The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1921-11-14


edged HIM as master, Dur mey sun re
belled In spirit.
There's the island" said Lund. |
'sWen make IL afore shutdown. The
beach is there. waitin' for us TO dig II /
( up. TIN be some job. don't reckon
It's frozen hard, on'y crusted- II 1t IS
we'll bust the crust with dynamite |
But we got TO hop TO IL. Therell be
another cold spell after this one peters
ont an the next is like TO be perma-
nent. I want the gold washed out
afore then. an us well down the
strait It's up TO you TO hump yore-
selves, an I'll help the humpIn'.
"wem cradle most OF the stuff an
if they's time, wen nume the silt tail
ms for the fine dust Providin' we
can git a fall Of water. Therell be
plenty for all hands TO do. An the
shares go as first fixed. I amt ex-
pectfn' you to do the diggin' an not
Git a pinch or two Of the dust"
The mems faces lighted, and they
| shuffled about, looking at one another
with grins Of relief.
"No cheersT asked Lund Ironically
wall. I hardly expected emmy. Han
son, you'll be one of the foremen. with
pay accordin'. Deming."
81 can't dig" said the hunter trucu-
lently Neither can Beale. with his
| ribs"
You've got q sweet nerve" said
/ Lund. 81 reckon you've won enough
| to be sure of yore shares. II the boys
/ pay up. Enough for you TO do some
! diggin' in yOre pockets for Beale. His
ribs 'ud be whole If you hadn't started
TIE boIshevik stunt. But I'll find
something for both Of you to do. Don't
| let that worry you none.
We've got mercury aboard some
where" Lund continued, to Rainey,
when the men had dispersed. far more
cheerful than they had gathered.
"We'I use that for concentration in
the film rifles. Hansen'n have rock
ers made that'll catch the big stuff
/ If the worst comes TO the worst, Wen
/ load up the old hooker with the pay
dirt an wash II out on the way home
/ I'll strip that beach down to bedrock
| if I have to work the toes an fingers
| off EN-"
BY noon the schooner was glazed
in as firmly as a toy model that is
| mounted in a glass sea. The wind
blew itself entirely out, but the cur.
rent bore them steadily on to the
clamorOus shore. where the swells
were creating promontories, bays
cliffs and chasms in the piled-up con.
fusion of the foes pounding on the
rocks, breaking up or sliding atop one
another in noisy confusion.
The marble-whiteness Of the ice
masses was set of by the blues ant
soft violets Of their shadows, and By
pearly sheen wherever the planes
caught the light at q proper slant for
the play of prisms. Beautiful as 1t
: was, the sight was fearful to Rainey,
in common with the crew. Only Lund
surveyed it nOnchalantly.
Its Dustin up fast" he said. "All
we need is little luck. II we aih't
: got that there's no use Of worryin'
/. We blast ourselves out o. this
without riskin' the schooner. We
ought to be thankful we frOze In gen
tie. There amt plank started. The
flOe'll fend us off. There amt emmy
big chunks emmy way near us aft. Luck
to make a decent landin'-is all we
need, an it's my bunch it's comm ouI
way"
His "hunch" was correct. Though
they did not actually make the little
, bay on which the treasure beach de
bouched, they fetched up near II
against a broken hill of Ice that haC
lodged on the sharp slopes Of a little
q prOmontory, making the connection
Q without further damage than q split
ting of the forward end Of their en-
f leasing foe, with hardly a Jar to thu
KarlHk.
Lund sent men ashore over the Ice
climbing to the promOntory crags witt
hawsers by which they tied u
schooner, foe and all, to the land.
t the broken hill suffered further catas
: trophe, which did not seem likely, II
e fragments would fall upon the foe
s In case of emergency Lund orders
men told or day and night to stand b
, the hawsers, to cast loose or cut, a
the extremity needed.
| 1t was dark before they wer
snugged. The men volunteered
through Hansen, to commence diggin
| that night by the light of big fire.
| so crazy were they at the nearness q
| the gold. But Lund forbade it.
| You'll work reg'lar shifts when 20
! git started" he said. "An' you won
n start till termorrer. We've got
\ stand by the ship ternight until "
u find out by mornin' how snug WEI
goin' to be berthed."
All night long they lay In q PAL
II demonium of noise. After a viii
they would become used TO IT US q
a the workers in a stampmiIl, but tbs
VI night IT deafened them, kept the
4 awake and alert, fearful. with the IT
"A mendUus cannonading. The bit Of ii
IL frost made the timbers of the Kprlu
IN creak and its thrust continual
III worked among the stranded mass'
II with grooming thunders and shri
= grindingS, while the surf ever BOONE
= on the resonant sheets of Ice.
!. Dawn came before they were awal
= of it, a sudden rush of light that Sfl
q the ice in every hue of red and orang
that tipped the frozen coast Wi