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} - .toc dt span.lj { text-align:left; display:block; float:left; } - .toc dt.jr { font-style:normal; } - .toc dt a span.cn, .toc dt span.cn, dt span.cn { width:3.5em; text-align:right; margin-right:.7em; float:left; } - dt .large {font-weight:bold; } - div.bcat dl dd { margin-left:4em; max-width:21em; } - div.bcat dl dt { text-indent:-2em; margin-left:2em; } - -.clear { clear:both; } -.htab { margin-left:8em; } - /* MAXWIDTH FOR JUVENILE BOOKS */ - p, blockquote, li, dd, dt, div.bcat, pre { text-align:justify; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; } - p, li, dd, dt, div.bcat, pre.internal dl { max-width:25em; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; } - p.csmaller { max-width:38em; } - p.csmallest { max-width:40em; } - blockquote { max-width:23em; } - - - div.verse { max-width:25em; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; } - div.bq { margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; max-width:23em; } -/* book advertisements */ - p.bkad {font-size:125%; font-weight:bold; margin-top:2em; max-width:20em; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; } - p.bkpr {font-size:90%; } - p.bkrv { } - dl.blist dt { margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; } - dl.blist, dl.biblio { margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; max-width:25em; } - - dl.int { margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; max-width:25em; } - dl.int dt {margin-left:0em; } - dl.int dd {margin-left:2em; } -</style> -</head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Dick Kent with the Eskimos, by Milton Richards - -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/license - - -Title: Dick Kent with the Eskimos - -Author: Milton Richards - -Release Date: January 1, 2016 [EBook #50816] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK KENT WITH THE ESKIMOS *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - -<div class="img"> -<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Dick Kent with the Eskimos" width="500" height="772" /> -</div> -<div class="img"> -<img src="images/p1.jpg" alt="In five minutes they dragged their young Indian friend free of the lodged snow. (Page 169)" width="500" height="723" /> -<p class="caption">In five minutes they dragged their young Indian friend free of the lodged snow. (Page 169)</p> -</div> -<div class="box"> -<h1>Dick Kent -<br />With the Eskimos</h1> -<p class="tbcenter">By MILTON RICHARDS</p> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="small">AUTHOR OF</span> -<br />“Dick Kent with the Mounted Police” -<br />“Dick Kent in the Far North” -<br />“Dick Kent, Fur Trader” -<br />“Dick Kent and the Malemute Mail”</p> -<div class="img" id="p2"> -<img src="images/p2.jpg" alt="Logo" width="200" height="217" /> -</div> -<p class="tbcenter">THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY -<br />Akron, Ohio <span class="hst">New York</span></p> -</div> -<p class="csmaller">Copyright MCMXXVII -<br />THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY -<br /><i>Made in the United States of America</i></p> -<h2>Contents</h2> -<dl class="toc"> -<dt class="jr"><span class="jl"><span class="small">CHAPTER</span></span> <span class="small">PAGE</span></dt> -<dt><span class="cn">I </span><a href="#c1">The Whalebone Spear</a> 3</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">II </span><a href="#c2">The Face in the Ice Window</a> 14</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">III </span><a href="#c3">Big Game</a> 24</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">IV </span><a href="#c4">The White Eskimo</a> 34</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">V </span><a href="#c5">At Sea in Kayacks</a> 44</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">VI </span><a href="#c6">Lost in an Arctic Fog</a> 54</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">VII </span><a href="#c7">On the Glacier</a> 64</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">VIII </span><a href="#c8">Sipsa Vanishes</a> 76</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">IX </span><a href="#c9">An Indian Bedtime Story</a> 88</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">X </span><a href="#c10">Adrift on a Floe</a> 100</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">XI </span><a href="#c11">The Camp of Frozen Men</a> 111</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">XII </span><a href="#c12">Trapped!</a> 123</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">XIII </span><a href="#c13">A Narwhal</a> 135</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">XIV </span><a href="#c14">The Floating Manuscript</a> 145</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">XV </span><a href="#c15">Musk Oxen</a> 154</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">XVI </span><a href="#c16">Buried in a Snow Slide</a> 166</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">XVII </span><a href="#c17">A Race with Death</a> 177</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">XVIII </span><a href="#c18">The Long Night</a> 189</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">XIX </span><a href="#c19">A Strange Trail</a> 199</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">XX </span><a href="#c20">Under an Arctic Moon</a> 211</dt> -<dt><span class="cn">XXI </span><a href="#c21">A Proposition</a> 222</dt> -</dl> -<div class="pb" id="Page_3">3</div> -<h1 title="">DICK KENT WITH THE ESKIMOS</h1> -<h2 id="c1">CHAPTER I -<br /><span class="small">THE WHALEBONE SPEAR</span></h2> -<p>Muffled from head to foot in hooded caribou -shirts and bearskin trousers, five persons slowly -plodded across a vast tundra within the Arctic Circle. -Many days, by land and by boat from the Canadian -coast, had brought them to a point where they must -go on with dogs only. And now as they drove twelve -big huskies to a long sledge filled with supplies, all -armed with rifles and two with revolvers, the fur-clad -figures presented a grim appearance upon the -snowy bosom of that frozen wasteland.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_4">4</div> -<p>A hood rimmed with blue fox fur almost completely -hid the face of the athletic figure breaking -through the snow at the head of the dog team. But -one who knew him would have had little trouble in -identifying that graceful, swinging step as belonging -to Dick Kent. He it was—again on the adventure -trail, his dark, clear eyes shining and eager behind -the smoked glasses he wore to protect his sight -from the glare of the snow-reflected sun, which, -though it was midday, hung low on the southern -horizon, a ball of baleful red.</p> -<p>Bringing up the rear were Sandy McClaren, -Dick’s chum, and the Canadian Indian boy, Toma, an -inseparable of the two American lads since they first -had entered the north on a visit with Sandy’s Uncle -Walter, a Hudson’s Bay Company factor. The remaining -two of the travelers were big men, alert -and vigorous, whose very appearance showed that -they represented the authority of law and justice. -They were officers of the Royal Northwest Mounted -Police, and under their furs reposed important orders -bearing the King’s seal.</p> -<p>“Hey, Dick!” Sandy McClaren’s shout sounded -startlingly loud and high in the icy air.</p> -<p>“Better take a rest while I break trail,” called -the young Scotchman.</p> -<p>“I’m not tired,” declared Dick, but nevertheless -he dropped back behind the dog team, whose lolling, -red tongues revealed how difficult was the going.</p> -<p>Sandy started forward to take Dick’s place, but -before he could pass the huge Eskimo dog in the -lead, one of the policemen had overtaken him.</p> -<p>“You young fellows have been doing too much -of this trail breaking,” sang out Corporal Lake -McCarthy.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_5">5</div> -<p>Sandy was only too glad to give way to the big -officer, and he quickly dropped back with Dick, -where the heavy sledge, loaded with supplies, packed -the snow and made snowshoeing comparatively -easy.</p> -<p>For a time the chums trudged on without speaking, -then, while they were passing a ridge of ice, -which had been carved by wind and sun into queer -patterns, Dick gave voice to a conviction:</p> -<p>“Sandy, this looks as if it was going to be a dull -trip. Here we’ve been mushing north for a month -and we haven’t seen anything more dangerous than -caribou, ptarmigans and snowshoe rabbits.”</p> -<p>“I wouldn’t be too sure just yet,” said Sandy. -“Uncle Walter was half a mind not to let us go on -this trip. You know there was something dangerous -in the wind or he wouldn’t have felt that way about -it. I asked him why the policemen were being sent -up here, but he just kind of laughed and said, ‘Oh, -nothing,’ like he meant it was a whole lot.”</p> -<p>While they talked, the boys were bent over their -snowshoes, and did not instantly notice a shirring -sound followed by the muffled plunk of an object -striking the packs on the sledge with considerable -force. The first either knew anything unusual had -occurred was when Dick chanced to glance up and -caught sight of something protruding from the -packs and the rear of the sledge.</p> -<p>“Stop the team!” cried Dick excitedly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_6">6</div> -<p>Corporal McCarthy’s booming command was followed -by a brief tangle of snarling dogs, then the -sledge came to a dead stop. All the members of -the party gathered about Dick Kent, who was pulling -something from the packs.</p> -<p>What he at last succeeded in extracting was a -short, barbed spear, the head made of whalebone -lashed to a smooth spruce handle with reindeer sinews. -The weapon evidently had been thrown from -the top of the ice ridge alongside which they had -been sledging, and what was even clearer, the spear -arm of the hidden enemy had been exceedingly -powerful and well-trained. Instinctively, almost, all -eyes were lifted to the brow of the ridge, and the -policemen drew their pistols. But nothing was to be -seen save the barren crest of the icy hill.</p> -<p>“I’ll go up and take a look around,” Corporal -McCarthy spoke briskly. “Jim!” he turned to the -other officer, “you stay here. It’s possible this fellow -was an Eskimo, but again it may be one of the -renegade Taku Indians that were reported as far -north as this. I’ll be back pretty quick.”</p> -<p>With that the big policeman drew a 30.30 rifle -from the sledge lashing and started up the icy slope -of the ridge. The others silently watched him disappear -over the summit. At any moment they -expected to hear the report of a rifle. But the -minutes ticked by and all remained silent. At first -they were relieved, then their fears mounted. It was -possible that whoever had thrown the spear had other -deadly weapons at his disposal. If Corporal McCarthy -were ambushed——</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_7">7</div> -<p>“Well, it looks like I might be right about what -I said a while ago,” Sandy finally turned and said -to Dick.</p> -<p>“That spear <i>did</i> take the words out of my mouth,” -admitted Dick, “but we can’t be sure yet. Anyway, -this is the first bit of excitement we’ve had on this -freezing trip.” He shivered a little as he looked at -the spear. “Whew! That thing didn’t miss me -more than four feet!” he exclaimed. “His aim -must have been for you and me, Sandy.”</p> -<p>“Looks like him Eskimo spear.” The low, throaty -voice was that of Toma, who had so faithfully stood -by Dick and Sandy on their previous adventures in -the north. The boys turned to find the young -Indian examining the weapon carefully.</p> -<p>“Eskimos!” The magic word leaped to the lips -of Dick and Sandy almost simultaneously.</p> -<p>Dick called to the policeman, who was repairing a -trace on the dog harness. “Mr. Sloan, when are -we going to see some Eskimos?”</p> -<p>“Can’t be long, lad, but——” Constable Jim -Sloan’s statement was cut off by a loud shout from -the top of the ridge. All eyes were turned upward, -and Dick and Sandy whistled. Bearing down upon -them was Corporal McCarthy accompanied by a -strange figure.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_8">8</div> -<p>“It looks like you boys’ll see an Eskimo sooner -than I thought,” resumed Constable Sloan, as he -watched the Corporal draw nearer with a small man, -swathed in furs, walking a little ahead at the point of -the officer’s rifle. It was apparent that a captive had -been taken.</p> -<p>“Got him easy,” called the Corporal as he came -up. “He was hiding behind a lump of ice and -thought I’d pass him by. He’s an Innuit alright.”</p> -<p>“A what?” Sandy turned to Dick.</p> -<p>“Innuits is what the Eskimos call themselves,” -replied Dick, eyeing the captive curiously. “It -means ‘the people.’ I read a lot about the Eskimos -in school. Look, he has another spear.”</p> -<p>All now gathered about the policeman, listening -to his story of how he had captured the Eskimo. -Dick and Sandy were principally interested in the -appearance of this native of the polar regions. They -found him to be about Sandy’s height, with light -brown skin, and Chinese-like eyes. The hood of his -caribou shirt had been pushed back and a heavy -thatch of straight black hair was revealed. The -Eskimo’s cheekbones were high like an Indian’s and -his skin was very oily looking. Constable Sloan, -who had been detailed on the expedition principally -because of his special knowledge of the Eskimos in -their native haunts, was endeavoring to carry on -a conversation with the sullen fellow.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_9">9</div> -<p>“He won’t talk much,” the Constable turned to -Corporal McCarthy. “Says his name is Mukwa and -that four families of Eskimos are about a day’s -march from here, on the shores of a bay somewhere -near Cape Richards. Swears he hasn’t seen any -white men, and claims he’s an outcast of his tribe. -I don’t believe all he says. I believe he could speak -English if he wanted to.”</p> -<p>“Well, we’ll have to hold him anyway,” declared -the Corporal. “The fellow seems to be hostile, and -maybe he’ll talk after a while. If everything’s ship-shape -we’ll mush on before it gets too late.”</p> -<p>Constable Sloan’s thirty-foot dog whip cracked -out over the team and the dogs set off, yelping -eagerly. Corporal McCarthy took up the rear with -the Eskimo captive. There was little talking, since -every member of the expedition realized he must -save his wind for the gruelling miles that must be -covered before they made camp.</p> -<p>Though at that time of year there was no darkness -at night, Dick and Sandy felt that it was long -past evening before Corporal McCarthy called a -halt. There was not enough vegetation for a campfire -to be built, but the policemen were forearmed -with small oil stoves, for heat and cooking. It was -not long before the dogs were secured for the night, -and the boys were hovering in the doorway of their -tent over a bubbling pot of tea.</p> -<p>“Tomorrow we ought to see an Eskimo village,” -Dick said, trying to keep his teeth from chattering.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_10">10</div> -<p>“It’ll be a great experience,” Sandy rejoined, “but -the farther we go the more I wonder just why we -are up here. Uncle Walter tried to cover up everything -under that sham about him thinking we ought -to see the Eskimos, but they don’t send the King’s -men up here for sight seeing.”</p> -<p>Dick studied a moment, then replied: “I haven’t -wanted to say anything until I was sure, but I believe -now that I have it figured out right. You know -Corporal Thalman was sent up here a year ago -to bring in a murderer. The fellow was reported -to be part Eskimo. Fred Mistak by name. I think -the two officers with us are looking for Corporal -Thalman and Mistak. They intend to leave us in -some winter camp with plenty of meat and fuel, -while they do the dangerous business.”</p> -<p>Sandy sniffed. “I’d like to see them keep me -out of the fun.”</p> -<p>“I feel that way too,” agreed Dick, blowing on a -cup of hot tea, “but we mustn’t be stubborn about it. -It’s best that we mind our own business.”</p> -<p>Constable Sloan had finished preparing the evening -meal of beans, pemmican and biscuit, and the -boys joined the rest of the party, conversation giving -way, for the time, to other exercises of the jaws.</p> -<p>Immediately after the meal was over everyone -retired in their sleeping bags, except Toma, who was -left to guard Mukwa, the Eskimo captive, for the -first part of the night. The wind had been steadily -rising and now was howling at terrific speed across -the frail tents, carrying a burden of fine snow along -with it.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_11">11</div> -<p>Dick Kent dozed to the droning rattle of the icy -particles upon the tent walls. Sandy already was -fast asleep. It was frightfully cold, and Dick dared -not peep out of his sleeping bag without something -over his ears. Uncovered, they would have been -frozen in a few seconds. As he lay thinking over -the events of the day, he could hear faintly the voice -of Toma as he endeavored to quiet some whimpering -dogs. Finally those sounds, too, died away and -nothing remained except the whistle of the driving -gale, which soon lulled Dick to sleep.</p> -<p>It seemed to Dick he had been asleep only a -moment when he awakened suddenly, all senses alert, -an unmistakable scream of anguish echoing in his -ears. Holding his breath, he listened, but the sound -was not repeated. He tried to recollect if he had -been dreaming and was sure he had not. No, from -a sound slumber something had awakened him—something -whose peril he sensed subconsciously, -and which set his heart pounding faster. An instant -longer he listened, then, drawing his hood about -his head, he wriggled part way out of his sleeping -bag.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_12">12</div> -<p>The wind was blowing almost as hard as before -he had gone to sleep, but now and again it died -down. During one of these lulls, Dick heard a -groan. With a start, he jumped up. He must find -out that it was not merely his imagination before he -awakened the others. They needed sleep. Cautiously, -he grasped his rifle and crawled to the opening -of the tent. He drew back the tent flap and -looked out. Toma’s tent was the point that attracted -his attention first. Everything plainly visible under -the midnight sun, Dick could see that the tent’s flap -was closed. Then, out of the corner of one eye -he detected a movement. A dark blotch appeared -on the snow in front of Toma’s tent where the -Eskimo captive had been left, well tied with thongs. -The dark blotch moved again. With a cry of consternation, -Dick suddenly galvanized into action and -sprang forward. He found Toma lying in the -snow, a spear protruding from one of his thighs, -and a red stain in the snow under the young Indian’s -head.</p> -<p>“What’s wrong?” came Corporal McCarthy’s call, -as he awakened and hurried out upon hearing the -sound of Dick’s voice.</p> -<p>“Toma has been wounded!” cried Dick.</p> -<p>“Is the Eskimo gone—the captive?” McCarthy -answered his own question by snatching back the -flap of Toma’s tupik. Yes, Mukwa was gone!</p> -<p>A little later, a cup of tea having completely revived -him, Toma told his anxious listeners what had -happened.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_13">13</div> -<p>“I can hear nothing but wind,” he said in his -quaint throaty dialect. “I am sit in tent—Eskimo -back inside. I think about my home, my mother. -I dream. Think no harm come out of storm. Then -I jump to see face looking at me. That fella throw -spear. Hit me in leg. Somebody hit me on head -same time. All get black like night. Me think -Mukwa’s friends come git him.”</p> -<p>A careful examination showed that the spear -wound in Toma’s leg was slight, the bearskin -trousers having protected him, and aside from a -lump on his head, the hardy young aborigine would -soon be well again.</p> -<p>But there was no sleep after that. Dick and -Sandy sat up with Toma, drinking hot tea and -listening to the mutter of voices from the policemen’s -tent. Evidently, action could not be long off, -since a council of war was underway.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_14">14</div> -<h2 id="c2">CHAPTER II -<br /><span class="small">THE FACE IN THE ICE WINDOW</span></h2> -<p>It was four o’clock next morning when Constable -McCarthy ordered the tents struck, the sledges -packed and the dogs harnessed. The wind, during -the sunlit night, had covered up all the tracks made -by the men who had freed the Eskimo captive, and -little time was spent trying to trace them.</p> -<p>“Only Eskimos could have done anything in that -blizzard,” Dick remarked to Sandy, while he tightened -sledge lashing.</p> -<p>Sandy did not reply, for at the moment Constable -McCarthy gave orders to mush on, and across -the icy drifts the dogs scampered northward.</p> -<p>All day the dog team labored on, stopped only now -and then to breathe. Dick and Sandy were thankful -for these short halts, for hardy as they were, the -slippery going was exhausting. Toma was not -troubled, however. The young Indian probably -could have out-traveled even the veteran northman, -Jim Sloan, who had once trekked the ice floes of -the frozen Polar Sea, six hundred miles from the -north pole.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_15">15</div> -<p>Toward evening the deep blue of the open sea -could be seen far ahead, marking the fiord or bay -that was their destination. Sloan did a lot of reconnoitering -from various high hills, but they had -reached the ragged coastline before the Eskimo -village was sighted.</p> -<p>Constable Sloan, who was to act as interpreter, -advised them to make a halt while he went forward -alone and talked with the heads of the families.</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy watched the big policeman make -off toward the strange dwellings upon the shore of -the fiord.</p> -<p>“Those snow houses must be igloos,” said Dick, -pointing. “How queer they are—just the shape of -bee-hives, with the little round holes at the bottom, -too.”</p> -<p>“I wonder where the people are,” Sandy spoke up, -“and what is that queer smell that seems to come -from the igloos?”</p> -<p>Dick could not answer the question. Corporal -McCarthy laughed. “You’ll smell worse smells than -that before we get away from these Eskimos,” said -the officer. “But what you smell just now is probably -fresh walrus meat, or seal blubber. The natives -have been hunting all day, I suppose, and are almost -all asleep now inside their houses.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_16">16</div> -<p>A moment after Constable Sloan had stopped before -one of the igloos, a figure crawled out of the -tiny entrance. There seemed no sign whatever of -hostility in the greetings exchanged by the policeman -and the native.</p> -<p>“That fellow doesn’t seem to have the spear-throwing -habit,” observed Sandy.</p> -<p>“No, as a rule the Eskimos are a peaceful people,” -said Corporal McCarthy.</p> -<p>Constable Sloan, at this moment, turned and signalled -them to come on, and when they reached the -igloos, several other Eskimos had come out of their -houses to satisfy their native curiosity. There were -women and children among them.</p> -<p>“Why, the older men and women look almost -alike!” exclaimed Sandy.</p> -<p>“I’ve heard there’s little difference in the appearance -of Eskimo men and women,” Dick replied, -“but they say you can tell by the sizes of their hoods—the -women have extra big ones so they can carry -their babies in them during mild weather.”</p> -<p>“Well, boys,” Constable Sloan turned to Dick and -Sandy, “I guess we can camp here for the night -anyway. Sipsa, the man I’ve been talking to, gives -us a hearty welcome, especially after I told him we -had some shiny, new knives and hatchets in our -packs.”</p> -<p>“What I’d like to do first is look around inside -one of those snow houses,” said Dick. “Do you -suppose Sandy and I might go into one?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_17">17</div> -<p>“I think I can fix that alright,” agreed Constable -Sloan, and turned to Sipsa. Followed a few words -in the Eskimo tongue. Sipsa seemed delighted at -the opportunity to show the boys the inside of his -strange home, and soon Dick and Sandy were on -their hands and knees, crawling through the door -of a most unusual residence.</p> -<p>They found the interior of the igloo to be much -larger than it appeared from an outside estimation, -due to the fact that it was cut down several feet into -a solid snowdrift. A small, soapstone lamp, shaped -like a clam shell, was burning, having a wick of -moss which absorbed the seal oil fuel. The boys -were surprised at the amount of heat the lamp -radiated. The furniture consisted of a long bench-like -lounge, covered with caribou and musk-ox hides. -Here and there lay harpoons, knives, whalebone -dishes and spoons, and crude implements, the use of -which the boys did not know. There were two -windows with panes made of opaque ice. The atmosphere -was heavy with the strong smell of fresh -blubber, and Dick and Sandy did not care to remain -inside very long.</p> -<p>“Phew!” snorted Dick, as he reached the open -air. “I couldn’t stand to live in a smell like that.”</p> -<p>“Nor I,” agreed Sandy, “but just the same I -think one of those snow houses would be just the -thing for us to live in while in this cold country. -The camp stoves would make plenty of heat, and we -ought to be cozy as anything in an igloo that was -minus that awful stink.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_18">18</div> -<p>“Unless a skunk happened to slip into bed with -us,” added Dick drolly.</p> -<p>“Like to see the skunk that was fool enough to -migrate north of the Arctic Circle,” laughed Sandy.</p> -<p>“Well, I haven’t seen any that cared for icicles -on their whiskers,” admitted Dick, still grinning.</p> -<p>“I don’t like to change such a sweet smelling subject,” -Sandy rejoined, “but what do you say we -start building ourselves one of those igloos before -bedtime? I’ll go ask Corporal McCarthy for help.”</p> -<p>The Corporal thought the idea a practical one, -and had Constable Sloan show them how it was -done.</p> -<p>At some distance from the Eskimo igloos, a huge, -solid snowdrift was located. A number of blocks -were cut out of this, leaving a hollow hole, perfectly -round. The blocks that had been removed -were then shaped and fitted with knives and built -up over the cavity in the drift, formulating part of -the walls and the roof. Spaces were left for a small -entrance and for two windows, whose panes were -formed by pouring melted snow water over the open -spaces. In the intensely cold temperature the water -froze as it dripped, the icicles finally joining to make -an opaque windowpane, crude but serviceable.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_19">19</div> -<p>It was time to retire when Dick and Sandy finally -moved into the igloo, and, crawling into their warm -sleeping bags, prepared to pass their first night under -the roof of one of the finest residences known -to the people of the great polar ice cap.</p> -<p>But sleep was slow in coming to them in their -unusual surroundings, and presently they crawled -out again and, to put in the time, tried broiling musk-ox -and walrus steaks over the oil heater. The musk-ox -was quite tasty, if a bit strong from improper -handling, but they scarcely could stomach the bitter, -greasy walrus meat. Had the boys known what was -in store for them—that some day soon they would -think walrus almost as delicious as roast chicken, -they might not have looked upon their future adventures -in the polar region with such eagerness. -But, as the saying goes, “What they did not know -did not hurt them.”</p> -<p>The two policemen, together with Toma, whose -leg wound was troubling him only a little, came -in to inspect the finished igloo before they again -rolled into their sleeping bags and one and all pronounced -it an ideal abode for cold weather. Before -the visitors went out again, they vowed that the -next time they camped for any length of time they -should live Eskimo style.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_20">20</div> -<p>Dick asked several pointed questions regarding -what the policemen intended doing now that they -had reached the northern coast, but both the Corporal -and the Constable were evasive. Dick was -not the sort of lad who became meddlesome or -troublesomely inquisitive, so he went no further. -When Sandy and he were again alone, they discussed -the approach of the polar winter, wondering how -they would weather it and admiring that heroic explorer -of the past who had gone so far as to reach -the north pole, making the name of Robert Peary -famous for all time.</p> -<p>A little later, when they had turned out their -stove, preparatory to crawling into their sleeping -bags, they became aware how difficult it was to sleep -with the yellow radiance of the sun still pervading -the inside of the igloo. The windows were not -clear enough for the light to be bright, but, nevertheless, -the absence of darkness made them so restless, -they decided to get up and go outside.</p> -<p>They found the sun hanging low over the horizon, -a pale ball of yellow, pouring its rays over the bleak -and desolate northland.</p> -<p>“How strange it seems!” cried Dick. “Just think—at -Fort Good Faith it’s nice and dark and maybe -the moon is up. I wonder what the folks at home -would say if they knew we were at this very minute -seeing the midnight sun.”</p> -<p>“It hardly seems possible we’re a thousand miles -farther north than we’ve ever been,” Sandy spoke -awedly.</p> -<p>But tired muscles and the intense cold soon made -their eyes heavy, and in spite of the sun they went -back to their sleeping bags.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_21">21</div> -<p>Dick could not sleep, however. The sunlight, the -excessive amount of black tea he had drunk, and -the exhaustive efforts of the day combined to keep -him awake. He tossed in his warm bag wishing he -had the ability to sleep as soundly and quickly as -Sandy, whose snores he could plainly hear.</p> -<p>The oil stove had warmed the igloo quite thoroughly—enough -so that Dick felt slightly uncomfortable, -though it was more than forty below zero -outside. He wriggled restlessly and looked out of -his sleeping bag, gazing up at the white dome of the -igloo ceiling. He was about ready to turn over and -try harder to sleep, when he thought he heard something -brush against the igloo roof at a level with -the snow outside. At first he believed it was only a -prowling dog, and was determined to ignore it, when -there came plainly to his ears the crunch of a footfall -in the snow.</p> -<p>One of the ice windows was directly over the -spot where Sandy was sleeping, and toward this -Dick’s attention was suddenly attracted as through -a sixth sense. A shadow had loomed up in the tiny -square—the shadow of a face peering in!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_22">22</div> -<p>Dick sat up with a start and grasped his rifle. -Evidently, whoever was looking in could see nothing, -since it was darker inside the igloo than outside. -Taking advantage of the prowler’s inability to -see, Dick picked up his rifle and pushed back the -huge cake of snow which plugged up the small round -door. Softly, then, he stole outside and commenced -the crawl around the igloo toward the window -through which he had seen the face. Yet he must -have made more noise than he thought, for at the -moment he reached a point from which he could see -the spying person, there sounded a guttural outcry, -and the crunch of running feet across the snow.</p> -<p>“Halt!” cried Dick, leaping up and firing his -rifle into the air.</p> -<p>But the fleeing culprit had a good start and he -proved not slow on his feet. Dick watched the dark -form vanish in the dim sunlight, while the aroused -camp scrambled out to see what was wrong.</p> -<p>Corporal McCarthy listened intently to Dick’s -story of what had happened. The officer said little at -the time, but presently he entered the boys’ igloo, -calling in the Constable and Toma.</p> -<p>When they all were comfortably seated, Corporal -McCarthy addressed the boys:</p> -<p>“What has just happened, on top of the capture -we made yesterday, makes me feel as if I ought to -explain the real motive of this long trip. Your -Uncle Walter McClaren wanted me to keep you -fellows out of trouble, provided there was no real -need of your services, but now that we seem to be -right in the territory of the fellow we are after, it -looks like I’ll have to enlist you in the service of the -mounted.”</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy exchanged glances and became all -ears, as the Corporal went on:</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_23">23</div> -<p>“Corporal Thalman, an officer sent out ahead of -us, has been either killed or lost somewhere in this -region, while trailing a half-breed Eskimo murderer, -called Fred Mistak. Sloan and I are after Corporal -Thalman, or what’s left of him, and of course we -intend to get Mistak.”</p> -<p>“What did I tell you?” Dick whispered aside to -Sandy.</p> -<p>“We will probably be up here for several months,” -continued the Corporal, “and about all I’ll expect of -you fellows is to keep your eyes open for a white -Eskimo. Just a hunch of mine, and while you’re -doing that, Sloan and I will look around for traces -of Thalman. We’ll all have to hunt, more or less, in -the meantime, because we haven’t enough meat in -our supplies to last. Ought to be plenty of musk-ox -further inland. For the present we’ll make this -Eskimo village our headquarters. I guess that’s -about all.”</p> -<p>“We understand,” said Dick, and Sandy nodded -importantly. Toma’s inscrutable face did not express -the excitement he must have shared with his -two young white friends.</p> -<p>When the policemen departed a few moments -later, they left behind them two sleepless boys, who -could scarcely wait for the real beginning of the -man hunt.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_24">24</div> -<h2 id="c3">CHAPTER III -<br /><span class="small">BIG GAME</span></h2> -<p>“Look! Polar bear tracks!” Dick’s exclamation -brought Sandy to his side in an instant and together -they bent over a human-like footprint in the snow, -their rifles clutched tightly in mittened hands that -already had begun to perspire with the excitement -of promised big game.</p> -<p>It was three days since the boys had arrived at -the Eskimo camp with the policemen, and the present -found them hunting musk-oxen several miles from -camp. Corporal McCarthy and Constable Sloan -had gone to a neighboring Eskimo village, seeking -information regarding the lost Corporal Thalman, -and Toma had been left at headquarters to take care -of the dogs and keep a lookout for the “white -Eskimo,” whose presence in the vicinity had been -suspected due to the incident of the whalebone spear, -and to the spy who had looked in at the igloo window.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_25">25</div> -<p>The policemen had not exercised bad judgment in -leaving the boys alone. Dick Kent and Sandy -McClaren had proved to the mounted police how -capable they were of taking care of themselves in -the savage northland, and the self-control they -evidenced upon sighting the polar bear tracks was -ample proof that the dangers they already had coped -with had strengthened them for even more daring -deeds.</p> -<p>“It can’t be very old,” Sandy commented, in a -whisper, after inspecting the bear tracks a few -moments.</p> -<p>“Not more than an hour, I’ll bet,” said Dick.</p> -<p>Both boys looked up and scanned the surrounding -vicinity. They were on a long, ice-caked slope -strewn with boulders, which led down to shore ice. -In the distance was open sea water, appearing almost -black due to the dim sunlight. There was no -sign of life in evidence.</p> -<p>“Let’s try to track him,” Dick suggested.</p> -<p>“Do you think these rifles are of big enough -caliber to kill a polar bear?” Sandy asked, as they -began searching for more tracks.</p> -<p>“Yes, that .32 Special of yours and my 45.20 -ought to do the trick easily enough. Remember, try -to hit him in the soft spot under his ears, or right -behind the shoulders.”</p> -<p>The bear tracks were hard to follow since at -times they led over hard ice, or boulders, but now -and again the huge animal had stepped in soft snow -or loose soil and left signs of his passage.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_26">26</div> -<p>For nearly a quarter of an hour they followed -the trail along the slope. It finally led them to shore -ice, which had been heaped up in huge mounds by -the ocean waves during some Arctic storm.</p> -<p>“We’ve got to go slow here,” cautioned Dick. -“The bear may pop out from behind any of these -piles of ice. He’s probably hunting seals or fish out -at the edge of the water.”</p> -<p>Scarcely had Dick spoken when there sounded a -faint dog-like bark, and a puppyish whine.</p> -<p>“Did you hear that, Sandy!” exclaimed Dick. -“Those sounds were made by seals. There must be -a small herd of them near here.”</p> -<p>They moved on cautiously toward the open water, -rifles held in readiness for instant use.</p> -<p>A hundred yards from the water they heard the -loud bellow of a bull seal, a number of frightened -barks, a blood-curdling growl, and then the sound -of bodies striking the water.</p> -<p>“It’s the bear!” whispered Dick hoarsely. “He’s -attacked the seals.”</p> -<p>A moment later an arresting scene met their eyes, -as they reached level ice and saw open water a few -yards away. A huge polar bear, his shaggy, grayish -fur dripping wet, was struggling out of the sea, -holding in his jaws a young seal which still was -faintly crying. Further out in the water a dozen -seals were swiftly swimming toward an ice floe.</p> -<p>“Get back! He hasn’t seen us,” Dick said quickly, -and the boys darted behind a large ice cake.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_27">27</div> -<p>Together they peered cautiously around the edge -of their barricade. The ferocious animal was out -of the water now, shaking the water from his fur -like a big dog. The young seal had ceased to -struggle, and lay very still at the bear’s feet. In -comparison with the tiny animal the polar bear -seemed as large as a horse. Dick and Sandy quailed -a little and pressed more closely together.</p> -<p>When the bear bent his head to nose over his kill, -the boys quietly placed their rifles to their shoulders -and took aim. Then followed a tense moment while -they waited for a movement that would expose the -bear’s most vulnerable points. At seventy-five yards -they could not miss.</p> -<p>Slowly the bear picked up the seal in his jaws and -paused an instant, seeming undecided as to what was -the most comfortable place in which to enjoy his -meal. Then two rifles cracked almost as one, and -the great beast dropped to his belly, the seal falling -from his jaws. Dick fired again swiftly, but Sandy -jerked ineffectually at the reloading lever of his rifle. -His gun had jammed in his haste.</p> -<p>A rattling growl came from the throat of the -stricken polar bear, and with an angry lunge, the -great brute started for the point from which the -bullets had come. Dick fired three more times in -quick succession, and a hundred feet from them the -bear at last dropped and began to struggle.</p> -<p>“We got him!” whooped Sandy.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_28">28</div> -<p>Dick was about to echo his chum’s triumphant -cry, when an ominous growl from behind them -froze the very blood in their veins with terror. As -one they whirled about. Down the slope to the -shore ice charged another polar bear, almost a -replica of the one they had just shot. The beast -was roaring its rage and was headed straight for the -two young hunters.</p> -<p>“Run for your life!” cried Dick, “it’s the bear’s -mate!”</p> -<p>As fast as they could run Dick and Sandy set off -along the shore ice, exceeding all previous records. -They could hear the rattle of the bear’s claws on the -ice as it came on in pursuit, and with each second -the angry growls sounded nearer.</p> -<p>Presently, Sandy began to fall behind in the race. -Frantically, Dick urged him on, slackening his own -pace to equal that of his slower chum, and while he -ran like a frightened deer, all Dick’s narrow escapes -ran through his mind in swift succession, for he -believed that he and Sandy were doomed at last.</p> -<p>In a last desperate effort to save himself and -Sandy, Dick determined to make a stand with the -last two cartridges in his rifle. It was a plan born -of despair, he knew, for two shots at a running -target hardly could stop a beast of such massive -strength and vitality and in such a ferocious mood.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_29">29</div> -<p>It was then that the boys noticed a change in the -sounds of pursuit. The bear seemed to have fallen -behind, his growls gurgling strangely in his throat.</p> -<p>With renewed hope they ran on until a loud, -familiar shout pierced the icy air from a point behind -them. They looked back over their shoulders -and came to a staggering halt. A hundred yards -behind, the bear lay struggling his last, the shaft of -a harpoon protruding from its side, while above on -the slope stood an Eskimo beckoning to them.</p> -<p>The gratitude of Dick and Sandy could not be -expressed as they hurried toward the Eskimo who -had doubtless saved their lives.</p> -<p>Coming closer to the native, they recognized him -as Sipsa, who had proved so exceptionally friendly -at the village. He seemed to understand when the -boys tried to thank him, and conveyed by means of -many signs how he had been scouting for walrus -and seal when he had discovered the danger Dick -and Sandy had fallen into.</p> -<p>The boys followed Sipsa to the dead polar bear, -and watched him draw out the harpoon. So forcibly -had the weapon been driven that it had passed almost -entirely through the bear’s thick body. Dick and -Sandy shivered as they examined the mighty jaws -and terrible claws that but for Sipsa’s timely intervention -might have crushed and torn them to shreds.</p> -<p>“Angekok, Angekok,” Sipsa began repeating, -while pointing at the dead bear.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_30">30</div> -<p>Sandy looked blankly at Dick, who was searching -his mind for the meaning of the word. At last he -recalled it.</p> -<p>“He means ‘devil.’ Angekok is the Eskimo word -for ‘almighty devil.’ They believe in evil spirits, and -he’s trying to tell us there was a devil in this bear.”</p> -<p>“I guess he’s not far from right,” Sandy declared -with genuine sincerity.</p> -<p>Presently the Eskimo managed to convey to the -boys that they must return to the village and get -sledges with which to haul in the meat of the two -bears.</p> -<p>Feeling they had had plenty of hunting for that -day, the boys were glad to consent to this, and all -three started back toward camp, led by Sipsa, who -had gained the great respect of Dick and Sandy.</p> -<p>Tired, hungry and cold, the chums at last reached -the Eskimo village, only to find all in a state of confusion -and uproar. Toma met them with an explanation -of the excitement tumbling from his ordinarily -reticent lips.</p> -<p>“Somebody steal um dog team an’ sledge,” said -Toma. “I in igloo, get um meat cooked for supper. -All Eskimo down by big water, ketch um seal. -When I come out I see not so many dogs, an’ one -sledge not there. I hurry up, tell um Eskimos. -They take dog team an’ go after this fella who steal -dog team.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_31">31</div> -<p>“And you didn’t see the thief at all?” asked Dick, -gravely concerned.</p> -<p>Toma shook his head vigorously. “Him come an’ -go like bad spirit. No hear, no see. I no like that -kind thief.”</p> -<p>Dick was puzzled at first, then spoke: “Sandy, -I have an idea this is more of the white Eskimo’s -work. He could have got away pretty quietly if he -was a good hand with dogs, as I suppose he is. -I’m certain now that Fred Mistak and the ‘white -Eskimo’ are the same person. We’ll find out.”</p> -<p>“In the meantime, let’s eat,” said Sandy.</p> -<p>Dick discovered that he had as keen an appetite -as Sandy when in their cozy igloo he found a tasty -meal prepared by Toma. Both boys were too tired -to join the Eskimos, who in spite of the theft of the -dog team, set out to skin and cut up the polar bears, -leaving the camp deserted except for the three boys. -Dick and Sandy were later to learn that not even -a funeral could stand between an Eskimo and his -hunting. When there was meat to be had the natives -dropped everything until the last bit of it was safely -stored away. For wild meat was their only staple -diet—all that kept them from starving to death, and -during the real winter they could hunt but little.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_32">32</div> -<p>The boys had finished their supper and were relating -to Toma, in detail, their narrow escape from -the mad polar bear, when the barking dogs and the -sound of familiar voices interrupted them. They -tumbled out of the igloo to find Corporal McCarthy -and Constable Sloan. The policemen had just returned -from a long, fruitless trek eastward, and the -Corporal had frosted his feet.</p> -<p>What the boys had to say about the stolen dog -team was of especial interest to the officers.</p> -<p>“Without a doubt Fred Mistak is hiding near -here,” commented Corporal McCarthy, when comfortably -seated in the boys’ igloo, with his bare feet -in a pan of snow to draw out the frost. “So far, -I’ll have to admit we’ve done little better than nothing, -but we’ll hope for better luck tomorrow——” -Corporal McCarthy did not finish his sentence.</p> -<p>A hoarse cry at the entrance of the igloo was the -interruption, and into their midst tumbled an Eskimo, -gibbering in a frightful manner, and groveling -on the floor as if he had lost his mind.</p> -<p>In the jumble of native words was audible the -frequent ejaculation: “Angekok! Angekok!”</p> -<p>“Him one them three go after fella what steal -dog team!” Toma suddenly exclaimed.</p> -<p>“What!” cried Corporal McCarthy. “Sloan,” he -wheeled toward the Constable, “go out and see if -the other two have returned alright.”</p> -<p>Constable Sloan was out and back in a few moments. -“Not a sign of anyone around—no dog -team either,” the Constable reported quietly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_33">33</div> -<p>McCarthy’s face took on a grave expression, and -his jaws hardened. “Ask the Eskimo what scared -him?” he directed Constable Sloan.</p> -<p>By this time the Eskimo had somewhat recovered -his natural calm, yet he frequently looked fearfully -toward the igloo entrance, as if he feared something -was coming in to get him.</p> -<p>The Constable’s questions were brief and the Eskimo’s -answers prompt, though his voice trembled -from fright.</p> -<p>“The Eskimo says it was the ‘white Eskimo’ that -attacked them,” Constable Sloan reported presently. -“He says his two companions were killed and the -dogs taken.”</p> -<p>A deep silence fell upon all who had heard Constable -Sloan’s words. It was several seconds before -Corporal McCarthy spoke rapidly:</p> -<p>“Get ready for the trail. We leave here just as -soon as we get a few hours’ sleep. I’m going to -enlist Sipsa as a guide, and I’ll get my man if I -have to trail him clear to the North Pole!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_34">34</div> -<h2 id="c4">CHAPTER IV -<br /><span class="small">THE WHITE ESKIMO</span></h2> -<p>It was thirty below zero the following morning -when two teams of twelve dogs, each drawing -sledges, loaded with supplies, departed from the little -village of igloos. The warm breath from man and -dog turned to vapor in the freezing air, and all were -enveloped in a cloud of steam as they trekked eastward -along the coastline.</p> -<p>Corporal McCarthy had found Sipsa willing to -lead the party and had also enlisted the aid of two -Eskimo dog drivers, Okewah and Ootanega. The -policeman had promised all of them large rewards -in tools, rifles, and tents, provided they served him -faithfully in pursuit of the “white Eskimo.”</p> -<p>“I wonder how soon we’ll pick up the trail,” -Sandy spoke from the depths of his frost-rimmed -parka.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_35">35</div> -<p>“No telling,” replied Dick through a cloud of -steam, “we’re now following the tracks made by the -Eskimo who came in last half scared to death. Corporal -McCarthy believes these tracks will lead to the -place where the white Eskimo and his men attacked -those three Eskimos who went after the stolen dog -team.”</p> -<p>The boys said no more then for the fast pace at -which they were traveling took all their breath. For -two hours they drove eastward across the snowfields -under a gray cloud filmed sky. At the end of this -time they came to a narrow defile between huge -blocks of ice that had been thrown up by the waves -at high tide. They threaded their way among the -ice cakes for about a hundred yards when they -came upon the scene of a terrible tragedy.</p> -<p>“It’s the two Eskimos that failed to come back -last night!” Dick’s horrified exclamation was echoed -by Sandy while the two policemen and the Eskimos -bent over the two huddled forms in the snow.</p> -<p>The Eskimos had been killed, and all about them -were signs of a deadly struggle. One sledge had -been crushed, and its packing torn up and rifled of -supplies. Two dogs lay dead, and prowling foxes -had torn them to bits.</p> -<p>“If this isn’t the work of Fred Mistak, then I -don’t know my name!” Corporal McCarthy cried, -shaking his fist at the white silent hills. “But we’ll -get him, we’ll get him, and he’ll pay a big price!”</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy thrilled at the words, and -hastened to lend a hand to the burial of the bodies.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_36">36</div> -<p>Two typical Eskimo graves were made by heaping -small boulders upon the dead natives in a cairn-like -mound, which would keep away the foxes, which -had as yet scarcely harmed them, probably because -the dogs had satisfied them for the present. To -agree with the superstitions of the Eskimos the -sledges, weapons and other paraphernalia of the deceased -were buried with the dead.</p> -<p>“Now that sorry business is over,” Corporal McCarthy -addressed the somber company, “we’ll pick -up Mistak’s trail and see how fast we can mush. -Every man of you keep watch for an ambush. This -fellow is about as desperate as they make them, and -we’ve already had a taste of his treachery. It’s our -hide or his and let’s be careful it’s his. Mush on!”</p> -<p>Once more the dogs buckled into the harness and -the long Eskimo whips lashed and crackled over -many bobbing, white tails.</p> -<p>But it was a weary, half-frozen company that -camped late that night without sighting the mysterious -person they pursued. Dick and Sandy were -almost too tired to be hungry once they had thrown -up their tupik, or Eskimo tent made of sealskins. -Not until they had drunk several cups of hot tea, an -indispensable drink in the far north, did they feel -anywhere near themselves, and could discuss the -doings of the day while munching hard biscuit and -pemmican.</p> -<p>“I wonder where this trail will end?” Sandy ventured -dubiously.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_37">37</div> -<p>“Wish I knew,” rejoined Dick, “but I think the -‘white Eskimo’ will lead us on a real old wild goose -chase. He knows more about this country than any -of us, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew the lay -of the land better than any of these Eskimo guides. -Anyway the Eskimos can’t be of much use in tracking -that fellow because they believe the ‘white Eskimo’ -is an Angekok, or devil. They’re so superstitious -that if we once got very close to the fellow -we’re chasing, they’d probably lead us astray or run -off and leave us alone.”</p> -<p>“I guess they believe in ghosts alright,” agreed -Sandy, pouring another cup of tea.</p> -<p>Dick was about to continue the discussion, when -he chanced to look through the opening of their -tupik.</p> -<p>“Look at that!” he grasped Sandy’s arm tensely.</p> -<p>What Dick saw was their three Eskimo hands -gathered before their tupik in a private council of -some secret purpose. The native drivers were gesturing -excitedly with their hands and heads, evidently -arguing with Sipsa, the guide.</p> -<p>“The drivers seem to be ready to quit right now, -the way they act,” observed Sandy.</p> -<p>“Well, we can’t go far without them, at least, -without a guide. I ought to tell Corporal McCarthy -about this.”</p> -<p>However, no more were the words out of Dick’s -mouth than the police Corporal approached the three -Eskimos and scattered them to various tasks.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_38">38</div> -<p>Presently the Corporal joined the boys in their -tent and confirmed their fears. “I’m afraid these -Eskimos will desert us if we don’t keep close watch -of them,” said the policeman. “We’ll all have to -take turns on watch tonight, tired as we are. I -think Sipsa still is loyal, but the other two are doing -their best to make him desert. The ‘white Eskimo’ -certainly has them scared.”</p> -<p>It was twelve o’clock when Dick Kent’s turn came -to stand watch, and it was with some difficulty that -he shook the sleep out of his eyes when Constable -Sloan spoke to him.</p> -<p>“Don’t think we’ll have any trouble tonight after -all,” the Constable reassured him. “The Eskimos -seem pretty quiet, but be ready for anything and -don’t hesitate to call McCarthy and me if anything -unusual turns up. Good night.”</p> -<p>Dick shivered as he took his post at the entrance -of the tupik with rifle in his mittened hands. The -dogs were quarreling among themselves where they -were leashed to the sledges, and from the Eskimos’ -tupik came the muffled sound of voices. They did -not seem as quiet now as Constable Sloan had reported -them. They were speaking in their native -tongue and Dick could not understand what they -were talking about.</p> -<p>“I’ll just keep close watch of their tent,” he murmured -to himself. “If any of them try to sneak -away I’ll call the policemen.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_39">39</div> -<p>An hour passed, the Eskimos quieting down and -apparently falling asleep. The vast silence of the -far north brooded over the little encampment, when -Dick detected, out of the corner of his eye, a movement -beyond the huddled dogs. It was like a small -animal that had moved across the top of a snowdrift. -Dick’s heart skipped a beat as he strained -his eyes to catch sight of whatever had appeared.</p> -<p>A dog growled, and Dick spoke quietly to the big -huskies, getting up and going to them. The leader -of the team, a giant malemute, was sitting up, his -ears alert, and his nose wriggling as he sniffed the -air uneasily.</p> -<p>“What is it, old boy?” whispered Dick. “What -do you see?”</p> -<p>The malemute growled ominously in answer, his -hair rising along his back as he scented some sort -of danger.</p> -<p>Dick looked carefully about camp again, seeking -the cause for the dog’s uneasiness, but all seemed -peaceful enough. Impulsively, he decided to walk -out to the drift where he had seen the suspicious -movement, thinking he would find there the tracks -of some animal.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_40">40</div> -<p>The drift was only about fifty yards from the -sledges where the dogs were tied, and Dick soon -reached it. About to go around the drift and investigate, -a weird, low call from behind him brought -him to an abrupt halt, the blood congealing in his -veins at the strangeness of the sound. He turned -and looked back at camp. There came a soft swishing -sound from the snowdrift he had been about -to inspect, and he whirled to see a dark form bearing -down upon him. His startled cry was cut off -sharply as something hard descended forcefully upon -his head and he went down in the snow, thousands -of stars blazing before his eyes.</p> -<p>But Dick had not been knocked entirely unconscious. -He lay still a moment until his senses came -back to him, feeling the person who had attacked -him leap over him and toward camp. Then came the -cries of the aroused camp, mingled with the barking -dogs, and above all the shriek of a frightened Eskimo, -followed by a wail of fear.</p> -<p>Struggling to his feet, Dick saw Corporal McCarthy -taking aim at two fleeing figures, and heard -his rifle crack. But the policeman was firing into -the air, merely to frighten the attackers.</p> -<p>Sipsa was struggling in the strong arms of Constable -Sloan, and from the mouthings of the frightened -native Dick could make out that Sipsa had -seen the “white Eskimo.”</p> -<p>“Where are the drivers?” Dick shouted to Sandy -who was standing as if stunned, his rifle held in his -hands.</p> -<p>Sandy seemed to regain his wits at that and dived -for the Eskimos’ tupik along with Dick. They almost -collided with Toma coming out of the tent.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_41">41</div> -<p>“Um gone,” said Toma, “Um run away when -seen um ‘white Eskimo.’”</p> -<p>The truth of Toma’s statement was soon revealed -when a search of the camp and the vicinity revealed -no sign of the two drivers, other than their tracks -in the snow.</p> -<p>“Well,” said Corporal McCarthy, “I guess the -‘white Eskimo’ knows how to scare the wits out of -the natives. I don’t suppose there’s any use for -us to chase our guides. They’d be of no further -use anyway. I hope Sipsa doesn’t take it into his -head to follow them when he gets a chance to break -away.”</p> -<p>“We’re lucky to have whole skins,” Constable -Sloan remarked.</p> -<p>“My head feels as if it was too big for my parka,” -said Dick, manfully fighting off a dizzy spell.</p> -<p>“Hurry into your tent and I’ll get the medicine -kit,” said Corporal McCarthy. “I want to get going -again in an hour anyway. We ought to locate some -more drivers tomorrow, and if possible, overtake -Mistak, the ‘white Eskimo,’ before he gets another -lead on us.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_42">42</div> -<p>Dick’s head wound proved not serious. His heavy -parka had protected his scalp from the blow, which -had probably been made with a spear butt. There -was, however, a large lump about the size of an egg -over his left temple, and it was rather sore. But the -young northman would not think of delaying the -pursuit, and speedily forgot his slight wound as he -hustled about making tea, while Sandy and Toma -lent willing hands with the packs and dog harnesses.</p> -<p>Within an hour dog and man had partaken of an -early breakfast and were mushing grimly along a -fresh trail under the midnight sun.</p> -<p>“This was a wise move on our part,” Dick told -Sandy as they woddled along on their snowshoes. -“Mistak won’t expect us to start out so soon and -we’ve a good chance to overtake him.”</p> -<p>“I get the creeps whenever I think of that Eskimo -stealing into camp that way,” rejoined Sandy. “Suppose -he is a kind of a devil.”</p> -<p>“Nonsense,” replied Dick, “just because these -poor, superstitious Eskimos are frightened is no -sign you should be. I’ll admit he’s a dangerous -character, but he’s no more than a human being, and -the mounted will get him in the end.”</p> -<p>Sandy was about to reply when an exclamation -from one of the policemen silenced him.</p> -<p>They had come out on the rim of an ice-bound -ridge and below them stretched a vast valley bounded -by the sea on the north and filled with age-old ice -formations.</p> -<p>Directly below them were two dog teams, the -drivers of which had apparently not yet detected -the mounted police.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_43">43</div> -<p>Dick and Sandy could not forbear a cheer as -Corporal McCarthy called for full speed ahead and -they drove the dogs yelping down the slope toward -the fugitives from justice. At that moment it looked -very much as if Fred Mistak’s career of outlawry -were doomed already, and the boys prepared themselves -for a battle.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_44">44</div> -<h2 id="c5">CHAPTER V -<br /><span class="small">AT SEA IN KAYACKS</span></h2> -<p>When Dick and Sandy sighted the dog team of -what they believed to be the “white Eskimo,” it could -not have been more than a half a mile away, though -distances in the north are deceptive.</p> -<p>“We ought to catch up with them in twenty -minutes,” Constable Sloan had said.</p> -<p>But they were not so fortunate. Either the “white -Eskimo” had seen his pursuers and was therefore -driving faster, or his dogs were faster at a normal -pace of travel than the police dogs. At any rate, -after thirty minutes, fast driving they were bumping -along over a rough ice floor, the team ahead nowhere -in sight.</p> -<p>“It can’t be far to the sea shore now, can it?” -panted Sandy.</p> -<p>“No,” Dick replied, “we are probably traveling -across a frozen bay now. The ice may be hundreds -of feet thick here, you know, and the sun never -gets warm enough to melt that much ice.”</p> -<p>“It takes awfully cold weather to freeze salt -water,” Sandy opined.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_45">45</div> -<p>“I should say it does!” agreed Dick emphatically, -“but you know most of the ice around here is from -old glaciers, and is fresh water ice. The glaciers -slide down to the sea shore and break off, making -ice-bergs and huge ice floes.”</p> -<p>“Hey! Look out!” Sandy’s cry of warning came -too late. Dick had been so interested in his explanation -of the ice formations that he had not noticed -how close he was to a treacherous slope of glassy -ice. He slipped, and before he could catch himself -he had whizzed down, flat on his back, to come up -with a bump in a hard snowdrift at the bottom of -the slope.</p> -<p>“Are you hurt?” called Sandy anxiously, as Dick -crawled out of the snow, sat up and began shaking -himself.</p> -<p>“No, but I’ve got my parka full of snow,” Dick -called back, “and it’s not a very pleasant feeling -with melted snow trickling down your chest.”</p> -<p>The policemen had stopped upon seeing Dick’s -accident, and they now waited until he had climbed -back up the slippery slope before they went on.</p> -<p>Dick was not much the worse for the spill in the -snow, since the heat of his body under the warm -clothing soon dried up the snow that had seeped in. -He forgot the accident in anticipation of the excitement -ahead, for at any moment all hands expected -to sight the dog team of Fred Mistak.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_46">46</div> -<p>A breeze had sprung up, blowing in their faces, -and they all could feel the nearness of the sea by the -dampness in the air. Then, suddenly, they rounded a -huge heap of snow-covered ice to come upon a vast -bay of open water and a most discouraging sight. A -mile out to sea, in native boats, they could see their -quarry vanishing toward a snow-capped, rocky -island.</p> -<p>Even as they watched they saw one tiny figure -raise up and wave a defiant hand at them.</p> -<p>“Well, he’s flown the coop this time,” said Corporal -McCarthy through his teeth, “but we’re not -beaten yet—not by a long shot. Sloan, bring Sipsa -here.”</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy followed the Constable and the -Eskimo guide to Corporal McCarthy’s side.</p> -<p>“Tell Sipsa we must get Eskimo boats immediately,” -was the policeman’s command. “Enough -boats to carry all of us along with our provisions, -dogs, and sledges.”</p> -<p>When Sloan had explained this to Sipsa, the Eskimo -shook his head at first, but finally seemed to -offer some encouragement.</p> -<p>“He says he’s not sure he can find any Eskimos -very near here,” Sloan turned to Corporal McCarthy. -“But he’ll try. He says we’ll have to take -a chance following the coast line.”</p> -<p>“Alright, then, we’ll take the chance. We’ve got -to have boats.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_47">47</div> -<p>But luck was with them, for they had not gone on -a mile when they came upon a dozen igloos in a -sheltered nook. The tribesmen were at sea, hunting -seals, and the women were scattered along the shore -skinning and cutting up the meat.</p> -<p>“We are in luck in some ways,” called Constable -Sloan, cheerfully, as they drew up at the igloos. -“Now if we can only trade these fellows out of a -few native boats, we’ll be luckier still. Here comes -a couple of men.”</p> -<p>The two Eskimos approaching from the beach, -were evidently not at all afraid of the white men, -for they came up smiling, perfectly unconscious -that they put forth a bad appearance with their -clothing covered with seal blubber, grease and blood.</p> -<p>Sipsa immediately began talking with them, Sloan -permitting him to do the dickering for the boats.</p> -<p>When the policemen had opened one of the packs -and revealed some fine, shiney knives, kettles, and -axes, the Eskimos became greatly interested, and -one of them ran off to call the rest of the tribe.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_48">48</div> -<p>Presently they were all down at the sea shore -looking over the native boats, or kayacks. Corporal -McCarthy picked out one serviceable looking kayack, -and two umiacks, or large boats, for the dogs and -supplies. The kayack was about twenty feet long -and twenty inches wide, covered with water proofed -skins, and made to seat one person in a hole in the -center, over which was a flap that could be buttoned -around the chin, making the boat almost water tight, -even though it were capsized. The umiacks were, -however, flat-bottomed, hollow, and were ordinarily -used in transporting women, children, and household -goods by water. Corporal McCarthy gave the Eskimo -owners a large collection of knives, pots and -hatchets for the boats and they seemed very well -pleased with the trade.</p> -<p>“I’ll take the kayack,” instructed Corporal McCarthy. -“Sloan, you and the Indian lad take one of -the umiacks and Dick, Sandy, and Sipsa the other. -If we get a move on we can get our equipment loaded -before Mistak gets too much of a start. He took -his dogs so we’ll have to take ours.”</p> -<p>Not more than a half hour later Dick and Sandy -and the Eskimo guide put to sea in their umiack, a -crude sail of caribou hide stiffening in the breeze, -while they plied a paddle to add to their speed. Constable -Sloan and Toma followed immediately in the -other umiack, while the Corporal settled himself in -the kayack, the last of the three.</p> -<p>Corporal McCarthy soon passed the heavily loaded -umiacks in his faster and lighter boat and signaled -them to follow him.</p> -<p>“Watch out for the ice bergs and floes,” called -the corporal. “If you see a walrus, don’t shoot unless -you’re attacked.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_49">49</div> -<p>The three boats strung out in a line headed toward -the glacial island where they believed Mistak -would land. In Dick and Sandy’s boat were half -the dogs and the two sledges, along with the stoves -and liquid fuel. It was a heavy load for the unwieldy -umiack, and Dick was not long in discovering -that the dangers in arctic navigation were not to be -scoffed at. Though from a distance the water -seemed free from ice, close at hand the bergs could -be seen rolling along, either submerged, or just above -the water. Sipsa took a position in the prow of the -umiack, where, with a long pole, he fended off the -larger ice blocks. In the stern Dick plied a paddle, -while in the center Sandy took care of the dogs and -saw that the cargo did not slip to one side and capsize -the craft.</p> -<p>All went well until they reached rougher water a -quarter mile from the shore. Here an ocean current -carried them eastward in spite of all they could do. -Sandy fashioned himself a paddle from a snow shoe -covered with a piece of seal skin, and did all he could -to help Dick in the uneven struggle, but they moved -steadily eastward toward a low headland that marked -that boundary of the bay. The island that was their -destination now lay several miles northwest of them, -and a floe separated the two umiacks. Corporal -McCarthy was having all he could do to manage his -kayack, which was being considerably buffeted about -by the waves and ice.</p> -<p>“Maybe we’ll strike another current when we get -close to that headland east of us,” called Dick from -the stern.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_50">50</div> -<p>“I hope so,” replied Sandy dubiously. “This sail -isn’t doing us much good now though. The wind -seems to have gone down suddenly.”</p> -<p>At that moment Sipsa, the Eskimo guide, rammed -his pole at a submerged ice berg, and the pole slipped -down into the water, forcing Sipsa to lose his balance.</p> -<p>Dick’s cry of warning did no good. The Eskimo -did the best he could to keep his balance, then toppled -head foremost into the chilly water.</p> -<p>“Quick, help him in, Sandy!” cried Dick, “while -I hold the boat as steady as I can.”</p> -<p>Sandy dropped his paddle and hurried to the -prow where Sipsa was struggling about in the water. -The Eskimo still retained a tight grip on his pole, -which had been the cause of his fall, and Sandy got -a grip on this. Soon Sipsa crawled, gasping and -gurgling, into the umiack.</p> -<p>“Whew, close shave that!” exclaimed Sandy.</p> -<p>“And maybe he’ll freeze to death from that wetting,” -Dick added. “Sandy, you’d better get one of -the heaters started so he can dry off.”</p> -<p>But Sipsa, hardy Eskimo that he was, made it -known, by various signs, that he needed no heater, -and took up his former position as if nothing had -happened. While the ducking might have been fatal -for Dick or Sandy, it meant little to the guide -since the season was what he called summer.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_51">51</div> -<p>Once off the headland the current swept them -northward as they had hoped, and also a breeze -sprang up from the open sea. The sail filled and they -began to make time toward the island. The floe -which had separated the umiacks had passed on and -Dick and Sandy could see Toma and Constable Sloan -coming along safely a quarter mile behind. Corporal -McCarthy was within speaking distance again and -his voice boomed out over the water.</p> -<p>“Watch out for walrus! There’s a big bull in here -somewhere. Steer clear of him if you can.”</p> -<p>The moment was a tense one for Dick and Sandy. -Many a story they had heard of these giant inhabitants -of the Polar Sea, and to meet one in his native -haunts was something they feared, yet hoped to -experience.</p> -<p>Dick’s eyes were fixed upon the water near at -hand when something dark welled up out of the -clear blue depths and shot past the boat.</p> -<p>“There he is!” he cried.</p> -<p>“Sure it was a walrus?” Sandy hazarded breathlessly.</p> -<p>“It must have been. It had big flippers and I -think I saw tusks like an elephant’s.”</p> -<p>“Maybe it was your imagination.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_52">52</div> -<p>But what happened next assured Sandy that Dick -had not been using his imagination. A dark form -heaved up out of the water almost under Sipsa’s ice -pole. The umiack rocked dangerously and nearly -upset the Eskimo. The boys got a clear look at the -walrus this time for just a moment as the huge creature -reared out of the water and looked at them -before it sunk out of sight in a whirlpool of bubbles.</p> -<p>Sandy snatched up his rifle, but Dick warned him -to hold fire until it was absolutely necessary.</p> -<p>“Was that the walrus?” called Corporal McCarthy -backing water with his paddle.</p> -<p>“You bet it was,” Dick shouted, “and if he’d been -two feet nearer he’d have turned us over—hey!”</p> -<p>Dick said no more for at that instant the umiack, -with its heavy load, was hoisted upward out of the -water from the impact of a powerful body underneath. -Sipsa tumbled backward from the prow, falling -in among the whimpering dogs. Sandy and -Dick clung to their seats while the boat dropped back -to the water with a heave and splash. Fortunately, -the umiack settled to an even keel without taking -in too much water. But scarcely had they recovered -from the nearly disastrous effects of the walrus’s -first attack, when Sipsa shouted a warning from the -stern.</p> -<p>“There he is again—coming at us from the -front!” shouted Sandy, throwing up his rifle as -Dick snatched up his own.</p> -<p>As Dick took aim at the rushing mass of fur, -tusks, and flippers, he saw Corporal McCarthy level -his rifle from the kayack. The three rifles boomed -almost as one. The walrus, hit hard, swerved and -rolled in his mad attack, and in a whirl of water -sank out of sight, leaving a red blot in the water -behind him.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_53">53</div> -<p>“He’s been wounded badly, if not killed,” said -Sandy pointing at the blood in the water.</p> -<p>“I hope he’ll leave us alone anyway, but if he -don’t——” Dick tightened his grip on his rifle.</p> -<p>For several minutes they watched, guns ready, -for a renewal of the bull walrus’s attack, but the -water disclosed no angry monster.</p> -<p>“I guess he’s had enough,” called Corporal McCarthy, -“let’s get going. Do you see what’s coming -up from the east?”</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy looked as the policeman directed, -and their hearts jumped as if a hundred walruses -were bearing down upon them, for, not a mile distant, -a dense Arctic fog was floating swiftly toward -them, like a wall of gray smoke.</p> -<p>“A fog!” cried Dick. “Get that paddle, Sandy! -If we ever get caught in that fog we’ll be lost sure!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_54">54</div> -<h2 id="c6">CHAPTER VI -<br /><span class="small">LOST IN AN ARCTIC FOG</span></h2> -<p>After they had first sighted the fog it did not -seem more than five minutes before they were enveloped -in it. They could not see ten feet ahead of -them, and the only way they had of knowing they -were near one another was by shouting. The wind -lulled almost immediately and the umiack began to -drift straight north. In a few moments all hands -were wet to the skin. All around them the icebergs -and floes ground together with growling, grating -noises, like so many fierce animals.</p> -<p>“Ahoy, there!” came the muffled bellow of Corporal -McCarthy through the heavy mist.</p> -<p>“Here!” shouted Dick at the top of his lungs, the -fog seeming to throw the sound of his voice back -into his face.</p> -<p>“Keep paddling to the right—against the current,” -came the Corporal’s command. “Sing out -every few minutes so we can keep track of each -other.”</p> -<p>“Alright,” shouted Dick, and behind came the -fainter sound of Constable Sloan’s voice from the -other umiack.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_55">55</div> -<p>Progress now became dangerous indeed. The -boats seemed to have floated into a patch of broken -ice that threatened every minute to crush the frail -umiacks like so much match wood. Then, too, Corporal -McCarthy’s shouts were growing fainter at -every repetition.</p> -<p>“We’re losing ground,” called Dick to Sandy. -“Work harder. Keep moving to the right!”</p> -<p>“That’s what I’m trying to do,” called back Sandy -from the center of the boat, “but there’s a big floe -pushing us to the left. We can’t seem to get around -it. Sipsa is doing all he can to keep us from getting -smashed up from the left. Look out!”</p> -<p>Sandy’s warning shout was accompanied by a -violent jar that shook the umiack from bow to -stern.</p> -<p>“We’ve hit solid ice on the left!” cried Sandy. -“We’ll be smashed between two floes.”</p> -<p>Dick leaped up and, leaning over the side of the -umiack, pushed on the ice that was threatening to -crush them against the floating ice on their right.</p> -<p>But his efforts were of no avail. The umiack -shuddered as if about to collapse under the pressure, -then seemed to rise out of the water.</p> -<p>“The ice has shoved under us!” cried Dick, much -relieved.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_56">56</div> -<p>Dick was right. Luckily, the flat bottomed umiack -had grounded on the flat ice pushing against her -starboard side, and the higher ice on the lee was -pushing her farther over. Presently they were almost -entirely out of the water, the umiack half on -the ice floe and floating along with it.</p> -<p>“We can’t stay on this ice,” called Sandy. “It -will carry us out to sea and we’ll be lost.”</p> -<p>Dick thought rapidly. It was a moment for quick -decision and daring action.</p> -<p>“Sandy,” he cried, his mind made up, “stick by -the boat. I’m going out on this floe and shove us -off as soon as we get to open water on one side!”</p> -<p>“You’ll be drowned!” wailed Sandy.</p> -<p>“Got to take a chance,” was Dick’s exclamation -as he leaped over the gunwale of the umiack to the -slippery surface of the fragment of floe upon which -they had been lifted.</p> -<p>“Tell me as soon as you see open water on the -left,” shouted Dick to Sandy. “That’s the only way -we can get off this floe. I can’t move the umiack -to the other side.”</p> -<p>“Alright—wait,” Sandy replied tensely.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_57">57</div> -<p>There followed many moments of suspense when -each heart beat seemed painful. Little that Dick -knew of the northern seas, it was enough to make -the truth clear to him. If the floe they had grounded -upon joined with the ice on the left, and the entire -mass continued to move, they would be carried out -to sea and lost on an ocean where few ships had ever -navigated. It had been several minutes since they -had heard the voice of Corporal McCarthy, and -Constable Sloan’s shouts were barely audible behind -and far to the east. Proof enough that the ice was -carrying them out beyond the headland that marked -the end of the bay. Tensely Dick waited, digging -his boots into little chinks of ice, ready to push off -at a word from Sandy.</p> -<p>“Watch out!” Sandy’s low exclamation steeled -Dick’s muscles. “We’re breaking loose from the -other ice. The crack is getting wider. Wait a minute! -Alright, let her go!”</p> -<p>Dick drew a deep breath and bent all his strength -upon the heavy umiack. There came a slight grating -sound, a lurch and the umiack, with its heavy load, -slid from the floe into the sea, as Dick leaped into -the stern with a cry of relief.</p> -<p>But his relief was short lived, for when he lifted -his voice to shout to the other boats, there was no -reply. Again and again he shouted, until his voice -was hoarse, listening intently in the intervals. Not -even Sloan’s voice was audible now.</p> -<p>“We must be way out of the course,” Sandy said, -discouraged.</p> -<p>Dick’s spirits fell also, then when he was about to -give up shouting, he caught the sound of a voice -again.</p> -<p>“There—that’s Constable Sloan,” Dick said -tensely.</p> -<p>“But it’s funny—he seems to be on the left of -us,” Sandy came back.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_58">58</div> -<p>They listened again, often shouting together. This -time they were amazed to hear the faint call from -slightly to the right and ahead.</p> -<p>“That must be Corporal McCarthy,” Dick hazarded.</p> -<p>“No, I think it sounded like Constable Sloan,” -Sandy disagreed. “But how could he get over on -the right so soon?”</p> -<p>“It’s the fog, I guess,” Dick returned. “The -sounds are deceiving. Anyway, we’re certain this -floe on our right is between us and the island. We’ll -have to keep on working ahead until we can get -around it.”</p> -<p>“You know what I think, Dick?” Sandy’s voice -was exceedingly sober.</p> -<p>“Well, what do you think? I’m at my wit’s end -myself.”</p> -<p>“This floe has caught on a larger block of ice -somewhere on the other side and it has been turning -slowly. Dick, we don’t know where we’re at now.”</p> -<p>“I hope you’re wrong,” Dick hastily rejoined, -renewing his efforts at the paddle.</p> -<p>The boys now proceeded to bury their misgivings -in hard work on the paddles. Sipsa continued his -work at the prow of the craft, his expert handling -of the pole avoiding many a dangerous ice jam. -Yet as the minutes passed and they failed again and -again to raise even a faint shout from the balance -of the company, they became certain that they were -floating out to sea.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_59">59</div> -<p>“Oh, if this fog would only lift!” Dick prayed.</p> -<p>They worked on for what seemed to them an hour -longer, but which actually could not have been more -than fifteen minutes, when it seemed that Dick’s -prayer was about to be answered.</p> -<p>“It’s getting lighter, isn’t it?” Sandy said hoarsely, -almost afraid to believe his eyes.</p> -<p>“I believe you’re right,” Dick answered, cheering -up.</p> -<p>Slowly the fog thinned until they could see almost -a hundred feet around them, then, as swiftly as it -had enveloped them, the fog bank passed over, leaving -them half blinded by the sudden glare of sunlight. -Dick and Sandy cried out with joy, and rose -up in the umiack to look about.</p> -<p>“Thank heaven!” Dick ejaculated as he feasted -his eyes on a welcome scene.</p> -<p>Sandy had been right. The floe which they had -been following had touched upon some solider object. -It had been the island!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_60">60</div> -<p>There was but a few yards of open water between -them and the barren, snow-piled shore, and the floe -on their right made a strong bridge to land. Half -a mile out to sea was the umiack of Constable Sloan -and Toma, making good time toward land. Corporal -McCarthy was waving his paddle to them a quarter -mile to the left, and, now that the fog no longer -deadened sound, his shout was borne to the ears -of the happy boys.</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy immediately bent to the paddles -and worked the umiack into the beach, where they -pulled it upon dry land and commenced unloading it.</p> -<p>A half hour later the company was reunited, and -Corporal McCarthy gave orders to make camp, and -to stow the native boats high and dry on the shore -for future use.</p> -<p>“We’ll have to take a rest after that hard pull -across the bay,” the policeman explained. “But while -you fellows fix something to eat, I’ll take a run along -the shore and see if I can’t find where Mistak landed. -I’d like to know more about this island we’ve landed -on, too.”</p> -<p>When Corporal McCarthy was gone, Dick, Sandy -and Toma set to work with alacrity to help Constable -Sloan make camp. They were so hungry that their -mouths watered when they fed the ravenous dogs -their allotment of frozen fish.</p> -<p>“I could eat whalebone and like it,” Dick said to -Sandy as he watched Constable Sloan pouring beans -into the melted snow water, and listened to the -simmering of the tea pot.</p> -<p>“That’s nothing,” Sandy retorted. “I know now -why a goat can eat tin cans.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_61">61</div> -<p>Constable Sloan did not wait for Corporal McCarthy’s -return before he called all hands to the -food he had prepared. Perhaps he sympathized with -the boys, but it was true he ate as hungrily as they -did, all the while telling them stories of his experiences -in the land of the long day and the long -night.</p> -<p>“It hardly seems possible we’re actually seeing -the midnight sun,” Dick said, when the edge was -off his appetite.</p> -<p>“The way my eyes feel, I sure feel it’s a fact. -Do your eyes feel strained and tired, Dick?”</p> -<p>“You bet they do. But how would it feel if we -had as strong sunlight as they do in the south?”</p> -<p>“We’d probably go blind,” Sandy opined.</p> -<p>“There’s hardly a doubt about that,” said Constable -Sloan. “But wait till you experience the long -night, and see the moon go around and around in the -sky, for day after day, not seeing anything but the -stars, and then only when the sky is clear.”</p> -<p>“Do you think we’ll be up here that long?” asked -Dick.</p> -<p>“Well, you never can tell,” Constable Sloan replied -evasively, as if he had said more than he -intended.</p> -<p>After the meal the boys immediately crawled into -their sleeping bags and fell into a sound slumber. -They did not awaken when Corporal McCarthy returned, -several hours later, and did not know he had -returned until they were awakened to find the dogs -harnessed to the sledges and breakfast awaiting -them.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_62">62</div> -<p>“Why didn’t you wake us up so we could help -get ready to start?” Dick asked the policemen.</p> -<p>“We’ve got a long hard trip ahead of us,” returned -the Corporal, “and you fellows needed your -rest. I found Mistak’s trail two miles east of here. -He’s started inland and not only that, but it looks -like he’s crossed a glacier which seems to cover part -of the interior of the island.”</p> -<p>“Did you hear that?” Dick turned to Sandy. “We -may have to cross a glacier.”</p> -<p>“That suits me better than floating around among -these icebergs in a caribou hide boat,” Sandy replied -with spirit. “I like to have my feet under me, and -dry land under my feet.”</p> -<p>“In other words you’re a land lubber,” laughed -Dick.</p> -<p>“I guess I am,” admitted Sandy, strapping on his -snowshoes.</p> -<p>A little later the little company pulled out of camp, -and set off at a good pace, Corporal McCarthy in -the lead. After following the seashore a little way -they cut inland at an angle, and after about an -hour’s sledging struck the trail made by a dog -team and three men.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_63">63</div> -<p>At this point they made a halt while Corporal -McCarthy went ahead to look over the land before -they advanced. The reason for this move was -quickly evident, for towering over them, at a distance -of less than half a mile, was a mass of ice -that marked the beginning of a glacier, probably -miles and miles in extent.</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy were awed by the very immensity -of the towering ice. The fact that they might find -it necessary to brave those treacherous heights on -the trail of the “white Eskimo” tested their courage -to the utmost. But the boys were not the sort that -back down when danger is close at hand. Truth to -tell, they loved action and danger more than was -good for their own safety.</p> -<p>“There comes the Corporal,” Dick called out -presently, his sharp eyes having caught sight of a -fur parka behind an ice hummock.</p> -<p>Presently the policeman came fully into view and -waved for them to come on.</p> -<p>“The trail leads over the glacier,” called the Corporal -when they were within hearing distance.</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy hurried forward after the dogs, -their hearts hammering at the promise of the excitement -ahead.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_64">64</div> -<h2 id="c7">CHAPTER VII -<br /><span class="small">ON THE GLACIER</span></h2> -<p>Immediately upon approaching the foot of the -glacier Dick and Sandy could see what a dangerous -struggle was to be theirs in attempting to scale the -mountain of ice. For hundreds of years the ice had -frozen there, layer upon layer, filled with great holes -and cracks, its own great weight forcing it to move -toward sea level.</p> -<p>“I don’t see how we’re ever going to climb it,” -Sandy gasped.</p> -<p>“Well, I don’t either,” admitted Dick, “but Mistak -must have got to the top, and anything he can do, -the King’s policemen can do.”</p> -<p>“Heap big mountain ice,” commented Toma. -“Ketchum sore head if slide down to bottom.”</p> -<p>“You’re right,” Dick could not help but laugh at -Toma’s remark in spite of the seriousness of the task -ahead of them.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_65">65</div> -<p>“Well, boys,” Constable Sloan came forward, interrupting -them, “we’ll have to use man power -now. Here’s a good chance for you fellows to test -your biceps. There are six of us, so that leaves three -to a sled. Sipsa, Toma and myself will take the -first sledge—that leaves you boys and the Corporal -for the second. It won’t take much head work, but -lots of backbone. Let’s go!”</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy watched, with interest, the starting -of the first sledge up the steep incline, men and -dogs straining with every ounce of strength in them. -When at last they disappeared around a huge knob -of ice and snow, they sent a lusty cheer after them, -and set to work themselves to push their sledge up.</p> -<p>It took a half hour of pushing and hauling before -they reached a point that was level enough for them -to rest comfortably.</p> -<p>“Much more of this and I’ll turn to water,” panted -Sandy, throwing back his parka and revealing the -perspiration standing out in huge drops that froze -almost as soon as they came in contact with the air.</p> -<p>“Better keep that parka over your head,” cautioned -Corporal McCarthy. “A little too much of -this air when you’re overheated will frost your -lungs, and you know what that means.”</p> -<p>Sandy remembered that frost bitten lungs often -brought on more serious ailments, and hurriedly -bundled up his face.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_66">66</div> -<p>An hour more of strenuous climbing brought them -to a point half way up the wall of the glacier. They -could see the first sledge going up far above them, -like a caterpillar tank, the dogs and men pushing and -pulling it appearing like so many ants hauling a gram -of wheat to their home hill.</p> -<p>Dick took a deep breath and looked down, grasping -Sandy’s arm to call his attention to the vast -scene that lay below them. Far away they could see -the mainland which they had left the day before. -The open water glittered like diamonds where the -floating ice lay, and the beach of the island seemed -more like a ribbon than a piece of land.</p> -<p>“It makes me dizzy,” said Sandy.</p> -<p>“Yes, but there’s something inspiring about it,” -returned Dick. “It’s desolate and frozen and lonely, -but just the same it’s beautiful because it’s so clean -and white and still.”</p> -<p>“I guess you just about hit the nail on the head -that time,” spoke up Corporal McCarthy, who was -standing just behind them. “But there’s death in -that beauty. I hope you boys never have to see -all of what I mean. Now let’s get to work on this -sledge.”</p> -<p>Refreshed by their rest, the boys buckled down to -the job with a will, and for considerable distance all -went well as before. Then, when they were just -reaching a point where they might breathe again, the -rope which the policeman was pulling on broke loose -from the sledge, and with the shock of the freed -weight, Dick slipped, the sledge sliding back upon -Sandy who was pushing from behind. For an instant -the sturdy Scotch lad held the full weight of -the heavy sledge, then with a faint cry of dismay, -he started down, the sledge on top of him.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_67">67</div> -<p>“Oh, Sandy!” Dick gave a shout of anguish, as, -slipping and sliding, he held on to the rope he had -been pulling on.</p> -<p>Corporal McCarthy leaped down to Dick’s aid, -but the sledge had gained momentum and, white -faced, they could only hang on hoping the sledge -would catch on the rough ice before it began to -turn over.</p> -<p>Faster and faster the sledge began to slide, pushing -Sandy before it, his shirt pinched under the runners, -and dragging the frantically struggling two -after it.</p> -<p>“We’ve got to stop it before it reaches the edge -of that shelf!” cried Corporal McCarthy. “If it -ever goes over the edge, Sandy is gone!”</p> -<p>But they had started a miniature avalanche of ice -and snow by their struggles and this rolling along -underfoot made firm footing impossible to find.</p> -<p>One last heave they gave backward on the remaining -rope as the sledge struck the edge of the ice -shelf. They heard a heavy crash, then silence.</p> -<p>Dick looked up from where he clung to the steep -incline, the sledge rope clutched in his hands. -Stunned by fear for what had happened to Sandy, -who had disappeared, he watched Corporal McCarthy -pick his way cautiously down to the sledge. The -rear end of the runners had stuck in a fissure, bringing -the sledge to a stop not more than a foot from -the edge of the shelf below which they knew not -how far the drop was.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_68">68</div> -<p>As if it were all a bad dream, Dick watched the -policeman look over the sledge, under it, and all -about, then lie down on his stomach and peer over -the shelf. The significance of that move and what -it might mean in regard to Sandy’s fate, brought -Dick to his feet, and in two agile leaps he was at -the policeman’s side.</p> -<p>The drop under the shelf was only about twenty -feet, provided an object falling from it caught on a -second projection of ice and snow. Beyond that -there was a frightful depth to a small plateau.</p> -<p>“Sandy! Sandy!” Dick called at the top of his -voice.</p> -<p>Corporal McCarthy’s somber expression showed -that he thought there was little use in shouting, but -he presently uttered an exclamation of astonishment.</p> -<p>The snow on the lower shelf directly below the -point where the sledge had lodged, had moved!</p> -<p>“Look!” cried Dick, in a glad shout.</p> -<p>From the snow on the shelf protruded one arm, -then another, and a moment later the snow plastered -figure of Sandy rose up, hip deep in soft snow.</p> -<p>“Hold on while I get a rope!” shouted the Corporal.</p> -<p>“We’ll haul you back up,” seconded Dick. “Are -you hurt much?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_69">69</div> -<p>“I’m alright,” came Sandy’s shout, a bit faint, -but welcomely spirited. “Got a few bruises is all.”</p> -<p>Then Corporal McCarthy was back with a rope, -and was paying it out over the shelf. Sandy quickly -got hold of his end and fastened it about his waist. -In a moment the combined strength of the two on -the ledge had hauled Sandy to the safety of the -shelf where the sledge had lodged.</p> -<p>“Gee, I was never so glad to see anybody in my -life!” exclaimed Dick, banging his chum on the -back with a lusty hand.</p> -<p>“Hey, watch out where you are hitting me,” complained -Sandy. “That sledge made me sore all over -when it shoved me down that bank. And, say, I -thought I was gone when I rolled over that shelf.”</p> -<p>“Lad, you’re one of the luckiest fellows that ever -lived,” Corporal McCarthy put in, “but now let’s tie -into this sledge again and not let those fellows ahead -of us beat us to the top too far.”</p> -<p>An hour more of back-bending toil and they joined -Constable Sloan and the others, who already had -reached the top of the glacier.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_70">70</div> -<p>While they all rested, Dick and Sandy looked -curiously about them. Level ice, covered with snow, -stretched for considerable distance on either hand. -Long, zigzag cracks, or fissures, formed curious -designs on the glacier’s summit; while now and -again they could hear a deep rumble, like distant -thunder, which, Constable Sloan said, was due to -new cracks forming in the ice, and sometimes caused -by a fragment of the glacier breaking off and falling -into a fissure or into the sea far away across -the island.</p> -<p>Corporal McCarthy was not long in locating the -trail made by Fred Mistak’s dog team. They had -taken virtually the same path up the wall of the -glacier that the fugitive had taken, and so were not -far off the trail.</p> -<p>Soon they were hurrying onward, carefully avoiding -the deep, dangerous chasms in the ice whenever -possible, and when necessary, bridging the narrow -cracks with their sledges.</p> -<p>“I’d hate to fall into one of those cracks,” Dick -said in a low voice to Sandy.</p> -<p>“Me, too,” Sandy agreed. “I wonder what’s at -the bottom of them.”</p> -<p>“I’ve heard there are rivers of running water -under these glaciers,” replied Dick, “and that scientists -have found the fossils of ancient animals in -the huge caves which the water forms.”</p> -<p>“Gee, just think! The land under this glacier -must be just like it was a hundred years ago. Makes -me feel creepy to think of those giant reptiles that -used to wander around right under where we’re -walking.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_71">71</div> -<p>Dick was about to reply when Corporal McCarthy -stopped the teams at the edge of an expanse of ice -that had been swept clear of soft snow by water and -wind.</p> -<p>The boys quickly saw that Mistak’s trail vanished -here, as if it had gone up in smoke. The ice was -as hard as flint, and sledge, dogs, and men had -passed over it without leaving a mark.</p> -<p>“Toma, you stay with the dog team,” ordered -Corporal McCarthy, “the rest of us will scatter out -and circle this expanse of smooth ice. We can pick -up Mistak’s trail where he strikes soft snow or brittle -ice.”</p> -<p>The plan was carried out but after an hour’s fruitless -search the Corporal called them all back to the -sledge.</p> -<p>“It looks as if we’ve lost Mistak’s trail for the -present. He must have made directly for this spot -knowing he could throw off the scent.”</p> -<p>“The hard ice ends up in a lot of fissures and ice -caverns,” spoke up Constable Sloan. “It’s possible -the Eskimo may be hiding out in one of the caves, -waiting for us to go on.”</p> -<p>“Well, if he is we’ll fix that. I’ll go on a little -way with you and when we get in among the ice -hummocks on the other side of this level stretch, -I’ll drop out and watch for him to come out. The -rest of you go on across the glacier, and make camp -at some convenient spot. If I have any luck, I’ll -overtake you and let you know.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_72">72</div> -<p>After Corporal McCarthy had left them Dick and -Sandy found themselves following the sledge along -a ridge of snow covered stones and gravel which -ran along the ice cap farther than they could see. -Following this, they found the ice sloping steadily -downward, while the ridge, or moraine, rose steadily -higher. Presently they could see on the distant horizon -the blackish blue of the open sea, broken by the -massive crests of floating bergs.</p> -<p>The sky had become overcast in the last hour and -the temperature had fallen considerably.</p> -<p>“We’re in for a bad storm,” Constable Sloan -announced, his voice betraying some anxiety. “As -soon as we get down to the seashore we’ll build some -tight igloos. Tents won’t stand the wind that’s -coming.”</p> -<p>A little later they eased the sledge down a last -steep incline and found easier going at the foot of -the long ridge of glacial drift that had now grown -to massive proportions. The glacier proper was now -behind and on their left, beyond the ridge. They -had crossed only a fragment of it in reaching what -they believed to be the northern shore of a large -island.</p> -<p>“Look, Sandy, over there on that big floe to the -northeast!” exclaimed Dick, pointing.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_73">73</div> -<p>Sandy’s eyes followed Dick’s directing finger and -widened at what he saw. A large herd of seals -dotted the ice and adjacent water. Now and again -the animals dived into the water, throwing up a -shower of spray. Faintly, as they drew nearer, they -could hear the grunting barks of the adult seals.</p> -<p>Sipsa seemed excited at the proximity of the -seal herd, and began jabbering to himself.</p> -<p>“What is he saying?” Dick asked Constable -Sloan.</p> -<p>“He means that here is good hunting, and that -he ought to tell his people about it. The Eskimos -depend altogether for their food upon hunting, and -when there’s game and good weather they consider -it the same as sacrilege to procrastinate. They -can’t figure out why a white man wastes his time -doing anything else.”</p> -<p>The first signs of the coming storm interrupted -Constable Sloan. A fine hard sleet came sifting -down out of the leaden sky, cutting their faces like -hundreds of tiny knives.</p> -<p>Reaching a large drift that appeared ideal for -making igloo blocks, Constable Sloan called a halt, -and everyone set to work cutting snow blocks with -the long knives brought along for that purpose.</p> -<p>By the time they had completed two igloos, a -wind had sprung up and the sleet had thickened. -Though the huge glacial ridge shielded them from -the full force of the wind, still it shipped and -whirled with such force that they had to seek the -shelter of their lately built snow houses.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_74">74</div> -<p>“I hope McCarthy doesn’t get caught out in this -blizzard,” said Constable Sloan when they were -squatted about a camp stove, crowded into one igloo -for added warmth. “He ought to be coming in any -time now.”</p> -<p>They were in considerable suspense for several -minutes, until, outside, above the howling of the -wind, they heard Corporal McCarthy’s booming -shout. Constable Sloan hurried out and helped into -the igloo an almost unrecognizable figure. The Corporal -was covered with clinging ice from head to -foot and resembled some gigantic snow man.</p> -<p>“Well, Mistak didn’t show himself if he really -was in hiding on the glacier,” reported the Corporal. -“The storm drove me in or I’d have waited longer. -Tomorrow, if the storm lulls, we’ll look again. The -trouble is all traces of his sledge will be covered up -by this storm.”</p> -<p>“We’d better establish a base of supplies here,” -advised Constable Sloan. “The boys can do some -hunting to help out on the meat problem, while we -comb the island for Mistak.”</p> -<p>Sandy’s face took on a disappointed expression -at this announcement, and he looked at Dick as if -he wanted him to do something. But Dick shook his -head, and presently whispered mysteriously:</p> -<p>“I have a hunch we’re not going to lose out on -the man hunt.”</p> -<p>Sandy had to be satisfied with that until he got -Dick alone and pumped him for details.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_75">75</div> -<p>That night the boys slept the sleep of utter weariness, -while the storm beat and buffeted futilely at -the dome of their warm igloo.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_76">76</div> -<h2 id="c8">CHAPTER VIII -<br /><span class="small">SIPSA VANISHES</span></h2> -<p>It was two days before the blizzard died down -and the little snowbound company were permitted -to leave their Eskimo houses for any length of time. -Dick and Sandy found almost a new world awaiting -them when they burrowed like two badgers out of -their snug retreat into the polar sunlight.</p> -<p>“Where are the sledges and dogs?” Sandy wanted -to know.</p> -<p>“Can’t you see everything has been buried?” Dick -retorted. “We’ve got some tall snow shoveling to do -before we can get at our supplies.”</p> -<p>Constable Sloan soon found the dogs. Each of -the faithful creatures was deep in a nest of snow, -with only a tiny hole to breathe through. The beasts -were gaunt with hunger, and whined and slavered at -the mouth while the policeman began digging out the -supplies.</p> -<p>It took several hours of hard work to dig out the -camp, and when everything was in good shape, Corporal -McCarthy drew the boys aside:</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_77">77</div> -<p>“Constable Sloan and myself are going back on -the glacier with ten days’ supplies to see if we can’t -pick up Mistak’s trail again. We’ll leave you with -Sipsa to take care of the camp and do some hunting. -Sipsa will show you how to kill and cut up seals and -walruses, which we’ll need for dog meat if we don’t -have to eat them ourselves before we finish our job -up here. Don’t overlook the musk-oxen. We saw -signs of them on the island and they’re about the -best eating a white man can find up here.”</p> -<p>“Suppose we see Mistak. What do you want us -to do?”</p> -<p>“Lay low and keep out of trouble,” cautioned the -policeman. “We’ll be back in ten days at least and -whatever you’ve discovered about Mistak’s whereabouts -we’ll put to good use.”</p> -<p>The policemen soon had a sledge of supplies and -one dog team ready for the trail. Waving farewell -to the boys they started out, disappearing up the long -slope that led to the glacier. In one way Dick and -Sandy were glad to be free to command their own -movements, yet again, with the experienced policemen -gone, the vast frozen land presented an even -more sinister appearance. A hundred forebodings -surged up in the breasts of Dick and Sandy, but they -manfully fought them down, preparing immediately -to go seal hunting.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_78">78</div> -<p>Sipsa had brought along several harpoons, and he -began working on these diligently. He made the -boys understand by signs that he was not yet ready -to go seal hunting, and they left him alone after -growing tired of watching the Eskimo’s deft fingers -manipulating a whetting stone.</p> -<p>Dick suggested that they go down to the sea shore, -and all three of the boys set off in that direction. -They found the tide rising, and for half an hour -amused themselves by skipping stones across the -shallow water, and throwing at the small ice cakes -floating farther out. Dick and Toma were about -tied at hitting their mark, but Sandy was far the -more expert at skipping stones. The Scotch lad could -skip a choice flat stone as far again as he could -throw it, and though Dick and Toma tried again -and again to equal Sandy’s prowess, they finally -were forced to give up, so tired were their arms.</p> -<p>“Let’s walk along the shore a ways,” said Dick. -“We may find something interesting.”</p> -<p>A hundred yards farther on they passed out of -sight of the camp, and ran into a flock of eider ducks -who took to the water upon their approach with the -prettiest nose dives they had ever seen. Toma’s -sharp eyes located some nests on the shore, and they -procured a few fresh eggs and a good many old -ones.</p> -<p>“Leave the old eggs where they are,” Dick said, -as Sandy was about to see how far he could throw -one. “We don’t want to destroy what will be little -eider ducks some day.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_79">79</div> -<p>“You’re right, Dick,” Sandy agreed. “I just -didn’t think.”</p> -<p>“Him nice an’ soft—make um warm nest,” Toma -spoke up, running his fingers around in one of the -duck nests.</p> -<p>Dick picked up some of the fine, white feathers -with which the nest was lined. “Yes, these are about -as soft feathers as are known. The Eskimos gather -and trade them to the white men for tools and -things. In the United States we call it eiderdown.”</p> -<p>They wandered on down the shore to the point -where the great glacial ridge west of their camp -extended into the sea. The ridge sloped off into the -water in a long slope at the foot of which the waves -rumbled and thundered, dashing the huge icebergs -this way and that as if they were toys. Occasionally -they could hear the distant noises of the glacier as -fragments of it fell into the sea, or when its slow -movements caused huge cracks to form in its depths.</p> -<p>Dick led the way a short distance up the slope -toward a dark knob that was sticking up through -the snow and ice.</p> -<p>“I wonder if that isn’t one of the meteors they -say are in the polar regions,” he said. “Robert -Peary, the great explorer, brought back some fine -specimens to American museums. This does look -like it might be a very small one.”</p> -<p>They stopped at the protuberance and inspected it -curiously.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_80">80</div> -<p>“It looks like melted iron to me,” Sandy declared. -“Is that what meteors are made of?”</p> -<p>“Yes, a form of iron,” Dick replied. “It’s called -meteoric iron. Scientists claim it is about the -hardest iron which has been found in a natural -state. In the sky it is heated to a liquid state by the -friction of falling through the air, then when it -strikes the earth’s atmosphere it cools suddenly and -explodes with a loud report, lighting up the country -for miles and miles.”</p> -<p>“Why do more meteors fall in the polar regions -than in the other zones?” inquired Sandy, meditatively -fingering the meteoric rock.</p> -<p>“I don’t remember having read the exact reason, -and I’m not sure that more do fall up here, but if -there are more it must be because the atmosphere -is so much colder. The meteors explode much higher -in the sky, then lose their velocity and so fall to the -earth’s surface near the pole.”</p> -<p>“Well, the glacier seems to have pushed this -meteor up here,” said Sandy, “so there’s no telling -where it actually fell.”</p> -<p>“That’s true,” replied Dick, “but say, this big -stone gives me an idea. Let’s gather some big rocks -and build a monument here, leaving some kind of -record inside of it. That’s the way all the Arctic -explorers did. They called them cairns.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_81">81</div> -<p>Sandy and Toma quickly showed how enthusiastic -they were by starting to gather stones of a good -size. These they built up in a solid circle near the -meteor until they had an erection about a foot high.</p> -<p>“Now for the record,” said Dick, and drew from -his pocket a small calendar with which he had been -keeping track of the days. Sandy dug down in the -ample pockets of his caribou hide shirt and found -a soft-nosed rifle cartridge. With a hunting knife -they trimmed this to a point, improvising a crude -lead pencil. Then on the back of the card board -that had supported the calendar leaves, Dick wrote -under the day and year:</p> -<blockquote> -<p>“We are on an uncharted island, a few hundred miles west -of Greenland, near the Arctic Circle. This is the farthest -north we have ever been in the service of the Royal Northwest -Mounted Police, or the Hudson’s Bay Company. If something -happens and we never return, anyone who reads this will know -just about where we were when we disappeared.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>Under this, all three of the boys proudly signed -their names, Toma painfully inscribing his to the -accompaniment of a twisting tongue, which he -chewed industriously at every move of the pencil.</p> -<p>When the record was finished Dick folded it carefully -and stowed it in the center of the cairn, placing -a heavy stone upon it. Then they gathered more -stones and built up the cairn to a height of about -five feet, rounding it off nicely at the top, forming a -receptacle for the record that would stand for years -and years.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_82">82</div> -<p>“It’s about time we were getting back to camp -the way my stomach feels,” Dick said when they had -finished, and were standing off at a distance appraising -their handiwork.</p> -<p>Sandy’s and Toma’s stomachs seemed to agree -perfectly with Dick’s and so they started off on the -back trail, glancing over their shoulders every now -and then at the cairn.</p> -<p>By the time they reached camp their appetites had -grown immensely, and they voiced the hope that -Sipsa would have something prepared to eat. But -there was no smell of hot tea or frying meat. In -fact, as they approached they could see no sign whatever -of the Eskimo guide.</p> -<p>“He must be in one of the igloos,” Dick hazarded.</p> -<p>But a search of the igloos disclosed no Sipsa. -The boys shouted his name, but only a faint echo -from the wall of the ridge answered them.</p> -<p>“Here are the harpoons he was working on when -we left,” Sandy announced presently, after they had -looked more carefully about the camp.</p> -<p>“Yes, he must not be far away, but still——” -Dick’s mind turned to the trouble they had had with -Okewah and Ootanega. “I wonder if he found some -sign of the white Eskimo and was frightened away -like the others.”</p> -<p>“But Sipsa didn’t seem so superstitious as those -two,” Sandy contended.</p> -<p>“I thought so, too, until now. Anyway, we’ll not -worry about it until we get something under our -belts to worry on.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_83">83</div> -<p>Sandy volunteered to act as cook and with the -addition of the fresh eider duck eggs he had gathered, -a very satisfying meal was prepared.</p> -<p>Sipsa had not yet put in an appearance when the -boys finished the last scrap of food, and Dick suggested -they search farther for him.</p> -<p>“Maybe um white Eskimo git him,” Toma suggested -gruesomely.</p> -<p>“You might be right,” Dick replied. “It would -be just like that villain to ambush our guide. But I -believe Sipsa was pretty well able to take care of -himself. He seemed much smarter than the average -native, and I believe he’s more civilized.”</p> -<p>Sandy chose to stay behind when Dick announced -that someone must watch the camp while they sought -the whereabouts of Sipsa, and Dick and Toma -started off with their rifles. At first they circled -the entire camp, looking for the prints of Eskimo -sealskin boots or his snowshoes. They found no -signs, however, and came to a halt on the sledge trail -made by the policemen hours before.</p> -<p>“Maybe Sipsa followed the sledge path,” Dick -said, as Toma and he stood there contemplating the -next move. “You’re good at trailing, Toma; see if -you can’t find out whether three instead of two pairs -of snowshoes followed this sledge.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_84">84</div> -<p>Toma bent over, his keen eyes glancing hither -and thither along the packed snow. Only a moment -he studied, then he straightened up. “Three pair -snowshoes go long here,” he declared positively.</p> -<p>Dick had perfect confidence in Toma’s judgment, -and was sure they had found just the direction taken -by Sipsa when he left the camp. As the policemen -had departed over the same path over which they -had crossed the island, Dick believed it possible that -Sipsa might have taken it into his head to return -to his people.</p> -<p>“We’ll follow his tracks for a ways,” he voiced -his decision at last. “I want to make sure that Sipsa -stuck to the back trail. If he hasn’t turned off half -way up the glacier, then I’m pretty certain he’s decided -to go back to his people. In that case he has -such a start on us that about all we can do is let him -go.”</p> -<p>With this purpose in mind Dick and Toma started -out along the sledge trail. An hour’s steady travel -without mishap failed to discover any deviation in -Sipsa’s progress.</p> -<p>“He may run into the policemen,” Dick finally -spoke. “If he does, they’ll send him back in a hurry.”</p> -<p>“I think him go home alright,” was Toma’s brief -reply. “Mebbe him no like work for white man.”</p> -<p>“Well, that was a good one, Toma,” Dick grinned. -“I suppose you’ll be quitting us next.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_85">85</div> -<p>The young Indian turned a pair of black inscrutable -eyes upon the white lad, for whom he had -risked his life so often. Dick could feel that he was -rebuked without hearing Toma say a word. He -stretched out his hand and placed it on the Indian -boy’s shoulder. “I didn’t mean it, Toma, honest I -didn’t. I was only joking. I know you’d never -desert Sandy and me.”</p> -<p>The ghost of a smile traced the young Indian’s -dark face and Dick knew that Toma had forgiven.</p> -<p>“I don’t think there’s much use going any further,” -Dick resumed after an interval of silence. “I -don’t want to leave Sandy alone too long.”</p> -<p>They were just about to turn back when something -attracted Toma’s keen eyes.</p> -<p>“Stop heap quick!” ejaculated Toma under his -breath.</p> -<p>“What is it?”</p> -<p>“Think um fox. Him watch us from top big rock -up there.”</p> -<p>“Oh, I see him now,” Dick replied eagerly. “He’s -only about a hundred yards off, too. We need that -pelt. Let’s both get a bead on him.”</p> -<p>Quietly the two knelt on their snowshoes and -leveled their rifles. Crack! Crack! the rifle shots -echoed in the hills.</p> -<p>The fox leaped high in the air, and ran like a -streak toward the top of the slope where he had -been sighted.</p> -<p>“Let him have it again!” cried Dick, firing -rapidly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_86">86</div> -<p>Toma’s reloading lever was working as fast as -Dick’s and a veritable hail of lead was kicking up -the snow about the fleeing fox.</p> -<p>Just when the young hunters felt they had failed -to bring down the fox, the animal whirled and began -to bite himself, as if something had stung him.</p> -<p>“We got um,” grunted Toma.</p> -<p>Sure enough, the fox dropped to his side and -after kicking spasmodically for a few seconds remained -still. One or more of their bullets had -reached the mark and together the boys hastened -up the slope to examine their kill.</p> -<p>They found the animal to be a fine specimen of -the northern blue fox, with whose skin the Eskimos -trimmed many of their warmest fur garments.</p> -<p>Toma drew his hunting knife from its sheath and -began methodically to skin the fox, while Dick stood -by admiring the beauty of the fur.</p> -<p>“I wish I could take that pelt home to mother,” -he said half to himself.</p> -<p>Toma looked up and sniffed. “Huh, why you -take um blue fox for your mother? Wait till you -ketch um seal. Him worth heap more. I give my -sister black fox skin robe one time. She use um -for wipe feet on by door. She like um red wool -blanket best.”</p> -<p>Dick had a hearty laugh at Toma’s expense, but -the young Indian could not see anything funny in -what he had said.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_87">87</div> -<p>However, the lads started back to camp on the -best of terms, carrying the blue fox pelt with them.</p> -<p>When they came in sight of the igloos they were -wholly unprepared for what met their eyes. Speechless -and terror stricken they stood and stared.</p> -<p>Two huge polar bears were mauling and crushing -the igloos and camp paraphernalia, and Sandy -was nowhere to be seen!</p> -<p>Even the dogs had run away before the attack -of the ferocious brutes, now apparently enjoying -their game of destruction.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_88">88</div> -<h2 id="c9">CHAPTER IX -<br /><span class="small">AN INDIAN BEDTIME STORY</span></h2> -<p>Several moments passed before Dick could recover -his presence of mind, so great was the shock -he had received upon discovering the savage marauders -that were destroying their camp. A vision -of Sandy’s mangled form sprang up in his mind, and -he covered his eyes and groaned. But he was not -one to let mere imagination long affect him when -action was needed.</p> -<p>“Take the bear on the right, Toma,” his voice -came clear and steady. “They’ll probably attack us -as soon as we fire. Ready, aim, fire!”</p> -<p>The report of the rifles and the sting of the well -placed bullets brought the polar bears back on their -haunches, and they whirled to face whatever enemy -had attacked them. But Dick and Toma had fallen -on their stomachs in the snow immediately after -firing, and the bears could not see them. The great -beasts turned and renewed their wrecking of the -camp dunnage, whereupon Dick gave the order to -fire again.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_89">89</div> -<p>Now badly wounded, and puzzled because they -could not see where the burning missiles came from, -the bears began lumbering around in a circle, growling -savagely.</p> -<p>Dick and Toma fired once more from their prone -and hidden position and the bears decided the territory -was too hot for them. Leaving a trail of blood -drops behind them, they trotted off up the slope of -the glacial ridge, disappearing among the numerous -boulders strewn upon the slope.</p> -<p>No more were the bears gone than Dick and Toma -rushed to the torn up camp, calling Sandy’s name. -At first there was no reply and in the death-like stillness -Dick felt an icy chill of horror steal over him -as once more he imagined what had befallen Sandy. -Then, very faintly, there came an answering shout, -seeming to come out of the snow-smothered earth -itself.</p> -<p>“Sandy, where are you!” Dick cried gladly, looking -everywhere but failing to see any sign of his -chum.</p> -<p>“Just a minute, and I’ll be with you,” came the -voice again, unmistakably Sandy’s but for some reason -half-choked and indistinct.</p> -<p>Then, out of a big snowdrift a hundred yards -from camp, popped Sandy, covered from head to -foot with snow. Dick and Toma ran to meet him, -overjoyed at his safety.</p> -<p>“I thought those bears had finished you sure,” -Dick said, much relieved.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_90">90</div> -<p>“Well, they weren’t far from doing just that,” -Sandy retorted drily. “I was looking through the -packs for a tin of tea, a little while ago, when I felt -that something was behind me. I looked around and -there were those two bears looking at me as if they -were hungry. They weren’t more than thirty feet -from me, and I’d left my rifle in the igloo. You can -bet I didn’t stand in that spot very long. I made a -flying start right straight ahead, and when I reached -those holes in the snow where the dogs have been -sleeping, I dived head first right into a big one, and -dug myself further in. Maybe I wasn’t scared. I -expected every minute to hear those bears digging in -after me. About when I was pretty near smothered -in the snow I heard you start shooting. Say, you -came just in time. I’d have suffocated in that burrow -in about two minutes more. And I believe I’d -have passed out right there rather than show myself -to those bears.”</p> -<p>“Don’t forget to keep your rifle close to you after -this,” Dick cautioned, though now that the danger -was over he was amused at Sandy’s excited relating -of his unique escape from the bears.</p> -<p>“Bear meat heap good eat,” Toma spoke up. -“Maybe one them bear die somewhere in rocks. We -go see, huh?”</p> -<p>“Not on your life,” Sandy declared emphatically. -“I’ve seen all the bears I want to for to-day. I’ll -be dreaming about bears chewing on me for a -month.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_91">91</div> -<p>Dick laughed. “I don’t blame you, Sandy, but -I think Toma’s idea about following the bears is a -good one. We need meat, you know, and you can -see by the blood on the snow around here that one -of them at least might have been wounded bad -enough so that he’ll die later.”</p> -<p>“All right, you fellows go ahead. I think I’ve -had about all the trouble I’m going to have today, -so you needn’t worry about me.”</p> -<p>“I guess you have, alright,” Dick called over his -shoulder as he set out after the bears. “We won’t -be gone long.”</p> -<p>Toma and Dick followed the plain trail left by -the bears clear up the ridge to the east of the camp. -But they did not catch sight of their quarry until -they were some distance out on the flank of the glacier -on the other side of the ridge.</p> -<p>The young Indian then called Dick’s attention to -a movement ahead of them. They saw one of the -bears climbing to the top of a heap of ice, and -crouched in hiding until the great beast had passed -out of sight. Though they waited several minutes, -a second bear did not appear, and so they thought -it safe to go on.</p> -<p>Not far from where they had sighted the one bear -they discovered why the other had not appeared. -He lay stone dead in a little hollow in the ice. An -examination showed that two of their bullets had -pierced the animal’s lungs. Only an animal of iron -stamina could have traveled so far with such serious -wounds.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_92">92</div> -<p>Cutting a huge haunch of steak from the bear’s -hindquarters, the young hunters started back, their -mouths already watering in anticipation of fresh -bear steak.</p> -<p>It was nearly eight o’clock by Dick’s watch when -they reached the igloos once more, to find that Sandy -had been busy in their absence and had repaired -much of the damage done by the polar bears.</p> -<p>Two hours later, snug in a warm igloo, Sandy requested -Toma to tell them a bedtime story from his -stock of Indian lore. Toma acquiesced willingly, -and began in his broken, yet simple expressive -English:</p> -<p>“Long, long time ago, young Indian brave, by -name Swift Foot, live by big water, by name Great -Slave Lake. He very handsome brave. Him mother -love him very much. His father great hunter. He -have all food he can eat, warm wigwam in winter. -No have to work. Him play all day, and when him -tired he sleep. But him no happy. He look at -stars and want know why the stars twinkle; him -look at sun, want know why sun warm; him look -at moon, want know why cannot reach it; him -look at rainbow, want know why cannot catch him -no matter how fast he run.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_93">93</div> -<p>“Swift Foot ask mother questions. She say, ‘Big -Eagle, your father, great hunter and very wise. He -tell you, my son.’ Swift Foot ask father questions. -Father say, ‘Your grandfather old and wise, maybe -he can tell you.’ Swift Foot ask his grandfather -questions, but old man say he not know these things.</p> -<p>“Bye an’ bye Swift Foot visit all old men in tribe, -but none knew why stars twinkle, why sun shine, -why he no can catch rainbow.</p> -<p>“Swift Foot, him get very unhappy. Him no -eat, no sleep. His mother think him going die. One -day she tell him, ‘Swift Foot, you follow big water -north till you come to great river. There you find -old, old medicine man. He tell you why stars twinkle, -why sun shine, why no catch rainbow.’</p> -<p>“Swift Foot him very glad then. Him jump in -birch canoe an’ paddle fast. Many days him paddle -along lake shore till he come to great river. When -he come to shore old, old man, all dried up, waiting -there to meet him.</p> -<p>“When Indian boy ask old medicine man what he -want know, old man ask him what he give to know -all things. Swift Foot, he say he give everything -he have. Medicine man ask him if he sure. Swift -Foot say yes, he give everything to know, for he -no want live longer if he can no catch rainbow.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_94">94</div> -<p>“Then medicine man build big fire and boil something -in pot, while he dance round and round Swift -Foot. After while Swift Foot feel strange. He feel -like he getting smaller; he cannot see far with his -eyes; him hands shake like leaves.</p> -<p>“Pretty soon fire make big smoke—puff, puff. -Smoke disappear, and old man, he gone. Swift Foot -all alone on shore of big water, and he know all -things. He know why stars twinkle, why sun shines, -why he can no catch rainbow. He know so much he -much afraid. He jump up, try to run to canoe. But -he fall down hard. He get up, try to run again, but -he no can run—he have to walk very slow.</p> -<p>“When he get down to big water it is like mirror. -He bend over and look down. Old, old man -look back at him from water, oldest an’ ugliest man -he ever see. He know then him give youth for great -wisdom. No more him run an’ jump, no more him -eat deer meat, for he have no teeth. He begin weep, -an’ say he no want know all things, him want be -young again. All day, all night he cry, but he not -grow young again.</p> -<p>“Then he paddle his canoe back to his mother, but -she not know him. She laugh when he say he Swift -Foot, her son. ‘My son beautiful young boy, you -ugly, old man,’ she say. ‘Go ’way.’</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_95">95</div> -<p>“Swift Foot leave village then. Him go far away -in forest where no man see him. One moon he no -eat anything, but pray much to Great Spirit. Then -him fall asleep. When wake up him feel strong -again. He go down to pool of water and look in. -Him jump up and make big, glad noise with mouth. -Great Spirit answer prayer. Him young again. -But he not remember why stars twinkle, why sun -shines, why no can catch rainbow.</p> -<p>“Swift Foot go back to his mother. She very -glad to see him. He say to his mother he very happy -now; him no want know why stars twinkle, why -sun shines, why no can catch rainbow. He say he -love them just the same. Many years him live happy. -Make big hunter like him father, but him never wish -for what he no can get.”</p> -<p>“Gee, that was a great story!” Dick exclaimed. -“Who told you that one?”</p> -<p>“My mother,” Toma replied briefly, and for an -instant the boys thought they detected the sparkle -of tears in the dark eyes of the stoical young Indian.</p> -<p>“That story had a moral to it just like one of -Aesop’s Fables,” Dick said sleepily, as he crawled -into his sleeping bag. “Guess we can’t have our cake -and eat it too. Right, Sandy?”</p> -<p>But a long, tuneful snore was the only reply Dick -heard from Sandy.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_96">96</div> -<p>The boys slept soundly for nearly ten hours, and -when they awakened they felt equal to any task -that might present itself. First, they visited the bear -Dick and Toma had killed the day before, and -brought back all the meat they could carry on their -backs. Since this left them well supplied with meat -for themselves, Dick decided they had better make -an effort to procure some seal or walrus meat for -the dogs.</p> -<p>Toma once more was elected to remain behind -while Dick and Sandy went hunting. The boys -found that the seal herd had moved a considerable -distance eastward along the coast since they first had -seen it. It took them an hour of climbing over -rough shore ice before they reached a point opposite -the seal herd. Even then, to their disappointment, -they found that several large ice floes, jammed together, -separated them from the seals.</p> -<p>After some minutes of deliberation, they decided -to venture out upon the ice, and get nearer the seals -by jumping from one cake of ice to another. Thus -they began a dangerous adventure, destined from the -beginning to end in ill fortune, for they had not -gone a hundred yards across the treacherous ice -before both Dick and Sandy had slipped and narrowly -saved themselves from a bad ducking, if not -drowning, by clutching the edge of the floe which -had been their objective when they leaped the open -water.</p> -<p>Resting on a large, secure floe, they noticed that -the tide was going out and that frequently, from -the outer edge of the ice-jam, a large fragment detached -itself and floated out to sea.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_97">97</div> -<p>“I think we ought to go back,” Dick said once, -but they did not want to turn back empty handed -after having gone so far, so they kept on until they -were within fifty feet of the nearest seals.</p> -<p>“How tame they are!” exclaimed Sandy.</p> -<p>“They seem just like dogs,” Dick added. “Probably -no one has killed any of this herd for a long -time. It seems a shame to shoot such innocent looking -creatures.”</p> -<p>“Well, you know we have to have food for the -dogs,” Sandy argued with his tender heart. “In this -country it’s eat or be eaten, and we need the dogs and -not the seals.”</p> -<p>“All right, then, suppose you shoot the first one,” -Dick said a little sarcastically.</p> -<p>Sandy tightened his lips, raised his rifle and took -aim at the head of a fine young seal. Just then a -baby seal flopped away from its mother’s side, directly -on a line with Sandy’s sights. The baby seal -stood up on its flippers and looked at the boys as -cute as could be.</p> -<p>Sandy expelled his breath in a disgusted gasp, and -let his rifle fall to his hip.</p> -<p>“Brave boy,” taunted Dick in fun. “If I wanted -turkey for Thanksgiving I wouldn’t send you out to -chop off its head.”</p> -<p>“I can’t help it,” admitted Sandy. “I’ve felt -this way before, but not so much as now. I don’t -see how anyone can slaughter these animals by the -hundreds even if their skins are so valuable.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_98">98</div> -<p>Just then a big bull seal crawled up on the ice out -of the water, making an angry noise in his throat. -This old fellow was quite fierce looking and did not -apparently take kindly to the presence of the boys. -He reared up and fixed baleful eyes upon them, -opening his huge, whiskered mouth to show his -tusks.</p> -<p>Neither of the boys felt the same sympathy for -this new and hostile arrival, and Dick quickly raised -his rifle and brought down the bull with one shot.</p> -<p>At the sound of the rifle almost all of the seals -took to the water hastily, swimming about and -watching the man creatures from a distance. But -the old bull did not move from where he had fallen.</p> -<p>“The next problem is how are we going to get this -big brute ashore.”</p> -<p>“Gee, I never thought of that. I wonder how much -he weighs,” said Sandy, going forward and trying -to lift the dead animal.</p> -<p>But the combined strength of both Dick and -Sandy was only sufficient to drag the heavy body -slowly across the ice.</p> -<p>“He must weigh several hundred pounds,” Dick -eyed their kill appraisingly. “I don’t think we’ll ever -get him ashore, unless we cut him up and carry him -in pieces.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_99">99</div> -<p>So intent were the boys on the problem at hand -that they had for several minutes lost all thought of -their rather dangerous situation. It was Sandy who -first discovered something wrong. It seemed to him -the ice on which they stood was moving.</p> -<p>“Dick, quick!” his voice was hoarse with fear. -“This floe has broken away from the shore ice. -What shall we do!”</p> -<p>Dick wheeled toward the shore, taking in their -predicament at a glance. “Run for it, Sandy. We -may reach the gap before it’s too wide to jump!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_100">100</div> -<h2 id="c10">CHAPTER X -<br /><span class="small">ADRIFT ON A FLOE</span></h2> -<p>When Dick and Sandy ran for the edge of the -moving floe which was nearest the shore, they realized -what might happen to them should they fail to -jump the widening stretch of water between them -and safety. With the tide going out, they would be -carried out into a sea where no ships sailed, and -where they could expect no help from any friendly, -inhabited shores.</p> -<p>The floe which was carrying them off was fully -three hundred yards across, and since they had been -tardy in discovering their peril, they found fate -against them. Coming to a sudden stop at the edge -of the floe, they saw, with sinking hearts, that more -than a hundred yards of icy salt water separated -them from the floes that still were clinging to the -shore.</p> -<p>“Can’t we swim it?” cried Sandy desperately.</p> -<p>“Never!” Dick returned grimly. “Not with these -heavy clothes on. We’d drown or freeze before -we’d gone a third of the distance. Sandy, we’re -trapped!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_101">101</div> -<p>It did not take Sandy long to see that Dick was -right. Alone, with a dead seal, upon a large ice floe, -each second increased their peril as they floated farther -away from shore. Death by freezing might -be their lot, for without shelter they could not hope -to weather a polar storm. Even if they were fortunate -in experiencing mild weather, they would -eventually starve.</p> -<p>In a dejected mood the two boys stood watching -the bleak shore line that now seemed so warm and -friendly since they had been cut off from it.</p> -<p>“Do you notice the current is carrying us westward -as well as north?” Dick spoke up presently.</p> -<p>“No, but I can see you’re right,” rejoined Sandy. -“But what’s the difference?”</p> -<p>“If we keep drifting at this angle, we’ll sight our -camp and maybe we can signal Toma.”</p> -<p>Sandy’s face brightened for an instant, then he -gave in again to his former forebodings. “Toma -can’t do anything for us,” he said.</p> -<p>“Maybe not right away. At least he’ll know what -has happened to us, and can notify the policemen -when they return.”</p> -<p>Sandy realized the wisdom in Dick’s words, and -sat down to watch for the first sign of their camp.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_102">102</div> -<p>The floe slowly turned as it was carried along with -the ocean current, and the boys were forced to change -their position frequently in order to stay on the -side nearest the shore. And since their huge raft -was floating out to sea as well as westward past the -camp site, it became a problem as to whether they -would not be too far away to signal Toma when -that moment came.</p> -<p>Tensely they waited. For twenty minutes the floe -forged along with its human cargo before Dick -suddenly gave a glad shout. At a distance of about -half a mile, the igloos of their camp appeared, surrounded -by the tiny dark dots which represented -the sledges and other dunnage. But there was no -sign of life.</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy pointed their rifles into the air -and emptied the magazines. But the shots brought -no figure tumbling out of one of the far away igloos.</p> -<p>“He’s inside and can’t hear us. If he does he’ll -probably think we’re shooting seals.”</p> -<p>“Let’s fire more shots,” Sandy suggested.</p> -<p>They reloaded and repeated their first salvo, with -no better results. Slowly the igloos grew smaller -and smaller as they floated farther out to sea, and at -last they sat down and gave up.</p> -<p>“Well, Toma couldn’t have helped us anyway,” -Dick said, trying to make the best of their misfortune.</p> -<p>“No, but it would make me feel a lot better if I -knew someone knew what had happened to us.”</p> -<p>Dick agreed and fell silent, wracking his brain -for a way out. But the more he thought it over, the -more certain he became that they were in the hands -of fate. Nothing but a miracle could save them.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_103">103</div> -<p>They had not been at sea an hour until a new peril -presented itself. The ice floe upon which they had -been marooned was breaking up. Large segments began -cracking away from the main body and floating -off by themselves.</p> -<p>“We must stay together, Sandy,” Dick said, -“Suppose one of those cracks came between us.”</p> -<p>Sandy shivered at the thought and eyed the ice -under his feet. Holding hands, the boys walked to -the center of the floe where the ice seemed the -thickest.</p> -<p>The shore was now only a dim line to the south, -while around rose and fell the icy waves of the desolate -polar sea. Here and there a berg wallowed -along and occasionally they collided with a slower -moving body of ice. Dick thought of jumping off -the floe to one of the bergs, but changed his mind -since the faster moving floe might possibly run into -land while the loggy iceberg would float in almost -the same place for days.</p> -<p>Adding to the danger of their situation, the sky -was becoming overcast by a film of gray clouds and -a freezing wind was springing up, heightening the -waves and throwing icy cold spray across the floe.</p> -<p>“We’re in for a storm, Sandy,” Dick said, beating -his arms against his body to keep warm. “It’s -up to us to fix up some sort of wind break or else we -can’t stand the cold. Think we can chop some cakes -of ice out of this floe?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_104">104</div> -<p>“We sure can try,” responded Sandy, drawing -out his sheath knife with alacrity.</p> -<p>Both boys then set to work industriously and after -considerable hard labor, succeeded in chipping out -some good sized chunks of ice. These they built up -in a half circle, rounded against the wind. Against -the wall they flung water with their mittens. The -water quickly froze, cementing the blocks together -and forming an effective wind break. Behind this -they hovered while the wind increased in velocity -and a heavy snow began to fall.</p> -<p>They dared not sleep for fear they would freeze -before they awoke, and though the dread drowsiness -that is the first symptom of freezing stole over them -again and again, they fought it off grimly. Once -both fell asleep at the same time in spite of all they -could do, but the fast moving floe struck a large berg -with a grinding, rending crash and startled them to -the temporary safety of wakefulness. Had it not -been for the wind break they had erected they would -undoubtedly have frozen to death. As it was, they -were forced to watch each other, to prevent sleep -coming to both at the same time. Sometimes Dick -pounded Sandy until his eyes opened, and again -Sandy beat and shouted at Dick above the roar of -the storm, and the crashing and grinding of ice.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_105">105</div> -<p>Neither had the least idea where they were being -driven to, they had even lost all sense of direction, -every effort bent on keeping a spark of life burning -in their numb bodies.</p> -<p>It seemed to the boys that the battle with the cold -would never end, that they had floated in the storm -for hours, when suddenly the floe came to a jarring -stop, and a deluge of ice water rolled across it, -almost washing Dick and Sandy from their position -under the wind break.</p> -<p>“I wonder what we’ve hit!” Dick shouted -hoarsely.</p> -<p>“It must be a berg,” Sandy cried in reply.</p> -<p>“But we aren’t moving at all,” Dick shouted back.</p> -<p>Believing they might have been washed ashore on -some island, the boys braved the full force of the -storm and staggered out of their wind break to investigate. -The snow and spray almost blinded them, -but at last they made out a huge mass of ice upon -which the floe had lodged. It rose up for nearly -fifty feet and withstood every charge of the gigantic -waves that crashed against it.</p> -<p>Yet, in the brief period when the wind cleared the -air of flying snow, they could see the swell of waves -beyond the ice which was holding them.</p> -<p>“It’s a grounded berg!” Dick shouted at last, and -Sandy and he fought their way back to the welcome -shelter of their wind break.</p> -<p>“We must be pretty close to land,” Sandy opined.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_106">106</div> -<p>“Yes, but there’s no telling how deep the water -is here. The berg we’ve lodged on may extend down -into the water for a hundred feet. There’s always -more of a berg under water than there is above. -We’ve got to stick it out until this storm blows over.”</p> -<p>And so they renewed their struggle to fight off the -gnawing cold, cheered somewhat by the probabilities -that when the storm blew over they would see land.</p> -<p>It was two hours later when the wind slackened -perceptibly and the snow ceased to fall. With shouts -of joy the boys then saw, about a mile away, across -the dashing waves, a line of black cliffs, streaked -with snow.</p> -<p>“Now if we could only find some way to float in -on those breakers. But I don’t see how we could -take a chance on a cake of ice. We couldn’t stick -to it a second before we got washed off into the -sea.”</p> -<p>“We’ll have to wait till the waves die down,” -Sandy said. “If I wasn’t so weak, maybe we could -paddle a chunk of ice then.”</p> -<p>Dick shook his head. “That might do in a story -book, but even if we weren’t just about ready to -drop, we couldn’t do that.”</p> -<p>Glumly, they began the wait for the waves to go -down, tightening their belts upon flat and gnawing -stomachs. With the ceasing of the storm their hunger -became three times as noticeable. Had the dead -seal, which had first accompanied them on the floe, -still been with them, they might have tackled raw -blubber, but the waves had washed the seal into the -sea long before.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_107">107</div> -<p>Though the wind had fallen, the boys found themselves -little more comfortable, for the temperature -began to fall alarmingly. With the passing of every -hour the still air grew colder while the waves quieted -under the iron hand of Jack Frost.</p> -<p>The boys chewed ice to cool their thirsting mouths -and partially allay the great hunger that was swiftly -weakening them. They could not judge the passage -of time rationally now, and when Dick awakened -from a stupor that had come upon him in spite of all -he could do, he found the water around them almost -as smooth as glass.</p> -<p>Staggering to his feet Dick pulled Sandy to his -feet and together they gazed on a phenomenon of the -north that was like a miracle in their eyes.</p> -<p>The open water, or lead, between the land and -the berg on which they had lodged, was frozen over, -and a level walk of thin ice bridged a way to safety.</p> -<p>“Can we walk on it?” Sandy asked in a hoarse, -thick voice.</p> -<p>“I don’t know,” Dick replied through blue lips. -“I’ll test it.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_108">108</div> -<p>Guiding his weakened legs by force of will alone, -Dick cautiously approached the edge of the floe and -placed one foot down on the ice. He bore his weight, -by degrees, on the one foot. The ice cracked a little -and gave downward, then as he placed the last of his -weight upon the ice, it broke through. Dick saved -himself from a cold bath that might, at that time, -have meant the finish of him, by falling face downward -on the floe and drawing himself back to safety. -He would have given up then, had not a heart-rending -groan from Sandy aroused in him a new determination. -For he could not bear to see his chum -lying there, slowly freezing, when there was an ounce -of strength left in him.</p> -<p>Into Dick’s numb senses crept an idea. The snowshoes -strapped upon their backs! If the ice would -not hold weight upon the narrow surface of a boot -sole, might it not support them if their weight were -distributed upon the broad rim of snowshoes?</p> -<p>In frantic haste Dick aroused Sandy and shouted -his plan into his dazed chum’s ears. Fumbling fingers -then began the slow process of attaching snowshoes -to tingling feet. At last the task was accomplished, -and the boys began shuffling toward the thin ice.</p> -<p>Dick went first, skating as lightly as possible out -on the ice. His heart was in his mouth. Would the -ice hold?</p> -<p>The ice sprang downward slightly and tiny cracks -spread out all around Dick, but the ice held.</p> -<p>“Don’t follow my track,” he cried to Sandy, about -to leave the floe. “Start somewhere where the ice -hasn’t been strained. We’ve got to hurry. This salt -water may melt at any moment.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_109">109</div> -<p>Sandy did as he was told and there began a more -perilous half mile of snowshoeing than the boys ever -before had experienced or ever hoped to experience -again.</p> -<p>Faster and faster they skated over the rubbery -ice, praying they would strike no weaker spot, every -nerve strained to the utmost in their fear-driven -flight.</p> -<p>Under any other circumstances the boys would -surely have fallen completely exhausted before they -finished that terrible half mile of snowshoeing. But -it was life or death, and all the reserve energy in -their strong, young bodies came to the front to carry -them through.</p> -<p>One last spurt of speed and they tumbled onto the -heaps of solid ice marking the beach and solid land. -Scarcely had they landed when the water broke -through the rapidly melting ice.</p> -<p>Sandy could not raise himself and Dick had just -enough strength left to drag himself to a standing -position. His roving eyes fell upon a flock of eider -ducks a little distance away. His stomach crying -out for food, Dick reeled toward the wild fowl, -scattering them to right and left. He found quickly -what he was looking for. Eggs!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_110">110</div> -<p>Pawing into a nest he rolled out three eggs, and -without testing them to see whether they were fresh -or not, he cracked the shells and drank down the -life-giving nourishment. Hastily picking up two -more eggs, he stumbled back to Sandy and forced -him to suck the raw whites.</p> -<p>Both boys revived by the duck eggs, they waited -for the ducks to settle back to their nests, and shot -two of them.</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy ordinarily would have been repelled -at the idea of eating raw flesh, but now nothing -seemed sweeter than the warm white meat of -the eider ducks. They ate their fill, like young savages, -and found warmth and strength returning to -their half-frozen bodies.</p> -<p>Spirits rising through the effect of the food and -their recent deliverance from the drifting ice floe, -the boys were about to start further inland, when -Sandy pointed to a boulder only a hundred feet -away.</p> -<p>“I thought I saw something move over there,” -he whispered.</p> -<p>Dick opened his mouth to speak, but no words -came out. From behind the boulder arose the head -and upper body of an Eskimo—and yet, was it an -Eskimo?</p> -<p>“His skin is white!” Sandy exclaimed.</p> -<p>“It’s the white Eskimo!” Dick echoed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_111">111</div> -<h2 id="c11">CHAPTER XI -<br /><span class="small">THE CAMP OF FROZEN MEN</span></h2> -<p>So amazed were Dick and Sandy by this sudden -and inexplicable reappearance of the white Eskimo -that they could not move from their tracks for fully -a minute. The half-breed did not move. He stared -at them as if he, too, had been surprised, then one -of his arms raised in a sort of signal.</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy aroused to their danger too late. -From a dozen hiding places as many uncouth brown -figures appeared, with spears and rifles leveled at -them. Hemmed in and outnumbered, there was but -one thing for them to do—surrender.</p> -<p>Sandy’s rifle clattered to the ice, and Dick’s followed -quickly, while both raised their hands. The -white Eskimo then came forward and picked up -their rifles. He addressed them in broken English, -which had a French accent mingled with the Eskimo -tang:</p> -<p>“I ees pleased ver’ much, boys. While zee poleece -chase zee wild goose, I git zere little helpers. Zat -not so?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_112">112</div> -<p>“You may have the drop on us now,” retorted -Dick with more spirit than was really in his half-famished, -half-frozen body, “but we have friends -nearby and you will wish you never had troubled -us.”</p> -<p>The white Eskimo laughed scoffingly. “You think -you make zee fool of me. Ha! Zose mounted police -long way from here. They look, look everywhere -for Fred Mistak, but Mistak like the ghost. He -disappear like nossing—quick!”</p> -<p>Dick remained silent at this, thinking it best not -to arouse the ill-humor of their savage captor. He -was interested, if disappointed to learn that their -friends, the policemen, were so far away. He had -half-hoped the storm had thrown them back upon -land somewhere near the other members of the expedition.</p> -<p>Mistak seemed to have no desire to loiter in the -vicinity of the capture and speedily forced the boys -to fall in line and start off inland. Tired as they -were, the two prisoners assumed a calmness they did -not feel as they began the long climb up a steep -trail that led to the summit of the cliffs which -formed that portion of the coast.</p> -<p>Dick studied the evil faces of his captors and saw -that only few of them were Eskimos. The greater -number of the gang included renegade Indians, half-breeds, -and one who seemed a full blooded white -man. Dick did not doubt that every man of them -either carried a price on his head or was at least a -fugitive from the courts of justice. The white man -and two of the Indians had rifles, and Mistak wore -a revolver on a belt about his waist.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_113">113</div> -<p>The sinister company climbed to the top of the -cliffs, forcing the boys along at the point of spears, -and marched on for about a mile across the snow -and ice to what seemed to be a temporary encampment. -Six igloos had been built in the shelter of a -ridge, and two sledges loaded with frozen seal blubber -lay under the watch of an Eskimo.</p> -<p>Mistak gruffly ordered Dick and Sandy into an -igloo. As soon as the boys had reached the crude -bedding inside the snow house, they gave over to -the great weariness that possessed them. Lost to -everything but the need of sleep, they fell into a -deep unconsciousness regardless of the fact that they -were in the hands of enemies from whom they might -expect no mercy.</p> -<p>Dick knew not how long he had slept when he -aroused to hear someone at the entrance of the -igloo. One of the Eskimos crawled half way in with -two chunks of seal blubber in his arms. These he -tossed at the two recumbent forms with a few guttural -and unintelligible words in his native tongue, -and crawled out again.</p> -<p>Dick was terribly hungry, and though the seal -blubber did not exactly appeal to his appetite, he -found, upon tasting the greasy meat, that it was -better than nothing. He awakened Sandy, and together -they made their first meal upon raw seal -blubber, finding that the more they ate of it the -better it tasted.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_114">114</div> -<p>“It’s not bad when a fellow’s half starved,” Sandy -remarked as they finished the last of the blubber.</p> -<p>Dick was about to answer when the sound of -voices outside interrupted him. He signaled Sandy -to remain quiet and together they listened. But they -could not distinguish the words through the thick -walls of the igloo, though they recognized the voice -of Fred Mistak.</p> -<p>Hoping to learn something of what Mistak intended -to do with Sandy and him, Dick motioned -to his chum to remain where he was and crawled -in the hole that served as the entrance of the igloo. -A huge cake of snow had been carelessly pushed up -against the outside of the hole and placing one ear -against this, Dick could hear Mistak’s voice quite -plainly. He seemed to be speaking to the white man -in the outfit.</p> -<p>“I tell you zat we cannot bozzer wis zee two -young ones. It ees best we put them where zay -cannot talk. You see?” Mistak was saying.</p> -<p>The other man swore, then replied loudly: “You -know we got enough blood on our hands now, Mistak, -to send us over the road for life. It’ll be hangin’ -for you an’ me if we put these yonkers out of -the way right under the noses of the mounted.”</p> -<p>“Well, zen, what you say we put zem wiz Thalman?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_115">115</div> -<p>Thalman! That was the name of the lost corporal! -Dick electrified with eagerness to hear -more, but the two walked off a little way out of earshot. -He crawled back to Sandy, confiding what he -had heard.</p> -<p>“According to that, Corporal Thalman must be -alive alright,” Sandy observed.</p> -<p>“Yes, but the question is, do we want to go where -he is as Mistak hinted. It looks like Thalman is in -a pretty tight prison or he’d have gotten out by -this time. And we can help him more on the outside -than on the inside. Besides I don’t trust this Mistak -a little bit. He’d cut our throats in a minute if the -white man agreed. We’d better see if we can’t -escape.”</p> -<p>“If there was any darkness to do it in, we might -get away,” Sandy retorted, “but in this never-ending -daylight, I don’t see how we can do it.”</p> -<p>“Listen—I’ve a plan,” Dick drew closer to his -chum, and began in a whisper. “When we came up -I could see that this igloo was built on a long snowdrift -that stretches clear to a ravine on the right. -We still have our knives and with these we can dig a -tunnel under the snow.”</p> -<p>“But suppose they come in while we’re working?”</p> -<p>“I thought of that. We’ll work one at a time, -while one keeps watch at the entrance of the igloo. -At first we can jump up out of the tunnel, which -we’ll start in the floor, and lie down over it with -our bedding. If they come clear inside they’ll think -we’re sleeping.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_116">116</div> -<p>“What about the loose snow?” Sandy asked.</p> -<p>“That we can scatter over the floor and pack it -down with our boots. The hardest job will be coming -out of the drift at the right place. What we -must do is tunnel under the igloo and through the -drift to the side hidden from the camp.”</p> -<p>Sandy became enthusiastic over Dick’s daring -scheme and without delay they commenced the difficult -task. Dick started the digging while Sandy -watched. The snow was hard, but by keeping at it -he soon was far enough down so that he could -change the direction of his digging toward the outside -of the snowdrift, which was to furnish the -cover for their escape.</p> -<p>They had changed places twice and Sandy was -again on watch when the crunch of footfalls sounded -approaching the igloo.</p> -<p>“Quick. Someone’s coming!” Sandy whispered -down the tunnel.</p> -<p>Dick was only a few seconds backing out of the -hole and dropping prone over it, the bedding drawn -about him. Sandy also feigned sleep nearby and -with bated breath they awaited whoever was coming.</p> -<p>But the Indian who looked in at the igloo entrance -did not come in. He seemed satisfied that the two -prisoners were asleep and departed to other business.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_117">117</div> -<p>However, the narrow escape from detection put -a scare into them that set them to devising some -other means of covering up their work when visited -by one of the gang. With chunks of snow from the -tunnel they fashioned a form to resemble a body -and wrapping this in bedding they placed it in as -life-like a sleeping position as possible near the -tunnel. If they were visited again the one on watch -could lie down over the entrance to the tunnel, while -the other could lie still under the snow without leaving -the tunnel.</p> -<p>After this ruse was ready for use they felt more -confident of success and redoubled their efforts.</p> -<p>It was Dick who first poked a hole through the -snow to the light of the outside world. His heart -leaping at the thought that they had succeeded, he -looked out of the hole, only to receive one of the -greatest shocks of his life. Not ten feet away sat -an Eskimo, one of Mistak’s band, chewing on a -chunk of seal blubber! As Dick watched with terror-widened -eyes, the Eskimo looked directly at him, -and paused in his eating. Dick could not force himself -to move. Every moment he expected some sign -from the Eskimo that he had discovered the attempt -to escape, yet the native finally resumed his eating -without any alarming actions.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_118">118</div> -<p>Breathing a sigh of relief Dick plugged up the -hole and lay on his stomach in the snow tunnel, -wondering if there had been some mistake in their -calculations which had brought them out on the -wrong side of the snowdrift. But no, they were -on the right side of the drift. Nothing could have -so confused them as to cause any such disastrous -error. The Eskimo must have been there by chance. -Dick decided that the native had been hiding from -the rest of his band, probably because he had stolen -more rations of food than was his allotment.</p> -<p>After waiting a reasonable length of time, Dick -cleared the peep hole and looked out. The Eskimo -was gone.</p> -<p>Hastily Dick wriggled back through the tunnel -and reported to Sandy the welcome news that they -had reached the surface of the drift and could now -leave the igloo.</p> -<p>Hoping they might delay the discovery of their -escape until they had a good start, they fashioned a -second dummy from rolled bedding and Sandy, the -last one into the snow tunnel, drew this over the -hole after him.</p> -<p>A few minutes later they had cautiously broken -out of the snowdrift and were crawling along the -snow bank away from the encampment.</p> -<p>Once in the ravine, into which the drift led, they -strapped on their snowshoes, which Mistak had not -thought it necessary to take from them, and made -good time away from their captors.</p> -<p>“Just give us as much as an hour’s start and I’ll -bet they’ll never catch us,” Dick cried exultantly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_119">119</div> -<p>“No, you bet they’ll never catch me,” Sandy repeated -emphatically. “I think too much of my skin -to have it punched full of holes by that gun in -Mistak’s belt.”</p> -<p>Settling into a long, swinging, crab-like stride, -the boys covered almost four miles on their snowshoes -before they felt it necessary to call a halt.</p> -<p>Sandy was about winded, and fell back against -a boulder completely relaxed, but Dick still felt fairly -spry so he crawled to the top of a nearby hill and -looked over the back trail. He was about to call -down to Sandy that all was well when, from a narrow -defile through which he remembered they had -passed, he saw five figures coming fast on snowshoes. -Dick felt a chill that was not from the frosty -air creep up his spine. He did not doubt that the -distant men were Mistak and several of his gang.</p> -<p>“Sandy, they’re after us,” Dick called down in a -tense voice.</p> -<p>Sandy got excitedly to his feet and urged Dick to -hurry on with him. But the elder lad had something -else in mind as he climbed down from the hill.</p> -<p>“Sandy, there are expert snowshoers in that bunch -following us,” Dick said coolly. “We don’t stand a -show of keeping the lead we have.”</p> -<p>“Well, we can’t stand them off without rifles. All -we have left is our hunting knives.”</p> -<p>“But we can still throw them off our track if we -use our heads,” said Dick quickly. “Did you notice -that long stretch of hard ice and barren rock that -we’ve been following for more than half a mile?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_120">120</div> -<p>“Yes,” Sandy began to be interested.</p> -<p>“Well, we can go on along the snow until we angle -into the ice and rock under that high barren hill in -front of us. They’ll think we climbed the hill, and -will go on to pick up our tracks in the next patch -of snow. There’s where we’ll fool them. We’ll -double on our trail where we can’t leave any footprints, -and hide somewhere until they give up hunting -for us.”</p> -<p>“Sounds pretty good to me,” replied Sandy. “Let’s -mush!”</p> -<p>Quickly, then, the boys carried their plan into -execution. They ran on to the point where the snow -gave way to barren rock and ice, swept clean by -high winds. Here they removed their snowshoes -and turned almost squarely about. Running lightly -across the stones and ice, they covered about a quarter -of a mile on the back trail leaving no tracks to -show where they had gone. Then they began looking -for a hiding place.</p> -<p>It was Dick who spied a hole under the shelf -of a cut bank, which led back under ground. There -were no signs that the cavern had been inhabited -recently by any wild animals, and after calling Sandy -to his side, Dick got on hands and knees and crawled -into the dark passage.</p> -<p>The hole grew larger as the boys traversed it, and -finally they were able to run along at a crouch.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_121">121</div> -<p>Presently Dick stopped Sandy. “We’d better not -go too far,” he cautioned. “Why not go back to -a point where the hole is smaller and block it up -with stones and ice? Then if they happen to discover -the entrance to this cave they’ll run into where we’ve -plugged it up and they’ll think that is the end of the -cave.”</p> -<p>Sandy agreed that this was an excellent idea and -they hurried back to carry it out. Ten minutes later, -feeling much more secure with the barrier thrown -up in the small end of the passage, the boys decided -to follow the underground corridor to its end or to -a point where it branched off into a larger cave.</p> -<p>As they advanced, the passage rapidly grew -lighter, until finally they came out into broad daylight. -Looking around, they saw they had reached a -sort of amphitheater formed by walls of ice-covered -stone about fifty feet in height. The floor of the -place was about a hundred feet in diameter, but what -set the hearts of the boys to pounding frantically, -was the fact that a man sat with his back to the -wall not fifteen yards away, and a little further on, -lying with his face against the side of a broken dog -sledge, was another man.</p> -<p>Were they friend or foe? The boys did not -know. Something in the very stillness of the two -figures boded no good. But they were between two -fires, and they must take a chance.</p> -<p>“Hello, there,” called Dick, boldly.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_122">122</div> -<p>There was no answer. Again Dick called out, -without getting any reply. His face paled a little at -the strange silence of the men and summoning all -his courage he stepped up and grasped the one sitting -against the wall by the shoulder. With a cry of -horror he staggered back. The body was immovable -as stone to the touch, and from the depths of the -parka stared a pair of glassy, sightless eyes.</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy turned and looked at each other, -swallowing lumps in their throats, and experiencing -unpleasant goose-flesh.</p> -<p>For what they had stumbled upon, in that secluded -nook, was a camp of frozen men!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_123">123</div> -<h2 id="c12">CHAPTER XII -<br /><span class="small">TRAPPED!</span></h2> -<p>At the moment Dick and Sandy discovered themselves -in the company of men from whom life had -long since fled, they would have gladly chosen to -face Mistak and his men rather than remain in the -strange, canyon-like pit a second longer. But time -and the real peril awaiting them, if they were discovered -by Mistak, steadied their nerves.</p> -<p>“It’s silly of us to act like a couple of babies when -we see two dead men,” Dick found his tongue again.</p> -<p>“Maybe it is,” Sandy rejoined in a shaky voice, -“but it was worse than finding a skeleton in a dark -clothes closet.”</p> -<p>Dick silently agreed with Sandy, but thought it -better not to admit it aloud. Instead, he assumed a -calmness he did not feel in order to disperse Sandy’s -fears.</p> -<p>“What we must do now,” said Dick, “is try to -find out who these men were. They may have -been of some importance in the south—engineers, -explorers, or scientists.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_124">124</div> -<p>“Go ahead if you want to,” Sandy shook his head -as he eyed their gruesome find. “I’ll go back into the -cave where I can hear any one that may come in on -the other side of the barricade.”</p> -<p>Left alone with the dead men, Dick set immediately -about what he thought was his duty. Upon -closer inspection he found that the men had not really -frozen to death as he had at first supposed, but that -one, or both, of them had died from injuries received -from a bad fall.</p> -<p>The body near the sledge was partially wedged -under one of the runners. The sledge itself was -crushed and splintered in front beyond repair. Dick -gazed up at the edge of the walls forming the amphitheater, -picturing in his mind what he thought -had happened. This is what he imagined:</p> -<p>Two men, sledging over an uncharted land in the -teeth of a blinding blizzard. An ineffectual struggle -of dog and man to avoid slipping into an abyss -which they sensed. Then the crash of the sledge and -bodies at the foot of the bank. One man had died -immediately, crushed by the fall and the sledge. The -other had lived to crawl away and lean up against -the rock wall which he had never quitted. It was -one of the countless tragedies of the north, one of -the secrets of the mysterious disappearance of men -who had braved the Arctic and never returned.</p> -<p>Dick inspected every foot of ground near the -sledge and found the remains of their dogs. But -nowhere could he find any record or memoranda as -to who the men were and what had been their mission.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_125">125</div> -<p>He was about to examine the ice-crusted dunnage -in the wrecked sledge when Sandy came running in -calling to him.</p> -<p>“Someone’s in the cave! I believe Mistak has -trailed us after all!”</p> -<p>Dick hastily quitted his work at the sledge and -ran back into the cave after Sandy. When they -reached the point where they had plugged up the -passage, their worst fears were realized. Someone -was trying to break in, and the mumble of voices -came faintly to their ears. The boys had underestimated -the trail-craft of the white Eskimo and his -men.</p> -<p>“Mistak has discovered our hiding place in spite -of all the pains we took to cover our tracks,” Dick -spoke disappointedly. “All we can do now is keep -them out by adding to this barricade. We can rebuild -it faster than they can break it down, because -on the other side only one can work at a time. Let’s -get to work, Sandy.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_126">126</div> -<p>All the loose boulders and fragments of ice the -boys could find they brought to the barricade and -piled there as fast as possible. But they soon found -that their enemies were gaining on them. This was -not noticeable until the boys had used up all the -boulders near them and were required to run all the -way to the amphitheater for more material. Also, -as Mistak’s men worked their way further in, the -cave became larger and the outlaws could work more -freely. Added to this, Dick’s and Sandy’s job of -filling the passage became bigger and bigger the further -back they retreated.</p> -<p>“We’ll never keep them out!” Sandy panted at -last. “I guess this is our last adventure, Dick.”</p> -<p>“Don’t give up yet, Sandy,” Dick strove to encourage -his chum.</p> -<p>Grimly, they stuck to the losing fight, determined -not to give up until they had carried the last available -stone into the passage to impede the progress -of Fred Mistak, whose voice they could now plainly -hear urging his men on to greater efforts. Like rats -excavated by a clawing dog, Dick and Sandy were -determined to sell their lives dearly.</p> -<p>Yet, Providence intervened. Suddenly, the work -of Mistak’s men ceased, and the echo of running -feet sounded in the icy corridor, accompanied by -hoarse shouts of anger and dismay.</p> -<p>“What’s happened?” Sandy turned to Dick, hardly -able to believe the good fortune that seemed to be -coming to them.</p> -<p>Dick did not answer, but stood very still, listening -intently. Finally, the last sounds of retreating footsteps -died away.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_127">127</div> -<p>“We’ll wait a little longer, then open up the -passage and find out what or who frightened Mistak -away,” said Dick.</p> -<p>For what seemed to the boys about a quarter -of an hour, they waited in the dark passage. At the -end of this time they began cautiously removing the -boulders that blocked the passage. A few minutes -later they crawled one at a time from the tiny entrance, -finding the vicinity deserted.</p> -<p>“Funny,” Dick looked about puzzledly. “What do -you suppose frightened them away?”</p> -<p>Sandy was as much at loss as his chum to account -for Mistak’s departure, but presently a distant -hail electrified them with attention, and the mystery -of their rescue was solved.</p> -<p>About three hundred yards across the snow appeared -a dog team and two men, the identity of -whom the boys were not long in correctly guessing.</p> -<p>“Hurrah! The police! The police!” shouted Dick, -leaping down the rocky slope joyously, Sandy close -on his heels.</p> -<p>It was not long before Dick and Sandy were -eagerly gripping the huge, mittened hands of Corporal -McCarthy and Constable Sloan. The story of -their adventures since the officers had left the base, -bubbled from their lips by fits and starts, the policemen -hardly succeeding in getting a word in edgewise.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_128">128</div> -<p>“Mistak pulled up stakes and mushed on when we -made it too hot for him on the glacier,” Corporal -McCarthy finally managed to explain. “We picked -up his trail again three days ago and have been -traveling fast ever since.”</p> -<p>“Well, his camp can’t be more than five miles -from here,” Dick hastened to say. “But Mistak -won’t stay there now, Corporal. He’s a mighty -clever criminal, and now he knows you’re this close -he’ll work a trick to get you off the trail.”</p> -<p>“Well, we can’t let him get away if there’s half -a chance nabbing him,” Corporal McCarthy replied -determinedly. “But Sloan and I need a few hours’ -rest, and we might as well look over those bodies -you boys say you found.”</p> -<p>The dogs were unharnessed outside the cavern -entrance, and left in charge of Constable Sloan, -while Corporal McCarthy crawled into the cave after -Dick and Sandy. The officer was as amazed as the -boys had been when he first laid eyes upon the -frozen figures. His opinion was that of Dick—that -the men had slid or stepped over the precipitous -wall of the amphitheater while blinded by a snow -storm. Though the policeman searched fully an hour -for something by which to identify the bodies, he -had no luck, and at last gave up after making a brief -entry in a small notebook he carried.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_129">129</div> -<p>“The best we can do is give them an Eskimo -burial,” the Corporal concluded his inspection. “If -you fellows will help me gather a few stones we’ll -soon have the sad business over with.”</p> -<p>A few minutes later, as gently as possible, they -deposited the bodies in their last resting place, and -built over each a substantial cairn of stones.</p> -<p>From the wrecked sledge, Corporal McCarthy -then tore some strips of wood, and lashing two together -with leather thongs, he fashioned a cross for -each. On the horizontal cross-pieces he carved this -inscription:</p> -<p class="center">“Found Sept. 19, 1925. -<br />Identity Unknown. -<br />Corporal Lake McCarthy, R.N.W.M.P.”</p> -<p>As soon as the crosses were planted and they had -bowed their heads in silent prayer for the unknown -victims of the north, they quitted the cavern and rejoined -Constable Sloan.</p> -<p>A temporary camp was made, tea boiled, and bedding -spread out, and while the boys thirstily gulped -the hot beverage, the policemen discussed plans for -the apprehension of Fred Mistak.</p> -<p>Among many other things the boys learned that -they were upward of forty miles from the base of -supplies Toma had been left alone to guard. The -island upon which they thought they had landed -when they left the mainland, seemed to stretch endlessly -to the northeast, widening constantly until it -disappeared under a solid ice cap.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_130">130</div> -<p>Fuel oil for the special camp stoves was very -low, and the policemen had only about three days’ -provisions left, which was largely fresh musk-ox -which Constable Sloan had shot during the man -hunt. Also several of the dogs had died from -piblockto, a sort of madness peculiar to the polar -regions.</p> -<p>“According to what the policemen say,” Dick -confided to Sandy, “we’ll have to make quick work -of Mistak. With the supplies as low as they say they -are, we’ll have to start for our base mighty soon or -the north will do for us what it did for those two -fellows at the end of the cave.”</p> -<p>“We can’t get back any too soon to suit me,” -said Sandy earnestly.</p> -<p>The policemen rested the dogs and themselves for -nearly two hours, when they harnessed up and once -more set out upon the trail of Fred Mistak. Half a -mile from the white Eskimo’s rendezvous the snowshoe -tracks led on steadily, then there were signs of -a delay in the trampled snow. One man had gone -on from there, obviously to warn whoever had been -left at the igloos of the proximity of the police. -Beside the undeviating snowshoe prints leading toward -Mistak’s igloos, there was a bewildering maze -of tracks leading in all directions.</p> -<p>“They’ve scattered out, every man for himself,” -was Constable Sloan’s opinion. “But if we hurry -on to the camp we might catch a few of them.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_131">131</div> -<p>Corporal McCarthy thought this good counsel, and -they set out immediately for the encampment from -which Dick and Sandy had so recently escaped. But -they found the igloos deserted, their round, white -domes crushed and destroyed.</p> -<p>Constable Sloan explained to the boys that the -igloos had been broken down by the superstitious -Eskimos in Mistak’s band, who believed that if they -left the igloos intact, evil spirits would come and -live in them.</p> -<p>The policemen were considerably disappointed to -find that Mistak’s band had once more given them -the slip. The scattering of the band had made it impossible -to tell just which trail was Mistak’s, and -there was nothing more to do but return to the base -of operations for more dogs and supplies.</p> -<p>After a scanty meal at Mistak’s deserted camp, -they set out upon the forty-mile dash to the home -camp, praying for fair weather, and hoping no more -of the dogs would contract the dreaded piblockto.</p> -<p>Five days of fair weather and the half-famished -company came in sight of their base to find considerable -changes in evidence. In place of the three -igloos they had built, there were ten of the neat -snow houses. A host of dogs hung about the little -village, and out at sea they could see two kayacks -bobbing about, manned by as many Eskimos.</p> -<p>“What is this!” exclaimed Corporal McCarthy. -“Visitors, eh!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_132">132</div> -<p>“I’ll bet I know how they came here!” Dick exclaimed.</p> -<p>“I think I know, too,” Sandy added.</p> -<p>“Well, what do you think accounts for all these -uninvited guests?” asked Constable Sloan.</p> -<p>“Sipsa brought them,” Dick replied. “Remember, -I told you how he left us and that his trail led over -the back trail? Well, just as Sandy and I had it -figured out, he went after some of his people on account -of the good seal hunting here.”</p> -<p>Just then the appearance of Toma changed the -subject, and the boys hastened forward to greet their -young Indian friend. Though Toma must have been -filled with great joy upon seeing Dick and Sandy -safe and sound, he did not express it except with a -broad grin and an added brightness in his black eyes.</p> -<p>Shortly, proof appeared that Dick had been right -in his surmise as to the reason for the coming of the -Eskimos. It was in the form of Sipsa’s moon face, -split by a huge smile. The guide showed himself -while Toma and the policemen were unharnessing -the dogs and unpacking the sledge. Constable Sloan -spoke to the native, reprimanding him for deserting -the boys, but Sipsa did not quite understand that his -offense had been so serious.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_133">133</div> -<p>“Sipsa says the hunting was good here, and he -could not resist carrying the news to his people,” -Constable Sloan interpreted. “He adds that he had -trouble in convincing them that the glacier was not -haunted by bad spirits. The drivers who deserted us -carried the news back to the village that the ‘white -Eskimo’ had changed all of us to ice.”</p> -<p>“It wouldn’t take an evil spirit to do that in this -country,” Dick remarked to Sandy, recalling the -frozen bodies they had found so recently.</p> -<p>Having eaten their fill and had a few hours’ nap, -Dick and Sandy crawled out of their igloo and commenced -a detailed inspection of their native visitors. -While most of the men and women were out hunting, -a few old women and children had remained -behind.</p> -<p>The old women were making boots and shirts of -sealskin and caribou hide, using an ivory needle and -thread of caribou sinews. They did not seem to -mind having Dick and Sandy watch them, and so -the boys satisfied their curiosity to the utmost.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_134">134</div> -<p>At one of the igloos a woman was cleaning a fur -rug or robe by an interesting method. She poured -melted snow water upon the fur, and shook it in the -cold air until the tiny drops of moisture clinging to -the hairs froze into globules of ice. It seemed that -the particles of dirt in the fur were imprisoned in -the little balls of ice. When the fur seemed well -covered with the ice crust, the women lay it fur-side -down in clean snow and beat it for a long time. -This done, she hung up the robe and beat the fur -side, the ice particles flying to right and left. When -the last of the ice balls had disappeared from the fur, -the robe seemed as dry and glossy as if it still was -on the animal that first had borne it.</p> -<p>The boys were called away from the Eskimos by -Corporal McCarthy who wished them to explain to -him again just what they had heard regarding Corporal -Thalman, the lost officer, while they were -prisoners at Mistak’s rendezvous.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_135">135</div> -<h2 id="c13">CHAPTER XIII -<br /><span class="small">A NARWHAL</span></h2> -<p>Certain, now, through the chance discoveries of -Dick and Sandy, that Corporal Thalman was alive -somewhere in the frozen land, the policemen hastened -to prepare for another venture into Mistak’s -outlaw fastnesses. The nearness of the polar winter, -or period of complete darkness, also served to hasten -them in their work, for without the sun to light the -trail and under the terrible cold that accompanied -the long night, they could not hope to accomplish -anything.</p> -<p>Two days after pulling into their base of supplies -from their first long and unsuccessful man -hunt, the policemen once more set out in the direction -they had lost Mistak, leaving Dick and Sandy -with plenty of good advice and many precautions -for them to avoid the dangers which they had fallen -into when first left to take care of themselves.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_136">136</div> -<p>Dick and Sandy put in the first twelve hours following -the departure of the officers, in cleaning and -oiling extra rifles from the supplies, to replace those -taken by Mistak, and in practicing with a harpoon. -Sipsa proved a willing teacher in the art of handling -this death dealing weapon effectively, and while the -boys could not begin to equal the accuracy of the -life-time trained natives, they were attentive students -and soon became fair marksmen.</p> -<p>After nearly a week of practice with the harpoon -the boys decided to commandeer a kayack each and -try their luck at sea, along with the Eskimo hunters. -Sipsa had begun to pick up some English words, and -the boys had managed to master a little Eskimo, so -that when the day came for their first try at hunting -with a harpoon, there was more of an understanding -between them and their Eskimo friend than there -had been formerly.</p> -<p>A narwhal had been sighted several times in the -vicinity of the seal herd, Sipsa said, and the boys -took added interest in the hunt with the promise of -such big game as a whale to lead them on.</p> -<p>“I’ll bet I get my harpoon into that narwhal before -you do,” sang out Sandy, as they put off shore -in the waterproofed kayacks.</p> -<p>“Well, if you do, it may be my lucky day,” Dick -came back. “Those narwhals are mean fellows and -if you don’t get them in a vital spot they can smash -your kayack with their tail or long spear tusk and -drown you.”</p> -<p>“I’ll take a chance on that,” Sandy replied, not -quite so enthusiastically as he deftly guided his craft -toward the hunters at work in the seal herd.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_137">137</div> -<p>But the boys did not join in the seal hunt. For -a time they amused themselves by running races in -the kayacks which handled a good deal like canoes. -Gradually they drifted further out to sea and away -from the Eskimos, busily dodging icebergs and casting -and recasting their harpoons into the water to -accustom themselves to throwing from a rocking -kayack.</p> -<p>About a quarter of a mile from the seal herd -Dick paused to rest and to permit Sandy, whom he -had outdistanced, to overtake him. The sea seemed -to him particularly clear of floating ice at this point, -he having noticed but one small fragment of ice -about twenty feet ahead of him.</p> -<p>For probably a minute Dick watched Sandy paddling -forward, and then he faced the front again -only to receive a distinct shock. The low-lying berg -had moved by some power other than the ocean current. -Eyes widened, Dick watched what he had -thought to be an inanimate piece of ice. His heart -hammered against his breast. Again the ice moved, -and this time it surged upward, the water seething -and foaming about it. One glimpse Dick got of a -white belly, a long pointed snout, and a huge slashing -tail, and then the whole vision vanished in a -whirl of waves that rocked his frail craft crazily.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_138">138</div> -<p>Dick knew now that what he had thought to be -a fragment of mottled ice, was the narwhal Sipsa -had told them was haunting the vicinity. His hand -tightened on his harpoon as he turned to shout the -news of his discovery to Sandy.</p> -<p>“The narwhal! The narwhal!” cried Dick.</p> -<p>Sandy redoubled his efforts at the thrilling words, -but Dick suddenly had other business to attract his -attention. For the narwhal had again come to the -surface near his canoe.</p> -<p>Holding his breath until the great mammal turned -broadside to him, Dick waited heedless of Sandy’s -repeated cries for him to wait until he had joined -him. The right moment came as the huge, grayish -body rolled with the waves. Dick cast with all the -strength of his right arm. The harpoon darted -across the water with a hiss, the coil of thong attaching -it securely to the kayack paying out after it. -The cast had not missed. Not far back of the head -the heavy harpoon imbedded itself in the narwhal -and with a swiftness surprising in so cumbersome -an animal, the great body went into action.</p> -<p>The harpoon line had been tied securely to the -kayack and as the narwhal lunged forward, the stout -thong tightened with a snap. Dick and the kayack -shot completely out of the water, and when the boat -landed it was traveling at the rate of about thirty -miles an hour.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_139">139</div> -<p>Grim and white-faced, Dick hung on. He could -have severed the harpoon line with a stroke of his -keen hunting knife, yet this he did not intend to do -while the kayack still remained afloat.</p> -<p>Spray flying in all directions, the narwhal headed -due northeast, toward the open sea. Had it not been -for the submarine-like build of the kayack and the -waterproofed jacket enclosing its passenger, the -craft might have sunk in the first hundred yards of -that swift dash. As it was, Dick experienced a sensation -much like that felt by a bather riding a surfboard -which is being towed by a gasoline speed-boat.</p> -<p>Every minute during the breath-taking ride behind -the harpooned narwhal, Dick hoped the monster -might either weaken from his wound, or change his -course and swim to a point where Sandy or the -Eskimo hunters might lend a hand in finishing the -battle with their harpoons. If the narwhal took a -notion to dive, Dick knew all was lost, and his only -means of saving himself that of quickly severing -the harpoon line.</p> -<p>Dick had almost lost hope and was about ready -to cut the line, when the narwhal changed his course -suddenly. The line slackened as the huge gray and -black body propelling the kayack swerved in a -shower of spray, and doubled on its course. The -kayack shot on by its own momentum, until with -a powerful jerk the line hauled it about. The sudden -turn tipped the kayack over as if it had been a -feather, then the same force righted it again, while -Dick blew the water out of his mouth and nose.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_140">140</div> -<p>Maddened by his wound, the narwhal seemed not -to know or care where it went. Like a mighty propeller -his fan-like tail lashed the water to a frenzy, -as it headed straight toward Sandy’s bobbing kayack.</p> -<p>“Let him have your harpoon as he goes by,” Dick -screamed to Sandy through a cupped palm.</p> -<p>Sandy shook his harpoon in the air in reply, and -Dick could see him settle for a cast as he rushed on.</p> -<p>At first the narwhal seemed to be headed at an -angle that would bring him past Sandy’s kayack -across the prow at a distance of about ten yards, -close enough for a good cast with the harpoon. But, -less than a hundred yards from Sandy’s kayack, the -big mammal changed course slightly, and with a -hoarse shout of dismay, Dick saw that if the narwhal -kept on he would ram Sandy’s kayack squarely -in the middle.</p> -<p>“Get out of the way!” shouted Dick frantically.</p> -<p>But Sandy was already making all haste with his -paddle, and so well did he handle his kayack that -the rushing sea-giant failed to run him down by -several inches. As the big body whizzed by, Sandy -made a quick throw with his harpoon, but missed, -his line dropping over Dick’s taut one, narrowly -escaping entanglement as Dick’s kayack collided with -it.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_141">141</div> -<p>“Hang on, Dick!” Sandy shouted as his chum -shot past him. “You’re headed straight toward -Sipsa and the other hunters.”</p> -<p>Dick had already foreseen this and his hopes were -rising when, without any warning whatsoever, the -narwhal dived. Had he gone far down Dick would, -no doubt, have been dragged under water and -drowned before he could slash free the harpoon line. -As it was, the narwhal dived up and down alternately, -drawing the prow of the kayack under water -with a rush and bringing it up again with giddy -speed.</p> -<p>Choking and gasping as the icy water trickled -into his parka above the waterproof covering on the -kayack, Dick had almost given up hope while blindly -slashing at the harpoon line, when the narwhal ceased -diving and began darting this way and that over -the surface of the water. Desisting in his attempts -to sever the line, Dick saw that the Eskimo hunters -were paddling fast toward him and that they would -soon reach a point where their harpoons could finish -the narwhal.</p> -<p>Completely maddened by the pain of his wound, -and the constant drag of the kayack, the narwhal -seemed to have lost all fear of man, for when his -short-sighted eyes caught sight of the Eskimo -hunters he made straight toward them, his great -mouth wide open and revealing a frightful toothless -cavern under the long sword-like tusk.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_142">142</div> -<p>But the hunters did not give way save to give -the narwhal room to pass between them. Seven -harpoons impaled the narwhal as he dashed in -among the kayacks, and his speed was lessened by -half. Soon the monster was floundering about in a -welter of blood, growing weaker and weaker.</p> -<p>As soon as the Eskimos had the situation well in -hand, Dick cut away his harpoon line and made all -haste to paddle to shore. The icy water that had -splashed into his shirt through his hood was already -numbing him with cold. Before he got to shore -his nose lost all sense of feeling, then suffered a burning -sensation as if it had come in contact with a hot -iron. Dick knew then that he had frozen his nose. -Beaching the kayack, he grabbed up his mittens full -of snow and buried his face in this frost absorbing -application as he ran for the igloo and an oil stove.</p> -<p>A half hour later Sandy burst through the round -door of their igloo to find his chum nursing a badly -frosted face. Dick’s nose and cheeks were as white -as tallow and he was writhing with pain as the blood -commenced to circulate again in the frozen tissues.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_143">143</div> -<p>“Gee, you got it bad, didn’t you,” Sandy sympathized. -“But, say, when you see that big narwhal -laid out on the shore, you’ll think it was worth it. -It was sure game of you to hang on to that fellow -when you could as easily as not cut loose your line.” -Dick smiled bravely through his burning pains. -“I don’t know as I deserve all that flattery, Sandy. -When that whale started to dive, I’d have slashed -the rope if I could have located it. But the water -blinded me.”</p> -<p>The following day Dick’s face was well enough -for him to go out into the outside air, so long as he -kept bundled up to his eyes. He walked down to -the beach with Sandy where the narwhal had been -towed in.</p> -<p>Though not nearly so large as the common species -of whale inhabiting the seas further south, the narwhal -was fully sixteen feet long, not including the -six-foot tusk of twisted ivory that extended from -his blunt nose, and must have weighed several thousand -pounds. The Eskimos had already begun to -cut up the enormous masses of blubber and to extract -the whalebone from the jaws. Dick procured -a small piece of the bone as a keep-sake, though for -the present his frosted nose was enough to keep the -episode in his memory for several weeks to come.</p> -<p>Dick felt that his face was in no condition for him -to stay out long that day, and so after the mid-day -meal Sandy ventured out alone with his rifle to see -if he could not knock down a few eider ducks and -gather more of their eggs.</p> -<p>Sandy wandered along the sea shore in the direction -of the cairn they had erected near the meteorite. -He shot two eider ducks and located a dozen fresh -eggs in the nests, which he collected in a leather bag. -This done, he walked down to the shore ice and sat -down upon a lump, his feet hanging over the lapping -water.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_144">144</div> -<p>He had sat there idly gazing to sea for about five -minutes when he noticed a queer object bobbing -about in the water about twenty feet from shore. -It was dark and round, attracting Sandy’s curiosity -immediately. After considerable maneuvering he -managed to fish it out with the muzzle of his rifle.</p> -<p>What Sandy picked up in his hands was a large -canteen or thermos bottle, used on expeditions in the -polar regions. It was covered with sodden leather -and evidently had been afloat for a long period of -time.</p> -<p>Slowly turning the bottle over in his hands, Sandy -found carved in the leather this inscription:</p> -<p class="center">“Look Inside -<br />C. T. -<br />R.N.W.M.P.”</p> -<p>An ejaculation of amazement and of triumph -burst from Sandy’s lips, and forgetting all about his -ducks and eggs, he set out at a run for the camp, -the canteen hugged tightly under one arm.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_145">145</div> -<h2 id="c14">CHAPTER XIV -<br /><span class="small">THE FLOATING MANUSCRIPT</span></h2> -<p>When Sandy burst into the igloo with his precious -find clutched to his breast he found Dick -asleep. He shook his chum out of the sleeping bag -in a hurry.</p> -<p>“What’s all the excitement about?” Dick mumbled -rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.</p> -<p>“Something from Corporal Thalman,” Sandy -cried, thrusting the canteen under Dick’s eyes.</p> -<p>Dick started forward as he read the words carved -in the leather, and uttered a cry of astonishment.</p> -<p>“Where’s an axe? Let’s break the bottle open and -see what’s inside! Won’t Corporal McCarthy open -his eyes when he sees this!” Dick was even more -excited than Sandy.</p> -<p>A moment later they had split the bottle as carefully -as they could and from the inside extracted a -tightly rolled strip of leather, about the width of an -ordinary sheet of writing paper.</p> -<p>The leather apparently had been cut from an old -shirt. Unrolled, it presented a mass of words and a -crude map, carved in the leather by something in the -nature of a sharp stone.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_146">146</div> -<p>“It’s a message from Corporal Thalman!” exclaimed -Dick, deciphering the initials, “C. T.” and -the abbreviation for “Royal Northwest Mounted -Police.”</p> -<p>“And that map shows where he is!” Sandy cried.</p> -<p>“Right now it looks the same as Greek to me,” -Dick admitted, frowning over the wandering lines, -crosses and data. “Let’s read the script and see if -that will help.”</p> -<p>The following is what the boys read from the -strange manuscript:</p> -<blockquote> -<p>“If Fate is kind and this bottle and message fall into friendly -hands, I desire the nearest post of the R.N.W. M.P. be notified -that the undersigned is now being unlawfully held a prisoner on -a glacial island several miles off the northern coast of Grant -Land, about half way between Cape Columbia and Cape -Richards.</p> -<p>“Detailed to apprehend a half-breed Eskimo murderer, I -picked up his trail on the barrens and followed him to this -island where a band of outlaws, led by Mistak, surprised and -captured me.</p> -<p>“I calculate I have been imprisoned about six months in an -ice-sealed pit at the bottom of a glacier, which seems to have -been formed by an eruption ages ago. The pit has an outlet -above my head into one of the large fissures in the top strata -of the glacier, which I have tried to locate by means of the -accompanying map. One side of the pit is formed of ice many -feet thick. By weeks of work I cut my way through this into -a series of grottoes or caverns lined with crystallized ice. However, -I have so far been unable to find any outlet to the surface -of the glacier and the caverns are so cold that I cannot -spend much time in them.</p> -<p>“The pit is warmer due to what I believe to be hot springs -miles beneath me. A small underground stream of tepid, fresh -water, tasting slightly of sulphur, runs across the floor of the -pit, out of one wall into another, and upon this I shall set this -canteen afloat, hoping by some miracle of good fortune that it -will reach the sea and there be discovered.</p> -<p>“Mistak furnishes me every so often with a supply of seal -blubber which he drops down from the top of the pit. I do -not know why he keeps me alive, except out of fiendish desire -to see me suffer.</p> -<p>“Anyone attempting to locate me may do so in two ways—by -means of the fissure into which this pit opens, or from the -crystal grottoes. Since I have been unable to find an outlet to -the grottoes, that method of reaching the pit seems impractical, -and I have directed all my efforts on this map toward guiding -a rescuing party to the fissure.</p> -<p>“Provided Mistak does not neglect bringing me food for too -long a period, I shall be alive when this is read, though I notice -some symptoms of scurvy.</p> -<p>“I now set this canteen adrift with its message, trusting in -Providence to guide it into the hands of those who will understand -the suffering and peril of my plight, and act accordingly. -<span class="jr">“Corporal James E. Thalman,</span> -<span class="jr">“R.N.W.M.P.</span> -<span class="jr">“August 15 (?) 1925.”</span></p> -</blockquote> -<div class="pb" id="Page_147">147</div> -<p>Dick and Sandy finished reading the message at -about the same time, yet they did not draw from it -quite the same conclusions.</p> -<p>“Then I found the canteen after it had been floating -and drifting for nearly two months,” Sandy -spoke, still awed by the importance of his discovery.</p> -<p>“Yes, as Corporal Thalman hoped, his message -found its way to the sea from some underground -stream,” Dick rejoined.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_148">148</div> -<p>Upon re-examining the map they satisfied themselves -that the glacial island drawn there was the -one they were now camping upon. They traced the -trail by which they had come along the east side of -the ridge, and rejoiced to find that the meteor stone -indicated by the cross must be identical with the one -they had found. Estimating on a basis of the scale -of miles drawn by Corporal Thalman, they found -they were encamped not more than five miles from -the point at which the Corporal had been captured -eight months before, and hardly thirty miles, allowing -for detours, from the actual prison pit.</p> -<p>“Oh, boy! This is more thrilling than looking -for lost mines!” Sandy cried exuberantly.</p> -<p>“It’s even more risky,” Dick returned, “and in -this case it’s just as difficult. There must be a lot -of inaccuracies in this map. The location here may -be pretty near ten miles off. I wish the policemen -were here to help. This is really too big a job for -us.”</p> -<p>“Wouldn’t it be a feather in our caps if we found -Corporal Thalman all by ourselves!” Sandy puffed -out his chest.</p> -<p>Dick admitted that it would, though he reprimanded -Sandy for his exaggeration of their capabilities.</p> -<p>“Before we get ready to hunt for the Corporal we -must draw a copy of this map and leave it for Corporal -McCarthy,” Dick directed. “If they don’t return -before we leave on a search for the fissure, the -copy will give them all the information they need to -work on their own accord.”</p> -<p>An hour later the boys had completed a copy of -the map and message, detail by detail, and prepared -for a few hours rest before they started for the -glacier.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_149">149</div> -<div class="img" id="p3"> -<img src="images/p3.jpg" alt="Map" width="500" height="615" /> -</div> -<p>The boys awakened after nearly eight hours -sleep, to find that the policemen had not yet returned. -They immediately set about harnessing a dog team -and loading a sledge with a few days’ supplies. They -intended to hunt musk-oxen also on their trip inland, -and in that way kill two birds with one stone. -Provided they failed to locate Corporal Thalman’s -prison, they could at least bring back a sledge load -of musk-ox meat.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_150">150</div> -<p>Since Sipsa and his Eskimos could be depended -upon to take care of the camp, Dick decided that -Toma should go with them if he liked, and found -the Indian boy overjoyed at the opportunity to -escape the dullness of life at the supply base.</p> -<p>After bidding the grinning, moon-faced Sipsa -good-bye, the boys started out, driving their dog -team at a gallop. It was not long before they reached -a point below the head of the glacial ridge from -which they could see the meteor stone near which -they had built the cairn.</p> -<p>From there they began to count their strides—approximately -1,760 to a mile, and three miles to the -spot where Corporal Thalman had been attacked and -captured by Mistak and his band. Dick and Sandy -both counted their steps so they might check against -each other when the required distance was covered.</p> -<p>At last they reached a mass of boulders sticking -up out of the snow which was within a quarter -mile of the distance on the map.</p> -<p>“This looks like a likely place for a man to be -surprised and captured,” said Dick, signaling them -to halt. He referred to the map. “According to the -route laid out here, Mistak bore slightly to the left -when he went on with his captive.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_151">151</div> -<p>With this in mind they passed the boulders and -came out on a broad, snow-covered tundra stretching -for several miles inland from the sea and ending -abruptly some miles south in towering walls of ice -that marked the position of the glacier.</p> -<p>Driving southwest, the three boys began the long -trek across the tundra, hoping they might soon sight -the abandoned igloos indicated on the map as the -next landmark.</p> -<p>But two hours of steady mushing failed to raise -anything resembling a habitation. The tundra still -stretched monotonously ahead of them, the countless -acres of snow glaring in their eyes as it reflected -the sun’s rays.</p> -<p>Dick called a halt and the three boys gathered -about the sledge, permitting the dogs to lie down and -rest their tired legs.</p> -<p>“We’ll have to use our heads now,” said Dick. -“Corporal Thalman has either underestimated the -distance from the point of his capture to the igloos, -or else we’re traveling in the wrong direction.”</p> -<p>“Well, I’d say,” put in Sandy, “that no Eskimo -would build an igloo out on this level plain where it -would catch the full force of all the storms that blew -down from the pole.”</p> -<p>“You’re right, Sandy,” announced Dick. “Those -igloos must have been built where there was some -sort of wind break. Suppose we swing around due -south until we get into the rough country on the -outskirts of the glacier.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_152">152</div> -<p>“That seems to be about the best plan,” Sandy rejoined. -“It’s a cinch there’s nothing north of us -as far as the sea.”</p> -<p>“Me no savvy,” Toma muttered, and Dick promised -to explain the map more thoroughly when they -pitched camp.</p> -<p>The distance to the glacier was deceiving. It was -fully an hour after they changed their course before -they struck the first break in the tundra and began -to climb upward along the ravine down the trough -of which the glacier had flung out a finger centuries -before.</p> -<p>When they had climbed to a height nearly a hundred -feet above the tundra they paused to reconnoiter. -Approximating their position on Corporal -Thalman’s map, they judged themselves to be in a -big bend in the formation of the glacier. Far ahead, -over the various hills and ridges, they could see -where the vast mass of ice broadened and began its -slide to the sea.</p> -<p>“You know what I think,” Dick broke a long -silence, “those igloos are right under the walls of the -glacier where it flows down to the sea.”</p> -<p>“I wouldn’t wonder but what you’re right,” Sandy -replied dubiously, “but why not go on pretty slow -so we can examine all the territory between us and -where the glacier turns?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_153">153</div> -<p>“Better yet,” Dick sanctioned. “We can’t be too -thorough. For all we know, every mistake we make -in reading this map may be just like pounding another -nail in Corporal Thalman’s coffin.”</p> -<p>“Ugh!” Sandy shivered at the thought, as they -started out again.</p> -<p>With an interval of some hundred yards between -them, the boys proceeded, Toma in the center driving -the dog team. Almost any of the sheltered spots -in the vicinity of the glacier might hide half a dozen -igloos, and they were not going to pass up any likely -places if they could help it.</p> -<p>The boys were growing weary, indeed, when -Sandy, considerably in the lead, stopped dead still -upon a mound of ice, and let out a cheer like an Indian -war whoop.</p> -<p>“There they are! There they are!” his shout was -faintly borne to the ears of Dick and Toma.</p> -<p>The two forced their tired legs into a staggering -run, which soon brought them up with Sandy.</p> -<p>Below them, snug on the southern slope of a -pyramid of glacial drift, were the abandoned igloos.</p> -<p>They had located the second landmark on the trail -to Corporal Thalman’s prison!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_154">154</div> -<h2 id="c15">CHAPTER XV -<br /><span class="small">MUSK OXEN</span></h2> -<p>After locating the six abandoned igloos, the boys -were too tired to go on without a rest, and they -immediately unharnessed the dogs and pitched their -tupiks or tents. They soon were gathered about a -tiny camp stove listening to the musical murmurings -of a pot of tea.</p> -<p>“Well, so far so good,” said Dick, stretching his -legs and lying back comfortably. “If we have no -more trouble than this tracing Corporal Thalman’s -route the rest of the way, we can pat ourselves on -the back.”</p> -<p>“Yes, and we’d better make quick work of it,” -Sandy rejoined. “Do you notice how low the sun is -getting these days? Pretty soon we’ll begin to have -twilight, and that means winter is about with us.”</p> -<p>“You mean the long night,” said Dick. “Well, in -a way I hope we get our business done up here before -winter sets in, and in a way I don’t.”</p> -<p>“Why?” Sandy asked, puzzled.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_155">155</div> -<p>“It must be a wonderful experience,” Dick returned, -“to live four months without seeing the sun, -nothing but the stars and once in a while the moon to -give any light. And not even the stars when it’s -cloudy. They say it gets so dark during the long -night up here that you can pretty near reach out of -your igloos and bring in a handful of darkness.”</p> -<p>“That must be awful,” Sandy wagged his head -ruefully. “I can’t see what you want to endure all -that for. Think of the thermometer going down to -60 degrees below zero, and what if we ran out of -food?”</p> -<p>“I guess we could winter up here alright if we -had to do it,” Dick returned. “The Eskimos are -laying up tons of walrus and seal blubber. Besides, -there’s that narwhal, and we’re going to bag a few -musk-oxen pretty soon.”</p> -<p>“Me no like um blubber,” Toma spoke up vehemently. -“No eat um blubber all winter.”</p> -<p>“Me too,” Sandy agreed emphatically.</p> -<p>“I guess you fellows would think blubber was -pretty good if there wasn’t anything else to chew on -except sealskin boots.”</p> -<p>The conversation had grown unpleasant in this -vein, so the boys changed the subject to the map, -which Dick spread out in the snow and explained -to Toma, as he had promised. But their eyes soon -grew heavy with sleep, and after finishing their -scanty rations of frozen bear meat, they retired, -Dick standing the first watch.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_156">156</div> -<p>When each of them had had about five hours’ rest, -they ate more bear meat, drank a pot of tea and were -ready for the trail. The problem now ahead of them -was the scaling of the glacier, towering in a low -range of mountains about two miles from the abandoned -igloos. The map indicated no exact route to -the top of the glacier, except that from the abandoned -igloos there was a change of course somewhat -to the southwest.</p> -<p>They had been on the trail only half an hour -when Toma’s keen eyes detected signs of musk-oxen. -The Indian boy showed Dick and Sandy the marks -of the hoofs in the snow.</p> -<p>“We’d better see if we can’t shoot a few of the -fellows that made these tracks,” Dick advised. “We -can leave the meat cached in ice and covered with -stones. Then when we return we can pick it up on an -empty sledge.”</p> -<p>Sandy was eager for the hunt and so the boys -swung off the course they had been following, and -began trailing the musk-oxen. The tracks were quite -fresh and they all looked at their rifles to see that -they were ready for quick shooting. Since they -never before had hunted musk-oxen, they did not -know just what to expect.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_157">157</div> -<p>They had trailed the musk-oxen about half a mile -when, climbing out of a ravine, they came suddenly -upon them. There were five of the strange creatures -huddled in a circle, tail to tail, save for one, who -stood out from the rest facing the young hunters. -For several minutes the boys stood still before the -shaggy beasts, who seemed not to fear them in the -least. Dick was first to shake off his attack of “buck -fever.” Raising his rifle, he took careful aim at the -animal nearest them. He chose a vulnerable spot, -and at the crack of his rifle, the musk-ox sank to his -knees, tried ineffectually to rise, and at last rolled -over and expired.</p> -<p>Dick’s shot awakened Sandy and Toma from the -trance into which the first sight of the creatures had -thrown them, and each of them picked an animal -from the band, bringing them down with a shot -each. All fired again, and though the last of the -five made an awkward attempt to run away, they -brought it down together.</p> -<p>“It’s a shame to shoot such quiet, peaceful brutes,” -said Sandy as they hurried up to the brownish forms -in the snow.</p> -<p>“That meat means life for us,” replied Dick, “and -maybe God put them here for just that purpose.”</p> -<p>Sandy’s feeling of remorse over the shooting of -the musk-oxen soon disappeared after they reached -the fallen herd. As zoological specimens the musk-oxen -were food for thought, and when the boys had -finished examining the huge gnarled horns and the -broad, rounded backs, there was the cutting up of -the meat to be performed. So intent did they become -upon the latter task that for a time they forgot entirely -their surroundings.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_158">158</div> -<p>It was Toma whose sharp ears first sensed that -they were not alone. He spoke a few guttural words -to Dick and Sandy in an undertone, and all three -reached for their rifles. When they turned to face -the ravine up which they had climbed just before -sighting the musk-oxen, they could hear the crunch -of snowshoes. Prepared for the worst, they brought -their rifles to their hips and cocked them.</p> -<p>A scowling, fur-bordered face appeared over the -edge of the ravine, paused a moment, then finished -the climb followed by two more unprepossessing individuals -clad in worn, soiled furs. The three paused -on the brow of the ravine, silently inspecting the -boys.</p> -<p>Dick recognized the one who was in advance of -the others as the white man he had seen in Mistak’s -band. He was certain the other two were likewise -outlaws.</p> -<p>“What do you want?” called Dick.</p> -<p>“Nothin’ pertic’lar, yonker,” replied the white -man. “It just happens we’ve been a-huntin’ these -here musk-ox you’se has shot.”</p> -<p>“It happens we saw them before you did,” returned -Dick suspiciously.</p> -<p>“Wal, I guess you wuz luckier than we’ns, but -that’s no call f’r us to hold a grudge against each -other,” said the man, starting forward.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_159">159</div> -<p>“That’s far enough!” Dick’s clear voice rang out -in the icy air, as the rifle came to his shoulder. He -was sure the three outlaws meant no good, and made -sure he had some advantage if it came to open -hostilities.</p> -<p>The white man paused and scowled. “Think y’r -pretty sly, eh! I guess I oughta agreed with Mistak -’bout puttin’ you yonkers out of business while we -had the chance.”</p> -<p>“It happens I overheard you talking to Mistak -about that when you thought Sandy and I were -asleep in the igloo. You suggested we be put with -Corporal Thalman,” Dick replied sternly.</p> -<p>The white man started visibly. “Thalman!” his -voice came hoarsely from his bearded lips. “What -do you yonkers know ’bout Thalman?” There was -plain menace in the man’s attitude now.</p> -<p>Dick was almost on the point of blurting out some -valuable information, when he caught himself.</p> -<p>“Nothing,” he answered reservedly, “only the -Mounted Police are looking for—er—his body.”</p> -<p>“I reckon that’s all they’ll find, an’ it’s pretty -doubtful if they find that,” sneered Mistak’s man, -seeming relieved that the boys apparently had no -specific knowledge of Corporal Thalman’s fate.</p> -<p>Had the man dreamed of the manuscript that had -floated into Sandy’s hands, of the map now reposing -in Dick’s pocket, he probably would have signaled -his companions to attack then and there. But he -did not.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_160">160</div> -<p>“You fellers ain’t goin’ to let us go away empty -handed,” the outlaw resumed, wheedlingly, looking -hungrily at the five dead musk-oxen.</p> -<p>“Shall we let them have some meat?” Dick asked -Sandy, without taking his eyes from the outlaws, -who were also covered by the rifles of Sandy and -Toma.</p> -<p>“Yes,” Sandy replied. “Let them have one of the -musk-oxen. They’ll go away and leave us alone -then.”</p> -<p>Toma’s sanction to the gift was given by a mere -grunt.</p> -<p>“We’ve decided to let you have one of the musk-oxen -since you’re hungry,” Dick told the spokesman -of the three. “But it’s not because we fear you or -think we owe it to you.”</p> -<p>The white man turned to the half-breed Indians -and muttered a few words in a foreign tongue. The -boys indicated the musk-oxen farthest away from -them as the one the men should take, and, keeping -their rifles ready for any trickery that might be -enacted, they watched the outlaws hasten forward -and attack the meat with their knives.</p> -<p>Soon the men had the animal quartered and had -slung the fresh meat to their backs. The two half-breeds -turned and climbed back into the ravine with -their load, but the white outlaw tarried for a parting -word.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_161">161</div> -<p>“This country ain’t healthy f’r you fellers,” he -leered at them. “I’m givin’ y’r a tip on the strength -o’ this meat. I ain’t sayin’ I’m in love with Mistak, -but I reckon I hate the Mounted more. My moniker -is Moonshine Sam, if you fellers want ter know, an’ -it’s the Mounted that’s chased me into this God-f’rsaken -land. They ain’t goin’ to git me here. Git -that? Not afore I git me two more policemen!”</p> -<p>Dick’s rifle came up quickly at the grim threat in -the outlaw’s words, but Moonshine Sam turned -abruptly and followed his companions down into -the ravine.</p> -<p>When the three were out of sight the boys -breathed sighs of relief. It had been a trying ordeal, -and they felt themselves fortunate in coming -through it without blood-shed.</p> -<p>“I wish we could have captured them,” Sandy expressed -something that had been in Dick’s mind also.</p> -<p>“But it was too risky,” Dick replied. “You must -remember they were grown men, and among the -most desperate characters the Mounted has to deal -with. If we’d tried to capture them they’d have -finished us before we reached the home camp.”</p> -<p>Sandy saw the logic in Dick’s reasoning and said -no more about it, while they set to work completing -the skinning and quartering of the remaining four -musk-oxen.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_162">162</div> -<p>“I think we’d better haul the meat away from -here before we cache it,” Dick advised, when they -were about finished. “Those fellows will probably -come back here as soon as we leave, and search for -a cache.”</p> -<p>“Maybe it would be a good idea to follow them -for a ways to see where they are going. They -might lead us right to Corporal Thalman’s prison,” -was Sandy’s suggestion.</p> -<p>“That’s possible and it’s a good idea,” said Dick. -“But supposing they strike off in some other direction, -and lead us right into the rest of Mistak’s -band?”</p> -<p>“Well, I don’t know,” Sandy considered.</p> -<p>“Take um meat ’long for way,” Toma spoke up -gravely. “When find out bad fella not mean to -come back here, cache meat.”</p> -<p>“That’s just the thing to do!” exclaimed Dick. -“We won’t lose any time that way and we’ll be pretty -sure the meat will not be stolen when we come back -after it.”</p> -<p>In a few minutes the fresh meat was loaded onto -the long sledge and they were once more on the way.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_163">163</div> -<p>The outlaws had had time to travel about half -a mile before the boys set out on their trail, and -even Toma’s keen eyes saw no sign of them as they -wound down the ravine. Dick hoped, as Sandy had, -that the outlaws might lead them to the vicinity of -Corporal Thalman’s prison. Yet, when two miles on -the trail, the snowshoe tracks they were following -swung toward the sea, Dick knew no such good -fortune was destined to be theirs. Half hoping the -outlaws might turn toward the glacier again, the -boys kept on following them for a short time, but -soon gave up, deciding to depend entirely upon the -map to guide them.</p> -<p>Tracing the back trail until they reached the point -where they had turned north after the outlaws, the -boys halted to cache their meat, since they were now -reasonably certain that Mistak’s men did not intend -to come back looking for it.</p> -<p>They first buried all the meat, except enough for -four days’ rations, in a deep snow bank. Then, from -a nearby patch of boulder strewn slope they carried -a great many stones, erecting a sort of monument -over the cache to prevent its being torn up by foxes. -Over this cairn, they threw snow until it resembled, -from a distance, the rest of the snowdrift. About a -hundred feet north of the cache a small pile of stones -was placed, as a landmark provided a storm came -and obliterated all other signs of the cache.</p> -<p>The job of stowing the meat completed, the boys -once more set out for the glacier. Driving fast, they -reached the towering walls of ice and snow in about -an hour. Calling a halt they surveyed with sinking -hearts the tremendous task that lay before them.</p> -<p>“I wonder if this is the place where Mistak climbed -the glacier with his prisoner,” Dick speculated.</p> -<p>“Looks to me like a mountain goat would have a -hard time getting to the top from this point,” said -Sandy.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_164">164</div> -<p>“Heap big job get um sledge up ice from here. -Look ’long wall. Maybe find easy place,” suggested -Toma.</p> -<p>“I think that’s what we’d better do,” Sandy agreed -with the young Indian.</p> -<p>Dick also thought it best they should look for an -easier place to climb, and so they turned to the right -under the walls of the glacier and drove the dog -team slowly along, their necks craned upward.</p> -<p>The grumbling noises in the bowels of the glacier -gave cause for grave concern in the minds of the -boys and they fell silent, dreading more and more -the peril of ascending that mountain of ice.</p> -<p>Not far from the place where they had first approached -the glacier, they found the walls split as -by a giant’s axe and a great gorge led upward at a -slant which promised fairly easy climbing. Turning -into this they started upward.</p> -<p>A quarter mile of steady climbing, covered by -helping the dogs with the supply sledge, and they -found themselves about a hundred feet above the -tundra. Here, they paused for a much needed rest. -Probably five minutes they had sat in the snow, -gathering strength for the next lap of the climb, -when a low rumble fell upon their ears which seemed -nearer than any other noises they had heard from -the glacier.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_165">165</div> -<p>With faces paling, the boys listened intently, while -the rumble increased to a roar, growing steadily -nearer.</p> -<p>Dick leaped up and looked up the gorge, a sudden -suspicion leaping in his mind that froze him with -consternation.</p> -<p>He was about to speak when the unmistakable -sound of crashing, moving ice was borne to his ears. -Around a bend in the gorge appeared a gigantic -mass of snow, ice and stones which struck the opposite -wall of the gorge with a shock that made the -earth tremble under foot and sent a shower of fine -ice and snow high into the air.</p> -<p>“Run for your lives!” cried Dick hoarsely. “It’s -an avalanche, and we’re right in its path!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_166">166</div> -<h2 id="c16">CHAPTER XVI -<br /><span class="small">BURIED IN A SNOW SLIDE</span></h2> -<p>Fear lent wings to the three boys as they saw the -awful wall of snow and ice bounding down the -gorge upon them. With one accord they rushed toward -the steep slope on their left, scrambling up it -in frantic efforts to gain a height out of reach of -the avalanche, before it descended and crushed them -under its ponderous plunging weight.</p> -<p>The dog team sensed its peril instinctively and -struggled after the boys, dragging the heavy sledge -behind them. Toma, slightly in the rear, grasped -the sledge and began helping the dogs in their unequal -fight for safety.</p> -<p>“Leave the sledge go!” shouted Dick to the young -Indian. “Save yourself.”</p> -<p>But the courageous Toma did not heed. Stubbornly, -he stayed by the sledge, falling far behind -his companions.</p> -<p>Then, with a roar that shook the walls of the -gorge as if an earthquake had occurred, the avalanche -plunged past on its way to the tundra far -below.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_167">167</div> -<p>Dick and Sandy barely escaped the flying ice and -stones and with a cry of despair they saw Toma -with the sledge and dog team vanish in a swirl of -flying snow.</p> -<p>The avalanche thundered on, sight and sound of -it dying away down the gorge as quickly as it had -come. Dick and Sandy were left high on the wall -of the desolate gorge, gazing with sad eyes at the -point where Toma and the dog team had disappeared.</p> -<p>“It happened so suddenly I can hardly realize it,” -Sandy spoke in a low voice. “Poor Toma.”</p> -<p>“I won’t give up hope yet,” Dick declared grimly. -“Toma was not caught by the full force of the -avalanche. You must remember he and the dogs -were almost out of the way when they were hit. -Let’s look along the slope.”</p> -<p>Sandy followed Dick to the bottom of the gorge, -and the two began picking their way along the path -of the avalanche. Every now and then huge masses -of snow, left adhering to the walls of the gorge, -loosened and fell, starting miniature snow slides in -their wake, but Dick and Sandy kept their eyes open -and managed to avoid these dangers by a wide -margin.</p> -<p>They had retraced their upward trail about two -hundred yards when there was borne to their ears -the faint but unmistakable bark of a dog.</p> -<p>“Listen!” Dick grasped Sandy’s arm, as they -stopped dead still.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_168">168</div> -<p>Again there echoed in the canyon the sharp bark -of an excited dog.</p> -<p>“It sounds like one of our Eskimo dogs,” Sandy -spoke in a subdued voice, scarcely able to believe -his ears. “But for the life of me I can’t tell where -it comes from.”</p> -<p>“Let’s walk on a little further,” Dick suggested.</p> -<p>They continued on their way for a few steps, then -stopped again. The dog had barked again, and now -the sound seemed to come from above and behind -them.</p> -<p>“Why not shout Toma’s name?” said Sandy. “If -he’s alive he’ll hear us.”</p> -<p>Dick thought this an excellent idea and in unison -they raised their voices.</p> -<p>“Toma! Toma!” they shouted at the tops of -their lungs, and paused to listen intently.</p> -<p>A second of silence, then the faraway crags of -the glacier threw back their cries like mocking -laughter.</p> -<p>Drawing deep breaths for another shout, they -hesitated. Several dogs had commenced to bark, -and were making a veritable bedlam of racket, what -with the echoes that were flying about.</p> -<p>“It’s our dogs!” ejaculated the amazed boys.</p> -<p>“Come on. Toma may be alive,” Dick sang out, -charging up the slope of the gorge, with Sandy close -at his heels.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_169">169</div> -<p>Half way up the side of the gorge they came -suddenly upon the dogs in a snow filled ledge. There -were ten of the twelve dogs alive and well, the other -two had been crushed to death under a huge boulder -deposited there by the avalanche. The sledge of -supplies, badly twisted and smashed, lay overturned, -half-buried in the snow, but still hitched to the -tangled dogs. Eagerly the boys searched the wreckage, -but at first there was no sign of Toma. Then -one of the dogs, whining plaintively, began pawing -into a heap of packed snow. The boys rushed to the -dog and found he had uncovered a boot. Silently, -the boys attacked the packed snow with mittens and -boots, and in five minutes they dragged their young -Indian friend free of the lodged snow.</p> -<p>“Pray he’s alive!” Dick implored, as they lay the -quiet form upon some sledge packing.</p> -<p>Toma’s dark face was darker still, as if he had -smothered, yet as the boys chafed his hands and -listened for heart beats, a flicker of eye lashes showed -a sign of life. Redoubling their efforts to bring the -boy back, they were finally rewarded by a deep sigh -from the dusky lips, and presently Toma’s dark -eyes were open.</p> -<p>“Humph!” Toma grunted as he sat up uncertainly, -and vigorously shook himself like a big dog. -“No can breathe under snow. Think um see -Happy Hunting Grounds.”</p> -<p>“It’s a miracle you didn’t!” exclaimed Dick fervently.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_170">170</div> -<p>“Tell us how it all happened,” Sandy urged.</p> -<p>“Not know much,” Toma blinked, “come too -quick. Something hit me. I see many stars, an’ -whirl, whirl in snow. Feel like fly like bird, then -big bump. All still. I can no breathe. All get like -night, then I see you fellas.”</p> -<p>Overjoyed at the recovery of Toma, the boys -could do little but discuss the narrow escape for -some time. Finally they set to work untangling the -dogs, and when that was done they started to repair -the sledge.</p> -<p>It took more than three hours to fix the sledge -so it was worthy of the trail, but they at last had the -worst breaks spliced and lashed with leather thongs. -By this time they were all so tired that they decided -to pitch camp and fix something to eat. This they -did as soon as they were on the floor of the gorge.</p> -<p>“We don’t need to be afraid of any more snow -slides for some time to come,” Dick relieved their -fears in that direction. “All the loose ice and stones -was cleared out by that big avalanche.”</p> -<p>After an appetizing meal of broiled musk-ox, the -boys slept for several hours. When they awakened -they noticed for the first time a change in the sunlight, -and were concerned at the approach of winter -which this signaled.</p> -<p>“Seems strange to see evening come again,” remarked -Sandy. “Wonder how it would feel to go -to bed in honest-to-goodness darkness again?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_171">171</div> -<p>“If we don’t get a move on we’ll get more darkness -than we want,” said Dick, referring to the -approach of the Arctic’s long night.</p> -<p>But when the boys started up the gorge again it -was no darker. So far, all the night they were to -experience for a few weeks was to be several hours -of twilight.</p> -<p>Not far up the gorge, beyond the point where -the avalanche had narrowly missed destroying them, -Dick called the attention of his chum to three tiny -figures walking along the rim of the gorge above -them.</p> -<p>“I wonder if those men could be Moonshine Sam -and his two companions,” said Dick. “They’ve had -just about time to come this far if they had headed -this way shortly after we stopped trailing them.”</p> -<p>“Well, I hope they won’t try any monkeyshines -like starting another avalanche,” Sandy shivered. -“When I die I don’t want to get that kind of a sendoff -for the Happy Hunting Grounds. What do you -say, Toma?”</p> -<p>The young Indian grunted his emphatic sanction -of Sandy’s preferences, while all three watched the -men on the cliff. The men they thought might be -Moonshine Sam and the two half-breeds from Mistak’s -band, kept abreast of the boys for nearly a -half hour, then as the gorge began to grow shallower -upon nearing the plateau down from which it led, -they disappeared.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_172">172</div> -<p>“If they ever get wind of the fact that we know -Corporal Thalman is still alive, our lives won’t be -worth a cent,” Dick expressed his thoughts aloud. -“They’ll put an end to Corporal Thalman right away, -too, if they think for a minute we have a chance to -rescue him—if they haven’t done that already.”</p> -<p>The boys hurried on, and soon came out of the -gorge upon what they were quite sure was the top -of the glacier. An icy wind, that cut to the very -marrow of their bones, blew across the vast, white -field of ice. But they struck out bravely across the -lonely forbidding desert of the north, hoping soon to -locate the first of the three main fissures marked -on the map.</p> -<p>They were now traveling southwest with the sun -in their eyes, and for the first time since they saw -genuine “sun-dogs.” The phenomenon was intensely -interesting and for a time attracted almost all their -attention. The sun-dogs were in the form of four -miniature suns situated one above, one below, and -one on either side of the big disc of light that was -the source of them. They were not really suns, -however, but reflections of the sun upon the countless -particles of frost in the air. One of the “dogs” -was somewhat like the rainbow, for it seemed to -hang just a few feet ahead of the dog team, dancing -just out of reach, like a will-o’-the-wisp, as they -plodded along.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_173">173</div> -<p>Then they came upon a deep fissure in the glacier -which temporarily crowded the sun-dogs out of their -minds. The crack was not an exceptionally large one -in comparison to other glacial fissures they had seen, -being only about four feet across at the widest -points. Several smaller fissures were indicated on -the map as preceding the first main fissure, so the -boys crossed the gap by jumping, improvising a -bridge with the sledge for those dogs to cross over -which were too stubborn to make the leap.</p> -<p>“We may be misled after all by these fissures,” -Dick spoke when they had resumed their journey -“New cracks form pretty often, and it’s possible -the main fissures Corporal Thalman observed while -Mistak was taking him to the prison pit are not the -main ones any longer.”</p> -<p>“Well, I don’t know about that,” Sandy replied. -“A lot of small fissures might show up in eight -months’ time, but these big fissures are very old and -they wouldn’t change much.”</p> -<p>By this time they had reached another small fissure, -about the size of the first one, but much longer. -As far as they could see on either side of them the -crooked crack stretched away like a huge, black -snake, wriggling across the snow-bound glacier roof.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_174">174</div> -<p>Keeping a rough account of the miles they had -traversed since reaching the top of the glacier, they -believed the first main fissure could not be far away -according to the map. An hour after crossing the -first small fissure, they reached what they were almost -certain was the first main fissure. In places -it yawned to an unestimable depth, and at many -points was more than twenty feet in width. After -sledging along the rim of it for a half mile they -located a natural bridge of ice over which they -crossed without mishap.</p> -<p>Excited by their success so far, they increased -their pace, again crossing numerous small chasms -in the glacier before arriving at the rim of the second -main fissure. This they finally contrived to bridge -at a point where a jutting ice ledge partly spanned -the seemingly bottomless void.</p> -<p>From there on, the top of the glacier ceased to be -level. Great holes yawned everywhere amidst heaps -of shattered ice many feet in height. Apparently, at -some time years ago, two divisions of the glacier -had met there in their slow progress, crumbling their -giant fronts upon one another.</p> -<p>In the midst of the veritable “bad lands” of ice -they came upon what they were reasonably certain -was the third main fissure, somewhere at the bottom -of which was the pit in which Corporal Thalman had -been imprisoned. But the immensity of the task still -ahead of them awed the boys. For, though they had -reached the fissure, it was miles long and they had -no way of judging any nearer than five or ten -miles just where the prison pit was located.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_175">175</div> -<p>“There’s nothing to do but look for a way of -climbing down to the bottom of the fissure,” Dick -finally spoke. “Mistak must know a way to get -down there, and if we look long enough, we can -find it.”</p> -<p>“Maybe we ought to wait until the policemen get -here,” Sandy expressed his doubts, while gazing -down into the black chasm that was the main fissure.</p> -<p>“No, it’s best we keep on trying since we’ve come -this far without any fatal accidents. Corporal McCarthy -can trail us wherever we go, so there’s no -need waiting for him and the Constable.”</p> -<p>The boys set out along the glacier looking for a -place that offered possibilities of descent into the fissure. -It was slow going over the heaps of shattered -ice, and before they had gone a mile they were worn -out. They halted to rest in a shallow pit which protected -them from the cold wind. As they sat there, -Dick noticed that a small fissure about three feet -wide and as high as a man’s head opened out of a -bulwark of ice in front of them. The crack seemed -to lead downward at a sharp slant.</p> -<p>“That hole looks like it might lead down to the -bottom of the fissure,” Dick said to Sandy and -Toma. “Let’s go into it and investigate.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_176">176</div> -<p>After resting a few more minutes, they got up -and walked into the passage. Advancing cautiously, -they reached an underground chamber, about twenty -feet long, ten feet wide, and somewhat higher than -their heads. The sunlight reached the chamber -through its entrance and the dim rays lighted up a -very beautiful scene. The walls and roof of the -natural cavity were formed of crystallized moisture, -shaped in many grotesque and fantastic figures.</p> -<p>“I believe this is part of the crystal grottoes Corporal -Thalman mentioned in his message!” Dick -exclaimed examining the glittering walls.</p> -<p>“Maybe we just found the outlet that the Corporal -failed to find,” Sandy brightened.</p> -<p>But upon investigating further they were disappointed. -The first chamber led into a second and -smaller chamber which had no outlet, and seemed -the end of the cavern.</p> -<p>After sounding the walls to make certain they -could not break into a larger cavity, the boys made -their way back to the narrow passage leading up to -the outer air.</p> -<p>Dick went first, and as he stopped into the sunlight -a premonition of danger seized him. But before -he could act to defend himself, a shadow was -flung across his path and a heavy weight descended -upon his head and shoulders. Dick went to the ice, -stunned and half-blinded.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_177">177</div> -<h2 id="c17">CHAPTER XVII -<br /><span class="small">A RACE WITH DEATH</span></h2> -<p>Dick was stunned only a moment, but when his -head cleared he found himself pinioned by a powerful -man, who had just lashed his hands behind him -with thongs. Nearby, Sandy and Toma struggled -in the clutches of four men. At a little distance away -stood Mistak, the half-breed Eskimo, leering with -malevolent triumph upon his captives.</p> -<p>When the boys were completely subdued and their -arms tied behind them, Mistak came forward and -searched them. He found nothing in Sandy’s and -Toma’s clothing which seemed to interest him, but -Dick’s shirt pocket disclosed the map, and filling the -air with French and Eskimo curses, the outlaw saw -the handiwork of the imprisoned policeman.</p> -<p>“So you sink to save him!” Mistak glared at Dick. -“I get you in time, yes? Ha! By gar, you nevair -meddle wiz Fred Mistak’s business more.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_178">178</div> -<p>Mistak’s evil intentions were only too evident, -and Dick was about to give up hope, when Toma -cocked his head to one side in a listening attitude. -Dick knew the Indian youth had far keener hearing -than the average person, and felt his hopes once -more rising. Whatever Toma heard, it was of -some favorable significance, for he looked squarely -at Dick and solemnly winked one eye.</p> -<p>“How you like find zee lost policeman?” Mistak -taunted, stepping squarely in front of Dick. “I -take you zere—what you say? Ver’ fine, eh?”</p> -<p>“I have nothing to say to that,” Dick replied as -sternly as possible, “but I do know we have friends -near and that you will suffer for any harm that -comes to us.”</p> -<p>“Ha! Ha!” Mistak laughed coarsely, turning to -his companion. “Hear what zee puppy say? They -have frien’ in Mistak’ country. Not ver’ near, eh? -Ha! Ha!”</p> -<p>It was at the instant of Mistak’s triumph that a -rifle shot rang out and one of Mistak’s men threw -up his hands and fell silently to the ice. The half-breed -Eskimo staggered back, his face paling, and -his mouth twisted in a hideous smile.</p> -<p>Again the hidden rifle cracked, accompanied by -another, whereupon Mistak’s men ducked and ran -under the deadly bullets raining about them, leaving -the boys where they had been captured.</p> -<p>“To zee pit!” the boys heard Mistak shriek to his -men. “Kill zee policeman before zey come!”</p> -<p>Mistak and his men disappeared, and almost upon -their heels leaped the two fur-clad forms of Corporal -McCarthy and Constable Sloan.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_179">179</div> -<p>In a trice they had slashed the bonds of the boys -and had set them free.</p> -<p>“After Mistak all of you!” cried Corporal McCarthy, -plunging on across the ice after the fleeing -outlaws.</p> -<p>Dick kept pace with the Corporal and shouted -into his ear: “Mistak is going to kill Corporal Thalman. -He’s making for the pit now. You were just -in time!”</p> -<p>“We came as fast as we could get here as soon -as we got back to camp and found the map and instructions,” -panted the policeman. “Good work you -fellows have done!”</p> -<p>Just then the fleeing outlaws vanished into the -yawning mouth of a cavern that led downward at a -steep angle. Slipping and sliding most of the way, -the policemen and the boys tumbled after them.</p> -<p>“Halt! Halt!” bellowed Corporal McCarthy when -they had reached a more level incline. But Mistak’s -men did not heed. Instead, the report of a rifle -sounded like a thunder clap in the underground -chamber and a bullet richochetted with a rattling -noise along the walls of the cave.</p> -<p>“They’re shooting back at us!” cried Sandy.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_180">180</div> -<p>In spite of the danger the policemen led the way -on at a reckless run. Down, down, they went through -the dimly lighted corridors of a subterranean vault. -When it seemed to them they had gone down for -nearly five hundred feet, the cavern swiftly became -level and lighter.</p> -<p>“We’re going to run into the bottom of the fissure -now!” panted Dick hoarsely.</p> -<p>Dick was right. The light grew stronger swiftly -and a moment later they saw Mistak and his three -men silhouetted in an opening as they ran out of -the cavern.</p> -<p>Presently they burst out upon the frozen floor -of a narrow canyon-like passage that was apparently -the bottom of the fissure. Far above the sky showed -like a tiny, pale ribbon. They could hear the sound -of the running outlaws’ boots on the hard surface of -the bottom of the fissure and followed them to the -right. The passage was crooked and they could see -nothing ahead of them further than ten yards, but at -length they came upon the scene of Mistak’s contemplated -perfidy.</p> -<p>Two half-breeds were at work over a hole some -ten feet in diameter. With their spears they were -straining frantically to pry loose a huge lump of ice -and send it hurtling into the hole.</p> -<p>“They are going to crush the Corporal with that -cake of ice!” cried Dick. “We’ve reached the pit!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_181">181</div> -<p>The rifles of the policemen came swiftly to their -shoulders, and the great fissure reverberated with -two shots. One of the half-breeds staggered and -sank upon his side, lying still. The other grasped -his shoulder with one hand, as if he had been -wounded, turned and ran around a bend in the walls -of the fissure.</p> -<p>“Don’t follow them!” was Corporal McCarthy’s -command. “Let ’em go this time. We must get -Thalman out.”</p> -<p>Soon they were crowded about the dark round -opening of the prison pit, and were shouting down -into the darkness. In the silence that followed their -shouts down into the hole, they could hear their -own hearts beating. Was Corporal Thalman alive?</p> -<p>At last, as from another world, there was wafted -up out of the dark hole, a faint voice:</p> -<p>“Here—I—am—friends. Pretty—weak—but—still—kicking.”</p> -<p>“It’s Thalman!” whispered Constable Sloan -hoarsely. “I can hardly believe it.”</p> -<p>“We’ve got to get a rope!” Corporal McCarthy -bellowed down to the prisoner. “Hold on, and we’ll -soon get you out.”</p> -<p>A wild laugh echoed up from the depths in answer, -as if the prisoner was about to lose his mind.</p> -<p>Constable Sloan was already on the run for the -rope. He came back in about twenty minutes, having -lost no time in finding his way up the cavern to -the surface of the glacier where the sledges were.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_182">182</div> -<p>Hastily they began lowering the long coil down -into the hole. After nearly fifty feet had been payed -out, Corporal Thalman jerked on the rope to signal -he had it in his hands, then they all waited tensely -while he tied it securely under his shoulders. At -last came the call from the pit that all was ready. -All hands grasped the rope then, and began to -heave it upward, hand over hand.</p> -<p>It was a strange caricature of a man that at last -appeared dangling in the loop. He was pale as a -ghost from his long sojourn underground, and a long -beard covered the lower part of his face and chest. -So thin was he that his bones seemed on the point -of bursting through his skin. The prisoner’s clothing -was in tatters and immediately upon striking -the upper air he began to shiver from the cold.</p> -<p>“We must get him to the sledges quick!” ordered -Corporal McCarthy. “There’s blankets up there, -and we’ll make some hot tea for him. Just our luck -to have him pass in his checks just after we’ve saved -him.”</p> -<p>It was a hard struggle to climb out of the cavern -with the almost helpless man, but they finally accomplished -the task.</p> -<p>Once Corporal Thalman had been wrapped in -blankets and furs and treated to a few cups of piping -hot tea, he showed signs of returning strength. -However, the policemen were in favor of returning -with him immediately to the base of supplies where -everything necessary for his complete recovery -could be obtained.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_183">183</div> -<p>“I guess you boys are elected for the job of hauling -Corporal Thalman to the main camp,” Corporal -McCarthy told them. “Sloan and I will stay here -for another try at trapping that sly fox, Mistak.”</p> -<p>“But with only one sledge, and that loaded with -Corporal Thalman, we can’t haul in the cache of -meat on the back trail,” Dick explained.</p> -<p>“That’s alright,” retorted the policeman. “Come -back after it when you have Thalman safe in a warm -igloo with plenty of hot tea and food nearby.”</p> -<p>It was with much regret that the boys bade good-bye -to the policemen once more and started out on -the back trail, Corporal Thalman snugly tucked in -on the sledge.</p> -<p>Two days later, having traveled slow, for the comfort -of their passenger, the boys reached the base of -supplies. Sipsa and the other natives seemed overjoyed -to see their young white friends again, and -they held a feast in honor of the occasion, since -hunting had been so good and they had more meat -than they needed for the winter.</p> -<p>The day after the home-coming, Sandy was left -to care for Corporal Thalman, while Dick and Toma -returned to haul in the cache of musk-ox meat. -They found the meat unmolested, and in fine condition, -however, the signs in the snow about the -cache showed that numerous foxes had made a vain -effort to scratch away the stones and get at the -meat.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_184">184</div> -<p>A high wind was blowing upon their backs when -Dick and Toma pulled in at the supply base with -their precious load of meat. Two hours later the -wind had risen to cyclonic velocity, sweeping tons -and tons of snow through the air until the sun was -blotted out and the igloos trembled to their strong -foundations.</p> -<p>The storm was warning of winter and Dick and -Sandy were much concerned over the safety of the -policemen. Under warm shelter the men might -weather the blizzard for days, provided they did not -run out of food and fuel oil. If they did— Dick and -Sandy shuddered to think of what such privations -would mean for Corporal McCarthy and the Constable.</p> -<p>Three days the wind howled and shrieked and tore -at the tiny knot of igloos under the high ridge, while -the tormented sea roared and pounded on the beach, -heaving great projectiles of ice far up on the land -with deafening crashes.</p> -<p>The third day the wind laid, and several hours -afterward, two half frozen men staggered into the -camp. Dick had just looked out of an igloo upon -the new world of white, when he saw the two figures.</p> -<p>“Sandy! A rifle quick!” cried Dick. “It’s two of -Mistak’s men.”</p> -<p>But no weapon was needed. The men were about -dead on their feet and were unarmed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_185">185</div> -<p>The foremost man gave a hoarse shout upon seeing -Dick and flung up an arm to cover his eyes as if -he had seen a ghost.</p> -<p>“It’s Moonshine Sam!” Dick exclaimed to Sandy, -who had joined him at the igloo door.</p> -<p>Moonshine Sam it was who staggered up to the -boys and threw himself upon his face in the snow, -his companion dropping to his side.</p> -<p>“I’m givin’ up,” moaned Moonshine Sam to the -boys as they bent over him. “I’d rather let the law -do its worst than stay in this hell-hole any longer.”</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy dragged the two outlaws into -their igloo, one by one, putting on some tea for -them. They could not bear to see even those hardened -criminals suffer.</p> -<p>Inside, they found both the half-breed’s hands -frozen as hard as stones. Moonshine Sam’s left foot -was frozen just as bad, and both men’s faces were -black. The hot tea and warmth of the igloo made -the men delirious, and Moonshine Sam especially, -babbled ceaselessly.</p> -<p>“It’ll git ye! It’ll git ye!” he repeated many times, -writhing with pain.</p> -<p>“What?” Dick asked the outlaw solemnly.</p> -<p>“Har! Har!” the man laughed madly. “Out there, -fool!” he cried. “The white things! Mistak an’ the -north!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_186">186</div> -<p>Both Dick and Sandy did their best to quiet the -raving outlaw, but to no avail. One moment he was -cursing everything alive, and swearing to kill all the -mounted police in Canada; the next moment he became -as fearful as a child.</p> -<p>“Ye’ll save me from him,” he clutched at Dick -with clawing fingers. “Ye won’t let the ‘white Eskimo’ -git me,” he mumbled.</p> -<p>By fragments the story of Moonshine Sam’s experience -in the blizzard came out. There had been -a division in the band, Mistak and Moonshine Sam -quarreling and going their separate ways. Only one -half-breed had had the courage to mutiny against -Fred Mistak, and follow the white man. The two -had been caught out in the storm with no food, dogs, -or sleeping bags. Only by chance had they reached -the igloos of the policemen’s encampment.</p> -<p>It was hours before Moonshine Sam finally fell -into a troubled sleep, and the boys could seek rest -themselves.</p> -<p>When they awakened, Toma was bending over -them.</p> -<p>“Police come back. They in igloo. Want you -come to them,” said the young Indian.</p> -<p>Outside, on the way to the policemen’s igloo, the -boys found dusk upon the desolate land. Only a -rim of the sun shed its fiery radiance upon an overhang -of dull, gray clouds. Winter was overtaking -them.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_187">187</div> -<p>The boys found two gaunt and grim men when -they crawled into the snow house of the two officers. -Constable Sloan had been wounded in an ambush -perpetrated by Mistak, shortly after the boys had -started back to camp with Thalman. Mistak had -bested them for the present, Corporal McCarthy was -forced to admit, but the question was, should they -give up and go south before winter, leaving Mistak -free in his fastnesses.</p> -<p>“That’s up to you, Corporal McCarthy,” Dick -and Sandy replied as one. “You’re the commander -of this expedition.”</p> -<p>“Well, then, I’m for staying here,” went on the -officer. “I’ll get Mistak if I die in the attempt, and -I mean what I say. Sloan swears he’ll stick by me, -but that’s no reason why the rest of you should. If -you start tomorrow you can go by sledge to the -nearest seaport and book passage back to Canada -before you get caught in the long night, and travel -is made unsafe. What do you say?”</p> -<p>“We won’t quit,” Dick returned, pale but determined. -“Sandy and I want to see this to a finish -and Corporal Thalman swore only yesterday that -he’d never let us take him back until Mistak went -with him, or was left behind for the foxes.”</p> -<p>“Shake,” Corporal McCarthy extended a hard -hand, and Dick and Sandy grasped it in turn.</p> -<p>“For a couple of kids you’re the nerviest he-men -I ever met with,” Sloan spoke up, a courageous grin -on his pain drawn face.</p> -<p>“I’ll second that,” hastened Corporal McCarthy.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_188">188</div> -<p>When Dick and Sandy left the igloo, they walked -very straight, and they were silent. The dreaded -long night of the northland was close at hand and -they must stand up under hardships more terrible -than they had either ever endured, for, had Constable -Sloan not called them “the nerviest he-men I -ever met with?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_189">189</div> -<h2 id="c18">CHAPTER XVIII -<br /><span class="small">THE LONG NIGHT</span></h2> -<p>The last of the sun was seen October 18th. Corporal -McCarthy had been forced to take charge of -the camp until Constable Sloan recovered from his -wounds, and so the long-thwarted capture of Mistak, -the white Eskimo, was due for another long -delay under the pitchy blackness of the Arctic night.</p> -<p>Moonshine Sam recovered, and was kept constantly -under guard, though he repeated again and -again his promises to keep the peace if he were put -on parole. The half-breed, who had staggered into -camp with the white outlaw, died from exposure, -and was buried, under a cairn of stones a few miles -from camp.</p> -<p>Corporal Thalman’s iron constitution soon rebuilt -itself, now that he was among friends, and had almost -all he could eat. And so the little garrison -was stronger by one more man.</p> -<p>Under the smothering darkness that now had -descended upon the land, time passed as if the hours -were days, the weeks months, and a month a year. -The men and boys contrived games of all kinds to -play indoors, yet they had to economize on their fuel -oil, and whenever they could, they slept away the -hours.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_190">190</div> -<p>It was with great joy that they greeted the coming -of the moon that first month of uninterrupted -darkness. Fortunately fair weather came along -with the bright disc in the Heavens, and everyone -sallied forth to hunt and play in the open air.</p> -<p>The policemen went some distance inland during -the period, but due to the liability of the weather -to change for the worst at any hour, they dared not -go on any protracted search for Mistak. They did, -however, bring in three musk-oxen and a polar -bear.</p> -<p>Dick, Sandy, and Toma all became proficient, -during the moonlight period, in a game of throw -and catch which the Eskimos played. It was great -fun and required no little skill. A long stick, perforated -with small holes was employed, together -with a walrus tusk, sharpened to a point. The stick -was thrown into the air and caught in one of the -holes upon the ivory point.</p> -<p>There were also foot races and snowshoe races -in which the mounted police joined, along with the -Eskimos and the boys. Weight lifting, wrestling, -and other tests of strength were also favorite pastimes -of the Eskimos and were invaluable in counteracting -the depressing effects of the moonlight -and the eternal darkness.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_191">191</div> -<p>Constable Sloan told them that the moon would -remain in the sky from eight to ten days. A storm -fell upon them, however, after seven days and nights -of moonlight, and they were all forced to hibernate -in their igloos to escape the bitter cold and heavy -darkness.</p> -<p>During the second period of utter darkness, the -thermometers all froze and burst, except those -especially designed for use in the Arctic. Sandy -fell sick with a bad cold that threatened to develop -into pneumonia, and lay abed two weeks before -Dick’s continuous nursing brought his chum through -safely.</p> -<p>Bundled in furs hour after hour, in their sleeping -bags and out, all suffered immeasurably from the -close and stifling air of the igloos. The Eskimos -rubbed themselves with oil in order to soften their -skins and file their pores, but it was some time -before the boys could bring themselves to apply -the messy stuff in place of their old friend soap and -water. But as soon as they did, they felt much -better. For their clothing no longer chaffed them -and the bite of the low temperature was considerably -lessened.</p> -<p>Moonshine Sam became a greater trial with the -passing of every hour. He lapsed into strange spells -that seemed to be brought on by the oppressive darkness -and the terrible hardships he had weathered -while with Mistak.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_192">192</div> -<p>“I’ll git him, er he’ll git me,” he would mumble, -starting up out of a stupid trance. Then he would -clench and unclench his red hands, and gnash his -yellow teeth in a frightful rage.</p> -<p>He finally grew so violent that the policemen no -longer would permit the boys to take their turns -watching him, doing it all among the three of them.</p> -<p>I’d hate to see him and Mistak come to blows, -Corporal Thalman shuddered, after coming off of -a two-hour watch in Moonshine Sam’s igloo. “One -or both of them would pass in his checks before the -fight was over. I guess the white Eskimo is pretty -hard on the men that desert him.”</p> -<p>The second period of moonlight came at an inopportune -time. A dense film of clouds obscured it -for four days and the ghostly white snow fields were -almost as dark as when there was no moon. But it -finally cleared off, only to reveal more trouble. The -dogs were dying from attacks of madness. Dick -and Sandy counted twenty-two dead in the snow, -some their own, some belonging to the Eskimos.</p> -<p>After several hours of observation they discovered -a dog in the throes of the polar sickness. The -animal began to whine, then suddenly snarled, and -frothed at the mouth. After biting himself several -times, he ran madly in and out among the igloos, -finally circling far out over the snow. When the -diseased dog finally rushed panting and red-eyed -back to camp, all the other dogs had hidden from -him. Dick shot the dog then to prevent its suffering -any longer. That was the last case of the madness -among the dogs during that phase of the moon.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_193">193</div> -<p>“It’s what the Eskimos call Piblockto,” Constable -Sloan explained. “The Eskimos get it themselves -sometimes, especially the women, though it’s not so -fatal among human beings as among dogs. So if -you fellows hear some unearthly screeching you’ll -know what it is. Don’t bother anyone who gets it -The natives leave them alone unless they start running -away where they’re apt to freeze to death. The -fits only last about half an hour.”</p> -<p>The boys did not have to wait long before they -saw an actual case of what Constable Sloan had -described.</p> -<p>It happened to an Eskimo woman whose month -old infant had died of exposure, which was a rare -occurrence. Grief stricken, the poor woman was -wandering around among the igloos in the moonlight, -wailing softly to herself, when the boys -chanced to pass her on their way to the policemen’s -igloo.</p> -<p>Their hair raised under their parkas as suddenly -the woman let out a most blood-curdling scream, -leaped into the air several times, and finally commenced -to tear her clothes off, piece by piece. Dick -and Sandy ran behind an igloo and watched from -hiding. Several Eskimos appeared from various -igloos, and the boys could hear them babbling about -piblockto and the angekok. They gathered that the -Eskimos believed the woman was temporarily possessed -by one of the bad spirits that haunted the -northland.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_194">194</div> -<p>The Eskimos did not attempt to do anything for -the poor woman until she had torn away so much -of her warm clothing that she stood in danger of -freezing to death. Then three men came out and -dragged her, shrieking into an igloo. Presently -her screams died away and all was quiet.</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy hurried on their way, their flesh -still creeping from the scene they had witnessed. -But before the moon had once more dropped down -under the horizon, they saw several of these attacks -of piblockto and became somewhat accustomed to -them.</p> -<p>It was in January, during the dark of the moon, -that some mysterious enemy began his depredations. -First, two dogs were stumbled upon in the dark, -their heads crushed in by an axe, and part of their -haunches cut away. Next, an Eskimo youth, out to -bring in some snow for melting, crawled back to his -igloo, hours later, wounded by a spear. Several -other Eskimos were pursued by some animal the -nature of which they could not detect in the pitchy -blackness. Sandy swore that once, when he was -about to venture out of the igloo to see how the -weather was, that he had touched a cold face with -one hand, and that a darker blot in the darkness -had melted out of sight, without making any sound -in the snow.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_195">195</div> -<p>Finally, no one but the policemen dared to venture -often into the dark, and they only with a -weapon handy.</p> -<p>“I’ve got my own ideas as to what this ghost is,” -Dick told Sandy. “The policemen think the same -as I do, too. It’s as simple as anything.”</p> -<p>“What is it, then?” Sandy wanted to know, as -he cut a new wick for a seal oil lamp.</p> -<p>“Why, Mistak, of course.”</p> -<p>“Then, how is it that he can see in the dark?”</p> -<p>“He can’t, any more than we can,” Dick replied. -“He just prowls around, and when he runs into -someone he takes the chance to put a scare into all -of us.”</p> -<p>“Sounds reasonable,” admitted Sandy. “But, gee, -I don’t like the idea of him hanging around. Suppose -he should take a notion to attack us. We’d -be just about helpless in these igloos.”</p> -<p>Dick realized Sandy was right and he spoke to -Corporal McCarthy about it as soon as he came in -off a watch at Moonshine Sam’s igloo.</p> -<p>“I don’t think Mistak has the nerve to attack us,” -Corporal McCarthy replied. “The fellow is sly as -a fox, but he’s afraid of the police, don’t you believe -he isn’t?”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_196">196</div> -<p>The following interminable night seemed to prove -Corporal McCarthy right in his opinion that Mistak -lacked the daring to perpetrate an open attack. Yet -that did not prevent the outlaw from continuing -his strike and run tactics. No one could feel safe -with these skulking enemies waiting in the pitchy -blackness of the Arctic night to kill, maim or steal.</p> -<p>Then, thirty-six hours before they anticipated the -return of the moon, Sandy disappeared. He had -gone to Moonshine Sam’s igloo with meat for Constable -Sloan then on watch, and had neither returned -to his igloo nor reported to his destination. A -blundering search of the vicinity in the darkness -proved futile, and he could not be located in any of -the Eskimo igloos.</p> -<p>Alive to the danger which would threaten Sandy -if he were lost in the vast land of darkness, Dick -appealed to Corporal McCarthy.</p> -<p>“I know how you feel, and I wish we could do -something, but it’s useless to hunt blindly for him,” -the Corporal replied regretfully. “We must hope -he turns up by himself or that some of the Eskimos -happen to run onto him.”</p> -<p>“Do you suppose Mistak or some of the other outlaws -might have attacked him?” Dick asked falteringly.</p> -<p>“I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t possible. I -don’t like to think the worst any more than you do. -Anyhow, we know Sandy McClaren is pretty well -able to take care of himself. There’s no danger of -him laying down and dying while he’s an ounce of -strength left to find his way back to us.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_197">197</div> -<p>Dick was forced to accept this as his only comfort -for the present. But as the hours passed and Sandy -did not show up, the suspense became unbearable. -A host of questions thronged and tormented his -worried mind. Could Sandy, if lost, hold out until -the moon came up to light the way for him and a -searching party? Had Mistak captured him and imprisoned -him? Or had the outlaws brutally murdered -him?</p> -<p>But one thing Dick was thankful for—the -weather remained fair, with no wind, and a temperature -as high as fifteen degrees below zero, warm -for the Arctic winter.</p> -<p>As the time drew near for the reappearance of the -moon, Dick did not sleep at all, but paced up and -down on the packed snow in front of his igloo. -He was there when the first pale, cold, faint light -stole over the snow, and with a cry of gladness, he -turned to the bleak horizon, where the edge of a -yellow disc had just appeared as the moon rose.</p> -<p>Corporal McCarthy was quickly at Dick’s side. -“We can start a search right away now,” said the -officer sympathetically. “I’ll have two parties of Eskimos -start on in different directions, one led by -Sipsa, and one by Constable Sloan. Corporal Thalman -can take charge of Moonshine Sam while we’re -gone.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_198">198</div> -<p>The searching parties were hastily organized, and -started off. Corporal McCarthy, Dick and Toma -formed a third party. They started out at the beaten -path between Dick’s igloo and Moonshine Sam’s. It -was from there they were quite certain Sandy had -vanished. But the vicinity of the path and the -village of igloos was so criss-crossed with tracks -that they could make no headway. So, striking out -blindly, they headed southward, while the other divisions -of the searchers took the remaining three -directions.</p> -<p>Outside the vicinity of the encampment where the -snow was unbroken, they began walking back and -forth, examining every foot of snow for signs of -Sandy’s feet.</p> -<p>But the snow was covered by a crust several inches -thick, and an ordinary weight made no impression. -Despairingly, they kept on, until at last Dick spied -something glittering in the rays of the moon. Quickly -he ran to the object and picked it up. Renewed -hope was expressed in his loud summons of Toma -and Corporal McCarthy.</p> -<p>What Dick held in his hand when his two companions -arrived, was a hunting knife, in the bone -handle of which had been carved two tell-tale initials—“S.M.”!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_199">199</div> -<h2 id="c19">CHAPTER XIX -<br /><span class="small">A STRANGE TRAIL</span></h2> -<p>Eagerly, the policeman and Toma examined the -knife that Dick had found, which had, without a -doubt, once reposed in Sandy McClaren’s sheath. -Yet, after the first flush of excitement had worn -off, they all realized that the clue was a very inadequate -one. In itself it could not lead to Sandy. Only -it served as an added incentive for them to search -more diligently for some more definite trace of the -lost boy.</p> -<p>As they circled slowly, getting farther and farther -from camp, the snow continued to present a hard -crust which had registered no record of the feet that -had passed over it under the impenetrable shroud of -the polar darkness.</p> -<p>But their patience was rewarded when Toma -found a bit of bearskin with the long hair adhering -to it. Upon examining the fur closely, they saw -that it had been slashed from a larger piece of fur -with a knife.</p> -<p>“It might have been cut from Sandy’s trousers,” -ventured Dick.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_200">200</div> -<p>“That’s possible,” rejoined Corporal McCarthy, -“but we just found what seemed to be Sandy’s knife. -What did he cut the fur with?”</p> -<p>Neither Dick nor Toma could answer that question, -and at the time it did not seem important -enough to worry about. Close to a hundred feet -from where they had spied the first bit of bearskin, -they found another fragment of the same kind of -fur. It, too, had been obviously cut with a knife.</p> -<p>“Now I know Sandy has cut off these bits of fur -to mark the way he went,” Dick cried excitedly. -“Let’s hurry on and see where the next one is.”</p> -<p>After progressing nearly a quarter mile across -the crusted snow, they had picked up nearly twenty -bits of fur similar to the first one Toma had found, -and were certain something more tangible would -soon turn up.</p> -<p>Then the trail of fur fragments disappeared and -was replaced by the imprint of several snowshoes, -as they at last reached soft snow.</p> -<p>All three bent to examine the tracks. There were -three pair of snow-shoe tracks and one pair of small -boot tracks.</p> -<p>“The boot tracks are Sandy’s, I’m pretty sure,” -was Corporal McCarthy’s confident statement. “The -snow-shoe tracks must have been made by those who -captured him, unless someone picked up his trail -after the moon came up.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_201">201</div> -<p>Hastening onward, they followed an unbroken -trail for nearly a half hour, when they again were -discouraged upon reaching more crusted snow upon -which the trail vanished. But not long were they at -loss. Running ahead a short distance, Dick stooped -and picked up something which he waved triumphantly -to Toma and the Corporal. It was another -bit of bearskin.</p> -<p>“Sandy’s started marking his trail again!” Dick -called.</p> -<p>“I’m getting so I’m not so sure just who has -been leaving these markers,” Corporal McCarthy -said. “That knife we found back there makes me -wonder if it’s really Sandy who has dropped those -pieces of fur.”</p> -<p>“Why, who could it be then?” Dick asked incredulously.</p> -<p>“We’ll see, we’ll see,” was the policeman’s enigmatic -reply. “But in the meantime you two fellows -be ready to obey orders.”</p> -<p>Wondering what the Corporal was hinting at, -Dick started out to find more of the trail markers. -About every fifty or a hundred feet they found -them, so that there was no doubt as to the fact that -they were going right.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_202">202</div> -<p>Corporal McCarthy cautioned them to keep their -eyes open now, for they had reached the end of the -level snow and were among some large snowdrifts -formed by huge boulders that had lodged the snow. -Directly over their heads loomed the long upward -slant of the high moraine which had so long served -them as a landmark. However, they were in a part -of the country unfamiliar to them, and so did not -know what to expect. Added to this the moonlight -deceived the eyes, and made it difficult for them to -tell a boulder from a living body.</p> -<p>“Be prepared for an ambush,” the Corporal instructed -Dick and Toma. “Mistak hasn’t taken -Sandy all this distance for nothing. He knew we -would follow.”</p> -<p>But minute after minute passed and there was -no sign of Mistak or his band, nor of Sandy, with -the exception of the clear prints of the snowshoes -leading in and out and around the drifts and boulders. -Like so many ghosts the three trailers hurried -on in the pale moonlight, their snowshoes making -scarcely no sound at all in the feathery drifts.</p> -<p>Suddenly, there broke upon the icy air a mocking -laugh. The three stopped dead in their tracks, -mouths agape.</p> -<p>“What was that?” whispered Dick.</p> -<p>“Him sounded like bad spirit,” Toma’s voice was -subdued from sudden fright.</p> -<p>Corporal McCarthy said nothing, but his hands -tightened on his rifle while he searched every black -shadow with probing eyes.</p> -<p>Shaken by the eerie sound, they prepared to go -on again, when once more the mad laugh pealed out, -vindictive, vengeful and subtlely mocking.</p> -<p>“It must be a mad man,” quavered Dick.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_203">203</div> -<p>“Nonsense,” grated the policeman. “It’s some of -that devilish Mistak’s work. Anyway the sound -came from ahead of us. Unlimber your rifles, lads, -we’re going to see some action, I think. If I’m lucky -enough to get a bead on Mistak, I’ll never get him -to Canada alive, mark my word.”</p> -<p>Crouching, so as to make use of every bit of -shelter, they now moved slowly forward, holding -their breaths for a repetition of the cackle of laughter. -The very boulders themselves now seemed to -be moved in the deceptive moonlight under their -imaginative eyes.</p> -<p>And again they heard the laugh—ahead of them -yet. On and on they crept, a dew of perspiration -standing out on their foreheads, and freezing there -in tiny drops. But not a sign of any person or thing -did they actually see. Only the frequent peals of -wild laughter urged them fearfully on, like a will-o’-the-wisp -in some frozen swamp.</p> -<p>The boulder strewn snow presently gave way to -treacherous gashes in the ground made by the erosion -of some age-old glacier. Clambering and sliding -in and out of these precipitous gullies, they kept -on after the elusive laughter.</p> -<p>Long since they had given up following the snowshoe -tracks. The laughter of a man—even a mad -man was much more tangible than footprints. But -had it not been for the grim, fearless policeman, -Dick and Toma would have turned back.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_204">204</div> -<p>An end to their reckless advance came in a very -unexpected manner. Clambering out of a steep gully, -they found themselves at the edge of a trackless -expanse of soft white snow, apparently as level as -a floor and just as solid footing. The laughter had -not been repeated for some time before they negotiated -the last glacier gash, and they were beginning -to wonder if their ghostly guide had deserted them.</p> -<p>It was Toma who saw it first—the form of a -human being sitting erect against a snow bank across -the white level of snow.</p> -<p>“Look. Somebody there!” Toma whispered.</p> -<p>“It—it must be a dead man,” faltered Dick.</p> -<p>“Not on your life,” gritted Corporal McCarthy. -“See him move. That fellow’s tied and that fellow -is Sandy McClaren!”</p> -<p>Dick’s eyes suddenly testified as to the accuracy -of the policeman’s statement. “Sandy!” he almost -shrieked, starting to run toward him.</p> -<p>But the iron hand of Corporal McCarthy dragged -him back as if he had been merely a pillowful of -feathers.</p> -<p>“Look out there!” cried the Corporal. “This is a -trap you can bet and we’ll go slow.”</p> -<p>Sandy apparently was gagged, for though he had -begun to wriggle, he made no sound with his mouth -except an almost inaudible gurgle.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_205">205</div> -<p>Corporal McCarthy was pawing in the snow for -something. Dick finally saw what he was after—a -stone. The policeman finally found one that was -quite heavy. He raised this above his head and to -Dick and Toma’s amazement, threw it out upon the -snow between them and Sandy.</p> -<p>The boys expected the stone to bound and roll a -little way, but to their horror, as the stone struck it -disappeared and, following it, more than twenty -square feet of snow caved downward with a rustling -hiss and disappeared into a fathomless black void.</p> -<p>Dick’s gasp of dismay was followed by a piercing -voice from the shadows of the boulders behind them. -It was the voice that had done the laughing, but -this time it did not laugh but cried out in an expression -of rage and disappointment.</p> -<p>Corporal McCarthy’s rifle was at his shoulder -when the sound reached his ears, but there was -nothing to shoot at—only the ghastly moonlight of -the polar night, and the inky shadows. The policeman -raised his rifle and shook it.</p> -<p>“Beat you that time—you half-breed devil!” his -big voice pealed out across the desolate wastes. “And -I’m praying you’ll come down here and fight it out -where I can get a bead on you.”</p> -<p>But there was no answer, and a moment later -the Corporal turned back to the boys.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_206">206</div> -<p>“Clever trap,” he explained in an undertone. -“But I had my suspicions, and as soon as I saw -Sandy out there in plain sight, I knew there was a -nigger in the fence. That was a snow bridge we -came pretty near busting through. Wind built it up -across this gorge. Now we’ve got to get at the -boy.”</p> -<p>Calling across the chasm, they explained to Sandy -that they must find some other place to cross over -to him. Hurriedly making their way to the left -along the treacherous brink, which for many yards -was bridged by the frail snow drift, they finally -came to a narrow place and one by one leaped over -with their snowshoes in their hands. It took them -but a few moments to strap on their snowshoes again -and run to Sandy. In a trice they had slashed his -bonds and yanked the gag from his mouth.</p> -<p>With a joy they could not express, Dick and -Sandy embraced, whereupon Sandy’s story came -tumbling from his lips by fits and starts.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_207">207</div> -<p>Briefly, it was this: About half way to Moonshine -Sam’s igloo, following the beaten path, he had -heard stealthy footsteps coming toward him. In -the gloom he could see nothing, and so he had -stopped, waiting for some sign that the person was -a friend or an enemy. Then, without warning, a -smothering fur robe had been thrown over him and -he was lifted up in strong arms and carried away. -At a distance from the igloos far enough so that -his cries for help would not bring his friends, Sandy’s -captors had put him on his feet, and taken off -the robe. They then had taken his knife away from -him and had thrown it away. Sandy had then been -compelled to accompany the men on foot. When his -eyes had grown accustomed to the dimly starlit -night, he had managed to recognize Mistak among -the three, and had found out that they were leaving -bits of fur behind them to mark their trail. Sandy -had not been able to fathom their purpose in leaving -such a plain trail, nor had he been fully aware of -the nature of the cunning trap laid by Mistak when -the outlaw had left him bound and gagged against -a snowdrift, after a long roundabout journey among -a network of deep gorges.</p> -<p>“I didn’t know what it was all about till I saw -you three stop out there in front of me, and throw -that stone,” Sandy concluded. “I guess I made a -pretty good bait for that trap.”</p> -<p>“I pretty near went right on after you, too,” -shivered Dick, recalling their narrow escape, “but -Corporal McCarthy was wise enough to see through -it.”</p> -<p>“Well, let’s be getting back to camp,” the policeman -interrupted them. “We’re a lot farther from -home than we ought to be. If a storm catches us -before we get in there’s no telling whether we’ll -ever get back.”</p> -<p>“I’m sure beginning to wish it really was home -we were going back to,” groaned Sandy. “In two -days I’ve only had one chunk of walrus meat to -eat.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_208">208</div> -<p>“Buck up, Sandy,” Dick replied cheerfully, as they -set out on the back trail. “We’ll be back at camp -before you know it.”</p> -<p>But Dick was wrong. Before they were on the -trail an hour, a bank of clouds that had been hovering -in the north, spread out fan-like across the stars -and presently the moon was blotted out as if some -giant hand had taken it from the sky.</p> -<p>With not even the stars to light their way, the -four travelers stumbled blindly along, until Corporal -McCarthy ordered them to halt.</p> -<p>“We can’t keep on like this,” said the Corporal -grimly. “We’ll get so far off the back trail that -we’ll never find our way back. The only thing we -can do is build an igloo and wait for the moon to -come out again. Let’s hope a storm don’t come -up.”</p> -<p>After blundering about in the darkness, which -was so thick they could cut it with a knife, they -finally located a drift which was solid enough and -large enough for the cutting of snow blocks for an -igloo. It was a poor snow house they erected largely -by their sense of touch, but it served the purpose. -Hovering inside their makeshift shelter they waited -silently for the clouds to disperse, praying for fair -weather to continue.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_209">209</div> -<p>Yet the supreme power that governed the capricious -whims of the mighty ice cap seemed deaf to -their supplications for a half hour after the igloo -had been completed the temperature began to fall -alarmingly. A wind sprang up out of the northeast, -just a whisper at first, like the vast, mournful -sigh of a melancholy spirit, then rapidly it grew -louder, by gusts and fits, until a thirty mile an hour -gale was sweeping the snow wastes with the fury of -a stampeded lion. The wind sought out every niche -and cranny in the hastily erected igloo, and through -the heavy garments of the shivering refugees it cut -like so many tiny knives. Futilely, they tried to stop -up the holes where the wind seeped in while the -gale laughed and howled and whistled, as if in mad -glee at the discomfiture it was causing the shivering -mortals.</p> -<p>In the grip of the terrible cold, the four kept from -falling into that dreadful drowsiness which signals -death by freezing, by beating themselves and each -other with their numbed arms. The fur rims of -their parkas became heavy with icicles formed by -moisture from their mouth. Their eyelashes froze -together from the watering of their eyes. With each -breath it seemed red hot irons had been thrust down -their throats and liquid fire loosed in their lungs. -For extreme cold has much the same sensation of -extreme heat.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_210">210</div> -<p>Two hours they fought a losing fight, then the -capricious gods of the north changed their minds -and the wind began to lay. Almost imperceptibly -at first, each gust a little weaker than the last, until -finally, they all crept out of the igloo to find a vast -silence pervading the ghostly land. Cold and pale, -the Arctic moon now lighted their way, for the -clouds had been herded southward by the passing -polar wind.</p> -<p>The temperature had risen a little when all four -set out on the return trail, now almost blotted out -save where the wind had struck it squarely and had -blown the loose snow away around the packed snowshoe -tracks.</p> -<p>In his weakened condition Sandy had almost succumbed -to the cold, and part of the way they had -to carry the gritty young Scotchman.</p> -<p>Thus they stumbled into the village of igloos -hours later, lungs burning from the frost, bodies -numb and prickling in a dozen places.</p> -<p>No more had they arrived than they found their -troubles were not over.</p> -<p>Corporal Thalman met them with disturbing -news, as soon as they had stumbled into an igloo and -lighted an oil heater.</p> -<p>Moonshine Sam had escaped during the storm!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_211">211</div> -<h2 id="c20">CHAPTER XX -<br /><span class="small">UNDER AN ARCTIC MOON</span></h2> -<p>“I couldn’t stay awake,” Corporal Thalman said -bitterly, in explanation of Moonshine Sam’s escape. -“I was the only one to stand the watches, because I -couldn’t trust any of the Eskimos to stick to their -post. It’s a wonder he didn’t kill me while I was -helpless.”</p> -<p>“But I thought he wanted to stay with us for protection -from the vengeance of Mistak,” Corporal -McCarthy said impatiently. “How was he acting up -to the time you fell asleep?”</p> -<p>“He seemed to change his mind,” replied the -other officer. “I recall him mumbling about the gallows, -and about knowing he’d be hung if he was -taken back by the police. I think he intends either -to try to rejoin Mistak, or make his way south -alone.”</p> -<p>“Well,” Corporal McCarthy’s voice was expressive -of an inward, suppressed rage, “we’ll have to -bring him back! If we don’t Mistak will kill him.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_212">212</div> -<p>Quickly, the Corporal gave his instructions. He -and Corporal Thalman were to set out after Moonshine -Sam as soon as they had eaten. Dick, Sandy -and Toma were to remain in camp, and as soon as -Constable Sloan and Sipsa came in with the searching -parties, the boys were to report to them the -escape of the outlaw and pass on orders for their -aid in retaking the prisoner.</p> -<p>A half hour later, the two Corporals departed -from the village of igloos with a day’s provisions, -and a camp stove, packed on their backs. Not long -after they had gone the searching parties straggled -in, discouraged and half frozen from the blizzard -which they, too, had been caught in.</p> -<p>Alone among the Eskimos, the three boys treated -their frost bites with snow and alcohol rubs, fed -themselves on musk-ox steaks, and when again -fairly comfortable, became impatient at inaction. -It was far worse to sit in idleness than to get out -and do something.</p> -<p>“Let’s go hunting,” suggested Dick.</p> -<p>“That’s better than sitting here in this igloo waiting -for something to happen,” Sandy rejoined. “I -believe I’d go crazy in this awful silence if I had to -sit around and wiggle my thumbs.”</p> -<p>Toma seemed willing enough to stay behind and -take care of things in the absence of the boys, and so -Dick and Sandy started out without him, carrying -only their rifles and hunting knives, for they dared -not go far away from camp. They knew that, while -they had weathered one brief blizzard, they could -not expect to be so fortunate next time.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_213">213</div> -<p>Looking for musk-oxen, the boys climbed the -high moraine east of the base camp and followed -the top of the ridge southward until they reached -an arm of the glacier on the other side.</p> -<p>They had gone upward of two miles when they -came suddenly upon the print of a sealskin Arctic -boot in the snow. The boys stopped and studied -the track.</p> -<p>“This can’t be made by any of the policemen, or -Sipsa either,” said Dick with bated breath. “They -all had snowshoes.”</p> -<p>“And it can’t be Mistak either,” Sandy observed. -“He’d be traveling on snowshoes too.”</p> -<p>The boys looked at each other significantly.</p> -<p>“Then it’s just about got to be Moonshine Sam,” -Dick spoke slowly.</p> -<p>Again they bent over the boot track.</p> -<p>“You can see it was made before or during the -blizzard,” Dick said. “It’s partly drifted full of -snow. Let’s look for other tracks.”</p> -<p>Several feet away from the first, on the other -side of a long, low, snowdrift they found the next -track. It was raised up out of the snow, the wind -having sucked away the loose flakes all around it. -Another and another they found, as the trail grew -hotter, but the tracks seemed to have been made by -a person wandering aimlessly here and there.</p> -<p>“I’m certain it’s Moonshine Sam now,” Dick -breathed. “His tracks show how crazily he was -going, blinded by the storm.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_214">214</div> -<p>Hastening on, the boys presently came to fresher -footprints, made, obviously, after the wind had laid. -The tracks were now sunken in deep snow, revealing -how, from lack of snowshoes, the man had -floundered along.</p> -<p>They had followed the fresher tracks for about -half a mile, when to their surprise another trail, -made by snowshoes, joined and followed the first.</p> -<p>“I wonder who that could be,” Sandy spoke.</p> -<p>“Well, it’s only one man, so it can’t be the policemen, -unless they’ve divided up. I hardly think they’d -do that.”</p> -<p>“Maybe it’s Mistak or some of his men,” was -Sandy’s conjecture. “Don’t you think we’d better -go back?”</p> -<p>“Not on your life we’re not going back!” Dick -said determinedly. “We’ve been lucky enough to -strike a hot trail, and believe me, we’re going to -stick to it. But I do wish we could get in touch with -the policemen. Look around, Sandy, and see if you -can’t see someone.”</p> -<p>But a careful scanning of the bleak snowfields -failed to disclose any sign of life.</p> -<p>“We’ll have to keep on alone I guess,” Dick said -finally.</p> -<p>Once more they started out on the double trail, -their senses on the alert for a sight or sound of those -they followed.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_215">215</div> -<p>Fresher and fresher became the trail, for the man -on snowshoes was rapidly overtaking whoever -he pursued, provided that was what he had been -doing, and according to signs the man in boots had -increased his pace to a floundering run as if he -wanted to get away from someone.</p> -<p>The boys came to the brow of a long incline, -slanting to a level tundra, and down the slope saw -two men, surprisingly close.</p> -<p>“Sit down, Sandy,” Dick whispered. “Don’t let -either of them see us.”</p> -<p>Dropping down in the snow, the boys watched -an interesting chase. The man on snowshoes was -rapidly overtaking another who plunged along -hampered by sinking at every step.</p> -<p>Sandy clutched Dick by the arm and said hoarsely, -fearfully: “That man in front is Moonshine Sam—sure -enough.”</p> -<p>“And you can bet the fellow on snowshoes is -Mistak,” came back Dick confidently.</p> -<p>“They’re going to fight!” exclaimed Sandy. -“What if someone’s killed?”</p> -<p>“We can’t help it, Sandy. It’s their fight. We’re -risking our lives if we try to stop it, without killing -one of them ourselves, and you know we couldn’t -kill in cold blood. Oh, if the policemen were only -here!”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_216">216</div> -<p>Tensely the boys watched the two draw nearer -together. When a hundred yards separated them, -Moonshine Sam turned, shook his fists over his -head, and let out a loud yell. Then he started -back. The man was going to fight now that he was -in a corner.</p> -<p>Mistak carried only a spear as a long distance -weapon. The boys divined that he and his band -had long since run out of ammunition for the few -firearms they possessed.</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy held their breath as they saw -the white Eskimo draw back his arm and pose for -a throw. An instant Mistak bent backward, still as -a statue, then his body and arm snapped forward -simultaneously, like a catapult. The spear shot -forward in a low arc toward Moonshine Sam, half -as swift as an arrow.</p> -<p>Moonshine Sam fell flat in the snow none too -soon, and the whizzing weapon buried itself in the -snow a few feet beyond him. Like a flash Moonshine -Sam leaped to his feet, wheeled and ran for -the spear, pawing frantically in the snow, he at last -found the buried spear.</p> -<p>Mistak was making for the other outlaw at a -spraddling run, as Moonshine Sam aimed the spear -to throw it back. But he had a running target that -was purposely bobbing up and down and zig-zagging.</p> -<p>Then the spear flashed through the moonlight, a -streak of potent death, but the white outlaw was not -an expert spear thrower. The weapon missed Mistak -by several feet.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_217">217</div> -<p>“They’re going to close in,” Dick whispered, burying -his fingers into Sandy’s arm in his excitement.</p> -<p>Both outlaws obviously had drawn knives now. -Moonshine Sam must have stolen one before he -escaped from the igloo. They circled warily. First -one then the other advanced, Mistak moving more -swiftly on his snowshoes, though his footwork was -ponderous enough.</p> -<p>Moonshine Sam finally ceased trying to outmaneuver -his opponent, and stood stolidly, knee -deep in the snow—waiting.</p> -<p>Then Mistak struck, like a flash. But Moonshine -Sam was not so inexpert with a knife as he was with -a spear. The white outlaw parried Mistak’s swift -thrust and sent him reeling backward, almost falling -when one snowshoe caught on its mate. But the -white Eskimo quickly regained his feet, and began -to circle again for an opening.</p> -<p>For several minutes Mistak kept Moonshine Sam -turning about, then he rushed in again. The knives -clashed and held. It was strength against strength -now as each outlaw strove to bring his knife downward -for a fatal thrust. Weaving and straining, -sometimes locked together as still as statues, the outlaws -struggled, while the perspiration came out and -froze on the faces of the hidden boys.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_218">218</div> -<p>At last the two men broke away from each other -for a brief second, but this time Moonshine Sam -didn’t wait for Mistak to attack. He lunged forward -out of the snow and caught the white Eskimo by -his knife, arm and waist. Three times the attacking -outlaw’s knife flashed up and down in the moonlight, -and the boys knew Mistak had been wounded. -Then the clenched two rolled to the snow, struggling -like fiends. Minute after minute they fought, Mistak -now handicapped by his snowshoes instead of -aided by them. At last the white Eskimo was pinned -upon his back and Moonshine Sam’s knife began -slowly to descend against the strength of the outlaw -leader’s left hand clutching the knife wrist.</p> -<p>With the end almost in sight, the boys heard a -distant shout, and looking north of them, saw four -men bearing down the slope.</p> -<p>“The police! The police!” cried Dick, as he got -to his feet and began shouting and waving to them.</p> -<p>Two of the four men ran toward the struggling -outlaws, but they were too late to stop the impending -tragedy. Moonshine Sam’s knife found its mark, -and he arose, shaking the snow from his clothes, -leaving a still form in the snow.</p> -<p>It was not until then that the victorious outlaw -discovered the two policemen descending upon him. -With a startled shout, he started to run away, then -aware that he could never get away alive, he shook -his fists defiantly at his pursuers, and with a hoarse -yell, plunged his knife into his own breast.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_219">219</div> -<p>“He’s beaten the law!” exclaimed Dick, horrified -by this grim justice of the frozen north. “Come on, -Sandy, let’s go down and join the policemen.”</p> -<p>They found Corporals McCarthy and Thalman -inspecting the two silent forms on the tundra when -they arrived on the scene of the battle. Both outlaws -were dead beyond a shadow of doubt.</p> -<p>“Well,” Corporal McCarthy looked up from the -silent face of Mistak, “the game is over, and for -once, the mounted got licked—but it took death to -do it,” he concluded grimly, briefly ordering that -two graves should be hollowed out in the snow, and -the bodies interred.</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy found a little later, that the two -who had accompanied the Corporals were the last -of Mistak’s band, an Indian and an Eskimo—both -with their hands tied behind them. The corporals -explained that they had run across them starving in -an igloo, after they had deserted Mistak. The outlaws -had given up without a struggle, morosely accepting -a fate they considered less terrible than that -which the awful northland might have dealt out to -them.</p> -<p>Though the shadow of the recent tragedy darkened -their spirits, it was an infinitely relieved party -that set out on the trail back to the supply base. -With every step that carried them further from -those still forms in their snow graves, their hearts -grew lighter.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_220">220</div> -<p>On the way back they sighted Constable Sloan -and Sipsa, and hailed them with the tragic news. -The two joined them on the return journey, and already -the talk was of the trip back to God’s country -in the spring.</p> -<p>“Lordy, how glad I am it’s all over,” Sandy grew -steadily more cheerful. “My, what I can tell Uncle -Walter when I see him again!”</p> -<p>“About all I’m going to be interested in,” Dick -broke in, “for a few days, after we get back to your -uncle’s post, is going to be good, roast turkey, with -sage dressing—pumpkin pie—apple sauce—nice -brown pan gravy—stewed cranberries—coffee with -sugar and cow’s cream—chocolate pudd——”</p> -<p>“Stop!” Sandy’s exclamation expressed how his -stomach rebelled against such fruitless tantalization. -“If you say another word about food, I’m going to -die right here of starvation.”</p> -<p>Dick slapped Sandy on the back and laughed, then -arm in arm they went on together.</p> -<p class="center"><span class="gs">* * * * * * * *</span></p><p>The last of the long night passed slowly but steadily -away, and the spring came to gladden the hearts -of Dick and Sandy.</p> -<p>March 4th they saw the sun again, and never did -they greet the rising of that great orb with such -heartfelt joy.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_221">221</div> -<p>A day later they started southward, Sipsa and the -other Eskimos accompanying them to the mainland, -which they reached safely in kayacks. Leaving all -camp paraphernalia that they did not need, with the -Eskimos, they left the children of the north happy -and sorry to see their white friends go. Dick and -Sandy, too, felt a pang in their hearts as Sipsa’s -smiling face vanished out of their ken, probably -never to be seen again. But as they left the Arctic -behind them, under the spring sun, all feelings of -regret at parting were replaced by one great and -growing joy—they were going home!</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_222">222</div> -<h2 id="c21">CHAPTER XXI -<br /><span class="small">A PROPOSITION</span></h2> -<p>It was a gala day at the trading post of Walter -McClaren, Hudson’s Bay Factor; a day for feasting -and story-telling. For Dick Kent and Sandy McClaren -had come back from the far north.</p> -<p>In the big dining room the factor’s old Indian -housekeeper and cook hovered about a long table -loaded with the best products of her culinary art. -Her stoic face could scarcely conceal the pleasure -she derived from witnessing the seemingly insatiable -appetites of her master’s nephew and his chum.</p> -<p>Walter McClaren, a big florid Scotchman, sat at -the head of the table beaming upon the boys and recalling -his own boyhood days. He believed boys -should have plenty of excitement and outdoor experience, -and as he listened to the ceaseless recounting -of their recent adventures with the Eskimos, his -smile grew broader and broader, while the roast -turkey and dressing vanished along with sweet -potatoes, pumpkin pie, stewed cranberries, and chocolate -pudding.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_223">223</div> -<p>“We just caught the boat going south,” Dick said -between bites. “If we’d been a day later we’d have -been held up more than a month before another boat -came.”</p> -<p>“I think you fellows have been pretty lucky,” rejoined -Sandy’s uncle. “If I’d known for a minute -what I was sending you into, I’d never let you go.”</p> -<p>“But I’m glad we went,” returned Sandy. “I -wouldn’t go through it again for anything, but just -the same after it’s all over, I wouldn’t trade the -experience for—for a commission in the mounted -police.”</p> -<p>“That just reminds me that from what Inspector -Dunbar says, you fellows are slated for some kind -of a special medal or something for your services in -the Arctic.”</p> -<p>“Medals!” Dick was alive in an instant, his half-eaten -turkey drum stick forgotten for the moment. -“You don’t mean that, Uncle Sandy!”</p> -<p>“Well, it must be a fact, if Inspector Dunbar said -so,” replied the factor. “But that’s not just exactly -what I want to discuss with you fellows,” continued -the old Scotchman, knocking out his pipe on a leg -of his chair and refilling it. “I have a proposition -for you.”</p> -<p>“A proposition!” exclaimed Dick. “What is it -now. A lost mine? Buried treasure? Outlaws? -Missing men?”</p> -<p>“Hurry up. Tell us what it really is,” Sandy exclaimed, -alive with interest.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_224">224</div> -<p>“Well, you’ll have to give me a chance to talk -then,” Mr. McClaren came back patiently. “And -Dick hasn’t guessed what the proposition is. It’s not -as profitable as lost mines or buried treasure, nor as -dangerous as hunting outlaws, but more entertaining -than hunting missing men. There’s money in it, -some excitement and a chance to make good with one -of the greatest organizations in the world.”</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy were begging now, for their interest -certainly had been intrigued. So engrossed -had they become in what the proposition was going -to be that they even forgot to eat, sitting there with -their mouths open and loaded fork half suspended.</p> -<p>“The proposition is this,” the factor stated. “I’m -thinking of starting a branch fur-trading post near -Great Slave Lake and I need some enterprising ambitious -men to help out. There’s some bad competition—a -free trader in that region, but I think he’ll be -some careful what he does to any of the Hudson’s -Bay Company men.”</p> -<p>“Gee, do you want us to be fur-traders?” Sandy -interrogated.</p> -<p>“That’s about the size of it, boys,” Sandy’s uncle -replied. “I’m sending one man up who is an expert -on furs, and there’ll be a mounted police post -established there. You boys can help with the trading, -and can hunt and fish and trap all you like. It -will be a real vacation from the hard job you had in -the Arctic.”</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_225">225</div> -<p>“It’s beginning to look good to me already,” Dick -spoke eagerly. “What do you say, Sandy?”</p> -<p>“I’m for it if you are,” replied Dick’s chum, “and -we can take Toma along.”</p> -<p>The young Indian who had remained impassive -during the conversation, brightened at Sandy’s -words and his dusky face was split by a huge grin. -He had been afraid of being left out of the plans -and was now much relieved.</p> -<p>The factor signaled the old Indian housekeeper. -“Pour us all some more coffee,” he directed. “I’m -going to propose a toast.”</p> -<p>Dick and Sandy exchanged glances. What was -the toast going to be, they wondered.</p> -<p>When the coffee cups were all filled and creamed -and sugared, the old factor stood up and the boys -did likewise. Lifting his cup high over his head, -Mr. McClaren said:</p> -<p>“Here’s to the health of Dick Kent, fur trader, -and may he never buy a pelt that sheds or trade a -rifle for a black cat’s hide thinking it’s a black fox -skin.”</p> -<p>The boys burst out laughing, but touched cups -with Sandy’s uncle and drank the toast.</p> -<p>“Now let me give a toast,” Dick spoke up.</p> -<p>“Go ahead,” Mr. McClaren agreed.</p> -<p>Assuming a gallant pose, Dick upraised his cup -and said solemnly:</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_226">226</div> -<p>“Here’s to Factor McClaren the best sport in the -world and the jolliest bachelor.”</p> -<p>It was Walter McClaren’s turn to laugh, and his -big voice shook the very log beams of the dining -room.</p> -<p>Sandy was about to propose another toast, when -there came a knock at the door.</p> -<p>The factor motioned the housekeeper to open the -door. All eyes turned to see the visitor. Into the -living room of the cabin stamped a tall man, resplendent -in the scarlet coat of the mounted.</p> -<p>“Hello there, Corporal McCarthy,” shouted the -boys, recognizing the leader of their recent expedition.</p> -<p>The Corporal paused in the doorway leading into -the dining room. He returned the boys’ greetings -in kind, then drew himself up to attention, proudly -displaying the medals on his chest, and saluted:</p> -<p>“Inspector Dunbar requests the presence of Dick -Kent and Sandy McClaren,” announced the Corporal -solemnly and impressively, “for presentation of -special decorations in reward for their Arctic services -with the Royal Northwest Mounted Police!”</p> -<p>Dick whistled, Sandy gasped, and both blushed, -then Corporal McCarthy came around and shook -their hands, slapping them on the back heartily, while -Sandy’s uncle added his sincere congratulations.</p> -<div class="pb" id="Page_227">227</div> -<p>“But what about Toma?” Dick asked the Corporal, -when he had recovered from his embarrassment. -“Is he left out?”</p> -<p>“S-s-h. The Inspector has a surprise for him,” -whispered the Corporal. “A brand new 22 High -Power rifle.”</p> -<p>So did the King’s policemen make happy hearts -of their loyal and daring young servants.</p> -<p class="tbcenter"><span class="small">THE END</span></p> -<h2 id="tn">Transcriber’s Notes</h2><ul><li>Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.</li> -<li>Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.</li> -<li>Added a Table of Contents based on chapter headings.</li> -<li>In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)</li></ul> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Dick Kent with the Eskimos, by Milton Richards - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK KENT WITH THE ESKIMOS *** - -***** This file should be named 50816-h.htm or 50816-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/8/1/50816/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan -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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