The Arvada enterprise., 1911-04-27


Der of the crew. or course II we'd
had any reason to act contrary. we'd
have done so. And that's why It
seemed to us-to me, l would say.
that you probably had some reason
In this case, here. And, well-we'd
like to know what It Is"
But the man he had addressed as
, Roscoe" strobe on with unabated
pace, as II he had not heard For any
attention he paid to his questioner he
might have been alone In that OK
panse Of Ice and sky.
Planck accepted the silent rebufr AS
II 1t had been only what no had ex-
pected. but he sighed regretfully. He
had once known. and It was only four
years ago, that same staggering trick
OF contemptuous authority himself
He had been master, tho most tyran-
nical sort OF master, some say. to be
found anywhere in the world tho
captain OF an American whaler. And
this very man. at whose heels he was
sorambling along over the Ice. had
been one OF his crew. had never ap-
preached the quarterback where he
reigned supreme. without an apollo
getic hand at his forelock, and had
always passed to the leeward side Of
him up on the deck.
But the Walrus had been destined
never to see port again She fingered
too lone on the whaling grounds to
get back through Behring strait that
fall: and failed in the attempt to
make Mckenzie bay. where other
whalers in similar plight put In for the
winter Instead OF this friendly har.
Dor, she was caught In the pack and
carried. relentlessly, north and west
ward. The milling pressure Of great
masses OF ice crushed in her stout
hull, 80 that the open water they had
been hoping for. became, at once,
their deadliest peril The moment the
Ice broke away. she would 20 to the
bottom like plummet.
But still the slow. Irresistible drift
OF the ice-pack carried them north and
west into n latitude and longitude
which. so far as they knew. no human
travellers had ever crossed before.
And then In the depth OF the arctic
night, bereft Of hope. and half mutin.
GUS. they found a land that never had
been charted. and, most marvellous OF
all, human welcome. For here on
the shore were Captain Fielding and
the two other survivors OF his III.
fated expedition.
The fate OF the explorers ship had
been, 1t seemed. precisely that Of the
Walrus. She had been caught in the
pack, crushed In 1t and carried against
this coast Before the coming OF
spring. and with II tho breaking OF
the ice, Fielding and his mon had been
able to carry their stores ashore. and
OF these. tho greater part still re.
NAMED
or the Walrus people, in all, there
were IL. and these. with the three
original castaways, settled down to
the prospect OF an indefinite number
OF years upon that nameless coast.
We can live like Christians" Cap
tain Fielding had said. "and we can
always hope"
His superior knowledge Of arctic
conditions made him, rather than Cap.
tain Planck. naturally commander OF
the little company. He established
the regimen Of their life, doled out
the store from day to day, and, AZ
best he could. through that long win.
ter night, provided entertainment for
the forlorn little group. He told them
OF his explorations on the coast OF the
lay OF the land, OF what they might
hope to see when the sun should
come back to them. marking the be
ginning OF another long arctic day.
Among other things. quite casually
he told them OF ledge In the hills.
across the glacier, which contained,
he believed. the most extraordinary
deposit OF gold In the world So In.
credlbly rich was IT, that tho rock
Itself had almost been replaced by
solid metal The Alaska gold he said,
was only the sweepings, in his opin-
ion, Of this Immense store.
At the sound OF the word "yold /" the
eyes OF the man named Roscoe had
frightened for the first time since
'hey had taken him shiyerIng from
his long immersion IN the cold water.
aboard tho Walrus He drew into the
circle that sat about the reading lamp,
and began asking questions Gold was
something he knew about. He had
mined 1t in Australia, In California,
and In tho Klondlke. He questioned
Captain Fielding about tho exact
whereabouts OF the ledge, about tho
sort OF ore II occurred In, and about
the best means OF cutting II out.
To some extent his own excitement
Infected tho others Even Captain
Planok, whose only woll.understood
form Of wealth was whale bubber, be,
gan TO take an interest In Roscoen
questions and in tho explorers an.
swers to them.
II was n strange and rather pathetic
sort Of excitement, Captain Fielding
thought To them. in their practical.
ly hopeless plight. gold was about the
least useful thing they could find: not
hard sppuQb b., TIN i,p,,a -. ,.......,..