The Young Alaskans by Emerson Hough (love books to read txt) 📕

enough when finally the Bennington steamed majestically through the narrow mouth of Kaludiak Bay—the first steamer ever to awaken the echoes there—and finally swung to her anchor at a point indicated by the Aleut chief.

But to the whistle there came no answer of a rifle-shot, no signal fluttered, and no smoke was seen. The Aleut chief now became genuinely frightened as he pointed out the landing-place opposite to the barabbara, which, of course, could not be seen by reason of the low sea-wall.

The rattle of the davit blocks followed that of the anchor chains as a bow boat was launched.

“Go aboard, Mr. Cummings!” said Captain Stephens. “Take Mr. Hazlett and this old chief, and don’t you come back without those boys! They’re only out hunting somewhere, or else they’d have a fire going.”

As the bow of the boat grated on the shingle Mr. Hazlett sprang ashore, and, under guidance of the Aleut, hastened over the sea-wall and across the flat to the barabbara. All was deserted and silent! No smoke issued from the roof, and not the slightest sound was to be heard. No boat appeared at the shore of the lagoon. The Aleut chief threw himself on the ground and began to chant.

Mr. Hazlett kicked open the door of the hut and pushed in, searching the half-dark interior. Only the whitened ashes showed a former human occupancy. It was not until, in his despair, he had turned to leave that he saw, fastened by a peg to the inside of the door, a brief note on a bit of paper.

“Mr. Richard Hazlett,” it read. “All well. We sailed about July 30th. Love to the folks.” Signed to this were the names of the three boys.

“God bless them!” he muttered. “They knew I’d come! Why did I not come soon enough! But where did they sail—which way—and what has become of them?”

He turned to the grovelling native.

“You lying coward!” said he. “Take me to them now, or by the Lord you’ll swing for it! Do you hear?”

The old man wept bitterly. “My boys go, too,” he wailed. “Bad mans go, maybe so! Maybe so all dead now!”

In answer he was caught by the arm and hastened back to the gravely waiting boat crew. It was a saddened party which reported the truth on board the Bennington.

“Get under way, Mr. Cummings!” ordered Captain Stephens. “We’ve not lost them yet. The writing is pretty fresh on that note. We haven’t passed them anywhere below, and they must be on their way back to Kadiak.”

Without delay the Bennington once more took up her course and, emerging from the mouth of Kaludiak, headed northward up the east side of the island. Within ten miles the sharp-eyed Aleut detected a flat bit of beach, and the interpreter suggested that a boat be sent ashore to examine it, as it was sometimes used as a camping-place. When the lieutenant returned he reported that he had found poles cut not long before and used as a shelter support. A fire had been built not more than a week ago, in his belief. It might or might not be the camping-place of the missing boys.

The face of Captain Stephens brightened. “Of course it’s those boys!” he said. “I tell you, those youngsters are sailors. We’ll find them all lined up on Kadiak dock waiting for us—and me obliged to report to Washington that I’ve spent two months with this vessel hunting for them! God bless my soul!” However, it was satisfaction and not anxiety which caused his eyes to glisten.

Precautions were not ceased, and the boats continued to comb out every open bay which could not be searched with the ship’s glasses. Finally they reached the mouth of Eagle Harbor, near the entrance to which the boats discovered yet another camp-fire, probably marking the limits of another day’s journey of the young voyagers.

“Plucky little dogs—plucky!” grumbled the captain. “They’re not old women like you, Hazlett! They can take care of themselves all right!”

The interpreter stepped up. “The old man says there’s a village at the head of this harbor,” he began. “Says there may be a few people living there, though most of them have likely gone to the fisheries. He thinks the village ought to be examined.”

“Go in with the boat, Mr. Cummings!” ordered Captain Stephens. “It’ll keep you overnight. As for me, I don’t dare risk the tide-rips between these rocks and that big island over there—which must be Ugak Island, I suspect. I’m going to drop back and go outside that island, and to-morrow I’ll meet you thirty miles up the coast. Comb out the bay! If the boys have left the village they’ve very likely sailed for the opposite point of this bay, and maybe you’ll get word of them at one place or the other.”

XXXIII SAVED!

It was a night of anxiety and expectation on the Bennington, and, as the cutter swung at anchor north of the bold and dangerous point of Ugak Island, every one on board was astir at early dawn.

“Boat on the larboard bow, sir!” reported an ensign, soon after Captain Stephens was known to be awake in his cabin.

“What boat is it?” inquired the latter, eagerly, throwing open the dead-light of his room and gazing out along the shore.

“It’s our boat, sir, with Lieutenant Cummings.”

“Any passengers aboard?”

“I’m afraid not, sir.”

The captain slammed shut the dead-light and turned moodily to his desk. He did not seem to enjoy the breakfast which one of the cook’s men presently brought to him.

“Tell Lieutenant Cummings to report as soon as he comes aboard,” he commanded.

Lieutenant Cummings, however, far from being discouraged, was much elated when he appeared, smiling, at the captain’s door.

“They slept at the village, sir,” he said. “Five persons in all. Everybody’s gone from the village but one or two old people, and these report that the boys came in there for water and to see what news they could get. They had a young native boy with them and a full-grown Aleut. They put him in irons—”

“Put him in irons!” roared Captain Stephens. “God bless my soul! Those young rascals will be sending out to look after us before long! Sailors!—and they’ve got a man in irons!”

“They say the Aleut was afraid to go to town,” resumed the lieutenant, “and tried to escape. They halted him and kept him under guard all night. The five of them left yesterday about noon, and as they were seen not far from the mouth of the bay toward evening, they’re very likely camped not far around the point yonder, sir.”

“Get under way!” ordered Captain Stephens. “I’ve got a little professional pride about this thing, and I don’t want those youngsters to beat the Bennington into port! Full speed ahead!”

Half an hour later the Bennington poked her nose around the next bold promontory of the east coast of Kadiak. One more broad bay lay before them.

Tossing up and down on the waves, half-way or more across, was a small, dark object!

The eyes of the old Aleut were first to discover this, and he began to shout and gesticulate as several pairs of glasses were turned upon it. Old Captain Stephens broke out in a string of nautical ejaculations, which need not be printed in full. “Look at that!” he cried. “Talk about sailors! See ’em go! They wouldn’t reef a point if they could—and I guess they can’t, for they seem to have a board or something for a sail. And they’ve got leeboards down. They’ve got two oars out for steering-gear. By the great horn spoon! Cummings, crack on more steam or they’ll beat us to New York! Why, dash my eyes, Hazlett, you old woman, didn’t I tell you you couldn’t lose those boys?”

The gentleman whom he addressed smiled rather crookedly but could find no speech.

The whistle of the Bennington roared out three times in salute. At once the distant dory came about and laid a long tack to intercept the course of the cutter. In a few minutes she was within hailing distance. The crew of the Bennington were along the rail, and without orders they greeted the young sailors with a cheer.

“By gad!” said Captain Stephens, turning away. “It’s worth a couple of months of Uncle Sam’s time to see a thing like that. There’s where we get our men! Safe? Humph!”

Rob, John, and Jesse, all ragged and bare-headed, stood up in the pitching dory, calling out and waving their hands. First they passed up their prisoner, and an instant later they were on board and in the middle of excited greetings. These over, they hurriedly explained the events covering the strange situations which have been recounted in our earlier pages. Meantime, Skookie was standing silently and stolidly at the side of his father, who made no such great excitement over him. The boys now introduced him, with the highest praise for his faithfulness and a plea that something be done for his reward.

“So far as that is concerned,” said Mr. Hazlett, “every decent native concerned in this shall have more than justice done to him. I’ll put the boy into the Mission School at Wood Island, if he likes, and he shall have all the clothes he needs, and something besides. It’s lucky for this bunch of natives that we don’t put them all in jail. How about this man they tell me you’ve been keeping prisoner?” continued Uncle Dick.

“Please, sir,” said Rob, earnestly, “don’t be hard with him. I’m not sure that we understand all about the way these natives think. He tried to get away from us, and we tied him up because we needed him as a pilot. We didn’t know the way back to town, you see, because when we came down the coast it was all in a fog and we couldn’t see anything.”

“Rather risky pilot, from what I hear,” commented Uncle Dick.

“I believe he was more scared than anything else,” went on Rob. “He never really made us any trouble, and he did a lot of work for us for which we have promised him pay. We’ve got to keep our word to all these people, you know. But, if you please, we’d rather pay money to them than to give up our rifles; and we’d like Jesse’s rifle back.”

“That will be easy,” said Uncle Dick. “All these people will count themselves fortunate. But what a lot of them we’ll have to ship back down the coast to Old Harbor—I suppose we’ll have to charter a schooner for that!”

“I say, Uncle Dick,” broke in John, eagerly, “if you send a schooner down, couldn’t we boys go along with her?”

Uncle Dick looked at him quizzically for a moment.

“You could not!” he answered, briefly.

 

 

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