The Tupelo journal., 1912-02-02

AnSIo ec pEOVduiy t0u epIo-pOole0
men left on the yacht. That's not
good enough odds, considering the
way they're armed. But about an
hour ago / sent Miguel down to the
shore party to be their guide. He
isn't going to say anything much to
them, but what he says will be
enough, ] reckon. He's to pretend he's
dotty and can't understand what they
say to him"
Planck's eyes widened a little and
he did not ask his next question very
steadily. Where is he going to taIe
shem?"
Cant you guess that? He's going
to lead them into Fog lake, Of course"
The thought OF it made Planck's
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.
was clear. the fog hung there. half
way up the side of the hills, 80 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 it's mystery, II It had one.
And Them" Planck asked.
"Why, they'll send out a 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-Dodied man on
board. and try to nnd the hrst party
and bring II In. As soon as they are
well out of hearing, we take the
yacht. We may not find living soul
aboard her; and we certainly can't
leave one there. But well steam up
and take cur gold aboard-all our
gold. And then, wsll-there's where
you'll come In"
But what then, man! Ny Cod.
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. "On land here you're
Oh IN
foot race. No, your sailing orders
won't be San Francisco, nor any 9TH
er port that has such thing as a
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, 81 could take
the yacht to such a place as that.
There's q very good harbor in behind
Hirshel island. But what will we do
when we get there!"
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, ehe'll scuttle
herself. We shall - probably find
sledges, and perhaps po2y or two.
on the yacht. II 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 it flows into the
Yukon. and that's as good as rail-
way line. Well make raft and hoat
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 q ship. You take command
Of her, and We 90 north through the
straits again that very summer-next
summer that will be. of course. We
90 back to the harbor where we left
the yacht. You can figure out the
rest for yourself, guess"
Yes" said Planck. ITS all very
well-only won't there be good
many to trust that sort of secret to-"
Roscoe looked at him with savage
sort of grin Come, you're improving.
But that hike across the mountains to
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, a dul)er man could
have read it In Roscoe's savage light
blue eyes: and the thought made his
teeth chatter. He would have felt
deadlier terror. perhars, could he.
have read the thought that lay at the
bottom of Roscoe's mind. The gold
hunter was not much Of q sailor. but
he felt confident that on the broad
stretches of the Yukon he could Aavi-
gate a raft alone.