The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1910-04-06

voted to his cause they naturally were glad of any
thing that tended to bind Wilkins closer to them
selves.
And so the voyage wore on.
CHAPTER XIII
RLACK and high, the islands of the Aland Archi
- peago rise out of the Baltic. All winter long
they lie bound about with ice, their iron rocks ring
ing in the chill air. With the spring. the ice borne
southwark by the waking streams of the north
grinds past them, scraping and tearing, rending all
that lies in it's path. The short summer follows
when the great bowl OF the Baltic rocks to the hor
like molten gold; when the black rocks take on
coat OF living green; and the sea birds
they flash through the surf that breaks against them
tears through the narrow channels between.
On the eastern edge OF the archipelago two islands
rise, Burndo and vono, Samese twins, whose tie has
not been wholly severed. The channel between them
lies almost east and west and not north and south
and SO has been spared the full of the annual
ice flood. Cut deep down at each seward end, in
the middle dixie of harder rock yet persists
against the inevitable, and at low tide turns the
channel into inles that nearly touch each other
Into the western inlet driven by her slowing
gnes, and urged by waves and tide, the Orkney had
sped two years before; had impaled herself upon
sunken rock; and shuddering backward, had sunk
with her living and her dead and her million pounds
sterling of gold.
No eye had seen her sink. The little fishing vii
lage of Burndo scattered along the western inlet
close to the central neck, had slept soundly ulled
by the roar of the wind. The Waterman at the bea
con tower on the heights of Ivono island had dozed
not watching If cries from the sinking ship;
if men battled for life in the SURF if the
When morning dawned the Orkney lay ten fathoms
deep, and the wreckage and bodies belonging to her.
caught in the tide, had been swept far toward
Copenhagen and the vast Atlantic. Two succeeding
winters had torn her masts away and ravshed her
upper decks of all their superstructure But the hull
lay intact, buried far beneath the green water
For five days the Sea Spume had lain moored
close to the head of the channel within sight of the
village of Burndo, while the divers brought along by
Marie Fitzhugh searched the bottom hour after hour
until the last ray of daylight had vanished One of
them really scientific assistant and to him
allotted the task of making such observations
and collecting such specimens would naturally
have been desired by Professor Shishkin had the
ject of the expedition actually been that which it
purpored to be. Indeed, so far as the professor
concerned, the work conducted in good faith
the researches planned really being in exact line
with his longchershed ambitions
The other two divers under direction of Captain
Wilson. commander of the Sea Spume, who had
before, lost no time in setting about their search
for the wreck. In less than half hour after the
Sea Spume in position they hard at work
at the bottom of the inlet.
1t not expected that the search would
be brief The inlet Cor high tide channeD
though comparatively small. large as compared
with the Orkney. Its bottom rocky, with irreg
ular humps and unexpected holes. making search
slow and difficult Even if the unlucky steamer had
upon TO beach ITSELF it must have slipped back
and been carried by the current to greater less
distance-just how far no one could predict. The
divers might chance it at their first descent,
might not discover 1T for week more. And after
it was found would the toilsome task of sal
yaging the gold. Five million dollars would weigh
about ten tons. and, lightened it would be
by being in the water it would not be the work of
a day to move it, if it could be readily
at, which improbable.
The adventures had laid their plans with full
knowledge of these facts. Had there been any