak, -boat, sail round." - -This made the situation clear to Dan. The Eskimo encampment was on one -side of a long, narrow peninsula, while on the opposite side of the -peninsula was located a trading post, and by sailing around the -extreme point of the peninsula they would presently reach the post. - -The lads were anxious to proceed at once, but the Eskimos insisted -upon their drinking some hot tea which one of the women had prepared. -They then said adieu to their friends, and with light hearts and high -expectations resumed their journey, which they felt was now, with all -its hardships and uncertainties, soon to end. - -Early in the forenoon the sun disappeared behind thickening gray -clouds, and before midday, when they rounded the point, an early -storm was threatening. But the young wanderers gave small thought to -this, for presently they were to reach the post, where they would be -secure from wintry blast and driving snow. In their impatience the -time passed tediously, and dusk was settling when at last Dan -exclaimed: - -"There she is! There's th' post!" - -Lying back from the shore were the low white buildings of Fort -Reliance, a famous post of the Hudson Bay Company. Smoke was rising -from its chimneys, and as they looked lights began to flicker in the -windows. Behind the post rose rugged, barren hills of storm-scoured -rocks. On a flat bit of ground to the westward of the buildings Indian -campfires lighted the thickening gloom, and in dark silhouette Indian -tepees stood out against the sky line. But despite its austere setting -and bleak surroundings, old Fort Reliance appealed to the two -expectant, weather-beaten youths as the most attractive haven on -earth. - -It was quite dark when the bow of their boat finally grated upon the -gravelly beach below the post. The landing was deserted, save by -skulking, sinister-looking wolf dogs which prowled about, snarling at -one another, ever ready to attack the unwary man or beast that fell in -their way. - -The first flakes of the coming snowstorm were falling as the boys -sprang ashore and made fast their boat. This secured, they followed a -well-beaten path to the door of a long, low building whose cheerfully -lighted windows bespoke warmth and comfort within. On the threshold -they hesitated for a moment, then Dan knocked boldly upon the door. - -"Come in," a voice called. - -Paul took the lead, and entering they found themselves in a large -square room, lighted by kerosene lamps and heated by a big wood stove -which crackled a cheery welcome. Next the walls were several desks, -two of them occupied by young men busily engaged with their pens. - -"Why, hello," said the one near the door. "I thought it was one of the -men. Are you up from York factory?" - -"No," answered Paul, "we came from the north. We got lost in the fog, -and our ship got away without us." With this introduction he told the -story briefly of their experiences. "And," continued he, "we want to -put up here until a ship comes for us. I suppose that won't be until -next summer, but my father will send it then, and he'll pay your -bill." - -"You'll have to talk with Mr. MacTavish, the master of the post, about -that. He'll be in soon. Sit down." - -Presently the door opened, and a tall, broad-shouldered, powerful man, -with full gray beard and shrewd eyes, entered. The young man stepped -smartly forward. - -"These young fellows went adrift from their ship somewhere to the -northward, sir," said he. "They've worked their way down here in a -small boat, and they want to be put up for the winter." - -Paul and Dan had respectfully risen to their feet. Mr. MacTavish's -appearance as he surveyed them was anything but reassuring. There was -a certain hard look about his eyes and mouth that was repelling. His -attitude was not cordial, even before he spoke. - -"Do you want to buy provisions?" - -"No," answered Paul, "we want to put up here for the winter." - -"This isn't a hotel; it's a Hudson Bay trading post. If you want to -pitch your tent, one of the men will point you out a good place, and -you can buy provisions at the shop." - -"But," said Paul, his heart sinking, "we haven't any money," and he -proceeded again to relate with detail the story of their adventures. -"My father is rich," he added, "and he'll pay all our expenses when -the ship comes for us. You must have heard of him. He is John -Densmore, president of the Atlantic and Pacific Steamship Company, and -the head of a lot of other big companies." - -"I tell you this isn't a hotel, young man, and even if your father is -all you say, it's no recommendation to me. I don't like you Americans. -But to be plain, I don't believe your yarn. I know your type. You've -deserted from a whaler, and you probably stole the boat you have. I -can harbor neither thieves nor deserters," and he turned toward one of -the desks in dismissal of them. - -For a moment Paul was quite stupefied with the affront. Then his pride -and a sense of deep injustice roused his antagonism, and, stepping -before the bulky figure of Factor MacTavish, he exclaimed: - -"Do you mean to call us deserters and thieves? You're the head of this -place and you can do as you want to about giving us a place to stay, -but you can't call us thieves and deserters. I want you to understand -I'm a gentleman, and I won't be spoken to in this way by one like -you." - -With this outbreak Paul's lips began to tremble, and he was at the -point of tears. Factor MacTavish was taken wholly by surprise. He was -accustomed to browbeat and insult the natives and people under him, -and none ever ventured a retort. Here was a different type of person. -He had expected a cringing appeal to follow his cruel charge. But -instead this youth, placing honor and good name above any -consideration of personal comfort and safety, boldly defied him. Here -certainly was a youth of spirit and of courage, and he admired the -characteristics. The big man looked down at Paul in silent, amused -astonishment. This attitude angered Paul almost beyond restraint. His -eyes flashed, he doubled his fists, and swallowing his emotion, -blurted out: - -"I feel like striking you! You're a big coward to speak to two boys -that way!" - -[Illustration: "You are a big coward"] - -Dan had until now kept silent. Paul's speech quite dumbfounded him for -a moment, but quickly aware that his friend was thoroughly in earnest -in the threat, and fearing that he would actually attack the big man, -he grabbed Paul's arm and drew him back. - -"Don't strike un, Paul! Don't strike un!" Dan exclaimed. "'T will do -no good. He knows what he says ain't true, an' we know it ain't true. -Dad says when a feller knows he's right, an' he knows th' Lord knows -he's right, it don't matter what folks says or thinks." - -Factor MacTavish laughed, and in the laugh was a note of good humor. -The defiance of these two lads scarcely reaching to his shoulder -amused him, and he could not but admire the display of courage in the -face of odds. - -"Well, you've got some spunk, and I like spunk. You may stay over -night. It's snowing, and you'd better go to the men's house for -tonight. We always put up travelers one night. James," to one of the -clerks, "show them the men's house." - -"We won't stay a single night unless you take back what you said about -our being thieves and deserters," broke in Paul, his defiant attitude -unabated. "We're honest, and we're not beggars crawling after you." - -"I don't know whether you're honest or not, or anything about you. You -may be what you say you are. Now, if you want to accept a night's -lodging, it's open to you, and I'll talk to you tomorrow. James, show -these boys to the men's house." - -"You say you were wrong in calling us thieves?" insisted Paul. - -"Perhaps I was. We won't talk about it now," and he turned to one of -the desks to put an end to the discussion. - -"We'll take that for an apology," said Paul, somewhat mollified. -"Thank you." - -James, the clerk, introduced them to the men's house, and presently -they had their things under cover, secure from the now heavily falling -snow, and ate their supper of cold roast lynx from their own larder, -supplemented by a pot of hot tea generously donated by the half-breed -Indian cook. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -WINTER SHELTER AND HARD WORK - - -"Paul," said Dan, after the half-breed cook who brought them the tea -had returned to his preparation of supper, "you're wonderful brave. -I'm thinkin' now you would have hit th' master if I hadn't been -interferin'." - -"I'm afraid I would, and then he'd have pitched us both out," admitted -Paul. "It wasn't because I was brave, though, but I was mad all -through when he called us thieves. Think of it!" - -"'T were brave o' you. I'm thinkin' you'd fight anything if 't were -called for. But when we gets on th' ice pan, first off, I were -misjudgin' you; you seemed scared and I were thinkin' you timid. -You're a rare lot braver 'n me." - -"No, I'm not, Dan." - -"Yes you is. See th' way you fit th' lynx, an' killed un, too. An' -th' way you stands up t' that man is sure wonderful." - -"I had to fight the lynx; it made me. And that man's a big coward. -What do you suppose he's going to do with us? Turn us out in the snow -to starve or freeze to death? I feel as though I'd like to punch him -now!" And Paul clenched his fists. "Called us thieves! Why, Dan, I -never had any reason to steal, and you wouldn't take a pin that didn't -belong to you." - -"Neither of us would steal, an' I'm thinkin' he knows un well enough." - -"What shall we do if he turns us out?" - -"'Tis hard t' say. I'm thinkin' we'll be goin' back in th' bush, an' -stop t' hunt when we finds a good place." - -The wind had risen to a tempest, and it shrieked and howled around the -building now in a way that made the boys appreciate the snug warmth of -the shelter, and led Dan to remark: - -"We needs clothes. We'll be sure freezin' t' death without un, an' th' -cold weather comin' on." - -Somewhere outside a bell clanged several strokes. Presently the door -opened, and three men, shaking snow from their caps and stamping it -from their feet, entered. - -"'Tis a wild nicht," said one, a big, grizzly bearded fellow, after -they had formally greeted Paul and Dan. "Ye arrived just in time, -laddies. Are ye up from York Factory?" - -"No," answered Paul, "we came from the north." - -"And how, now, could that be? The ship's away this lang time." - -Paul explained briefly how they had gone adrift, and their subsequent -adventures, up to the time of meeting Factor MacTavish. - -"My name," he added, "is Paul Densmore, and my friend is Dan Rudd." - -"I'm glad t' meet ye lads. My name is Tammas Ferguson, and this is -Sam'l Hogart, and this Amos Tupper," introducing his companions. - -During this conversation and ceremony the men were washing and -preparing for supper, and as they sat down Amos invited: - -"Set in to the tyble, and 'ave a bite to heat." - -"Thank you, we've eaten," answered Paul. - -"Coom, laddies, and have a bite mair," urged Tammas. "'T will do ye no -harm this cowld nicht." - -Chuck, the half-breed cook, at this juncture placed a plate piled high -with bread upon the table, and this offered a temptation too great to -resist. They were longing for bread above all things in the world, and -with a "Thank you" they took the seats assigned them without further -objection. - -"Ye'll be bidin' wi' us the winter, and ye must no be backward," -encouraged Tammas. - -They were not in the least backward. They ate a great deal of Chuck's -indifferent, soggy bread, sopped in black molasses, and thought it -delicious, and each drank at least three cups of strong tea. - -"And did ye see the master?" asked Tammas when supper was over and all -were seated about the hot stove. - -"Yes," answered Paul, "and he told us we could stay only tonight." - -"Did he say that now?" - -"'E needs men. 'E's short'anded, and 'e needs more men," broke in -Amos. "Tomorrow 'e'll be hengaging you." - -"There's no doot o' that. So don't worry, lads, aboot the morrow," -encouraged Tammas. - -The men filled their pipes with tobacco cut from black plugs, and -chatted with each other and the boys, whom they drew hospitably into -their group. Dan played several airs upon his harmonica, to their -great delight, and Paul described the wonders of New York, which Amos -always endeavored to discount with descriptions of what he considered -the greater wonders of London. - -When bedtime finally came, Tammas stepped out of doors for "a look at -the weather." - -"'Tis an awfu' nicht," he announced upon his return. "'Tis fortunate -you lads made post as ye did. Ye'd ha' perished in the cowld and snow -of this nicht." - -Paul and Dan spread their blankets on the floor, and very thankful -they were for the shelter. Outside the wind howled dismally, and -dashed the snow against the windows. - -Morning brought no abatement of the storm. If possible the snow fell -more thickly and the wind blew more fiercely. The office building, ten -yards from the door of the men's house, could scarcely be made out, -and the boys rejoiced anew at their safety. - -Breakfast was eaten by lamplight. Tammas insisted that the lads join -in the meal, and when the bell clanged to call the men to work, he -admonished: - -"If the master is hard, and says ye canna' remain, coom to me at the -smithy. I'll ne'er be seein' ye turned out in this awfu' storm, an' -neither will Sam'l or Amos. If there's no ither way, we'll pay for -your keep." - -"Aye, that we will," assented both Amos and Samuel. - -"Thank you," said Paul. "If you do, my father will pay you back." - -"The master's apt to be 'ard, but stand up to 'im. 'E likes men with -grit to stand up and face 'im," advised Amos, as the three went out to -their work. - -"Well, those are men with hearts, and true friends, and even if they -are rough looking, they're gentlemen," remarked Paul, as the door -closed. - -"'T ain't clothes or money as makes a man," said Dan. "Dad says 'tis -th' heart under th' shirt." - -They dreaded the meeting with David MacTavish, the factor, and for -half an hour they hesitated to face the ordeal. - -"But they ain't no use puttin' un off," suggested Dan, finally, after -they had discussed at some length the probable outcome of the coming -interview. "What we has t' do, we has t' do, an' th' sooner 'tis done -th' sooner 'tis over. An' you knows wonderful well, Paul, how t' talk -t' he." - -"I'm not afraid of him," declared Paul, working up his courage. "Let's -go now and see if he's in the office." - -Factor MacTavish was in his office, busy with accounts, when they -entered, but for full ten minutes he ignored their presence. Finally -looking up he said, in a much pleasanter tone than that of the -previous evening: - -"Come here, boys." - -They stepped up to his desk. - -"How did you pass the night?" he asked. - -"Very comfortably, thank you," answered Paul. - -"I've been thinking about you fellows, and I've decided to let you -remain at the post and work for your living. We're shorthanded, and -it's mighty lucky for you that we are, for we can't keep hangers-on -and idlers around here. You--what is your name?" - -"Paul Densmore." - -"You go over to the blacksmith's shop, and help Thomas Ferguson, and -do whatever he wants you to do. And you other fellow, what's your -name?" - -"Dan'l Rudd, sir." - -"You can help Amos Tupper in the cooper shop." - -"Yes, sir." - -"When they haven't anything for you to do, there's plenty of wood to -saw and split, and enough to keep you busy. Now get out." - -Then Paul and Dan turned to go. - -"Hold on! You'll stay in the men's house with the others. Are those -the only clothes you have?" - -"All except some underclothes," answered Paul. - -"Well, they'll not be enough for winter. James," to the chief clerk, -"have adikeys made for these fellows, and some duffel socks and -deerskin moccasins, and a pair of mittens for each. Now if you fellows -prove yourselves useful you can stay here for the winter, and if you -don't I'll kick you both out of the post. You may go." - -It was an effort for Paul to restrain himself from making a defiant -reply, but he realized in time that this might get them into trouble. -He felt incensed that his word had not been taken, when he promised -that his father would pay his own and Dan's expenses. He was on the -whole very glad, however, that even this arrangement had been made, -for the storm had brought him a realization of the fruitlessness of -any attempt to live in the open with their insufficient equipment, -together with the uncertainty of killing sufficient game to sustain -them. - -And so Paul Densmore, the only son of a king of finance, a youth who -would one day be a multi-millionaire in his own right, was glad -enough to earn his living as a common laborer. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -A LONELY CHRISTMAS - - -Dan had been accustomed to work and exposure all his life, and he -found his new employment, on the whole, not disagreeable. Paul's -experiences after they had gone adrift had to some extent prepared -him, also, for the tasks he was now called upon to perform, and at the -end of a week he became fairly well reconciled to his position. - -Aside from giving them a curt order now and again, Factor MacTavish -rarely spoke to either of them. He invariably treated them as ordinary -menials--as he treated the unskilled half-breed servants--useful -auxiliaries to the post life, just as the dogs were useful -auxiliaries, and save for the fact that he did not kick or beat them, -he gave them little more consideration than he gave the dogs. - -In accordance with the factor's instructions, James Benton, the chief -clerk, or "clark" as he called himself, supplied each of them with -two suits of heavy underwear; a kersey cloth adikey--an Eskimo garment -which was pulled over the head like a shirt and was supplied with a -hood--an outer adikey made like the other but of smooth cotton cloth, -to shed the snow; three pairs of duffel socks made from heavy woolen -cloth; a pair of deerskin moccasins made by an Indian woman; a pair of -moleskin leggings; and warm mittens; and each was given a pair of -bearspaw snowshoes, without which it would have been quite impossible -to have walked in the deep snow. - -Each outfit, the clerk informed them, was valued at eighteen dollars, -and each boy was charged with this amount on the company's books. They -were each to receive their board and three dollars a month wages, the -three dollars not to be paid them in money but to be credited to their -account until the debt of eighteen dollars was balanced. - -Though they had arrived in mid-October, and had begun work at once, -Factor MacTavish argued that until they had become accustomed to the -duties required of them they would be of little value, and therefore -decreed that the munificent wage of three dollars a month should not -begin until November. Therefore, they were told, they were virtually -bound to the service of the company, with no freedom to leave the -post, until the following May, when, if no other purchases were made -in the meantime, their debt would be balanced and they would be free -to go where they pleased. - -"Now if you want the outfit, and want to stay, you'll have to agree to -these terms in writing," said the clerk. "If you don't sign a written -agreement you'll have to leave the reservation at once." - -Thus they were forced to become the victims of a system of peonage, -for they had no choice but to sign the agreement. - -The lads felt the injustice of this treatment keenly. They were well -aware that the value of their work would be many times greater than -the amount of wages allowed them, but they were wholly at the mercy of -the factor. - -"It's an outrage!" exclaimed Paul when he and Dan were alone. "We -earn a lot more than three dollars a month. Why Father used to allow -me a hundred dollars a month for spending money." - -"Yes," said Dan, "we earns anyway ten dollars a month. He's a -wonderful hard man. But we'll have t' put up with un, I'm thinkin'." - -"He's got us here," complained Paul, "and he knows we can't get away, -and he's going to make all he can out of us. The old skinflint!" - -"He's sure a hard un," admitted Dan, "but we'll have t' put up with -un. Dad says that kind o' man always gets what's comin' to un some -time, an' what's comin' to un ain't what they likes, neither." - -"And he pretends he's doing us a great favor! The old pirate!" - -"They's no use thinkin' about un. Dad says when th' wind's ag'in ye, -don't get worked up about un, an' cross. Take un cheerful, an' be -happy anyway, an' she'll shift around fair after awhile." - -So they gave no hint of discontent, but went cheerfully about the -tasks assigned them, as though they really enjoyed them, though much -of the philosophy of Dan's "Dad" had to be evoked at times when their -spirits flagged, to drive back rising discontent. - -But they had enough to eat, and with their new clothing, supplemented -by the things they already had, they were warmly enough clad, even -when the short days of December came, with biting, bitter cold. - -The storm which overtook them on the evening of their arrival at Fort -Reliance, continued intermittently for several days. It was the first -real storm of winter. Steadily the weather grew colder. By -mid-November the bay was frozen solidly as far as eye could reach. - -The Indians, save two or three old men and women who did odd chores -around the post, had packed their belongings on toboggans in the first -lull in the storm, two days after the arrival of Paul and Dan, and the -western wilderness had swallowed them in its mysterious depths. - -Post life was exceedingly quiet and humdrum, although it possessed -something of spice and novelty for the lads, particularly Paul. The -dogs always interested him when they were harnessed to the sledge by -Jerry, the half-breed Eskimo servant, and he was always glad to be -detailed to accompany Jerry and the team when they were engaged in -hauling firewood from the near-by forest. The impetuosity and dash of -the dogs upon leaving home, and Jerry's management of them and the -sledge, filled Paul with admiration. But Paul was especially -fascinated by Jerry's dexterity in handling the long walrus hide whip, -full thirty feet in length. With it Jerry could reach any lagging dog -in the team with unerring aim. He could flick a spot no bigger than a -dime with the tip of the lash, and he could crack the whip at will -with reports like pistol shots. - -Under Jerry's instruction Paul practiced the manipulation of the whip -himself, at every opportunity, and he considered it quite an -accomplishment when he was able to bring the lash forward and lay it -out at full length in front of him. In his early attempts to do this -he generally wrapped it around his legs, and occasionally gave himself -a stinging blow with the tip end in the back of his neck. But with -patient practice he at length found that he could not only strike an -object aimed at with considerable skill, but could crack the whip at -nearly every attempt. - -Jerry was always good natured and indulgent. He taught Paul the knack -of managing the dogs and sledge, and at length permitted him to drive -the team upon level, easy stretches of trail. On steep down grades, -however, where the dogs dashed at top speed and the loaded sledge in -its mad rush seemed ever on the point of turning over or smashing -against a stump or rock, he had no desire to try his skill and -strength. - -But these excursions with the dogs were practically the only -adventures that came to the boys. Generally they were kept busy at the -woodpile, one at either end of a cross-cut saw, cutting the long wood -into stove lengths, and splitting it into proper size; or, when the -weather was too stormy for out-of-door employment, Paul assisted -Tammas in the blacksmith shop while Dan was kept from idleness by -Amos in the cooperage. - -Paul was always glad to be with Tammas, who had in a sense adopted -both lads, and assumed a fatherly interest in their welfare. He was -kindness itself, though he never failed to correct them when he deemed -it necessary. Under his instruction Paul soon learned a great deal -about the handling of tools and the working of iron. The greatest -drudgery, it seemed to the boys, that fell to their lot was the weekly -duty of cleaning the offices and scrubbing the unpainted furniture and -floors to a whiteness satisfactory to the factor. - -The day before Christmas dawned bitterly cold. The snow creaked under -foot. Everything was covered with frost rime. The atmospheric moisture -hung suspended in the air in minute frozen particles. When the sun -reluctantly rose, it shone faintly through the gauzy veil of rime, and -gave forth no warmth to the starved and frozen earth. - -Paul and Dan were assigned to the woodpile for the day. All forenoon -they sawed and split, working for the most part in silence, for they -were filled with thoughts of other Christmas eves, and the loved ones -at home. - -"I wonder if we'll have to work tomorrow?" asked Paul, when they -returned to the saw after dinner. - -"I'm thinkin' not," answered Dan. "Amos were sayin' they keeps -Christmas as a holiday." - -"If we don't have to, I want to get out in the bush, away from here, -anywhere. I'll be homesick if I spend Christmas in this place. Can't -we go for a hunt back in the timber, and have a camp fire and a good -time?" - -"'Twould be fine!" agreed Dan. "Now I were thinkin' of just that -myself. I'm wantin' t' get off somewheres wonderful bad. I've been a -bit lonesome all day, thinkin' of home an what they's doin' there, -an' whether they misses me." - -Dan's voice choked, and for the first time since their acquaintance -began Paul saw tears in his eyes. Dan hastily brushed them away with -his mittened hand, ashamed of giving way to his feelings, and -continued more cheerfully: - -"Mother's like t' worry a bit, but Dad won't let she. Dad'll be -tellin' she we're all right. Dad'll not be fearin' I can't take care -of myself." - -"I've been thinking about my father and mother too--and what they're -doing, and whether they miss me much. We always have such a jolly time -on Christmas. Mother gave me this watch last Christmas," and Paul took -his fine gold watch from his pocket, caressed it and returned it to -its place again. "It's a nifty one," he continued. "Father gave me my -pony--the black pony I told you about--'Pluto' I call him. But Mother -was always afraid he'd hurt me, and never let me go riding alone. Old -John--he's the groom--went with me, and he just kept me to a walk. -There wasn't much fun in that and I soon got tired poking along and -didn't go out much. When I get home again, though, I'm going to have -fun with Pluto, and Old John can stay at home." - -"Your father must be wonderful rich. I never did be a-horseback, but I -has one o' the smartest punts in Ragged Cove. Dad made un an' gives -un t' me. I'm thinkin' I likes a punt better 'n a horse." - -And so they talked on as they worked, until darkness came, and they -left the woodpile to fill in the time until the bell called them to -supper, giving Tammas and Amos a hand, Paul in the blacksmith shop, -Dan in the cooperage. - -When at length the clanging bell called them from work, and they sat -down to supper, Tammas announced: - -"Weel, laddies, ye've earned the holiday ye'll have tomorrow. I'm not -given to praisin' mair than is a just due, but I may say fairly ye've -weel earned the holiday." - -"We'll have the holiday, then?" asked Paul eagerly. "Can we do as we -want to?" - -"Aye, lad, ye may do as ye wishes. There's t' be na work on Christmas -day." - -"Dan and I were wondering about it. We'll go hunting, I guess." - -"We'll be startin' with daybreak," said Dan. - -"Ye must na be missin' the plum duff at dinner, laddies." - -"We want to get away. It is too bad to have to miss plum duff, but I -guess we'll have to let it slide, unless Chuck saves some for us." - -"Have na fear o' that. I'll see he saves ye a full share. Go huntin' -if ye've set your hearts on goin', laddies." - -They were away at daybreak. The air was still and piercing cold, -driving them to a smart trot to keep their blood in circulation. Dan -was an old hand on snowshoes and Paul had already become so adept in -their use that he jogged along and kept the pace set by Dan with -little difficulty. - -They took with them their frying pan, their teakettle (a light -aluminum pail) and two cups. Their provisions consisted of a small -piece of fat pork, some bread, tea, salt and a bottle of black -molasses--for here molasses was used to sweeten tea instead of -sugar--which Chuck gave them for their dinner. Each carried a share of -the equipment slung upon his back in one of their camp bags. - -Paul took his shotgun, Dan the axe and Paul's rifle, for the -cartridges for his own rifle were nearly gone. They had no intention -of making an extended hunting trip. Their chief object was a pleasant -bivouac in the forest, where they could enjoy an open fire and freedom -from post restraints. - -First they made for the willows that lined the river bank two miles -above the post. Tammas had told them they were certain to find large -flocks of ptarmigans there, feeding upon the tender tops of the -bushes. This proved to be the case, and without difficulty Paul -secured a half dozen of the birds with his shotgun. - -Not far beyond they halted among the thick spruce trees, and made a -rousing camp-fire. Then Dan with the axe built a lean-to facing the -fire, while Paul broke spruce boughs with which to thatch it, and for -their seat. - -These preparations completed, and the ptarmigans plucked, they lounged -back upon the boughs under the shelter of the lean-to, to chat about -their homes, their plans, and their home-going, until time to cook -dinner. - -Two of the ptarmigans were fried with pork, and the bread was toasted, -for variety, and it is safe to say that nowhere in the wide world was -a banquet eaten that Christmas day with keener relish or greater -enjoyment than this simple meal in that far-away spruce-clad -wilderness. - -Dinner eaten and dishes washed, Dan piled fresh wood upon the fire, -and the boys spread themselves luxuriously upon the boughs to bask in -the warmth. Paul lay gazing into the blaze, quite lost in thought, -while Dan played his harmonica. - -One of Dan's favorite tunes was "Over the Hills and Far Away." -Presently he struck up the air, and immediately a melodious tenor -voice, singing to the accompaniment of Dan's music, began: - - "Tom he was a piper's son, - He learned to play when he was young; - But all the tune that he could play, - Was 'Over the hills and far away.'" - -The boys were startled. They had heard no one approach, and they -sprang to their feet. - -Standing by the fire opposite them was a tall, lank man of middle age. -In the hollow of his left arm a rifle rested. He was dressed as a -trapper--a fur cap, buckskin capote, buckskin leggins, and moccasins. -Beside him stood an Indian, similarly dressed and nearly as tall and -lank as himself. - -[Illustration: The boys were startled. They had heard no one -approach] - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -THE TRAPPER FROM INDIAN LAKE - - -The stranger laughed at the startled boys, who gazed at him and the -Indian in mute surprise. Wrinkles at the corners of his gray-blue eyes -indicated habitual good humor. The eyes themselves seemed always to -smile, even when his lips did not. - -"You were having such a good time," said he, in a rich, well-modulated -voice, "that I disliked to disturb you, but it has been so long since -I saw a white face that I had to do it." - -"We're mighty glad you did," answered Paul, who instinctively felt -that in spite of his rough exterior and dress their visitor was well -bred and cultured. "Won't you sit down?" he continued. "We're just out -from the post enjoying the holiday." - -"Thank you, we will join you, and perhaps return to the post with you, -if you don't mind." He kicked off his snowshoes, stuck them upright -in the snow at the end of the lean-to, the Indian following his -example. Then extending his hand to each of the boys he said, by way -of introduction: - -"My name is Charles Amesbury. I'm trapping back in the Indian Lake -country. My friend here is Ahmik, though you will hear them call him -John Buck at the post." - -"My name is Paul Densmore." - -"Mine's Dan'l Rudd." - -"How do?" said the Indian, following his companion's example and -shaking hands. - -"You seem to be having a cozy time here," remarked Amesbury, picking -the ice from his beard as rapidly as the heat from the fire loosened -it sufficiently. - -"We're having a bully good day. We were getting homesick over at the -post, and ran over for the holiday." - -Dan had gone to the river for a kettle of water, and returning put it -over the fire. - -"We'll be boilin' th' kettle, an' you'll have a snack o' pa'tridge -along with a cup o' tea," he suggested. - -"Thank you. Don't mind if we do, eh Ahmik?" And Amesbury contentedly -stretched his long legs, which seemed very much in the way. - -"Ugh. Good," remarked Ahmik, who was sitting on his heels. - -Four of the ptarmigans, as well as some of the pork and bread, -remained, and while the water was heating Dan sliced pork in the -frying pan, while Paul dismembered the birds, ready for Dan to arrange -them in the pan to fry when the pork grease began to bubble. Amesbury, -lazily looking on, began to sing: - - "Their wings are cut and they cannot fly, - Cannot fly, cannot fly; - Their wings are cut and they cannot fly, - On Christmas day in the morning." - -The boys laughed, and Paul remarked: - -"They can't fly very far. We clipped their wings on the way out." - -"When did you come from New York, Densmore?" - -"Left there last July. How did you know I came from New York?" - -"You have the accent, and a New Yorker handles his r's pretty much as -a Londoner handles his h's; he tacks them on where they don't belong, -and leaves them off where they do. I'm a New Yorker myself, though -you'd never suspect it. I outgrew the accent long ago. I haven't been -there for--let me see--more than twenty years--how time flies!" - -"From New York!" Paul's face lighted up with pleasure. "But I thought -you said you were a trapper?" - -"So I am. I came to this country when I left home, twenty years ago, -and I've been here ever since." - -"And never been home since! How could you stay away from home for -twenty years? And New York too? It seems to me I've been away for -ages, and it's only half a year. You bet I'll go back the first -chance." - -Amesbury's face became grave for an instant. - -"It's too long a story--the story of my coming. I'll tell you about -it, perhaps, some time when I'm not so hungry," and he smiled. "But -how about you? What brought you?" - -He listened with manifest interest while Paul related the happenings -of the weeks just past, and until Dan finally set the pan of fried -ptarmigan between the visitors, interrupting with: - -"Tea's ready, sir. Help yourselves t' th' pa'tridges an' bread." - -And while Dan poured the tea and the two men stirred in molasses from -the bottle, Amesbury hummed irrelevantly: - - "Heigh ding-a-ding, what shall I sing? - How many holes has a skimmer? - Four and twenty. I'm half starving! - Mother, pray give me some dinner." - -Then, as he took a piece of breast from the pan: - -"Well, Densmore, the rest of the story. Don't mind the interruption. -It was important. But so is your story. I'm immensely interested." - -The story and dinner were finished together. Amesbury made no comment -at once, then while he cut tobacco from a black plug, and stuffed it -into his pipe, he repeated: - - "O, that I was where I would be, - Then would I be where I am not! - But where I am I must be, - And where I would be I cannot. - -"That reference is to you chaps. I wouldn't be anywhere else if I -could, and I wouldn't have missed this good Christmas dinner and -meeting you fellows right here for worlds." - -Reaching for a hot coal he applied it to his pipe, and the pipe -lighted he resumed his reclining position, puffing quietly for a -moment, when he remarked: - -"Old Davy MacTavish is as hard as they make 'em. The company is all -there is in the world for him that's worth while. He'd cut a man's -soul out and throw it to the dogs, if the company would profit by his -doing so. Thank God, the factors aren't all like him." - -"Bad man," remarked Ahmik, puffing at his pipe. - -Amesbury lapsed into silence, while he smoked and gazed at the fire, -apparently in deep reflection. Presently, as though a brilliant -thought had occurred to him, he exclaimed enthusiastically: - -"I have it! How would you chaps like to leave the post and go up -Indian Lake way with me trapping for the winter? I go out to Winnipeg -in the spring with my catch, and you might go along, if the wolves -don't eat you up in the meantime, or you don't freeze to death." - -"Could we? Could we go with you?" asked Paul excitedly. - -"'T would be wonderful fine!" exclaimed Dan. - -"No reason why you can't. I'm up there all alone, and I need a couple -of chaps like you to use for dumb-bells, or to kick around when I want -exercise, or suffer from _ennui_." - -"We'll be wonderful glad o' th' chance t' go with you," said Dan, "and -t' be doin' things t' help when you's sick an' sufferin', but I's -not likin' t' be kicked, sir. Is 'ownwe' a bad ailment, sir?" - -"Pretty bad sometimes, but I'll try and control myself and not kick -you _very_ hard," explained Amesbury, looking very grave about his -lips but with eyes betraying merriment. - -"Oh, Dan," exclaimed Paul, laughing outright, "ennui isn't a sickness. -Mr. Amesbury is just joking." - -Dan did not understand the joke, but he smiled uncertainly, -nevertheless. - -"We'll hit the trail, then, the day after New Year's. How'll that suit -you?" asked Amesbury. - -"Can't go too soon to suit us," said Paul. - -"Now I'm thinkin'," suggested Dan, "th' master'll not be lettin' us -leave th' post. I were so glad t' be goin' I forgets we has a debt an' -we signed papers t' work un out, an' he'll sure not let us go till we -works un out." - -"That's so," admitted Paul in a tone of deep disappointment. - -"How much did you say the debt amounted to?" asked Amesbury. - -"Eighteen dollars for each of us," answered Paul, "but we've been here -working two months with wages, and that takes off six dollars from -each debt, so the first of the month our debts'll each be down to -twelve dollars." - -"Good arithmetic; worked it out right the first time," Amesbury nodded -in approval. "Now if you each pay the old pirate twelve dollars, how -much will you owe him and how long can he hold you at the post?" - -"Why the debt would be squared and he couldn't keep us at all." - -"Right again." - -"But we has no money to pay un," broke in Dan. - -"Just leave all that to me," counseled Amesbury. "I'll attend to his -case." - -"Oh, thank you, Mr. Amesbury," and Paul grasped the trapper's hand. - -"'Tis wonderful kind of you," said Dan. - -"Don't waste your words thanking me," cautioned Amesbury. "Wait till I -get you out in the bush. I'll get my money's worth out of you chaps." - - "'See-saw, Margery Daw, - Johnnie shall have a new master; - He shall have but a penny a day, - Because he can't work any faster.'" - -He stretched his long arms, yawned, untangled his ungainly legs from -the knot into which he had twisted them, and rose to his feet, -remarking: - -"Do you see where the sun is, fellows? It's time to be going. You can -lash these traps of yours on the top of my flat sled. Ahmik and I left -our flat sleds just below here." - -"My criky!" exclaimed Paul. "The sun's setting. I didn't realize it -was so late." - -In accordance with Amesbury's suggestion all of their things, save -their guns, were lashed on one of the long, narrow toboggans upon -which he and Ahmik hauled their provisions and camp outfit, and the -four turned toward the post, in single file, Paul and Dan highly -elated with the prospect of presently turning homeward. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -RELEASED FROM BONDAGE - - -Tammas, Samuel, and Amos, who had spent the day caribou hunting, but -had killed nothing, were gathered around the stove engaged in a heated -argument as to whether a caribou would or would not charge a man when -at close quarters, when Paul and Dan entered with the visitors. - -"Weel! Weel!" exclaimed Tammas, rising. "If 'tis no Charley Amesbury -and John Buck wi' the laddies!" - -Amesbury and Ahmik were old visitors at the post. Every one knew them -and gave them a most hearty welcome. Even Chuck, who was mixing -biscuit for supper, wiped his dough-debaubed right hand upon his -trousers, that he might offer it to the visitors, and Jerry, who lived -with his family in a little nearby cabin, and had seen them pass, came -over to greet them. - -Amesbury warned the lads to say nothing of their plan to the post -folk. "I'll break the news gently to Davy MacTavish when the time is -ripe for it," said he. "You fellows keep right at your work as though -you were to stay here forever." And therefore no mention was made of -the arrangement to Tammas and the others. - -During the days that followed Amesbury and Ahmik made some purchases -at the post shop, including the provisions necessary for the return -journey to their trapping grounds. They had no debt here, and -therefore bartered pelts to pay for their purchases. Their trading -completed, Amesbury produced two particularly fine marten skins, and -laid them upon the counter. "I've got everything I need," said he, -"but I don't want to carry these back with me. How much'll you give?" - -"Trade or cash?" asked MacTavish, examining them critically. - -"Trade. Give me credit for 'em. I may want something more before I -go." - -"Ten dollars each." - -"Not this time. They're prime, and they're worth forty dollars apiece -in Winnipeg." - -"This isn't Winnipeg." - -"Give them back. They're light to pack, and I guess I'll take them to -Winnipeg." - -But MacTavish was gloating over them. They were glossy black, -remarkably well furred, the flesh side clean and white. - -"They are pretty fair martens," he said finally, as though weighing -the matter. "I may do a little better; say fifteen dollars." - -"I'll take them to Winnipeg." - -"You can't get Winnipeg prices here." - -"No, but I don't have to sell them here. I thought if you'd give me -half what they're worth I'd let you have them. You can keep them for -twenty dollars each. Not a cent less." - -"Can't do it, but I'll say as a special favor to you eighteen -dollars." - -"Hand them back. I'm not an Indian." - -"You know I'd not give an Indian over five dollars." - -"I know that, but I don't ask for a debt. You see I'm pretty free to -do as I please. Hand 'em back." - -But the pelts were too good for MacTavish to let pass him, and after a -show of hesitancy he placed them upon the shelf behind him and said -reluctantly: - -"They're not worth it, but I'll allow you twenty dollars each for -them. But it's a very special favor." - -"Needn't if you don't want them. I wouldn't bankrupt the company for -the world." - -"I'll take them." - -The bargain concluded, Amesbury strolled away, humming: - - "'A diller, a dollar, - A ten o'clock scholar, - What makes you come so soon? - You used to come at ten o'clock, - But now you come at noon,'" - -and MacTavish glared after him. - -It was a busy week at the post. Day after day picturesque Indians came -in, hauling long, narrow toboggans, pitching their tepees near by, -and crowding the shop during daylight hours bartering away their early -catch of pelts for necessary and unnecessary things. - -Paul and Dan kept steadily at their tasks. Amesbury made no further -reference to the arrangement he had made with them until New Year's -eve, when he strolled over to the woodpile toward sundown, where they -were hard at work, humming, as he watched them make the last cut in a -stick of wood: - - "'If I'd as much money as I could spend, - I never would cry 'old chairs to mend, - Old chairs to mend, old chairs to mend;' - I never would cry 'old chairs to mend.'" - -When they laid down the saw to place another stick on the buck, he -said: - -"Never mind that. You chaps come along with me, and we'll pay our -respects to Mr. MacTavish." - -"Oh, have you told him we were going? I was almost afraid you'd -forgotten it!" exclaimed Paul exultantly. - -"Never a word. Reserved the entertainment for an audience, and you -fellows are to be the audience. Come along; he's in his office now," -and Amesbury strode toward the office, Paul and Dan expectantly -following. - -MacTavish glanced up from his desk as they entered, and nodding to -Amesbury, who had advanced to the center of the room, noticed Paul and -Dan near the door. - -"What are you fellows knocking off work at this time of day for? Get -back to work, and if you want anything, come around after hours." - -"They've knocked off for good," Amesbury answered for them, his eyes -reflecting amusement. "They're going trapping with me up Indian Lake -way. I'm sorry to deprive you of them, but I guess I'll have to." - -"What!" roared MacTavish, jumping to his feet. "Are you inducing those -boys to desert? What does this nonsense mean?" - -"Yes, they're going. Sorry you feel so badly at losing their society, -but I don't see any way out of it." - -"Well, they're not going." MacTavish spoke more quietly, but with -determination, glowering at Amesbury. "They have a debt here and they -will stay until it is worked out. They've signed articles to remain -here until the debt is worked out, and I will hold them under the -articles. You fellows go back to your work." - -"We're not going to work for you any more," said Paul, his anger -rising. "Mr. Amesbury has told you we're going with him, and we are." - -"Go back to your work, I say, or I'll have you flogged!" MacTavish was -now in a rage, and he made for the lads as though to strike them, only -to find the ungainly figure of Amesbury in the way. - -"Tut! Tut! Big Jack Blunderbuss trying to strike the little -Tiddledewinks! Fine display of courage! But not this time. No -pugilistic encounters with any one but me while I'm around, and my -hands have an awful itch to get busy." - -"None of your interference in the affairs of this post!" bellowed -MacTavish. "You're breeding mutiny here, and I've a mind to run you -off the reservation." - -"Hey diddle diddle," broke in Amesbury, who had not for a moment lost -his temper, and who fairly oozed good humor. "This isn't seemly in a -man in your position, MacTavish. Now let's be reasonable. Sit down and -talk the matter over." - -"There's nothing to talk over with you!" shouted MacTavish, who -nevertheless resumed his seat. - -"Well, now, we'll see." Amesbury drew a chair up, sat down in front of -MacTavish, and leaning forward assumed a confidential attitude. "In -the first place," he began, "the lads owe a debt, you say, and you -demand that it be paid." - -"They can't leave here until it is paid! They can't leave anyhow!" -still in a loud voice. - -"No, no; of course not. That's what we've got to talk about. I'll pay -the debt. Now, how much is it?" - -"That won't settle it. They both signed on here for at least six -months, at three dollars a month, and they've got to stay the six -months." - -"Now you know, MacTavish, they are both minors and under the law they -are not qualified to make such a contract with you. Even were they of -age, there isn't a court within the British Empire but would adjudge -such a contract unconscionable, and throw it out upon the ground that -it was signed under duress. You couldn't hire Indians to do the work -these lads have done under twelve dollars a month. In all justice you -owe them a balance, for they've more than worked out their debt." - -"I'm the court here, and I'm the judge, and I'm going to keep these -fellows right here." - -"Wrong in this case. There's no law or court here except the law and -the court of the strong arm. Now I've unanimously elected myself -judge, jury and sheriff to deal with this matter. In these various -capacities I've decided their debt is paid and they're going with me. -As their friend and your friend, however, I've suggested for the sake -of good feeling that they pay the balance you claim is due you under -the void agreement, and I offer to make settlement in full now. I -believe you claim twelve dollars due from each--twenty-four dollars in -all?" - -It was plain that Amesbury had determined to carry out the plan -detailed, with or without the factor's consent, and finally MacTavish -agreed to release Paul and Dan, and charge the twenty-four dollars -which he claimed still due on their debt against the forty dollars -credited to Amesbury for the two marten skins. He declared, however, -that had he known Amesbury's intention he would not have accepted a -pelt from him, nor would he have sold Amesbury the provisions -necessary to support him and the lads on their journey to Indian Lake. - -"You can never trade another shilling's worth at this post," announced -MacTavish as the three turned to the door, "not another shilling's -worth." - -"Now, now, MacTavish," said Amesbury, smiling, "you know better. I've -a credit here that I'll come back to trade out, and I'll have some -nice pelts that you'll be glad enough to take from me." - -"Not a shilling's worth," repeated the factor, whose anger was not -appeased when he heard Amesbury humming, as he passed out of the door: - - "'A diller, a dollar, a ten o'clock scholar, - What made you come so soon? - You used to come at ten o'clock, - But now you come at noon.'" - -It was to be expected that MacTavish would refuse them shelter for the -night, but he made no reference to it, probably because in his anger -he forgot to do so, and the following morning, when his wrath had -cooled, he astonished Paul and Dan when he met them with, for him, a -very cheery greeting. - -On New Year's morning Amesbury and Ahmik visited the Indian -encampment, and with little difficulty secured from their Indian -friends two light toboggans for Paul and Dan to use in the -transportation of their equipment. - -The day was spent in taking part in snowshoe obstacle races, rifle -matches, and many contests with the Indian visitors, and the evening -in final preparations for departure. In early morning, before the bell -called the post folk to their daily task, they passed out of the men's -house for the last time. Tammas, Amos and Samuel were sorry to lose -their young friends and assistants, but glad of their good fortune. - -"I'll be missin' ye, laddies. God bless ye," said Tammas. - -"Aye, God bless ye," repeated Samuel. - -"Hi 'opes you'll 'ave a pleasant trip. Tyke care of yourselves," was -Amos's hearty farewell. - -They turned their faces toward the vast dark wilderness to the -westward, redolent with mystery and fresh adventure. Presently the -flickering lights of the post, which a few weeks before they had -hailed so joyously, were lost to view. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE SNOWSHOE JOURNEY TO INDIAN LAKE - - -There was yet no hint of dawn. Moon and stars shone cold and white out -of a cold, steel-blue sky. The moisture of the frozen atmosphere, -shimmering particles of frost, hung suspended in space. The snow -crunched and creaked under their swiftly moving snowshoes. - -They traveled in single file, after the fashion of the woods. Amesbury -led, then followed Ahmik, after him Paul, with Dan bringing up the -rear. Each hauled a toboggan, and though Paul's and Dan's were much -less heavily laden than Amesbury's and Ahmik's, the lads had -difficulty in keeping pace with the long, swinging half-trot of the -trapper and Indian. - -Presently they entered the spruce forest of a river valley, dead and -cold, haunted by weird shadows, flitting ghostlike hither and thither -across ghastly white patches of moonlit snow. Now and again a sharp -report, like a pistol shot, startled them. It was the action of frost -upon the trees, a sure indication of extremely low temperature. - -Dawn at length began to break--slowly--slowly--dispersing the -grotesque and ghostlike shadows. As dawn melted into day, the real -took the place of the unreal, and the frigid white wilderness that had -engulfed them presented its true face to the adventurous travelers. - -Scarce a word was spoken as they trudged on. Amesbury and Ahmik kept -the silence born of long life in the wilderness where men exist by -pitting human skill against animal instinct, and learn from the wild -creatures they stalk the lesson of necessary silence and acute -listening. Dan, too, in his hunting experiences with his father, had -learned to some degree the same lesson, and Paul had small inclination -to talk, for he needed all his breath to hold the rapid pace. - -Rime had settled upon their clothing, and dawn revealed them white as -the snow over which they passed. The moisture from their eyes froze -upon their eyelashes, and now and again it was found necessary to pick -it off, painfully, as they walked. - -The sun was two hours high when Amesbury and Ahmik suddenly halted, -and when Paul and Dan, who had fallen considerably in the rear, -overtook them, Ahmik was cutting wood, while Amesbury, lighting a -fire, was singing: - - "'Polly put the kettle on, - Polly put the kettle on, - Polly put the kettle on, - And let's drink tea.'" - -"How are you standing it, fellows?" he asked, looking up. - -"Not bad, sir," answered Dan. - -"I'm about tuckered out, and as empty as a drum!" exclaimed Paul. - -"Pretty hard pull for raw recruits," said Amesbury, laughing. "But -wait till tomorrow! Cheer up! The worst is yet to come." - -"I hope it won't be any harder than this," and Paul sat wearily down -upon his toboggan. - -"No," encouraged Amesbury, "better snowshoeing, if anything. But -there's the wear and tear. You'll have a hint of it tonight, and know -all about it tomorrow." - -"I finds th' snowshoein' not so bad today," said Dan, "but I'm -thinkin' now I knows what you means. I had un bad last year when I -goes out wi' Dad. 'T were wonderful bad, too. I were findin' it -wonderful hard t' walk with th' stiffness all over me when I first -starts in th' mornin', but th' stiffness wears off after a bit, an' -I'm not mindin' un after." - -"That's it. You're on," laughed Amesbury, as he chipped some ice from -a frozen brook to fill the kettle for tea. - -"Very hard, you find him," broke in Ahmik, joining in Amesbury's -laugh. "You get use to him quick. Walk easy like Mr. Amesbury and me -soon. No hard when use to him." - -Ahmik was growing more talkative upon acquaintance, and drawing out of -the natural reticence of his race with strangers, as is the way of -Indians when they learn to know and like one. - -It was a hard afternoon for Paul, and he had to summon all his grit -and fortitude to keep going without complaint until the night halt was -finally made, but he did his share of the camp work, nevertheless, -with a will, and when the tent was pitched and wood cut he sat down -more weary than he had ever been in his life. - -Amesbury and Ahmik traveled in true Indian fashion when Indians make -flying trips without their families. They had neither tent nor tent -stove to protect them. The experienced woodsman can protect himself, -even in sub-Arctic regions, from the severest storm and cold, so long -as he has an axe. Sometimes he resorts to temporary shelters, with -fires, sometimes to burrows in snowdrifts, or to such other methods as -the particular conditions which he has to face suggest or demand. - -Paul and Dan, however, had their tent, tent stove and other -paraphernalia. The tent they pitched upon the snow, stretching it, by -means of the ridge rope, between two convenient trees. When it was -finally in place Dan banked snow well up upon all sides save the -opening used for an entrance. - -While Dan was thus engaged Paul broke spruce boughs for a floor -covering and bed, Ahmik cut wood for the stove, and Amesbury unpacked -the outfit and set the stove in place upon two green log butts three -feet long and six inches thick. This he did that the stove might not -sink into the snow when a fire was lighted and the snow under the -stove began to melt. - -The telescope pipe in place, Amesbury put a handful of birch bark in -the stove, broke some small, dry twigs upon it, lighted the bark, as -it blazed filled the stove with some of Ahmik's neatly split wood, and -in five minutes the interior of the tent was comfortably warm. - -Paul spread the tarpaulin upon the boughs which he had arranged, -stowed their camp things neatly around the edge of the interior, and -night camp was ready. Though rather crowded, the tent offered -sufficient accommodation for the four. - -A candle was lighted, and Amesbury installed himself as cook. A -kettle of ice was placed upon the stove to melt and boil for tea. A -frying pan filled with thick slices of salt pork was presently -sizzling on the stove. Then he added some salt and baking powder to a -pan of flour, mixed them thoroughly, and poured enough water from the -kettle of melting ice to make a dough. - -The pork, which had now cooked sufficiently, was taken from the pan -and placed upon a tin dish, and the dough, stretched into thin cakes -large enough to fill the circumference of the pan, was fried, one at a -time, in the bubbling pork grease that remained. In the meantime tea -had been made. - -"All ready. Fall to," announced Amesbury. - -"I feels I'm ready for un," said Dan. - -"I can eat two meals," declared Paul. - -"I'm interested to see what the day's work did for you chaps. Now if -you can't eat, Ahmik and I will feel that we didn't walk you fast -enough today, and we'll have to do better tomorrow, eh, Ahmik?" -Amesbury's eyes twinkled with amusement. - -"Ugh! Big walk tomorrow. Very far. Very fast," and Ahmik grinned. - -"Goodness!" exclaimed Paul. "If we have to walk any farther or faster -tomorrow than we did today, I'll just collapse. I'm so stiff now I can -hardly move." - -"That's always the case for a day or two when a fellow starts out for -the first time on snowshoes and does a full day's work. It won't last -long, but we'll take it a little slower tomorrow, to let you get -hardened to it," Amesbury consoled. - -When they stopped to boil the kettle the following day Paul was -scarcely able to lift his feet from the snow. Sharp pains in the -calves of his legs and in his hips and groins were excruciating, and -he sat down upon his toboggan very thankful for the opportunity to -rest. - -"How is it? Pretty tired?" asked Amesbury, good-naturedly. - -"A little stiff--and tired," answered Paul, whose pride would not -permit him to admit how hard it was for him to keep up. - -"We'll take a little easier gait this afternoon. I didn't realize we -were hitting it off so hard as we were this morning." - -"Thank you." Paul wished to say "Don't go slow on my account," but he -realized how utterly impossible it would be for him to keep the more -rapid pace. - -When luncheon was disposed of and they again fell into line, the pain -was so intense that he could scarcely restrain from crying out. But he -kept going, and saying to himself: - -"I won't be a quitter. I _won't_ be a quitter." He began to lag -wofully, however, in spite of his determination and grit, and the -slower pace which Amesbury had set. Thus they traveled silently on for -nearly an hour, when all at once Amesbury stopped, held up his hand as -a signal to the others to halt and remain quiet. Dropping his toboggan -rope he stole stealthily forward and was quickly lost to view. - -Presently a rifle shot rang out, and immediately another. A moment -later Amesbury strode back for his toboggan, where the others were -awaiting him, humming as he came: - - "'His body will make a nice little stew, - And his giblets will make me a little pie, too.'" - -"Come along, fellows," he called. "Two caribou the reward of -vigilance. We'll skin 'em." - -Just within the woods, at the edge of an open, wind-swept marsh, they -left their toboggans, and a hundred yards beyond lay the carcasses of -the two caribou Amesbury had killed. - -"There was a band of a dozen," he explained, as they walked out to the -game. "I thought we could use about two of them very nicely." - -"Good!" remarked Ahmik, drawing his knife to begin the process of -skinning at once. - -"I'll tell you what," said Amesbury, "unless you chaps would like to -help here, suppose you pitch the tent. We'll not go any farther -today." - -"That's bully!" exclaimed Paul, who had been at the point of declaring -his inability to walk another mile. - -"Everything's bully," declared Amesbury, "and fresh meat just now is -the bulliest thing could have come our way. All right, fellows; you -get camp going. You'd find skinning pretty hard work in this weather, -but Ahmik and I don't mind it." - -"My, but I'm glad we don't have to go any farther today," said Paul -when he and Dan returned to make camp. "I'm just done for. I can -hardly move my feet." - -"Does un pain much?" asked Dan, sympathetically. - -"You bet it does," and Paul winced. - -"Where is un hurtin' most now?" - -"Here, and here," indicating his hips, groins and calves. - -"Lift un feet--higher." - -"Oh! Ouch!" - -"Why weren't you sayin' so, now? 'Tis sure th' snowshoe ailment, an' -not just stiffness. Mr. Amesbury'd not be goin' on, an' you havin' -that." - -"I thought it was just stiffness, and would wear off if I kept going. -Besides, I didn't want to be a baby and complain." - -"'Tis no stiffness. 'Tis th' snowshoe ailment, an' 'twould get worse, -an' no better, with travelin'. 'Tis wonderful troublesome sometimes. -Dad says if you gets un, stop an' camp where you is, an' bide there -till she gets better. 'Tis th' only way there is, Dad says, t' cure -un." - -"I never heard of it before." - -"Now I'll be pitchin' th' tent, an' you sits on th' flat-sled an' -keeps still." - -"Oh, I'd freeze if I sat down. I'd rather help." - -They had just got the tent up and a roaring fire in the stove when -Amesbury and Ahmik came for toboggans upon which to haul the meat to -camp. - -"I'm thinkin'," said Dan, "we'll have t' be bidin' here a bit. Paul's -havin' th' snowshoe ailment bad." - -"What's the trouble, Paul?" asked Amesbury. - -Paul explained. - -"Why, you're suffering from _mal de raquet_. Dan's right; we must stay -here till you're better--a day or two will fix that. Mustn't try to -travel with _mal de raquet_. It's a mighty uncomfortable companion." - -At the end of two days, however, Paul was in fairly good condition -again, and the journey was resumed without further interruption, save -twice they were compelled by storms to remain a day in camp. - -Two weeks had elapsed since leaving the post when finally, late one -afternoon, Amesbury shouted back to the lads: - -"Come along, fellows. We're here at last." - -Ahmik had stopped and was shoveling snow with one of his snowshoes -from the door of a low log cabin, half covered with drifts. It was -situated in the center of a small clearing among the fir trees which -looked out upon the white frozen expanse of South Indian Lake. - -"This is our castle," Amesbury announced as Paul and Dan joined him. -"Here we're to live in luxurious comfort. That's the southern -extremity of Indian Lake. What do you think of it?" - -"'Tis a wonderful fine place t' live in if th' trappin's good," said -Dan. - -"It looks mighty good to me. What a dandy place it must be in summer!" -Paul exclaimed. - -Ahmik now had the door cleared and they entered. The cabin contained a -single square room. At one side was a flat-topped sheet-iron stove, -similar in design to the tent stove commonly in use in the north, but -of considerably larger proportions and heavier material. Near it was a -rough table, in the end opposite the door stood a rough-hewn bedstead, -the bed neatly made up with white spread and pillow cases. A shelf of -well-thumbed books--the _Bible_, _Shakespeare_, _Thomas a Kempis_, -Milton's _Paradise Lost_, Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_, Wordsworth's -_Poems_, _Robinson Crusoe_, _Mother Goose's Melodies_, _Aesop's -Fables_, _David Copperfield_, and some random novels and volumes of -travel and adventure. On one end of a second table, evidently used as -a writing desk, were neatly piled old magazines and newspapers, on the -other end lay some sheet music and a violin, and in the center were -writing materials. - -The chairs, like all of the furniture, were doubtless the handiwork of -Amesbury himself. Everything in the room was spotlessly clean and in -order. The setting sun sent a shaft of sunlight through a window, -giving the room an air of brightness, and enhancing its atmosphere of -homely comfort. - -When the fire which Amesbury lighted in the stove began to crackle, he -asked: - -"Well, fellows, how do you like my den? Think you can be comfortable -here for three or four months?" - -"'Tis grand, sir," said Dan. - -"Mr. Amesbury, it's splendid!" declared Paul. - -Both lads had been long enough from home, and had endured sufficient -buffeting of the wilderness to measure by contrast with their recent -experiences the attractions of Amesbury's cabin, and it appealed to -them as little short of luxurious. - -"Not splendid, but good enough for a trapper. Hang up your things; -you'll find pegs. Make yourselves at home now. Sit down and rest up. -Ahmik will take care of the stuff outside," and as Amesbury went -about the preparation of supper he sang: - - "'There was an old woman, and what do you think? - She lived upon nothing but victuals and drink: - Victuals and drink were the chief of her diet; - This tiresome old woman could never be quiet.'" - -Luscious caribou steaks were soon frying, biscuits were baking, and -presently the delicious odor of coffee filled the room. - -"I always keep coffee here," explained Amesbury. "Rather have it than -tea, but it's too bulky to carry when I'm hitting the trail." - -"It's the first smell of coffee I've had since we left the ship, and -oh, but it smells bully to me!" said Paul. - -Candles were lighted, a snowy white cloth spread on the table. When at -length they sat down to eat, Amesbury, with bowed head, asked grace. - -"'Tis good," remarked Dan, accepting a liberal piece of caribou meat, -"t' hear un say grace. Dad always says un." - -"I neglect it when I'm on the trail," said Amesbury. "My father was a -preacher. He always said grace at home, and it's second nature to me -to do it when I sit at a table. Part of eating. We mustn't forget, you -know, that we owe what we have to a higher Power, and we shouldn't -forget to give thanks." - -"That's what Dad would be sayin', now." Dan had admired Amesbury -before, but this comparison of him with his father was the highest -compliment he could have paid him, and indicated the highest regard -for his friend. - -"I'll tell you, chaps, my theory of the way the Lord gives us our -blessings. He gives us eyes and hands and feet, and best of all He -gives us brains with which to reason things out. Then He provides the -land with all its products, the birds and animals and forests. He -gives us the sea with its products, too. He intends that we use our -brains in devising methods of applying the products of earth and sea -to our needs, and to use our hands and feet and eyes to carry out what -our brain tells us how to do. If I hadn't used my eyes and hands and -feet the Lord never would have put this venison on the table." - -"That's just what Dad says," agreed Dan. "He says they ain't no use -prayin' for things when they's a way t' get un yourself." - -"Your dad's right. If you chaps had just spent your time praying when -you went adrift on that ice pan, you'd be at the bottom of Hudson Bay -now. Yes, your dad's right. Thank the Lord for the things that come -your way, but get up and hustle first, or they won't come your way. -Use your brains and your hands. That's the thing to do." - -Supper finished, Amesbury and Ahmik cut tobacco from black plugs, -filled their pipes; Amesbury whittled some long shavings from a stick -of dry wood, lighted an end of a shaving by pushing it through the -stove vent, and applied it to his pipe; Ahmik followed his example, -and then turned his attention to washing dishes. - -Puffing contentedly at his pipe, Amesbury lifted the violin from its -case, settled himself before the stove and began tuning the -instrument. - -"I likes t' hear fiddlin' wonderful well," remarked Dan. - -"That's good, for I'm going to fiddle. Do you like it, too, Densmore?" - -"I'm very fond of music." - -"Then, no one objecting, I'll begin." - -Amesbury began playing very softly. Dan sat in open-mouthed wonder, -eyes wide, and scarcely breathing. Paul was enthralled. It was a -master hand that held the bow. The player himself seemed quite -unconscious of his listeners and surroundings. The wrinkles smoothed -out of the corners of his eyes, the alert twinkle left the eyes and a -soft, dreamy expression came into them, as though they beheld some -beautiful vision. He seemed transfigured as Paul looked at him. -Another being had taken the place of the ungainly, rough-clad trapper. - -For a full hour he played. Then laying his violin across his knees sat -silent for a little. The music had cast a spell upon them. Even -Ahmik, who had seated himself near the table, had let his pipe die -out. - -All at once the humorous wrinkles came again into the corners of -Amesbury's eyes, and the eyes began to sparkle and laugh. He arose and -returned the violin to its case, humming as he did so: - - "'Hey diddle diddle, - The cat and the fiddle.' - -"I always like a little music after supper," he remarked, resuming his -seat. - -"Oh, 'twere more than music!" exclaimed Dan. "'T were--'t were--I'm -thinkin'--'t were like in heaven. 'T weren't fiddlin', sir. 'T were -music of angels in th' fiddle, sir." - -"That's the best compliment I ever received," laughed Amesbury. - -"Mr. Amesbury," asked Paul, "where did you ever learn to play like -that? I heard Madagowski, the great Polish violinist that every one -raved over last year. I thought it was great then, but after hearing -you it seems just common." - -"You chaps will make me vain if you keep this up," and Amesbury -laughed again. - -"But where did you learn?" insisted Paul. "And what ever made you turn -trapper?" - -Amesbury's face grew suddenly grave, almost agonized. - -"Oh, Mr. Amesbury!" Paul exclaimed, feeling instinctively that he had -made a mistake in urging the question. "If I shouldn't ask, don't tell -me! I'm sorry." - -"It's all right, Paul," said Amesbury, quietly. "I'll tell you the -story. It may be well for you to hear it." - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -STALKED BY WOLVES - - -Amesbury filled his pipe, lighted it from the stove with one of the -shavings he had whittled, and sat silently contemplating the streak of -light which flashed through the stove vent. He seemed to Paul to have -suddenly grown very old. His normally open, genial countenance was -drawn and haggard, and Paul noted the streaks of gray in his brown -hair and beard. - -"It may do you good to hear the story," Amesbury presently said. "I've -never told it to any one, but it's a pretty good warning to young -fellows like you. I like you, and I hope you'll not make the mistakes -that I did." He lapsed into silence again for a few moments, and then -began: - -"As I told you, my father was a minister--the gentlest, most -affectionate, sympathetic man I ever knew. If there ever was a true -servant of God he was one. There was never a sweeter or more devoted -woman ever lived than my mother. I believe her spirit comes now of -nights to kiss my forehead as I fall asleep, just as she did in those -long ago days when I was a boy at home. - -"She was tireless. Nothing seemed ever too great a task for her. The -women of my father's church looked upon her in a way as their -counselor, and they used to come to her with their troubles, as the -men came to my father; and men and women were always certain of both -sympathetic and practical assistance. - -"I had one sister, three years my senior, and we were chums and -constant companions. We were both born with a passionate love of -music, and when she was twelve and I nine years of age my father, with -much stinting and scraping, purchased her a piano and me a violin. - -"My violin instructor was an old German, who was to come to the Manse -once a week to give me a lesson. He was a very impatient old fellow, -but a good teacher, and with my interest in music I made good -progress. The pleasantest memories of my life are of evenings when my -mother sat sewing, and my father relaxed in his easy chair, while -Helen played the piano and I accompanied her on the violin. - -"My father designed me, I believe, from my birth, for the ministry. I -was a good student, and at sixteen entered college. Here a new world -opened to me. I had always lived in an atmosphere of religion. Perhaps -I had become satiated with it. At any rate I took only too kindly to -the wild life of the crowd I fell in with at college. - -"For the most part the students were industrious, but there were a -few, as there always are, who indulged themselves in dissipation -because they thought it smart, and it was my misfortune to be drawn -among these at the beginning. Perhaps the novelty, in strong contrast -with my home life, attracted me. I do not know. - -"At first our dissipations were of a rather mild sort, and I did -pretty well during the freshman year. But during my sophomore year I -got in with a still wilder crowd, and took part in several -discreditable escapades. Some of my companions drank, and early in the -year I for the first time in my life tasted spirituous liquors. Before -college closed for the summer vacation I had twice been mildly -intoxicated. Of course my parents knew nothing of this, but they did -know that I had neglected my studies and was conditioned in Greek, -barely passing the test in other subjects. - -"The escapades of the sophomore year became orgies in the junior. I -drank hard at these times, and the liquor made me wild. I'll not tell -you of the carousings I took part in, nor the reprimands I received -for class and other delinquencies. It came to a climax in early spring -when I entered a class one day in an intoxicated condition, insulted -the professor, and did some damage to the furniture. - -"This ended in my dismissal from college. A full report of what had -occurred preceded me home, and for the first time my parents learned -of my debauchery. It was a terrible shock to them. I shall never -forget their grief. If they had scolded or meted punishment it would -have been different, but they did not. My mother threw her arms around -my neck and cried as though her heart would break. My father, tears -streaming down his cheeks, placed his hand upon my shoulder and called -me his poor erring son. I promised them that I would reform. Helen -talked with me and cried with me in private. - -"My father's life hope that I should follow his footsteps in the -ministry was crushed, and he had forever lost his former habitual -cheerfulness. The change in him--I always felt it when in his -presence--hurt me terribly. I resolved to atone, so far as possible, -for the past. - -"I took up my old home life again. I attended meetings regularly, as -my father wished, and devoted myself to my violin. My old German -instructor was re-engaged, and I made such good progress that in the -summer when I was twenty years of age he suggested that I go to -Germany for a year, to continue my musical studies there. - -"The prospect of a trip abroad filled me with enthusiasm. At first my -parents objected, and particularly my mother, who was now in ill -health, the result, I shall always believe, of the shock she received -at the time of my expulsion from college. I plead so strongly, -however, to be permitted to go, that at length both Father and Mother -consented, and late in the summer I sailed. - -"It was a mistake. There is much drinking among German students, and -almost immediately I was drawn among the wildest drinkers and -roysterers. - -"During the winter my sister married a prosperous and wealthy young -business man. They decided upon a brief wedding trip abroad, and -planning a pleasant surprise for me said nothing of it in their -letters beyond the particulars of the wedding, for during my absence -it was the custom of Father and Helen to write me twice a week minute -details of the home life. - -"I shall never forget the morning they came. I had been out all the -previous night with a party of drinking students and had returned to -my apartment in a state of such beastly intoxication that I had -thrown myself upon a couch, unable to undress and retire to my bed. -Here I was sleeping when a loud knocking aroused me. Blear-eyed, -unkempt, and smelling foul with liquor, I opened the door. There stood -Helen and her husband. - -"Their wedding trip was spoiled, of course. They decided to return -home at once and take me with them. Helen made the excuse to our -parents that I was in no physical condition to remain abroad longer. I -think my father suspected something of the true cause, but he gave no -hint of it, and I resumed my old life, but not with the same chastened -feeling that I had experienced on the former occasion. I was becoming -hardened. - -"My father's church and the manse where we lived were in upper New -York, and to satisfy my desire for excitement I used frequently to -take a run down town. It was on one of these occasions, a month after -my return from abroad, that I met one of my former college companions. -He asked me to drink with him and I accepted. One drink led to -another, and when the liquor went to our heads we became hilarious -and decided to make a night of it. - -"In the small hours of morning we were sitting at a table in a low -cafe and dance hall. Some others were at the table--people I had never -met--and one of them made a remark at which I took offense. What it -was I do not know. I only know that before my companion or the others -at the table knew what I was about, I was on my feet and smashing a -chair over the offender's head. - -"I was arrested and locked up, and the following day committed to the -Tombs without bail to await the result of the injuries upon the man -whom I had attacked. Then came remorse--awful, sincere remorse--for -the life I had led and the hearts I had broken. - -"My father, ever loving, ever sympathetic, came to console me. Again -he called me his poor, erring boy, as he placed his arm around my -shoulders, and tears, in spite of his effort to conceal them, wet his -cheeks. - -"I'll not go into detail, or describe the agonizing weeks that -followed. The man recovered. I was tried for my offense, and in view -of the fact that I had never before been called before a court of -justice, was sentenced to but one year in the penitentiary. - -"On the day sentence was pronounced my mother died; killed, of course, -by her boy's disgrace. When my father returned from the funeral he -resigned his pastorate. He could no longer stand before his -congregation, and the congregation did not wish to retain the services -of a minister whose son was a jail bird. Six months later he followed -my mother. All that he had loved and lived for had been taken from -him. - -"Well, I served my sentence, and when I was released I came here. I -had but one thought--to hide myself from the world. I could not stay -in New York and disgrace my sister and her husband with my presence. I -was truly penitent, but I realized that the world would not believe -that. My presence would ever bring up the past. - -"Here in the open I have been drawn closer and closer to the God my -father and mother loved and worshiped. Since that awful night I have -never tasted liquor. I have tried to live in rectitude, and so far as -I can to atone for the past. - -"I have never written my sister, for I wished her to forget the -disgrace. She never knew what became of me when I left prison. She -probably thinks me dead, and I have had no means of hearing from her. - -"My violin has been my constant companion. Every evening when I am -here I play to Father and Mother and Helen. I always see them when I -play. I always see the dear old living room at home, Father in his -easy chair, Mother sewing, and Helen at her piano playing a soft -accompaniment." - -No one spoke for a long time. Then Ahmik rose and refilled the stove. -Amesbury drew his ungainly frame together, strode to the door and -stepped out. Presently he returned singing: - - "'Come, let's to bed, - Says Sleepy-head.' - -"It's bedtime, fellows, and I know you're tired. I'd take one of you -in with me, but my bed is pretty narrow, and I'm afraid you wouldn't -be comfortable. Sleeping bags are pretty good, though. Paul, you have -one already. Here's one for you, Dan," and Amesbury drew a warm -sleeping bag from a chest. He was his whimsical, good-natured, normal -self again. - -The following day was Sunday. Amesbury held religious services -directly after breakfast. Then he played the violin for an hour, and -they all sang some hymns, after which they chatted, cozily gathered -around the stove, Paul and Dan luxuriating in the homelike atmosphere -that was a part of the cabin. - -"Tomorrow," said Amesbury after dinner, "Ahmik takes to his trapping -trail, and we won't see him again in a month. He goes westward. I'll -be going, too, for awhile. My trail takes me south, along one side of -a chain of lakes, and swings back along the other side. I'll be back -in a week if the weather holds good. Takes me that long to make the -rounds. You chaps make yourselves at home." - -"Can't we go along and help you?" asked Paul. "It must be mighty -tedious all alone." - -"No, not this trip. Perhaps I'll take one of you at a time on later -trips. I'll tell you what! You and Dan do a little trapping on your -own account. There are a lot of traps out here in the woodroom. Dan -knows how to set them. Put them anywhere it looks good to you. I -expect you to earn your board and something more, you know. I told you -that before you came. I'll give you a chance to work on shares. You -can use my traps and I'll board you for half your hunt. How does that -suit you?" - -"O, aye, 'twill be fine," said Dan. "I were thinkin', now, I'd like t' -do a bit o' trappin'." - -"You might get a silver fox, and go home rich. Now think of that!" and -Amesbury's eyes twinkled. - -"An' is they silvers here?" asked Dan. - -"Sometimes. Silvers, reds, cross, whites and blues. You'll find -martens in the timber. There are plenty of wolves, too--the big gray -kind. You'll hear them howling nights." - -"An' is they wolves, now? I'd like wonderful well t' kill some -wolves." Dan's eyes sparkled. - -"Not afraid of 'em, eh?" Amesbury laughed. - -"They mostly keeps too far away. They's cowards, wolves is." - -"Sometimes, but look out for packs." - -"Are there any bears?" asked Paul. - -"Bears? Yes, there are bears, but you won't see any. They're all in -their dens and won't come out till spring." - -Long before dawn on Monday morning the boys were awakened from sound -slumber by Amesbury singing, in full, melodious tones: - - "'Awake, arise, pull out your eyes, - And hear what time of day; - And when you have done, - Pull out your tongue, - And see what you can say.'" - -Amesbury was cooking breakfast by candlelight, and the room was filled -with the odor of coffee and frying venison steak. Ahmik was getting -his things ready, preparatory to leaving. The boys crawled drowsily -from their sleeping bags. - -"Good morning, fellows," called Amesbury cheerily. "Too bad to get you -out so early, but Ahmik and I'll have to be going. Wash up; -breakfast's ready." - -"We'll miss you terribly," said Paul. "It's going to be pretty lonely -when you're gone." - -"It'll be good to know I'm missed," Amesbury laughed. Then more -soberly: "I tell you it's good to have you chaps here. I'll look -forward every day I'm gone to getting back. When I'm alone I never -care much whether I'm here or somewhere else. But now I've the -pleasant anticipation before me of coming home to a jolly good day or -two each week with you fellows. Your coming here means a lot to me." - -"You're mighty good to say so. It was so splendid of you to bring us -from the post!" declared Paul. - -"You've got to earn your way, you know, and if you work hard you'll -earn a little money besides." - -With the first hint of gray dawn Amesbury and Ahmik donned their -snowshoes, said adieu, and, each hauling his flat-sled, were quickly -swallowed by the black shadows of the forest. - -It was a marvelously beautiful day. The rising sun set the frost-clad -trees and snow sparkling and scintillating, the atmosphere was clear -and transparent, and it was altogether too entrancing out of doors for -the lads to forego an excursion. They had become well inured to the -severe cold, growing more intense with the lengthening January days, -and shrank from it not at all. - -"Let's begin our trapping today," Paul suggested. "It's just too great -to stick inside." - -"Now I were thinkin' that," said Dan. "We might be settin' some traps, -an' get our trails begun." - -"All right; that's bully!" Paul exclaimed enthusiastically. "I never -did any trapping, and I'd like to learn how." - -They selected a dozen traps each, and cut some bits of venison to bait -them with. Dan carried one of Amesbury's axes and Paul's shotgun, -explaining: "We might be seein' some birds, now," but Paul, with his -own light axe and his share of traps, decided his rifle would be too -heavy to carry. - -Half a mile from the cabin, in a creek valley, Dan stopped, and -pointing to tracks in the snow, explained: - -"Them's marten tracks, an' I'm thinkin' we'll set a trap here." - -He accordingly selected a spruce tree about four inches in diameter, -cut it off four feet above the snow, and in the top of the stump made -a V-shaped notch. He then trimmed all the branches, except the brush -at the top, from the tree, and with the brush end lying in the snow, -laid the butt end firmly in the notch cut in the top of the stump, -with the butt projecting, probably, four feet beyond the stump. With -his axe he now split the butt of the tree, and prying it open inserted -a piece of the venison they had brought for bait. Just back of the -bait, and on top of the tree trunk, he fastened and set a trap. - -"There," remarked Dan, "I finds that a rare easy way t' set marten -traps, an' a good un, too. Th' marten walks up th' tree t' get th' -bait, an' right in th' trap." - -"I can do that all right," said Paul. - -"Oh, yes, you can do un. 'Tis easy, now you knows how. I'm thinkin' -you might be workin' up this brook, an' set th' traps you has, an' I -cuts over t' th' west'ard an' finds another place t' set mine." - -"All right," assented Paul, "and then we'll each have our own traps to -look after. It's going to be great sport, Dan." - -"'T will be fine t' blaze trees high up where you sets traps, t' mark -th' traps," cautioned Dan. "When you gets through now, don't be -waitin' for me. I'll make back t' th' cabin." - -Accordingly they parted. Dan, turning to the right, disappeared, and -Paul, passing up the valley, was presently deeply engrossed in his -work. Once he fancied he heard something behind him, but there was -nothing to be seen when he turned to look, and concluding he had -imagined it he dismissed it from his mind and continued his work. - -His last trap was set late in the afternoon, and, very hungry, he -turned toward the cabin. A little way down the trail he again had the -sensation that some creature was stealthily following him, but still -there was nothing visible. This feeling clung to him now, and -presently made him so nervous that he increased his pace to a trot. - -He was still a full mile from the cabin when, again glancing behind, -he discovered two great, skulking animals a hundred yards in his rear. -"Husky dogs!" he said aloud, and felt momentary relief from his -anxiety. Then like a flash he realized that they were not dogs at all, -but big, savage gray wolves. A cold chill ran up Paul's back. He had -no arms save his axe. The wolves had stopped. They were sitting upon -their haunches, eyeing him hungrily. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -ON THE FUR TRAILS - - -Paul and the wolves watched each other for a full minute. When Paul's -first terror left him somewhat, and when he remembered what Dan had so -often said: "They ain't no beast to be skeered of in this country," -and again: "Wolves is big cowards unless they's in packs," he regained -his self composure somewhat. Here were two, to be sure, but two could -hardly be designated as a pack. - -He also remembered that he had heard that a loud scream would -sometimes frighten savage animals, and gathering his energies for it, -he took a step toward the wolves, at the same instant opening his -lungs in one wild, vociferous yell. The wolves, however, were not to -be frightened so easily. They sat with their tongues lolling, and if -an animal's countenance can display amused wonder, theirs certainly -did. - -Paul, with a renewal of his fear, resumed his trail home. He wished to -run, but Amesbury had told a story of having been followed by three or -four once, when he was unarmed, and had stated that the fact that he -had not increased his pace, and had given the animals no evidence of -fear, had prevented them from attacking him. "An animal knows when -you're frightened," explained Amesbury. "Let him feel that you're in -fear of him, and he'll attack. If you're ever followed, keep an even, -unhurried gait, and they'll be shy of you. But start to run and the -beast will do the same, and overtake you every time." - -So Paul kept as even a pace as he could maintain under the -circumstances. Now and again he glanced back. The wolves were -following. For a little way they seemed not to be lessening the -distance between him and them. At length, however, he discovered that -they were coming closer and closer--very gradually, but still gaining -upon him. Once or twice he stopped and they stopped, but when he -started forward so did they. - -When Paul made the second halt he noted with alarm that the wolves -had shortened the distance between him and them, since he had first -discovered them, by half. He knew then without a doubt that they had -marked him for their prey. - -He had not yet reached the point where Dan had parted from him in the -morning. It was all he could do to restrain himself from breaking into -a run, but this he was satisfied would prove immediately fatal. - -At length the wolves were less than a hundred feet from his heels, and -when he reached the branching of his own and Dan's trails they were -less than fifty feet away. He realized now that they were preparing -for the attack. He could not hope to reach the cabin. - -He halted before a clump of thick willow brush that grew along the -stream, and faced about. The wolves stopped, sat on their haunches as -before, their red tongues hanging from their mouths. He could see the -fierce gleam of their eyes now. - -He resolved to try again to frighten them, and again he gave a wild -yell, stepping a pace toward them. They drew in their tongues and -snarled, showing their wicked fangs. He who has seen the snarl of a -wolf will understand Paul's sensations. There was no doubt now of -their intentions. - -Paul was afraid to turn his back upon them. He felt the moment he did -so they would spring. The cabin was still a half mile away. He waited, -his axe grasped in both hands, prepared to strike. - -This position was held for ten minutes, though it seemed an hour to -Paul. Presently the animals took to their feet, and gradually edged -in, snarling now in savage malevolence. One at last made a spring. -Paul saw the preparatory move, swung his axe with all his strength, -caught the beast square on the head, and it fell lifeless at his feet. -At the same instant a rifle shot rang out, and the other wolf rolled -over, also dead. - -With the severe nervous strain and excitement ended, Paul nearly -collapsed, but a shout from Dan brought him to his senses. - -"Is you hurt, Paul? Is you hurt?" Dan asked as he came up, intense -anxiety in his voice. - -"No," answered Paul, putting, on a bold face, "but they did give me a -run for it." - -"'T was a wonderful close call!" exclaimed Dan. "I were comin' t' meet -you when I hears you holler. I were leavin' th' gun in th' cabin, an' -I has none, so I runs back an' gets your rifle. 'T weren't no common -holler you gives, an' I knows when I hears un things is amiss somehow, -so I gets th' rifle, an' 't were well I got un." - -"I thought for a minute it was all up with me, Dan. I'll never go out -without a gun again." - -"No, 't ain't safe. They's wonderful bold, when just two of un comes -at you," and Dan turned over with his foot the carcass of the wolf -Paul had killed. "I never heard of un doin' that before. Paul, I were -sayin' t' you once you was wonderful brave. You got a rare lot more -grit than most folks." - -"Oh, I don't know," said Paul, exceedingly proud of Dan's praise, but -modestly inclined to deprecate his own prowess. "I just had to do what -I did, or they'd have got me." - -"Were un follerin' far?" - -Paul explained in detail, as they returned to the cabin to get their -toboggans upon which to haul in the carcasses, his afternoon's -adventure. When he had finished Dan said quietly and decisively: - -"'Twere only th' wonderful grit you has, Paul, as saved your life. If -you'd run, now, or showed you was scared, they'd ha' pulled you down -quick." - -"Won't my father be proud of that skin!" exclaimed Paul when they had -the skins stretched for drying. "I'll have it mounted for a rug, and -won't it be a beaut!" - -"Both o' un," suggested Dan. "They'll make a fine pair together." - -"But the other one is yours, Dan." - -"No, 't ain't." - -"Yes it is. You killed it and you've got to have it." - -Dan objected still, but in the end Paul persuaded him it was his. - -"Dad'll be wonderful proud t'see un," admitted Dan. - -For two days a snowstorm, with high wind, swept the country, and -Amesbury did not appear on Saturday, but while the lads were eating a -late breakfast on Sunday morning they heard him singing outside: - - "'Yeow mustn't sing a' Sunday, - Becaze it is a sin; - But yeow may sing a' Monday, - Till Sunday cums agin.'" - -A moment later he came stamping in. - -"Home again!" he exclaimed breezily, "and just in time for breakfast. -How've you made it, fellows? Heigho! What's this I see? Two wolf skins -as sure as can be." - -He examined them as he listened to the story of the adventure, and his -face became grave. - -"What would I have done now if I'd come home to find one of you chaps -missing? If you want to save me remorse and heartaches, always carry a -gun when you go hunting." - -The weeks that followed passed pleasantly for Paul and Dan, though -there was much hard work and exposure connected with their work. They -gradually extended their trails, putting out more traps each day -until they had, between them, four hundred and fifty set, leading out -in several short trails from the cabin. All of them were visited twice -a week. - -Amesbury's weekly visit was looked forward to with keen anticipation, -and he enjoyed it even more than the boys. Twice Ahmik surprised them. -He came, laughing and good-natured, and on each occasion remained -three days, a mark of his attachment to the lads. - -Each of the boys was once taken by Amesbury over his trail, but as he -plainly preferred that they remain to work their trails and to keep -each other company, they refrained from suggesting a second trip with -him. - -"I'm always afraid that the one of you at home may go wolf-baiting -again, or something," said he, "and I feel better to know you're both -here taking care of each other." - -On a day late in March Amesbury came in from his trail with the -announcement that he had struck up his traps for the season, and they -would presently start for Winnipeg. This meant that at last they were -to turn homeward, and as much as they had enjoyed their winter they -were overjoyed at the prospect. - -By prearrangement, Ahmik arrived simultaneously with Amesbury, and all -were together in the cabin during the following week while pelts were -made ready to carry to market, and the cabin made snug for Amesbury's -extended absence. - -Dan had succeeded in capturing thirty-two fine martens and Paul -twenty-six. Utilizing the wolf and other carcasses for bait, they had -also trapped five red, two cross, three blue and fourteen white foxes, -setting the traps for the foxes in common. Dan declared he had caught -twice as much fur during these few weeks as his father had ever had in -a whole winter. "And Dad's a wonderful fine hunter, too," said he, -"but they ain't no such furrin' where we lives as they is here." - -One cold, clear morning they said good-by to the little cabin on -Indian Lake, and, each hauling his toboggan, turned southward. Day -after day they traveled, through forests, over frozen lakes, across -wide barren expanses of snow. - -All wore amber-colored glasses, which Amesbury provided, to protect -their eyes from the glitter, for, he explained, were they to travel -with naked eyes they would quickly be attacked by painful -snowblindness. - -Now and again they were held prisoners in camp for a day or two, when -severe storms visited the country. Occasionally they killed -ptarmigans, spruce grouse, porcupines, or other small game, sufficient -to keep them well supplied with provisions. - -They did not hurry, and April was well spent when they reached Moose -Lake, where Amesbury had a small hunting cabin, and, under a cover -built of logs, two Peterboro canoes and one birch canoe. The cabin -itself was small and naked of furniture, save camp cooking utensils, a -tent stove and a couple of three-legged stools. Bunks were built -around two sides of the room, which also served as seats. - -"This was my first camp," explained Amesbury. "I built it twenty years -ago. There's a Hudson Bay post down the lake, and in those days I -didn't want to wander too far from a base of supplies. I come in here -and do a little bear trapping after I leave Indian Lake, and every two -or three years take a run down to Winnipeg in a canoe. I take some of -my provisions in from here, and get some from your old friend Davy -MacTavish." - -Here they went into camp, and before the ice in the lake broke up made -a snowshoe trip to the post, where flour, sugar, pork and other -necessities were purchased and hauled back on toboggans. - -This period of waiting was very tedious to the lads. The snow was -becoming soft and wet, the woods were sloppy, and had less of -attraction than in the crisp cold weather of midwinter. - -One night in May a heavy rain set in, and for a week it fell in a -steady downpour. The snow became slush, and when the sun came out -again, now warm and balmy, much of the ground was bare, and Moose Lake -was nearly clear of ice. - -"Now for the canoe and the homestretch," announced Amesbury, upon -looking out upon the water and clear sky. "Tomorrow we'll start. What -do you fellows say to that?" - -"Bully!" exclaimed Paul. "I can hardly wait for the time when I'll get -home." - -"'T will be fine t' be afloat ag'in," said Dan, "an' I'm wantin' -wonderful bad t' see Mother an' Dad, an' tell 'em about my cruise." - -"I thought you'd be ready to go. Big tales you chaps will have to tell -of your adventures. I almost wish I were going with you," and Amesbury -looked wistfully down over the lake. - -"Why you are, aren't you?" asked Paul. - -"Yes, as far as Winnipeg, to be sure. I want to see you chaps safe -aboard the train. Couldn't take chances on your getting mixed up in -any more trouble," he laughed. - -"Can't you come on to New York with us?" asked Paul eagerly. "Oh, I -wish you could." - -"New York is a long way off, and a rough old trapper like me wouldn't -know what to do in a big city like that." - -"Yes, you would! I do wish you'd go home with me!" - -Amesbury shook his head. - -"No, I'm better off here, and I wouldn't do New York any good." - -"Now I'm wonderin' how I'll be gettin' home," suggested Dan. "I've -been wonderin' an' wonderin'. I'm all out o' my reckonin', goin' -different from th' way I comes, an' cruisin' around." - -"Why," explained Amesbury, "you'll travel with Paul until he gets off -and leaves you, and then you'll keep going on the train until the -conductor puts you off, and you take another train. I'll tag you so -you can't go astray," he added, laughing. - -"No," protested Paul, "Dan's going right through to New York with me, -and my father'll see that he gets home all right." - -"That's a good plan," assented Amesbury. "Then I won't have to tag -you, and you won't get lost." - -"But I'm thinkin'," said Dan, "I'll be stoppin' off t' St. Johns, an' -not be goin' on t' New York. I'm wantin' wonderful bad t' get home." - -"You're going home with me first," Paul insisted. "My father and -mother have just got to see you. I want to tell them how you saved my -life." - -"Yes," Amesbury laughed, "I'm inclined to agree with Paul, and New -York won't take you so much out of your way. St. Johns is farther off -than New York, and you can go on from New York by steamer, and perhaps -get there just as soon." - -"I'm losin' my bearin's altogether," declared Dan, looking much -puzzled. - -Ahmik was to accompany them. A nineteen-foot broad-beamed Peterboro -canoe, with good carrying capacity, was selected for the journey. It -was of ample size to accommodate the four voyageurs, together with -their traveling equipment, provisions for the journey, and the furs -which they were taking to market to barter. - -The canoe was loaded at daybreak, and, Ahmik in the bow, Amesbury in -the stern, with Paul and Dan between, they turned down the lake. A -light mist lay over the waters, quickly to be dissolved by the rising -sun. The weather was perfect, the air heavy with the pungent odor of -damp fir trees, the lake placid, beautiful, glorious. - -Through picturesque lakes, rushing rapids and gently flowing streams -the expert canoe-men dexterously guided the frail craft. Now and again -portages were made, but the outfit was light and these occasioned -small delay. - -At length Lake Winnipeg was entered. Here they were forced to lose a -day or two because of wind and rough water, but for the most part they -were favored with pleasant weather. Twice they stopped at trading -posts to renew their supplies, but with no other delays at length -turned into Red River, and on a beautiful June morning beheld the -spires of the city of Winnipeg rising before them. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -WINNIPEG AT LAST - - -"Hurrah! Hurrah!" shouted Paul. - -"We're most home now. A hot bath in a real bath tub, and a real bed -tonight, Dan! Think of it! A few days and we'll be home!" - -"'Tis grand!" exclaimed Dan, "and oh! 't will be grand t' get home!" - -"I'll wager," broke in Amesbury, laughing, "that both you fellows will -be pulling blankets off your beds and rolling upon the floor before -morning, and I'll wager, too, that you'll be wishing you could get out -to the back yard of the hotel to sleep on the ground." - -Ahmik waved his hand toward the town. - -"Good sell fur; no good to stay. No good place to live. Bush good -place to live. We like have you come back to trap." - -"You've been mighty good to us, Ahmik, and we thank you," said Paul. - -They stored their things in a shop whose proprietor Amesbury knew, -each carrying a back-load up from the river. - -"Now," suggested Amesbury, "we'll go to the hotel and wash up. What do -you say?" - -"I'd like to telegraph home first," answered Paul. - -"All right. Glad you spoke of that. We'll wire from the hotel." - -Ahmik had no interest in the proposed bath or in hotel accommodations, -and with promises to see him later, the three turned toward the center -of town. - -"You chaps got any cash?" asked Amesbury. - -"Dead broke, both of us," confessed Paul. "Haven't seen a cent of -money since we left the ship." - -"I suspected it," laughed Amesbury. - -"Well, I happen to have a little. You'll be rich tonight when you get -your share of the fur money." - -At the telegraph office in the hotel the three put their heads -together, and formulated the following telegram to Paul's father: - - "Dan Rudd and I reached Winnipeg safely today. Leave tomorrow - for home. Wire Captain Zachariah Bluntt, St. Johns. Love to you - and Mother. Crazy to see you. Hope both are well. - - "PAUL DENSMORE." - -[Illustration: The three put their heads together] - -"Your father'll say that's the best piece of literature he's read this -year," remarked Amesbury. "Here, operator, rush this off. Make it a -'rush' now." - -"What time'll he get it?" asked Paul, as they turned from the -telegraph desk. - -"Let's see. It's eleven-thirty now. Oh, he ought to get it before he -leaves his office this afternoon." - -"I'm so excited I can hardly keep from yelling!" Paul exclaimed. - -"Well, you'd better hold in. They think you're an Indian now, from -your looks, and they'll be sure of it if you yell, and fire us all. -See how every one is eyeing us?" - -"When'll Skipper Bluntt be hearin', now?" asked Dan. - -"Tonight. Paul's father will wire him right away, I'm sure." - -"'Tis wonderful fine t' be lettin' un know so quick. Now I'm thinkin' -th' skipper'll get word t' mother soon's he can. Dad's off t' th' -Labrador by this, though, fishin', an' he won't be hearin' for a -month." - -The clerk at the desk greeted Amesbury as an old acquaintance, shook -his hand, and handed him a pen to register. - -Following a luxurious wash came a thick, rare, juicy steak smothered -in onions, an array of vegetables, a delicious salad, double portions -of pudding and coffee, to which the party brought trapper appetites. - -"Now for business," said Amesbury, lighting a fragrant cigar. "We'll -get a carriage and bring up our furs and see what they'll bring us. -Then you chaps had better get some civilized toggery." - -The afternoon was a busy one. Furs were commanding a good figure, and -when the sales were made Paul found himself in possession of $470, and -Dan received $560, as their share of the fur money. - -Amesbury then guided them to a clothing store where complete outfits, -from hats to shoes, were purchased for both. Paul insisted upon -paying Dan's bill for everything as well as his own. - -"We'll fix that later," he said. "I'll pay the bills now, and when we -get to New York, and find out how much the trip costs, we can have our -settlement." - -"An' you keeps th' account," assented Dan. Then they purchased their -railway and sleeping car tickets for the following day, and returned -to the hotel to bathe and don their new clothing. - -"A telegram for one of the young gentlemen," announced the clerk, as -they entered the hotel and stopped at the desk for their keys. It was -for Paul. He refrained from opening it until they reached their rooms. -Then with trembling hand he broke the seal and read: - - "Thank God, my boy, you're safe. Mother and I leave at once to - meet you in Toronto when your train arrives. Have wired Captain - Bluntt. Bring Dan Rudd with you. - - "FATHER." - -Paul burst into tears, weeping from sheer joy. Dan, too, wiped his -eyes. - -"Good old Dad!" Paul exclaimed at last. "I can hardly wait to see -them!" - -Dan felt exceedingly uncomfortable in his new clothes. Even though he -and Paul had selected suits at very moderate cost, and they were far -from perfect in fit, he had never been so well dressed in his life. As -he surveyed himself in the mirror, he confided to Paul: - -"I feels wonderful fine dressed, an' when I gets home an' wears these -clothes the folks at Ragged Cove'll sure be sayin' I'm puttin' on -airs." - -"Oh, you'll soon get used to them," laughed Paul. "I feel kind of -stuck up myself, getting into civilized clothes again." - -"And, Paul," continued Dan, "I feels wonderful rich with all th' money -I'm gettin'. Dad and me hunted all of last winter, an' all Dad gets -for his catch is a hundred an' twenty dollars in trade, an' he thinks -he does rare well. Now I been gettin' five hundred an' sixty in cash!" - -"We did do pretty well, didn't we, Dan? And do you know, it's the -first money I ever earned in my life. I've always just loafed and let -my father give me everything. It makes me ashamed now to think of the -way I've wasted money I never earned. I'll never do so again." - -Paul and Dan occupied a large room, with two beds, Amesbury a single -room, and between the two rooms was a bath room which they used in -common, doors from the sleeping rooms opening into the bath room from -opposite sides. These doors were left open when they retired at night. -All seemed unreal after the long camp life. - -The boys, weary with the day's excitement, fell asleep the moment -their heads touched the pillows. When they awoke the sun was streaming -through the windows. Amesbury, taking his morning ablutions, was -splashing in the bath-tub, and singing: - - "'There was a fat man of Bombay, - Who was smoking one sunshiny day; - When a bird called a snipe, - Flew away with his pipe, - Which vex'd the fat man of Bombay.'" - -The lads sprang out of bed. "My, but it's late," exclaimed Paul. "The -sun's up." - -"'Tis that," said Dan. "I weren't knowin' just where I were when I -wakes." - -"Good morning, fellows," called Amesbury from the bath room. "Come -along one of you; I'm through." - -"Good morning!" they both called back. - -"Hurrah!" shouted Paul. "Today we start for home!" - -"And you're going to leave a mighty lonely fellow behind," said -Amesbury. "I'll have to break myself in all over again. I've a notion -I'll kidnap you both and take you back to the bush with me." - -"Can't you come with us?" plead Paul. "Change your mind about it, and -come. Your sister would give the world to see you again, I'm sure. We -do want you. It will be a jolly trip if you come." - -A shadow passed over Amesbury's face, and left it again--as on the -evening when he told them his life story--haggard, old, and as one -suffering inexpressible pain. He was dressing now. He made no answer -for several minutes, and seemed to be struggling with himself. -Finally he spoke: - -"Thank you ever and ever so much, fellows. It's better that I do not -go. The world forgets good deeds quickly. It never forgets bad ones. -Mine were bad. I was a jailbird once. No one who ever knew it will -ever forget it. My appearance in New York would bring shame to my -sister and her children, if she has any. God alone knows how I long to -see them! The news of who and what I was would spread among their -friends--even their new friends--and they would be shunned and made -miserable because of me. No, it's my punishment. I must not go." - -Amesbury had again assumed his good-natured, whimsical attitude when -they went below to breakfast, and chaffed and joked the boys as usual. - -Presently Ahmik appeared, to accompany them to the railway station. - -"Come back hunt some more," Ahmik invited, as the train rolled into -the station. "Miss you very much." - -"We owe you so much," said Paul, as he shook Amesbury's hand. "I -don't know what we'd have done if you hadn't picked us up." - -"I'll never be forgettin' you, an' how rare kind you were," declared -Dan. - -"You chaps owe me nothing," insisted Amesbury. "The debt's all the -other way. You earned your keep, made some money for me, and made a -few weeks of my life very pleasant." - -Paul and Dan ran to the platform of the rear car as the train drew out -of the station, and had a last fleeting glimpse of Amesbury standing -there gazing after them, a look of wistful longing in his eyes. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -BAD NEWS AND GOOD - - -When John Densmore returned home after meeting Remington, he broke the -news of Paul's supposed death to the boy's mother as gently as he -could. She sat dry-eyed and mute, staring at him during the recital as -though not fully comprehending the purport of his words. Densmore drew -her to him and kissed her forehead. - -"Mother! Mother!" he soothed, "bear up! It's a dreadful calamity, but -we shall have to bear it!" - -She fainted in his arms, and for several weeks was very ill. Even when -she was again able to be about she was constantly under the care of a -physician, and trained nurses remained with her night and day. The -shock had left her in a state of nervous melancholia. - -She had always deprecated Remington's proclivities for hunting and -out-of-door sports. Now she felt very bitterly toward him, repeatedly -asserting that he was directly responsible for Paul's loss, at the -same time upbraiding herself unceasingly for having permitted Paul to -take part in the expedition. - -Hour after hour she would sit, her hands folded in her lap, indulging -her sorrow in silent brooding. She would picture Paul as he looked -when he said his last farewell; her imagination would carry her to the -desolate shores of Hudson Bay; she would see him struggling in icy -waters; she would hear his last agonizing cry to her as he sank -finally beneath the waves; and always his face cold in death, and his -body unburied and uncared for, perhaps the prey of savage animals, -rose up before her to reprove her for permitting him to leave her. -These were the things she dreamed of, asleep and awake, and they were -the only subjects of her conversation. - -Densmore was most devoted to his wife. He gave much of his time to -her, and as the months passed more and more of the conduct of his vast -business affairs was left in the hands of trained subordinates. - -During these months he had grown visibly older. Life had lost its -charm. Much as he loved his son, he could have borne Paul's loss with -some degree of fortitude had his wife taken it less to heart, but the -double sorrow of Paul's loss and her condition of melancholia took -from him at length the old vim and vigor that had won for him his high -place in the business world, and he was forced to admit that he had -"lost his grip." - -He was sitting in his sumptuously furnished office one June afternoon, -his chin on his breast, deep in thought. A pile of important papers -lay before him quite forgotten, though his secretary had placed them -there an hour before, stating that they required his immediate -personal attention. - -"What is the use?" he asked himself. "Paul is gone. I've got a good -deal more than we need. Mother [he always called Mrs. Densmore -'Mother'] must have a change, or she'll never recover from the shock. -Why not give it all up? Why not retire? Mother and I will take our -yacht and float around the world and try to forget." - -He looked at his watch at length. It was half past three. He pressed a -button, and a boy appeared. - -"Tell Mr. Hadden I wish to see him," he directed. - -At that moment Mr. Hadden, the secretary, evidently in a state of high -excitement, entered briskly. - -"Here's a telegram----" he began. - -"Attend to it, Hadden, I'm going----" - -"Read it! Read it!" exclaimed the secretary, holding the open telegram -before Densmore's eyes. - -Densmore, who had risen to his feet, read it, and leaned back heavily -against the desk. Then he caught the telegram eagerly from Hadden's -hand and read it again. - -"Is it possible, Hadden? Is it possible?" he asked excitedly. - -"Yes," answered the secretary with assurance. "I've studied the maps -of that country ever since the boy's disappearance. He's worked his -way down with natives to Winnipeg. I'm sure it's straight!" - -Densmore was quite alive now. His face was beaming, and his old-time -energy had returned as by magic. - -"Call Dr. Philpot on the telephone at once," he commanded. "Take this -wire and rush it off," and he dictated the telegram which made Paul so -happy. "And this: - - "'Captain Zachariah Bluntt, St. Johns, Newfoundland. - - "'My son and Dan Rudd are safe in Winnipeg. They are coming - direct to New York. Advise Rudd's parents. - - "'JOHN DENSMORE.' - -"Call a taxi. 'Phone Remington!" - -The telephone bell on his desk tinkled and he grabbed the instrument. - -"Hello! Dr. Philpot? This is Densmore. I've just received a wire from -Paul. He's safe in Winnipeg. Is it safe to tell Mrs. Densmore?" - -A pause. - -"Safe, you say? Just the sort of shock she needs to restore her? Good! -Good! I'm going right home. Be there when I arrive. All right. -Good-by. - -"Attend to these things on my desk, Hadden! I'm off to Toronto -tonight! King Edward Hotel. Good-by." - -And he rushed to the elevator, and from the elevator to the waiting -taxicab, thrust a bill in the chauffeur's hand and ordered: - -"The fastest you ever ran." - -All speed laws were broken in the flight that followed to the Densmore -mansion on Riverside Drive. Policemen waved their arms and shouted -warnings, pedestrians dodged, many narrow escapes from collisions were -made by a hair's breadth, but the chauffeur knew his business, and -Densmore could not ride fast enough. - -Dr. Philpot was waiting. - -"Go right up, Densmore, and tell her. I'll follow presently," he -suggested. - -When Densmore entered his wife's apartment a moment later, his face -reflecting joy and excitement, she sprang to him, crying: - -"Oh, John! John! What is it?" - -"Paul's safe," said he, wrapping her in his arms. "He's safe in -Winnipeg, and on his way to us, Mother!" - -"Oh, is it true? Is it true?" she almost screamed, and began to weep -and laugh hysterically as he repeated the telegram to her. - -Then with her head on his shoulder she wept quietly, deliciously, -joyously, and the tears washed away the grief of months. - -"Oh, Father," she said at length, lifting a tear-stained but happy -face to his, as she dried her eyes, "it's a miracle. But I can't wait -to see him--I just can't!" - -"Well, get ready, dear, to leave on the eight o'clock train this -evening. We're to go to Toronto to meet him--if Dr. Philpot says you -may." - -Dr. Philpot, who had joined them to observe his patient, said she -might if one of the trained nurses went too. - -"And," added the doctor, "I think I'll go with you." - -An hour later Remington was announced. A load of anxiety and -self-condemnation lifted from his shoulders, he, too, was in a state -of happy excitement. - -"Come along, Remington," invited Densmore. "We're off to Toronto to -meet Paul. You're one of the party," and Remington accepted. - - * * * * * - -The _North Star_ was in dry dock in St. Johns, undergoing repairs, and -Captain Zachariah Bluntt was enjoying a month ashore. He spent his -days superintending repairs, and regularly at six o'clock each evening -went home, ate supper, donned a pair of big carpet slippers, lighted -his pipe, and settled himself for a comfortable hour reading the -shipping news in _The Chronicle_. Mrs. Bluntt as regularly joined him, -with a lapful of things to mend, while the two Misses Bluntt cleared -away the supper things and retired to the kitchen to wash the dishes -before joining the sitting-room circle. - -The household was thus engaged one evening when the doorbell rang. One -of the Misses Bluntt answered the ring, and a moment later burst into -the living room to disturb Captain Bluntt's reading with the -announcement: - -"A telegram, Father." - -"Now I wonders what's happened!" exclaimed Mrs. Bluntt, for the -receipt of a telegram was no ordinary occurrence in the routine life -of the household. - -"We'll see! We'll see!" said Captain Bluntt, and placing a finger -under the flap of the envelope he tore it open, withdrew the telegram, -carefully unfolded it and held it up at arm's length to read. - -"By the imps of the sea! By the imps of the sea!" he exclaimed, -springing to his feet. - -"The two youngsters, Dan Rudd and the Densmore youngster! They're -safe! Here it is! It says they're safe! Safe, I say!" - -The family were in a state of high excitement at once. Mrs. Bluntt and -the two Misses Bluntt surrounded the Captain, asking all together, -"Where are they? Let me see it. How did they get there?" and a flood -of other questions and exclamations. At length, the full meaning of -the telegram digested, Captain Bluntt announced: - -"I'm goin' t' New York! The rascals! I' goin' t' New York on the first -train! On the first train!" and grabbing his hat he started for the -door. - -"But, Father, the train don't go till tomorrow evenin'," informed one -of his daughters. - -"I know! I know! But I wants t' get Tom Hand. I'll send Tom Hand t' -Ragged Cove on th' mail boat. Sails in th' morning! Want Tom t' take -word t' Dan's folks!" - -"Well for goodness' sake, Skipper, take off those slippers first and -put on your shoes," suggested Mrs. Bluntt. - -"Yes, yes, to be sure! To be sure! And I'll write a letter for Tom to -take. Yes, yes, he better have a letter!" and Captain Bluntt -impatiently donned his shoes, wrote the letter and hurried away on his -mission. - -Half an hour later the Captain returned. - -"Now that's fixed. That's all right. Tom goes on the mail boat. Wanted -to let 'em know. Make 'em feel good! Yes, make 'em feel good! Those -rascals! Saved all this if they'd come back t' the ship according t' -orders. Have t' wring their necks! Yes, have t' wring their necks when -I gets hold of 'em. Pair of young rascals!" - -The following evening Captain Bluntt, dressed in his Sunday clothes, -his bushy red beard bristling importantly, boarded the train, bade -good-by to Mrs. Bluntt and his two daughters, who had gone to see him -off, and at six o'clock began an impatient flight to New York, and, in -spite of his always-expressed disapproval of railway travel, was -undoubtedly the happiest passenger on the train. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -HOW PAUL AND DAN MADE GOOD - - -What a journey of joyous anticipation, of wondrous realization, that -was for the two lads! There was the home-coming in view, with all its -plans; there was the present, a wholly novel experience for Dan, who -had never before ridden upon a railway train, and it was little less -enjoyed by Paul, who assumed the position of a traveler of experience, -and directed their affairs between sleeper and dining car--they never -failed to respond to the first call to meals, and they invariably -astonished the waiters with the quantities of good things they -consumed. - -Between meals they reclined luxuriously in their seats in the sleeping -car, while they talked and planned, and enjoyed the fleeting vista of -landscape. - -"A train's sure a strange craft," remarked Dan one morning. "She can -beat a vessel for goin', but for steady cruisin', now, I'm thinkin' I -likes a vessel most. I'd like wonderful well t' have a bit of a walk, -but they ain't no deck." - -"You'll have a chance to walk when we reach Toronto, and we'll be -there pretty soon," promised Paul. "Father'll meet us there, and I do -hope Mother will too. I'm crazy to see them. Don't it give you a dandy -feeling to know how near home we are and getting nearer every minute!" - -"I'm wantin' wonderful bad t' get home too," admitted Dan. "How -long'll it be takin' me, now, from New York?" - -"I don't know exactly, but three or four days, I guess. Why, Dan, this -must be Toronto now," said Paul. "The porter's coming with his brush -to clean us up." - -It was Toronto, and the lads, in a state of suppressed excitement, -were the first to leave the train. Densmore and Remington were in the -front line of those awaiting arriving friends. They had left Mrs. -Densmore in the motor car that had brought them from the hotel, but -her impatience got the better of her, and she came rushing down to -join them and was the first to see Paul. - -"Oh, my boy!" she cried, as he ran to her open arms, and, laughing and -crying, she hugged him to her quite unconscious of the gaping crowd. -Then Densmore and Remington greeted him and he introduced Dan to his -father and mother. - -The motor car carried them to the King Edward Hotel, and in the -privacy of their apartment Mrs. Densmore had to cry some more over -Paul. - -"How brown you are," she said finally, holding him at arm's length and -looking at him admiringly, "and how big and strong and healthy you -look! I actually believe it's done you good." - -"It has," admitted Paul. "I'm a lot stronger than I used to be, and -I've learned to do things, too. But I wouldn't be here if it wasn't -for Dan," and he proceeded to tell briefly the story of their -adventures, heaping upon Dan so much credit that the latter's modesty -forced him to interject stammering objections now and again. Mrs. -Densmore was highly incensed at Factor MacTavish's treatment of them, -and the fact that Paul had actually been forced to work at manual -labor for his living shocked her terribly, but brought a twinkle of -downright satisfaction to Densmore's eyes. - -It was a happy party that boarded the train that evening for New York. -Dan was exceedingly shy at first, but he was soon made to feel that he -was one of them and presently felt quite at ease. Remington, entirely -forgiven by Mrs. Densmore, was jolly as he could be, and declared that -Paul had far outstripped him as a sportsman, and when Paul and he went -together again on an expedition, as they surely must, Paul would be -the teacher and he the pupil. - -Densmore's big touring car was waiting for them when the train drew -into the Grand Central Station at eight o'clock in the morning. Here -Dr. Philpot bade them adieu as they sped away toward Riverside Drive. - -"It's great to be back in New York!" declared Paul. "Lots of times I -wondered if I'd ever get home again." - -His mother pressed his hand but did not trust herself to speak. - -"Here we are! That's our house, Dan!" said Paul gaily, as the car drew -in behind a cab standing at the curb. A man, his back turned toward -them, stood on the sidewalk engaged in a heated controversy with the -cabman. When the car stopped they heard him saying, in loud, gruff -tones: - -"You're a pirate, sir! Yes, sir, a pirate! You deserve to have your -neck wrung! By the imps of the sea! You deserve to have your neck -wrung! But here's your money! Take it! Take it! Take it! Four times -what the cruise were worth! Yes, four times! Get away with your old -craft! Get away!" - -"'Tis the skipper! 'Tis the skipper, sure!" exclaimed Dan, highly -excited. - -The two boys sprang from the car without ceremony and ran to Captain -Bluntt, who, indeed, it was, as he turned to survey his surroundings, -his bushy red beard bristling in indignation. - -"By the imps of the sea!" he exclaimed. "'Tis the youngsters!" He -grasped a hand of each, the look of indignation in his face giving -place to one of high pleasure. "You rascals! You rascals! Is this two -o'clock? Weren't I telling you scamps t' be aboard at two o'clock? -Yes, two o'clock sharp! Two o'clock!" - -"How's Mother an' Dad?" asked Dan anxiously. - -"Well. Very well, last I heard from un. Gone in mournin' for you. Yes, -you rascal! Gone in mournin' for you! Hard blow, your death was to un! -Hard blow! Yes, you rascal! How do, Mr. Remington? How do? Glad to see -you! Happier times than when we sees each other last!" - -"Captain Bluntt, this is my mother and this is my father," broke in -Paul, introducing them. - -"Glad to know you, Madam," and the Captain bowed low. "Glad to know -you, sir. Had to come on when I got your telegram! Had to see the -young rascals! Had to see 'em, and take Dan to his folks myself!" - -"It's a very great pleasure to meet you, Captain Bluntt," said Mrs. -Densmore, extending her hand to him. "Paul has been telling me a -great deal of you since yesterday." - -Densmore shook the Captain's hand cordially. - -"You'll have to remain with us a few days, Captain. Paul won't part -from Dan, you know, until he shows him something of the city!" - -And as Captain Bluntt would not think of enduring a return journey by -train, and he was compelled to wait three days for the St. Johns -steamer, he accepted their hospitality. Every day during their stay -was filled with sightseeing, with evenings at the theater, and a new -world was opened for Dan. - -Paul declined to permit Dan to bear any part of the expense incurred -after their arrival in Winnipeg, and Densmore supplied both Dan and -Captain Bluntt with their transportation home, and upon Paul's -suggestion presented Dan with a new rifle and shotgun just like -Paul's. - -Finally, when sailing day arrived, Densmore, Paul and Remington saw -them off, and the lads parted regretfully. - -"You're the best fellow I ever knew," declared Paul, as they shook -hands, "and we'll always be chums." - -"An' I hopes," said Dan, "we may be takin' a cruise together again -sometime." - -The lines were thrown off, the active little tugs began puffing and -sputtering, and slowly the steamer drew away from her wharf, Paul and -Dan waving their caps as long as they could see each other. - -Paul and his father were together a good deal in the days that -followed. Densmore would frequently take an afternoon off, and -together they would go to the Polo grounds, and father and son would -yell and cheer together. Densmore had suddenly developed into a -full-fledged baseball fan, and taught Paul his first appreciation of -the game. They had long walks in the park these summer evenings, and -discussed many things dear to a boy's heart. They became, in fact, -inseparable chums. - -"Father," said Paul one evening, as they strolled up Riverside Drive -toward Grant's Tomb. "I wish I had something to do. I've spent about -all the money I got for my furs, and I hate to have to call on you for -money that I don't earn. It makes me feel--well, just useless--a -sissy." - -"What do you want to do?" - -"Oh, I don't know--but something. It made me feel so independent to -earn my own living while I was away, and to know I earned the money I -had when I came back, and I'd like to feel that way all the time. I'm -ashamed when I remember how I used to waste money I never earned. Dan -always earned his own way." - -"You'd better keep at school for awhile, my son. You can't invest your -time to better advantage than in obtaining an education." - -"Do you think so? It seems to me I'm just wasting time. I might be -working the way Dan is and making my own way. I'm sure I could do -something." - -"What do you think you could do?" - -"Oh, I don't know. If it wasn't so far from you and Mother I'd like to -spend the winters trapping with Mr. Amesbury. Of course, though, I -can't do that. Couldn't I have a job in your office, or get a berth -on one of the ships?" - -"You might. You could start in at five or six dollars a week. That's -the usual thing. In a few years you'd probably be advanced to twenty -or twenty-five dollars, and if you were very attentive to business, -even more, say fifteen hundred or two thousand a year--and that's a -pretty high estimate, for the supply of untrained men is larger than -the demand. You'd better keep at school, my son. The college-bred man -has a much better chance of success in life than the man who has never -been to college. What your future is to be, however, depends upon your -own efforts and yourself." - -They walked in silence for a while before Paul spoke. - -"Of course you're right, Father. If you wish I'll keep at school and -go through college. But I've been ashamed of myself a good many times. -I've been so selfish. I never thought of anybody but myself and my own -pleasure before I went away. Being with Dan and Mr. Amesbury, and -working, myself, has made me want to be more like them and do -something worth while. Life would be pretty tiresome without anything -to do but just loaf around." - -Densmore placed his hand on Paul's shoulder. - -"I'm glad to hear you say that, Paul. That's the spirit that makes a -real man. I'm afraid we coddled and indulged you until you were -becoming spoiled." - -"I failed in my examinations at school, too," continued Paul, "but I -won't fail again. I'll study now." - -"That's the way to talk, my son. Stick to it, and when you're -graduated from college you'll be prepared, with a little training and -experience, to take my place. That's what I'm looking forward to." - -"All right, Father. You've got my promise to do my best, and here's my -hand on it. It's my chance and I'm going to make the most of it. But I -wish--I wish Dan had a chance too." - -"What kind of a chance do you want him to have?" - -"I--I don't just know. Dan's pretty independent. He wouldn't take -money from you unless he worked for it, and he has to work to help his -folks. He wants to be a skipper some day." - -"Do you think he'd like a berth on one of our steamers?" - -"Yes, I guess so--if he could go home sometimes to see his folks." - -"That can be arranged." - -And it was arranged. Dan was given a berth on a steamer plying between -New York and South American ports, which he gratefully accepted. - -Paul was graduated from Princeton six years later, and after a year's -apprenticeship in his father's office was appointed General -Superintendent of the Atlantic and Pacific Steamship Company. - -It was arranged to celebrate the occasion with a dinner at Mr. -Densmore's club. Dan's ship was in port, and he, too, was to share in -the honors. Paul insisted that the dinner would be incomplete without -Captain Bluntt, and after many persuasive letters and cablegrams the -Captain was prevailed upon to journey again to New York, and to bring -with him Skipper Rudd o' the _Ready Hand_, Dan's "Dad," ostensibly to -pay Dan a brief visit. - -It was a jolly dinner, free from formality. Remington, Ainsworth and a -half dozen of Paul's college friends were there. Densmore at the head -of the table acted as toastmaster, with Dan at his right and Paul at -his left, which was in accordance with Paul's wish. - -When coffee was served, Densmore, after extending a welcome to the -guests, announced that they had been asked to join not simply in the -celebration of Paul's advancement to the superintendency of the -Atlantic and Pacific Steamship Company, but also in the celebration of -his first official act as an officer of the company. Of this, he said, -Paul would speak for himself. - -Paul began with a humorous description of his introduction to Captain -Bluntt and the _North Star_, which pleased the Captain wondrously, and -created much merriment. Then he passed on to the days when he and Dan -were cast away, of how Dan's resourcefulness and optimism, leavened -with the philosophy of Skipper Rudd, had kept up his spirits; of Dan's -courage and high ability; of the strong and enduring friendship -between him and Dan, a friendship akin to brotherly affection. - -"Not alone the high esteem in which I hold Dan Rudd, but his marked -efficiency as a navigator, as shown by his record while in the employ -of our company, has induced me, as my first act as an official, to -appoint him first officer of the steamship _Amazonian_, and to -announce that he is also first in line for advancement to a -captaincy." - -Dan was quite overcome. He had received no hint of the proposed -appointment, and when he arose to express his thanks, emotion choked -his voice. - -"I can't get words to thank you, Paul," said he. Then after a pause, -lapsing, under emotion, into the old vernacular, he continued: "I were -not expectin' this. I hopes I'll prove worthy. You're wonderful good, -Paul--sayin' all those things. But I want t' say, Paul, you're th' -grittiest mate I ever cruised with, an' you were doin' more than I did -t' work us out of the bush when we were cast away. I'm just a sailor, -not used to talkin', an' I can't get th' words t' say what I wants -to--but--but--I'm wonderful thankful." - -The moment Dan sat down Captain Bluntt was on his feet. - -"That's it! That's it!" he blurted. "Told you so, Mr. Remington! Yes, -sir! Told you Dan Rudd would be a skipper some day! Had the makin' of -a skipper! Yes, sir, he had! Lad of his parts sure to come to it! I'm -proud! Proud!" - -Then Dan's "Dad" was called upon for a word. The rough, kindly old -sailor-trapper, tanned and weather-beaten, was plainly laboring under -embarrassment. - -"I'm a wonderful proud man this night--wonderful proud an' wonderful -thankful," he began. "An' I'm thinkin' I has fair reason t' be proud -an' thankful. On my knees before I sleeps I'll thank th' Lard for His -blessin's. Standin' here before you all I has too few words t' thank -th' gentlemen as I wants to for their kindness t' Dan. - -"But Dan's deservin' o' un. He were always a rare true lad. He were -never shirkin' duty as he seen it. When he were just a wee lad I says -t' he, 'Dan,' says I, 'when you has work t' do, do un th' best you -knows how, an' you'll always be findin' th' Lard standin' back o' ye' -t' help, but don't go askin' th' Lard t' do things for ye what ye can -do yourself. I'm thinkin' 't is always Dan's way t' foller them -precepts, an' t' do things he has t' do th' best he knows how. Dan's -been a rare good son t' me an' his mother--a rare good son--always." - -"Dan," suggested Paul, when Remington and Ainsworth had each said a -word of congratulation, "before we go let's have some music. I'm sure -you have a harmonica somewhere in your pockets." - -"That mouth organ!" exploded Captain Bluntt. "Don't blow that mouth -organ, you rascal, or I'll wring your neck! By the imps of the sea I -will!" - -"Captain Bluntt let you play it once at our request," said Remington, -when the laugh that followed the Captain's outburst had subsided, "and -I'm sure he will again." - -"And you wants! And you wants!" consented Captain Bluntt, his eyes -twinkling with merriment. - -"What shall it be, Paul?" asked Dan, producing the harmonica. - -"You remember what you were playing that Christmas day when poor old -Amesbury surprised us at our campfire above Fort Reliance? Play that." - -And Dan struck up, - - "Over the hills and far away." - - THE END. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Wilderness Castaways, by Dillon Wallace - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WILDERNESS CASTAWAYS *** - -***** This file should be named 42382.txt or 42382.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/3/8/42382/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan, -Matthew Wheaton and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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