The Adair County news., 1921-11-29
CHAPTER XII.
My Mate.

From the day following the arrival
AMI departure of the japanese gun
EfsSf, they attacked the little U-Shaped
gJs.Rch that lay between two buttresses
M the volcano and slOped sharply
sIeEEn to the sea. Twenty-one men, a
zsaS and a woman, they went at the
{ Fe<9oiling of it with sort of Obses-
e.ziaEra, led, rather than driven, by Lund,
rSzz7so worked among the rest of them
Mr.. a Hercules.
The mems fancy estimate of a mil
gIagr dollars began speedily to seem
ss1xEN as the work progressed, system
aI1&>ally stripping the rocky floor of all
51s shiugle, foot by foot, and cubic
zYSzrd by cubic yard, cradling it in
-rua7e rockers, f1uming it, vapOrizing
'EItE iamalgam of gold and mercury,
md adding pound after pound of
,sfraia gold to the sacks in the schoon-
szTSg strong room.
They worked at first in alternating
esESETts of four hours, by day and night.
EzxS5er the sun, the moon, the stars and
the flaming aurora. The crust was
egIYEfted here and there where it had
-szrEren into conglOmerate, and eXplod-
s4tst 10y dynamite, carefully placed so as
,EIOt 30 disledge the masses of ice that
eazerhung the schooner. Fires to
TtEEzW out the ground were unavailable
Fer sheer lack of fuel; there was no
s1rsftWood between these fOrestless
sSkTsSres. What fuel could be spared
WIS conserved for use under the boil.
saerx that melted ice to provide water
-Ser the cradles and fumes, and help
ErG cook the meals that Tamada pre-
Eys-rd out-of-doors for the workers.
Buckets of coffee, stews, and thick
sssREsps OF peas and lentils masses of
b<sRHs with plenty Of fat pork, these
TSune what they craVed after hours of
tremendous endeavor. Despite the
@7sSsb, they sweated profusely at their
Tasks stripping off over garments as
lEzkeg picked and shoveled or crow
ASGEred out the rich gravel.
Through all of it Lund was supreme
s7ax working superintendent. There was
gEIsE job that he could not, did not, handle
&0Sacter than any two of them, and
Though Rainey could see a shrinkage,
NJ q compression, of his bulk, as day
try day he called upon it for heroic
sssszrEice, he never seemed to tire. Got
I'm Seep 'em at it." he would say in the
e=E1in. "NO time to Iose an the odds
s2fG against us, in a way. Barring
A3Hck. That's what we got to count
MI but We don't want them thinkin'
E-EsHE If the weather don't break-an'
-IF6ak jest right-aS soon as we've
cleaned up, were stung. Though I'll
s&E-St a way out of this shore ice, If
r. ZONES to the worst | saved out
aSs,SBe dynamite on purpose"
With Lund handling all of the
"nEen as a unit, it was not long before
TEEae shoVels began to scrape on the
iER&re rock that underlay the gravel at
EtIsse edge, and work swiftly back to
lLsH end Of the U. The outdoors
5IEztchen had been established on top of
IND the beach, primitive arrange
nent of big pots slung from tripods
spger fires kindled on a fiat area that
y-E3s partly sheltered from the sea and
sEae prevailing winds by outcrops of
THeathered lava.
1At dawn the men trooped from the
schooner to be fed and warmed, and
E.55ssn they flung themselves at their
ASK. tThE more they got out the
lE-ore there was in it for them. But
Land was their overlOrd, their better,
~ERd they knew it. Only Deming
worked with one hand the handle of
Tae force bellows, or fed the fires, and
saeered.
EGn the fifteenth day, with the work
saetter than half done, with more than
n tUnaGf actual gold in cOlors, that
zzanged from -four dust to nuggets, in
s1sR Strong-roOm, the weather began to
z-famge. 1t miSted continually, and
EIand, rejoicing, prophesied the break
Eng up of the cold snap.
By the eighteenth day a regular
sHhinOOk was blowing, melting the
snsrper outlines of the icy crags and
ry3T1nacles, and providing streams of
moisture that, in the nights now grad
Szzlty growing longer, glazed every yard
II rock with peril.
The men worked in a muck with
.a51eir rubber sea-boots worn out by
.asanstant chafng, sweaters torn, the
szadeS of their shovels reduced by the
-Esrk demanded of them, the drills,
ssEaSrtened by steady sharpening, gone
like the spare flesh of the laborers,
~aszno, at last, began to show signs of
>SEz6cker and quicker exhaustion with
<aocasional mutterings of discomfort,
-Vshile Lund, intent upon cleaning of
rsEze rock as a dentist cleans a
-<<znnnbling tooth, coaxed and cursed,
SaEzrned and praised and bullied, and
ezzd the actual work Of three of them.