AN ISLAND LIFE.
Tom was awakened by the sun streaming down into his face. It came through the vent-hole in the roof. At first he could not recall for the life of him where he was, and for a time thought that the vent hole was the port hole of his cabin, oddly misplaced by some accident to the roof. But he soon realized all that had happened, and aroused the others, who at first were equally confused.
"The steward has called for breakfast!" said Tom laughing.
"Humph! And where is the breakfast coming from?" grunted Sandy, looking at the remains of the fried fish and thinking of the scant store of crackers and tinned beef that remained.
The others did not reply to this, and Tom devotedhimself to dressing. As he had taken off only his outer garments, this did not take long. Shoving open the door he looked outside.
"Gee whiz, fellows, a dandy day!" he exclaimed. "Clear as a bell and the sea is quite calm."
In a few minutes the others joined Tom at the door. They stood looking about a while, when suddenly a loud splash not far off made them all exclaim.
"What was that?" asked Jack.
"Don't know. Sounded like somebody throwing a big rock into the water," was Tom's reply.
"It did, too," declared Sandy. "Hark! there it is again!"
"It's down by the creek," announced Tom. "I tell you what, fellows, it's fish!"
"Fish!"
"Surely. Fish leaping. Big ones, too, by the sound of them."
Two or three more splashes came while theboys were talking. They hurried down to the creek, and as they went they noted that a great cloud of crows and ravens were hovering above it. Wondering greatly what all this could mean, they quickened their footsteps.
Arrived at the creek, they found the shallow sand bar between its mouth and the sea all aboil with confusion. Masses of fish seemed to be trying to get from the sea into the creek. All at once a great fish eagle swooped down out of a cottonwood on the opposite side of the creek. It struck the water with a splash. There was a brief struggle and then the bird of prey shot upward again. In its talons it held a silver-scaled fish of large size.
"Well, he's going to breakfast all right," remarked Jack ruefully. "My, what a whumping big fish!"
"No wonder: it was a salmon," declared Tom. "This must be the season when they rush up into the rivers to spawn."
"Look! there's lots of them wriggling about on the sand bar!" cried Jack.
"Hookey! So there are. If only we could grab some of them we'd solve the breakfast problem in jig-time."
All this time Sandy had been quietly whittling a long stick to a sharp point. Now he rushed suddenly forward, wading waist deep in the creek to the sand bar. Half a dozen salmon lay wriggling there, their silvery scales flashing in the sun. Sandy's arm holding the spear shot up and then descended, spearing one of the stranded fish. Before he could strike again, the others had escaped and joined the rest of the "run" in their mad rush up the creek for their spawning grounds. With a cry of triumph Sandy came ashore again and received the congratulations of his comrades. Broiled salmon and the remainder of the crackers formed their breakfast, which they ate with much gusto.
The food problem appeared to be solved bythe salmon run and the other fish with which the creek abounded; but a bread supply offered a further puzzle. However, the boys did not worry much about this at the time. After breakfast they visited the dory and found everything all right with the boat.
"I don't know that we'll be so badly off here for a time," said Tom.
"Yes, but we can't stay here forever," objected Jack gloomily.
"Oh, dinna fear but they'll find us oot," declared Sandy hopefully. "What do you say if we hoist up a flag on the point yonder?"
"That's a good idea," declared Tom, "but in any event we won't stay here long. If no help comes before many days, we'll set out in the dory and keep along the coast till we reach some settlement where we can get into communication with our friends."
The flag question bothered them sadly for a time, but it was solved by utilizing an old bit ofcanvas that was in the dory. With this they improvised a signal, affixing it to a tall limb of a tree which they had lopped off and anchored on the rocky point by piling stones about its base.
They were coming back from this task, having vainly scanned the sea for a sail, when Tom halted suddenly and pointed toward the hillside that sloped upward behind the hut. The others likewise came to a standstill at his sudden exclamation.
Among the bushes, which grew thickly on the lower part of the slope, some large animal was moving. A glimpse of a shaggy back could be seen and the bushes waved and swayed as some big body came lumbering through them.
"What can it be?" wondered Jack, round-eyed, gazing at the disturbance.
The mystery was soon explained and in no very pleasant way. Out into an open space there suddenly emerged the huge, clumsy form of anenormous bear. It was almost as big as a colt, and shaggy and ferocious looking.
"O-o-oh!" cried Sandy, his cheeks turning white.
There was good reason for the boys to feel scared. The bears of Kadiak Island are the largest in the world. The specimen the boys were now gazing at with awestruck faces was a giant even among his own kind.
"Cracky!" cried Jack. "That fellow could eat us all without salt. What'll we do?"
"Get back to the hut as soon as possible. We must make a detour to avoid him," decided Tom quickly.
"Is he after us do you think?" asked Sandy.
"No, I guess he's come after salmon. See, he's heading for the creek."
"Wow! Christmas!" yelled Jack suddenly. "Look, there come two more!"
Out of the brush from which the first bear had emerged there came two more shaggy, lumberingbrutes. One was quite tiny, plainly a cub. The larger animal, which was a sort of yellowish-gray color, the boys guessed to be the little fellow's mother. It certainly was an exciting moment as, crouching behind a friendly patch of brier bushes, the boys watched the mother and cub join the head of the family.
Luckily the wind was blowing offshore, that is from the bears toward the boys. But, nevertheless, the great animals appeared suspicious. The mother stopped suddenly and sat up on her haunches. Then she began swaying a huge head from side to side as if puzzled. But evidently her suspicions were lulled soon afterward, for after a few minutes in this attitude of listening, she dropped on all fours and the three bears began to advance once more.
"Now's our chance," declared Tom as the bears vanished in the tall, thick growth between the hillside and the creek.
The boys raced down the hill at top speed.They were between the bears and the sea, and it was their object to cross the creek and gain the hut on the further side before the bears sighted them. They made good time and reached the creek and crossed it, while the bears were still in the thick growth.
They reached the hut and Tom closed the door. Then the boys exchanged blank glances. Unless the bears went away they would be prisoners, for the hut was quite visible from the creek. Tom found a peephole in the sod covering of the shack and peered through. Then he beckoned to the others. The bears had reached the creek and were fishing. The old mother sat in midstream with her offspring beside her, while father bear was further up the creek on a sand bar.
Serious as their position was, the boys could hardly help laughing at the antics of the old bear and her cub. The cub was apparently learning to fish. And it was not an easy lesson.His mother proved a hard task mistress. The boys could see her long hairy paw swoop out in scoop fashion, land a fine salmon and throw it up on the bank. The cub wanted to start for the bank every time this was done. But the old lady would have none of this.
Every time it happened, she raised her huge paw and struck the cub a box on the ears that knocked him into the water. He would get up whining and crying pitifully and then try to fish on his own account. But his small paws failed to land the fish. All his efforts were failures. At last his mother appeared to relent. She waded ashore followed by Master Bruin, who was then allowed to regale himself on the pile of fish the old bear had landed.
While both mother and son were eating greedily, up came the old father bear. He, apparently, was not much of a success at fishing. At any rate, with growls and blows he drove his wife and son away from their pile of fish and pitchedinto it himself. His blows must have had the force of a sledge hammer, for huge as she was, the mother bear reeled under them.
"One of those blows would mean good-night to the strongest man that ever lived," declared Tom.
"And to think that if they don't go away we've got to stick in here, or run the risk of getting a dose of the same medicine or worse," groaned Jack despairingly.
"Hoot, mon, we're nae sae safe even in here," put in Sandy. "We're caught in a fine trap and yon bears hae the key."
THE GREAT BEARS OF KADIAK.
This appeared to be only too true. The bears, so far as the boys could observe through their peephole, were thin and famished from the long winter they had spent in some cave back in the mountains, and intended probably to remain camped by the creek as long as the salmon were running.
Having finished his meal, the father bear lay down and rolled over in sleep, while the mother and cub set about catching some more fish, which they devoured. But instead of going to sleep as the boys hoped, the old mother kept herself on sentry duty. Once or twice they caught her looking toward the hut. It caused an uncomfortable sensation to run through them.
Luckily they had a little water in the place, althoughnone too much. At any rate it would not satisfy more than their immediate needs. For food there were a few crackers, the remains of the salmon that they had broiled for breakfast, a few fragments of tinned beef and that was all. The situation was about as serious as it could well be. All that afternoon they took turns watching the creek, awaiting an opportunity to sally forth after water. But the bears remained as if they meant to take up permanent quarters there.
The question of how they were to make their escape began to be a serious one with the practically imprisoned boys. The door of the hut opened toward the creek and to attempt egress by that way would at once attract the attention of the monster bears, with what results the boys guessed only too well.
So the afternoon hours dragged away. Although tormented with thirst, the boys decided to refrain from drinking more than enough ofthe precious water to cool their mouths. From time to time one of them would relieve his comrade at the peephole. But the bears remained there as if firmly determined to stay. When the old mother bear took a snooze, either the cub or the largest of the bruins was on sentry duty.
"If only we had some rifles," sighed Tom. "This is a lesson to me as long as we are in this country, I'll never leave ship or camp again without a weapon of some sort."
"Wait till we get back to the ship or to a camp," scoffed Jack; "it's my belief that we will be prisoners here till winter."
"Nonsense," said Tom sharply. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Jack Dacre, for talking like that. It's no use giving way to despair. Maybe we'll hit on some way of getting out before long."
"Not unless those bears change their minds and go back to their happy mountain home," said Jack positively.
They sat in silence for a while.
"If it would only get dark up here like it does in more southerly latitudes, we could take a chance on sneaking down to the dory and getting away to some other part of the coast," said Tom at length.
"Couldn't we make it anyhow?" inquired Sandy.
Tom shook his head.
"I don't see how. The minute we came out of the hut one of the bears would be bound to see us and take after us. They can run mighty fast, too, in spite of their clumsy forms."
Another silence ensued. All the boys were thinking hard, from time to time approaching the peephole to watch the bears.
"We might as well eat, I guess," said Tom at length.
The embers of the fire were still alive and fresh wood was piled on till there was a cheerful blaze. The boys warmed their salmon aboveit and fell to on what was the gloomiest meal they had ever eaten. In the middle of his supper, Jack got up and went to the peephole. He turned from it with a face full of alarm.
"The wind has carried the smoke down toward the bears and they are sniffing at it suspiciously," he announced.
"Maybe it'll drive 'em away," suggested Sandy.
"They're not mosquitoes," scoffed Jack.
"Wow! they are coming this way, Tom! What in the world shall we do now?"
"Sit tight. I don't know what else to do."
"But suppose they claw down the door?"
"In that case, our troubles will soon be over," was the brief reply.
What Jack had said was correct. The smoke drifting down on the bears had caused them to sniff suspiciously. Hunters came to Kadiak Island frequently, and doubtless they knew that smoke betokened the presence of human beings.The big bear's fur bristled angrily. He gave a low growl, which was echoed by his mate.
After sniffing and listening for a few seconds the great creatures, the most formidable foes the boys had ever encountered, began slowly to lumber up the slope from the creek toward the hut.
That they did not advance hastily made their approach even more sinister in its effect. It was as if they were in no hurry to reach the hut, as though they realized that they could afford to take their time, their prey was so certain. The boys all realized, too, that when animals are accompanied by their young they are rendered three times as ferocious as on ordinary occasions.
"Maybe they'll sheer off after all," suggested Tom hopefully.
But his confidence was misplaced. The bears lumbered steadily forward till they were wading through the tall, half dry grass that grew almost up to the shack's sides. Then the female and the cub stopped, and the big father bruin cameon to investigate. For all the world like some huge dog, he began sniffing around the walls at the base of the oven-shaped structure.
Then, all at once, in an unlucky moment, he discovered the door. There was quite a big crack under it, and the boys watched with horror-struck eyes as the huge creature's sniffing and poking sent the dust on the floor of the place flying up in little clouds. Then they heard a heavy body hurled against the door and the scratching of feet shod with claws as keen and sharp as steel chisels.
It was a thrilling moment for all of them. Jack and Sandy in particular were badly scared. Their faces blanched and their knees knocked. It hardly seemed possible that the door could survive the attack of the monstrous creature that assailed it. But although built of driftwood fastened together with old iron bolts and strips of skin, the portal held its own much better than might have been expected. It shook and trembled,but remained standing. After a while the bear appeared to tire of this method of attack and ceased.
The boys breathed more easily.
"Perhaps he'll go away now," suggested Jack.
But a glimpse through the peephole showed that the bear had no intention of doing anything of the sort. With the stubbornness of his kind, he began pacing up and down in front of the hut, from time to time emitting a low growl.
"Looks as if he meant to keep up the campaign on these lines if it takes all summer," said Tom with grim pleasantry.
HEMMED IN.
"We must get to the boat," said Tom.
"Yes, but how?" questioned Jack.
"If only we'd gone to the boat at first instead of bolting in here, we'd have been safe the noo," spoke Sandy.
"That's obvious," agreed Tom, "but having foolishly allowed ourselves to be bottled up, it's up to us now to devise some means of getting out."
"Well, we're all open for suggestions," struck in Jack. "Bother that smoke, it was that which brought the bears to the hut to investigate."
"No question about that," agreed Tom, "but I've just got an idea, fellows."
"Good, let's have it," chorused his young companions.
"Well, it is granted that we can't stay in here forever."
"Nor even for many more hours," supplemented Jack.
"Very well. Then it is up to us to take a chance on escaping, no matter how desperate the scheme may appear."
"It's a case of life or death, it seems to me," said Sandy soberly.
"What's your plan?" asked Jack impatiently.
"Just this. We must burn those bears out."
"Burn them out!"
Sandy and Jack stared at the lad, who, by common consent, was their leader.
"That is what I said. Don't look at me as if I was crazy. This hut is surrounded almost up to its walls by semi-dry grass which ought to burn easily, isn't it?"
"Yes; but I don't see your drift," spoke Jack.
"We'll set the grass on fire. That will drivethe bears off, and while they are on the run we can make our escape to the boat."
"But the grass will burn all round the hut. How can we get out through the flames ourselves?" objected Jack.
"Hold on a minute. Wait till I explain. We can set the grass alight by throwing out some of the hot brands from our fire."
"Of course, that's easy," assented Jack, and then with the air of somebody pronouncing an unanswerable question he went on: "But how are you going to get your burning embers outside? If you open the door, the bears will rush us at once."
For answer Tom indicated the hole in the top of the roof.
"I must get up there and roll the blazing embers down the roof into the grass. Then when it is on fire, we'll have to scramble out somehow, slip down to the boat before the fire surrounds the hut, and then row out to sea."
"Sounds delightfully easy," said Jack rather sneeringly, for the plan did not appeal to him, "but in the first place, how are you going to get on the roof?"
"The simplest part of it. This hut isn't more than seven feet, or so, high. You 'give me a back' and then I can reach the hole easily and boost myself through."
"Well, I admit that is possible, but after the fire is started, and supposing everything goes all right, how are Sandy and I going to get up?"
"Sandy is the lightest. He will have to give you 'a back' and I'll haul you through somehow. Then Sandy must stand up, and together I guess we can hoist him through without much difficulty."
Jack shrugged his shoulders. Sandy looked dubious.
"I know it's a desperate chance," admitted Tom, "but ours is a desperate situation. Nowthen, let's lose no time in putting it into effect. If it fails, we can't be much worse off."
"No, that is true enough, unless the hut burns down."
"Oh, the damp, thick sod that covers it wouldn't ignite as easily as all that," declared Tom, who was waxing enthusiastic over his plan.
Jack got down on all fours and Tom mounted on his back. He was able in this way, being a tall boy, to grasp the edges of the hole. This done he hoisted himself up with his muscular young arms, much as a lad "chins the bar." Once up on the roof, he reached down into the hole for the firebrand, which it had been arranged that Jack was to hand up.
He had hardly grasped it when an angry growl from close at hand apprised him that the bears had perceived him. There was no time to be lost. Raising a wild, blood-curdling yell that awoke the echoes of the cliffs, Tom flung his firebrand down into the thick grass.
Almost instantly it ignited and a thick smoke curled up. The bears sniffed uneasily. Any boy who has seen marsh land burned off in the spring knows how swiftly flames spread among dried grass and weeds. The herbage amidst which Tom had flung the blazing bit of wood proved no exception. Fanned by a brisk breeze it ran literally like wildfire among the dried grasses. Luckily the wind was from the side of the hut in which Tom was perched and blew toward the bears. As the flames swept down on them, they uttered loud snorts of terror and turned tail ingloriously.
The mother bear, with her frightened cub, was the first to depart, and she stood not on the order of her going, but galloped off at top speed. The huge male bear lingered but a few minutes longer, then he, too, fled before the fiery terror which Tom's clever strategem had kindled.
"Hooray, boys, they're on the run!" shouted Tom, unable to restrain his enthusiasm.
He swung down his arms and dragged up Jack without much difficulty. Then came Sandy's turn. They had just hauled the Scotch lad to the roof, however, when an alarming thing occurred. The covering of the Aleut hut had not been built to withstand any such strain as the weight of the three lads now perched upon it.
Without warning, save for a sharp crack, it suddenly sagged.
"Look out! It's caving in!" roared Tom.
"Cracky, so it is!" echoed Jack as he felt the sod roof begin to sink under them.
"Roll!" shouted Tom. "Roll down it!"
He seized Sandy, who appeared to be paralyzed from alarm, and gave him a shove. Down the roof rolled the Scotch lad, landing in a heap on the ground, shaken and bruised, but not otherwise injured. Close behind him came Tom and Jack. Behind them the roof fell in with a roar, leaving a big gaping cavity.
But the boys had no time to notice this justthen. Scrambling to their feet they dashed off toward the beach where the dory lay. The flames almost reached them as they left the hut. But looking back Tom saw something worse than the flames pursuing them. They could easily distance the blazing grass and that gave him no alarm. But what did cause his heart to stand still for an instant and then resume beating furiously was the sight of the bears.
They had rallied from their fright and perceived the escape of the boys. Now, skirting the flames by outflanking them, they were lumbering toward the fugitives at a speed that would not have been thought possible in such bulky creatures.
UNCERTAINTY.
"Run! Run for your lives! Run!"
Tom panted out the words as he pointed behind them. The others saw almost as soon as he, and quickened their pace, though they had been running almost at their top speed before. There was a reason for Tom's thus urging them to hurry, although they had a good start of the bears. The tide, as he had seen, was low. The dory lay at some distance from the water.
That the craft was a heavy one he knew, and it was likely that it might take some time for them to get her to the water's edge. In the circumstances even a brief delay was a thing to be avoided, and it was important that they should gain every second that they could.
They reached the boat and seized hold of heron either side. But although the beach was hard and sloping, it was terribly slow work to drag the heavy craft along.
Tom spied some dead limbs lying below a cottonwood tree and they used these as rollers, after which their progress was swifter. But just as they reached the water's edge the bears were upon them. One good shove and they were knee deep in the water.
"She's afloat!" cried Jack gleefully.
He sprang into the boat. Sandy was not a minute behind him. But Tom's foot caught on a boulder as he shoved off the bow, and he fell headlong into the water. As he fell, he was conscious of a hot breath and a deafening roar almost in his very ear. Then he heard something crash downward with a dull thud, followed by a scream of pain.
The next instant Jack had him in a strong grip and pulled him on board the dory. Sandy plied the oars furiously. In a few moments morethey were out of danger and Jack was telling Tom how, just as the big bear prepared to seize him, following his unlucky stumble, it had come into his, Jack's, head like a flash of inspiration that in the grapple that lay in the bottom of the boat was a weapon that could be utilized against the monster.
He had snatched it up and whirled it around his head for an instant, and then let the weighty mud-hook, with its sharp points, come crashing down on the bear's head. One of the points had wounded the creature too badly for it to give its attention to anything but a gaping cut for the next few seconds, during which the dory had been rowed far out of reach of the big bears of Kadiak with which the boys had had such a thrilling encounter.
"Well, where away?" asked Sandy, as they gazed back at the shore.
On the beach stood the three bears, while beyond them the smoke of the fire they had kindled towered high into the sky in a wavering pillar.
He let the weighty mud-hook … come crashing down on the bear's head.—Page154.
"We'll pull right along the shore," decided Tom after a moment's thought, "we may fall in with some ship, or at any rate a native canoe."
Accordingly the oars were manned and the dory rowed along the coast, while the boys all kept a sharp lookout to seaward for any sign of a vessel.
"There's one good thing," said Tom presently; "the smoke from that fire would attract the attention of anyone who might be in the neighborhood and lead them to make inquiries."
"Yes, but there's not a vessel in sight," objected Jack.
"Never mind. That smoke must be visible at a great distance. I don't doubt that theNortherneris out hunting for us and they would not be likely to neglect such a clue as that smoke column will afford."
"I think you're right there," agreed Jack, "butthey may have started the search in another direction."
"That is a chance we shall have to take."
The brief darkness of the Alaskan night fell without a single sign of a ship being detected on the lonely ocean. Thoroughly disheartened, hungry and half crazy from thirst, the boys rowed on till Tom ordered Jack and Sandy to take some sleep. They obeyed and were soon wrapped in deep slumber. Tom allowed the dory to drift. Rowing only increased his thirst, and in any event could not accomplish much good.
They would have rowed ashore long before and searched for water, but the land off to their right was a frowning escarpment of rugged cliff which offered no hope of water. The boy found himself wishing that they had had the foresight to stock up the dory in case of their leaving the cove hurriedly; but it was too late for such regrets now.
Tom caught himself dropping off to sleep. Hedozed half awake and half in the land of nod for some time. How long it was he did not know, but he was suddenly awakened by a harsh shout that appeared to come from the air above him.
"Hard over your helm! It's a boat!"
"Where away!"
"Right under our bow! Sheer off! Hard over!"
Tom sprang to his feet, broad awake in an instant. Right above, like an immense black cliff, towered the bow of a steamer. He could see the bright running lights shining like jewels.
"Jack! Sandy!" he bawled out. "Get up! They'll run us down!"
The huge black bulk of the strange craft did, indeed, appear as if it must inevitably cut the drifting dory in two. But the outcry of the bow watch had come in time. Just as Jack and Sandy sprang up and Tom was thinking that everything was over, the great bow swung off.The steamer rushed by so close that Tom could almost have touched her with his hand.
"Ahoy!" roared a voice from the bridge. "What boat is that?"
"It's a native canoe," came another voice.
"Not on your life it isn't," yelled Tom. "This is an unofficial exploring expedition and——"
"Tom Dacre!" bellowed a voice from the bridge.
"Ahoy, uncle!" hailed back Tom, who had caught the wordNortherneron the steamer's bow as she was swinging by.
"Tom, is it you? Are you all right?"
There was a ring in Mr. Dacre's tone that showed how he had suffered since the strange disappearance of his nephews and their chum.
"We never were better in our lives," cried Tom, deftly catching a rope that came snaking down as the steamer's speed diminished. "But how in the world did you come to run across us? Talk about a needle in a haystack!"
"Never mind the details now, my boy. Come on board at once. I can hardly wait till I see you."
Not many minutes later, in the comfortable cabin of theNortherner, Tom, Jack and Sandy, ragged and begrimed, were telling, between intervals of eating and drinking, the tale of their strange adventures since they were lost in the fog. When they had concluded the tale, Tom inquired of his uncle how it was that he had so miraculously found them.
"If you hadn't almost run us down we'd never have seen you," Tom continued, "for I was too sleepy to keep my eyes open."
Mr. Dacre's story was soon told. The two Aleuts who had apparently deserted the boys had really come back from the village with food. They were terrified when they found the boys and the dory gone, for they knew that it was time for the daily tide-bore to sweep through the straits. Getting a native canoe, they made their way toKadiak, sought out Mr. Dacre and told him what had happened. TheNorthernerwas at once put in commission for the hunt, although Mr. Dacre confessed that he had had a dreadful fear, not unshared by Mr. Chillingworth and the captain, that the boys had been caught in the tidal bore and lost.
From the captain's knowledge of the coast, they had been able to make a fairly intelligent search. Just before the brief darkness closed in that night they had made out a column of smoke rising on the horizon, and more as a forlorn hope than anything else, had made toward it, hoping against hope that it had been kindled by the young castaways.
"And so it was," laughed Tom happily, his hand finding his uncle's. "After all, maybe those bears were a blessing in disguise. If it hadn't been for them, we wouldn't have lighted that fire, and if it hadn't been for the fire, you'd like as not never have found us."
THE "YUKON ROVER."
Some weeks later there steamed away from the wharf side at St. Michaels, a small, stern-wheeled craft of light draught. So light was it, in fact, that the loungers on the dock who watched its departure declared that it would be possible to navigate it on a heavy dew.
It bore the nameYukon Rover, and was painted white with a single black smoke-stack. As it drew away from the dock, it blew a salute of three whistles which was answered by a fair-sized steamer lying in the roads.
As our readers will have guessed, theYukon Roverwas the portable steam craft which had been shipped north to the Yukon on the deck of theNortherner, which latter was the vessel that replied to the small craft's farewell. TheNorthernerwas to return to Seattle, carrying down what cargo she could pick up, and come back late in the year with a cargo for the needs of the country during the rigid Alaskan winter, when little can be shipped. In this way Mr. Dacre and Mr. Chillingworth hoped to make their venture additionally profitable.
On the bow of the small light-draught craft was a strange ornament. This figure-head, if such it can be called, was nothing more nor less than the figure of a buck-toothed man roughly carved out of wood and daubed with faded paint. In a word, it was Sandy MacTavish's mascot, now assigned to duty on the small craft which was to carry the adventurers up the turbulent currents of the mighty Yukon.
As to theYukon Rover'smission, there was much speculation in St. Michaels concerning it. But the consensus of opinion was that the two gentlemen and the boys were going on a scientific expedition of some sort. The "Bug Hunters"was the name bestowed upon them in the far northern town from whence embarkation for the mouth of the Yukon was made.
This suited Mr. Dacre and his partner well enough, as they had no wish for the real object of their expedition to become known. The hunters and trappers of the Far North are a jealous, vindictive lot when they imagine that what they consider their inalienable rights to the fur and feather of the land are being invaded by outsiders.
Both gentlemen knew that if any suspicion of the real object of their voyage leaked out, much trouble might be made for them, although it was still rather early in the year for any trappers to be going "inside," as penetrating into the interior of Alaska is called.
A shed near the waterfront had been rented and ways constructed, and here theYukon Roverhad been rapidly put together by the engineers from theNortherner. But on her trip up theriver the boys were to act as machinists and stokers, and as theYukon Rover'smachinery was simple enough, this was a delightful and interesting task to them. Like most healthy, normal boys, our young friends liked to tinker with machinery, and they had had plenty of instruction in their new duties on the trial trips of the stern-wheeler.
Tom, who had been relieved at the engines by Jack, while Sandy attended to stoking the small boiler, adapted to either wood or coal burning, came on deck and surveyed the scene they were leaving behind them.
Astern was St. Michael, lying on the island which bears its name and which is separated from the mainland by a shallow strip of water known as St. Michael's Slough. The town was uninteresting and he was not sorry to leave it, a feeling that his two chums fully shared.
The white houses, the spire of the old Russian Church and the odd-looking fort, half ruinous,which stood near the Alaska Trading Company's hotel, were the most conspicuous features of the dull, drab town. There was hardly a tree on the island, and fuel was in the main supplied by the timber which in flood time drifted down the Yukon from the interior in great quantities and was washed up on the beach or secured in boats.
"Good-by, St. Michael, and ho, for the Yukon!" thought Tom, as turning his face in the other direction, he gazed forward.
TheYukon Roverwas ploughing along at about eight knots an hour. Black smoke pouring from her stack showed that Sandy was keeping up his furnace faithfully. Forward of the bow-like structure which contained sleeping and eating accommodations, was a miniature pilot house. In this was Mr. Dacre at the wheel, while beside him Mr. Chillingworth was poring over charts of the treacherous sandy delta that marks the junction of the Yukon and the sea. The course was southwest, along a flat, dreary-lookingcoast that afforded nothing much worthy of notice.
Since their memorable adventures at Kadiak, life had moved dully for the excitement-loving Bungalow Boys. Tom found himself hoping that now that their voyage for the Yukon had fairly begun, they would find some lively times. How near at hand these were and how lively they were to be, he did not dream as theYukon Rover, rolling slightly in the swell, made her way toward the "Golden River."
Jack joined his brother on deck.
"Everything running smoothly?" asked Tom.
"Smooth as silk," declared Jack. "Say, isn't it fine to be under way again after sticking around St. Michael like bumps on a log?"
"I should say so. I have a notion that we are going to have some fun, too, before we get through."
"Same here. Well, I'm ready for whateverhappens, short of another tidal bore. One was quite enough for me."
That afternoon they came in sight of the northern mouth of the Yukon, by which they were to enter the stream. It required skillful steering to guide theYukon Roverthrough the maze of sand bars and shoals that encompassed her, and they had not gone far between the low, marshy shores when Mr. Dacre gave a hail from the pilot house through the speaking tube that connected the steering compartment with the engine-room.
"Leave your engines a while to Sandy's care," he ordered Jack, who answered the hail, "and come on deck."
Tom and Jack lost no time in obeying the summons, and found that they were required to manipulate the big poles, with which it was necessary to help guide the small steamer against the stiff current. It was hard work, even with the aid of Mr. Chillingworth, to keep theYukonRoveron her course, but from time to time the stream widened out and became deeper and they got a short respite.
Toward dusk they passed a native canoe or bidarka, a narrow-beamed, cranky craft of walrus skins stretched over frames. In it sat two high-cheek-boned natives with slanting eyes, bearing remarkable resemblances to the inhabitants of Japan. The small, cranky craft shot swiftly past and was followed, round a bend in the river, by three more. The natives appeared not to pay much attention to the steamer, although the boys shouted and hulloed in salute as they passed.
A short time after passing the natives, Jack announced that the engine, a new one, was heating up badly and that it would be necessary to stop and make a thorough inspection of the machinery. Accordingly, theYukon Roverwas tied to the bank and preparations made for a somewhat lengthy stop.
Flocks of wild geese and other birds could be seen settling down above the flat country surrounding them, and the boys begged permission to go out with their guns. That is, Tom and Sandy did. Jack was too busy on his engines to spare the time. The notion of a hunting trip to kill time till supper was voted a good one, and Mr. Dacre and Mr. Chillingworth decided to accompany the boys.
Full of high spirits, the party struck off across the tundra, leaving Jack hard at work on the machinery. They had been gone perhaps an hour when the boy was surprised to hear a step in the engine-room. He looked up quickly, thinking that possibly it was his friends returning, but instead, facing him, he saw the yellow face and skin-clad figure of one of the natives who had passed them in the canoes. Jack possessed a mind that worked quickly. A notion shot into his head that the fellow was there on mischiefbent, and certainly the startled way in which he regarded the boy supported that suspicion.
It was plain that the native had not expected to find anyone on board theYukon Rover, and that he and his companions, some of whom now swarmed into the engine-room, had imagined, from the fact that they had seen the hunting party, that the craft was deserted by all hands. This being the case, they had returned to see what they could find in the way of small plunder. Jack recalled having heard at St. Michaels that the natives of the Yukon are notorious small thieves and he at once decided that knavery was the purpose of their visit.
He stood up, monkey-wrench in hand, and facing the first arrival, who seemed to be the leader, he demanded of him what he wanted. The man appeared not to understand him. It was at this instant that Jack noticed that under the arms of the other natives were cans of provisionsand other small articles plainly pilfered from the store-room of the steamer.
The boy was in a quandary for a moment. There were six of the natives and he was alone on the boat. Doubtless, too, the hunting party was out of ear-shot. It was an anxious moment for the boy as he stood there facing the pilfering natives and undecided how to act.
But the next moment there came to him that indignation which everyone feels when marauders intrude upon his possessions.
"Hey, you! What do you mean by stealing those things?" demanded Jack, indicating the cans and other articles which the natives had tucked under their arms.
The chief broke silence with what was meant for a friendly grin.
"Me good mans! All good mans!" he said.
"Humph! Well, that being the case, it's funny you should come aboard here when you thought no one was about and steal our food."
"You give us. We good mens," said the chief, with unruffled amiability.
"We might have been willing to do that if you hadn't helped yourselves," said Jack indignantly, "but under the circumstances you'll have to put those things back and get off this boat."
Unquestionably the chief did not understand all of this speech, but part of it was within his comprehension for he said:
"No, no; you give us."
"Not on your life," declared Jack, coming forward wrench in hand.
Now, whether the chief interpreted this move into a hostile signal or not cannot be decided, but it is certain that he uttered some quick, guttural words to his followers and instantly all sorts of weapons appeared as if by magic—rifles, harpoons and nogocks, or whale-killing weapons. Things began to look grave. But Jack held his ground.
He looked the chief right between the eyesand then spoke slowly, giving every word due emphasis.
"You give back all you take. We, Uncle Sam's men. Understand?"
This remark appeared to give the chief ground for reflection, for he hesitated an instant before replying. But when he did, it was in an irritated voice.
"You no give 'um,—we take."
So saying, the natives backed slowly out of the engine-room, which was flush with the deck. Jack, completely taken aback, hesitated for a moment, which gave the men time to clamber over the low sides of theYukon Roverand into their bidarkas. As Jack emerged on deck, they started paddling swiftly off.
Jack bounded into his cabin and came back with a rifle. He had no intention of shooting the men, but he wanted to give them a good scare. He had hardly raised the weapon to his shoulder before he saw the chief rise up in his wabblyskin boat and whirl his nogock. From the weapon there flew, much as a stone is projected from a sling, a sharp-barbed dart of steel.
The boy by some instinct dodged swiftly, and the barbed dart whistled by his ear and sank into the woodwork of the deck-house.
In his indignation, he discharged the rifle. The bullet must have gone uncomfortably close to the natives, although he did not aim it at them, for they fell to their paddles with feverish energy and vanished around a bend in the stream, working furiously to get out of range.
"Well," remarked Jack to himself, "our adventures are surely beginning without losing any time over it."
AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE NATIVES.
Jack hastened to the store-room and found that the wily natives in their soft-soled skin shoes had wrought great havoc there, while he, all unconsciously in the engine-room, was working without dreaming that there were unwelcome visitors on board. TheYukon Roverwas well stocked with food and there were settlements up the river where the raided stock could be replenished, but it annoyed the boy to think that the plundering rascals had had such an easy time in absconding with what they had abstracted from the steamer's larder.
"It's a lesson to keep a sharp lookout," thought the boy to himself. "In future we'll keep all bidarkas at long range unless they can give an account of themselves."
The boy went back to his work, but this time with a rifle beside him. He was still at his task when he heard voices.
"Cracky! It's those rascals coming back, I'll bet a doughnut," he exclaimed to himself excitedly.
With hands that shook a little, he picked up the rifle and prepared to give them a warm reception. As he was stepping out on deck, he collided with a figure just entering the engine-room door.
"Stop right where you are or I'll fire!" he cried out in a loud tone.
"What's the matter with you, Jack, are you crazy?" cried a voice that he instantly recognized as Tom's.
His relief was great, and as the hunting party, laden with three geese, some ducks and shore birds, came into the deck-house, explanations ensued. It appeared that the hunting party had been almost as much alarmed as Jack, for theyhad heard the report of his rifle and had hastened back at once without lingering at their sport.
Naturally Jack's tale of the occurrences during their absence aroused a good deal of indignation. Mr. Chillingworth, however, said he was not surprised. The Yukon Indians are great thieves, and it is necessary to be on constant watch against them. He was astonished, though, at Jack's story of the dart from thenogock.
"These Indians don't usually resort to anything like that," he said. "That old chief must be what the police in the Yukon country call a 'bad one.' I suppose he saw that only a boy opposed him and his men, and he intended to give you a good scare."
"Well, he succeeded all right," declared Jack, with conviction, "but I guess I managed to give him as good as he gave me. The way those bidarkas shot around that bend was a caution."
"Do you think there is any chance of their coming back again?" asked Tom. "Because ifthere is, we might give them a warm reception."
"I hardly think they'll return," said Mr. Dacre. "They were probably on their way to St. Michaels. That raid on our store-room must have been a wind-fall for them."
"Hoot! I'd take a wind-fall oot of them if I had my way," grunted Sandy. "Can't we take the dinghy" (for theRovercarried a small boat), "and get after them?"
"They are probably miles away by this time," said Mr. Chillingworth. "I guess the shot that Jack fired after them gave them considerable to think about. I doubt if they'll be in a hurry to attack another boat."
Supper, cooked on a gasolene stove in a small galley by Tom and Jack, who were quite expert as cooks, was served in the large cabin which did duty as both living and dining room.
Jack announced that his engines were once more in A1 shape, but it was decided that as they were all tired it would be better to remainwhere they were for the night. By this time the boys had become quite used to going to bed by daylight, although at first it had been a very odd sensation. They were soon asleep, and their elders, after discussing the prospects of the trip for some little time longer, followed the lads' example and sought their cabins. Before long theYukon Roverwas wrapped in slumber and silence, only the swift ripple of the current, as it ran by, breaking the stillness.
It was Tom who first opened his eyes with the indefinable but distinct idea that something was wrong. It was almost dark, so he knew that it must be after midnight. What the trouble he vaguely guessed at could be, he was at an utter loss to determine, but the feeling was so strong that he slipped on some clothes and emerged on deck.
He looked about him for a minute and almost decided that he had been the victim of one ofthose transient impressions that often come to those abruptly awakened from sleep.
But almost simultaneously with this idea the truth broke sharply upon him like a thunderclap.
"Uncle!" he shouted. "Boys! Wake up! We are drifting down stream!"
The others were awake in an instant, and in all sorts of costumes they crowded out on deck. Jack carried a rifle under the impression that they had been attacked.
"What's the matter?"
"Is it the natives again?"
"Are we attacked?"
These and half a dozen other questions assailed Tom's ears before he was enabled to point out the true state of affairs.
"We are drifting rapidly down the stream," he said. "We must be far from where we tied up."
This was unquestionably the truth. TheYukon Roverwas not only drifting on the swiftcurrent, but was near the middle of the stream where the tide was more rapid than at the sides. In the deep twilight, which is the far northern night, they could see the low-lying banks slipping by like a moving panorama.
The profound stillness rendered the scene still more impressive as the alarmed party stood thunderstruck on the deck of the castaway steamer.
"What can have happened?" demanded Jack.
"Perhaps the mooring rope broke," suggested Sandy.
"Not likely. It was a brand new one of the best manilla," declared Mr. Dacre. "There is more in this than appears."
"The first thing to do is to get out an anchor before we drift down on a sand-bar," said Mr. Chillingworth.
"Yes, it's a miracle we haven't struck one already," agreed Mr. Dacre.
The boys hustled off to get overboard the heavy spare anchor that the drifting steamercarried on her bow. But as the splash that announced that it was in the stream came to their ears and the rope began to tauten, there was a heavy shock that almost threw them all off their feet.
"Let out more rope!" cried Tom, thinking that the sudden tautening of the anchor rope had caused the shock.
"No need to do that," said Mr. Dacre, "we are anchored hard and fast."
"Where?"
"On a sand-bar."
HARD ASHORE.
It was at this juncture that Tom came aft with a rope trailing in his hand. It was the original rope. He had drawn it aboard when he discovered it dangling from the mooring bitts into the water.
"Look at this rope," he cried excitedly. "It was no accident that we went adrift."
"What do you mean?" asked Mr. Dacre.
"That it was cut."
"Cut?"
"Yes."
"How do you know that?"
"All the rope is not here. If it had slipped from the anchor we cast ashore among the rushes, or if the anchor had slipped, it would be."
"Perhaps some animal chewed it."
"We'll soon see that. Who's got a match?"
Tom struck a lucifer. As it flared up, Mr. Dacre took the end of the rope in his hand. A single glance sufficed. The rope had been severed so cleanly that there was no question that it had been done by a sharp knife. No animal's teeth could have made that neat, clean incision.
"Well, what do you think of that?" demanded Tom.
"Who could hae done it?" wondered Sandy.
"I know." Jack interjected the remark with confidence.
"Who?"
"Those natives. That bunch that raided our pantry."
"By Jove, boy, I believe you are right," declared Mr. Chillingworth. "It would be just like one of their tricks."
"Well, here we are, stuck hard and fast," said Mr. Dacre. "I suppose those natives would feelhighly gratified if they could see our predicament."
"I guess we ought to be glad that they didn't set the boat on fire," commented Jack indignantly. "I'd like to have a brief interview with them."
As an examination showed that theYukon Roverwas in no particular danger, it was decided to wait till daylight before trying to get her off the bar. In the meantime, Sandy went below and began getting up steam, for he had banked his fires during the sleeping period. The others discussed the situation.
It was plain that they had drifted some distance, though how far they had, of course, no means of estimating. Although no actual harm had been done, they naturally felt incensed against the natives, who they were certain had played the scurvy trick on them. Had the wily old chief and his followers happened along justthen, they would have met with a warm reception. Perhaps it was just as well that they did not.
After hot coffee had been served out, all hands went to work with a will to release the steamer from her sandy bed. But this proved to be no easy task. It had been hoped that she could be got off under her own power by dint of utilizing the stern wheel. But the blades of the wheel were stuck in the sand, and to have tried to work them might have crippled the ship permanently.
Another plan, therefore, was adopted. The boys got out the small boat and taking the anchor on board carried it some distance up the stream. Then they returned to the ship and began heaving with might and main on the cable, using the small capstan to do this. A cheer went up when, after about half an hour of back-breaking work, they felt theYukon Rovergive a quiver and move about an inch.
"Hurrah, boys! Keep it up! We'll soon be afloat!" cried Tom cheerfully.
Sure enough, as they worked they got the vessel further and further off the sand-bank and at last had the satisfaction of feeling her floating free. As soon as this happened, the engine was started and the steamer began bucking the current once more. The anchor was hoisted as theYukon Rovercame "up on it" and the voyage, which had been so mischievously interrupted, was resumed with great cheerfulness. About ten miles up the river they came to the spot where they had anchored the night before. The steamer was stopped and the boys went ashore to investigate. On the banks were the tell-tale marks of the keels of the bidarkas and numerous footmarks around them. The anchor was found undisturbed, with about ten feet of rope attached to it, and was brought back on board.
The resumption of the journey found them still traversing much the same kind of country as that they had hitherto steamed through. Low banks, thickly grown with alders and other water-lovingtrees, islands covered with willows, sand-bars and sluggish, outbranching sloughs innumerable.
These willow islands formed troublesome obstructions to navigation. But the outcropping willows at least served one useful purpose. They indicated the presence of sand-bars which, in some instances, lay several feet beneath the surface of water at the high stage of the river. It was not till some days later, during which time they had steadily bucked the current, only tying up for sleep, that the character of the scenery began to change and the boys felt that they were really getting into a wild country at last.
The flat banks and occasional small towns with remnants of Russian forts and occupancy about them, had been left behind. Now the banks shot up steeply above the swift current, and theYukon Roverwas called upon to test her power against the full strength of the stream.
One night,—of course, it was not dark, but "rest time,"—the travelers tied up on the northbank of the stream under a particularly precipitous mass of cliff. It towered above them like the side wall of a skyscraper. Mr. Dacre, who examined it, declared that it had once been a glacier, and there were still traces of glacial action visible upon it. The ground thereabouts was also rich in fossils and the boys obtained permission to go ashore and collect a few of these last.
They set off in high spirits, landing by the long gangplank which theYukon Rovercarried for such purposes. Shouting and laughing they made their way up through the woods till they had clambered to quite a height. All their pockets were bulging with specimens of rock formation, many of them very curious.
"Let's go over to the edge of that glacier," said Sandy, "and hae a look doon on the river. It must be a grand sight."
Nothing loath, they struck off over the rough ground under the larch and pine trees, and soonfound themselves at the edge of the sharp acclivity, which had been ground almost to the smoothness of a board by a mighty glacier centuries before. They had not climbed so far above the river as they had imagined from the laboriousness of the ascent. In fact, they were surprised to find that far from being at the top of the glacier, hundreds of feet of its extent still towered above them.
Below lay theYukon Rovertied to the bank, with the smoke wisping lazily from her funnel. Mr. Dacre and his partner sat out on deck reading. It was a peaceful scene, the silence broken only by the voice of the river as its mighty current hastened down to the sea. All at once though, the calm of the scene was rudely scattered by a loud yell from Sandy.
The Scotch lad had been amusing himself by throwing rocks down the smooth incline of the glacier, which sloped right down into the river, and watching them vanish in the current.
In the course of this amusement he had climbed up on the edge of the treacherously smooth rock chute, which was practically what it was.
"Look out there, Sandy!" warned Tom, knowing the boy's remarkable faculty for getting into trouble.
"Hoot toot! Dinna fash yersel' aboot me," returned Sandy easily, and set another rock rolling and bounding down the glacier.
As if in bravado, he clambered right up on the smooth cliff before his companions could check him. But at that instant his foot caught on a rock and he stumbled and fell.
Tom jumped forward to save him, but the lad's clothes tore from his grasp, as Sandy shot downward at a terrific speed, at the same time emitting a wild shriek of terror.
At the same instant his cry was echoed by Jack, for Tom, who had in vain sought to save his chum, now shared Sandy's misfortune andwent chuting downward to the river on the smooth rock chute at lightning speed.
"Help!" cried Jack, as if human aid could accomplish anything, "help! They'll both be killed."
"Ki-i-i-i-i-l-l-e-d!" flung back the mocking echoes from the cliffs.