The Irish standard., 1911-08-05
". Where is he going to take

steadily. Where is he going to take
them?"
Cant you guess that? He's going
to lead them into Fog lake, of course"
The thought of it made Plancks
teeth chatter. Fog lake was. perhaps.
the most curious natural phenomenon
upon that strange arctic land-a little
cup-shaped valley, from which the fog
never lifted-had never lifted once in
all the four years they had lived there.
On days when the rest Of the land
was clear, the fog hung there, half
way up the side of the hills, so that
| from the ridges surrounding 1t 1t real
ly looked like strange vapory sea.
They had explored the edges of 1t,
| fearsomely, at times, but had never
penetrated far enough to learn the
secret Of its mystery, If it had one.
| And them" Planck asked
"Why, they'll send out relief party
| from the yacht, of course The yachts
people know what rations the search
Ing party took with them, and when
they don't come back in two days,
| they'll probably set out from the
yacht with every able-bodied man on
board, and try to find the first party
and bring it in. AS soon Us they are
we'll out of hearing, we take the
yacht We may not find living soul
aboard her; and we certainly can't
leave one there. But we'll steam up
and take our gold aboard-all our
| gold. And then, well-theres where
you'll come in"
but what then, man? My God!
what then? Do you suppose we can
60 steaming into San Francisco, or
/ any other port in the world, with all
that gold In our hull and another cap
tain's log and papers? We might Just
! as we'll hang ourselves from our own
! crow-jack yard"
II hope your wits will improve when
you get deck under your feet" Ros-
coe growled. ION land here you're
about as much good as pelican in
a foot race. No, your sailing orders
won't be San Francisco nor any 9TH
err port that has such a thing as
revenue officer about. But you ought
to know the north coast line over
there as far east as Mckenzie bay.
You must know some harbor there
where we can lie up for the winter
and not be bothered"
YES" said Planck, II could take
the yacht to such place as that
There's a very good harbor in behind
Hirshel island. But what will we do
when we get thcre?"
After that, it's my affair."" said
Roscoe. We'll winter on the yacht
Then when the weather begins to
loosen up bit, but before the spring
thaws, we'll land our gold and our
stores; cache all the gold, except
what we can carry over the trail, say,
about 500 pounds Of It, and we'll leave
the yachts seacocks open, so that
when the ice goes out, she'll scuttle
herself. We shall probably find
sledges, and perhaps a pony or two,
on the yacht. If we do, it will be
easy. It's only short hike to one
of the tributaries of the Porcupine
river. Once we reach the Porcupine,
1t will be easy, for 1t flows into the
Yukon, and that's as good as rail-
way line. Well make raft and float
all the way down to Saint Michaels
with no trouble at all. The gold we
have with us will be enough to take
US down to Vancouver, and there we
can charter ship. You take command
of her, and we go north through the
straits again that very summer-ncxt
summer that will be, Of course We
20 back to the harbor where we left
the yacht. You can figure out tho
rest for yourself, guess"
Yes" said Planck. TITS all very
"ell--only won't there be a good
many to trust that sort of secret to?"
Roscoe looked at him with a savage
sort Of grin. Come, you're improving.
But that hike across the mountains 10
the upper tributaries of the Porcupine
Is hard trail. There aren't likely to
be many Of us left by the time we
get started floating down open water
When we get to the Yukon 1t won't
be surprising If there isn't anybody
left at all, but you and me-"
Planck caught his meaning quickly
enough. indeed, dnller man could
have read 1t in Roscoe's savage light
blue eyes: and the thought made his
teeth chatter. He would have felt a
deadlier terror. perhaps, could he
have read the thought that lay at the
bottom Of Roscoe's mind. The gold
hunter was not much Of a sailor but
he felt confident that on the broad
stretches Of the Yukon he could navf-
gate raft alone.