The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1921-11-16

A Man To
His Mate
J. ALLEN Dunn
Illustrations BY
Irwin Myers
cosyrsla Bosss lsarMcA
CHATTER XII.

From the day following the arrival
and departure of the japanese gun
boat, they attacked the little U-shaped
beach that lay between two buttresses
of the volcano and sloped sharply
down to the sea. Twenty-one men, a
lad and O. woman, they went at the
despoiling Of it with a sort Of obses-
sion, led, rather than driven, by Lund,
who worked among the rest Of them
like Hercules
The mems fancy estimate of a mil
lion dollars began speedily to seem
small as the work progressed, system
atically stripping the rocky floor of all
its shingle. foot by foot, and cubic
yard by cubic yard, grading 1t In
crude rockers. fuming 1t, vaporizing
the amalgam of gold and mercury.
and adding pound after pound of
virgin gold to the sacks In the schoon-
er's strong room.
They worked at first in alternating
shifts of four hours, by day and night,
under the sun, the moon, the stars and
the flaming aurora. The crust was
drifted here and there where 1t had
frozen into conglOmerate, and explod-
ed by dynamite, carefully placed so as
not to dislcdge the masses OF Ice that
overhung the schooner. Fires TO
thaw out the ground were unavailable
for sheer lack Of fuel; there was no
driftwood between these forestless
shores. What fuel could be spared
was conserved for use under the boil.
ers that melted ice TO provide water
for the cradles and fumes, and help
to cook the meals that Tamada pre-
pared out doors for the workers.
Buckets of coffee, stews, and thick
soups of peas and lentils, masses OF
beans with plenty Of fat pork. these
were what they craved after hours of
tremendous endeavor. Despite the
cold, they sweated profusely at their
tasks stripping of over-garments as
they picked and shoveled or crow
barred out the rich gravel.
Through all of 1t Lund was supreme
as working superintendent. There was
no job that he could not, did not, handle
better than any two OF them, and
though Rainey could see shrinkage,
or q compression, Of his bulk. as day
by day he called upon It for heroic
service, he never seemed to tire. "Got
to keep 'em at it," he would say in the
cabin. "No time to lose, an the odds
all against US, In a way. Barring
Luck. That's what we got to count
on, but we don't want them thinkin
that. If the weather don't break-an
break jest right-as soon as we've
cleaned up, we're stung. Though II
blast a way out OF this shore Ice, Il
1t comes to the worst. I saved Ou'
some dynamite on purpose"
With Lund handling all Of thu
men as unit, 1t was not long before
the shovels began to scrape on thu
bare rock that underlay the gravel a
| tide edge, and work swiftly back tt
the end of the U. The outdoor
kitchen had been established on top o
the promontory between the schoone
and the beach, a primitive arrange
ment of big pots slung from tripod
/ over fires kindled on a fiat area tina
was partly sheltered from the sea ant
the prevailing winds by outcrops o
weathered lava.
/ At dawn the men trooped from tn
schooner to be fed and warmed, nm
then they flung themselves at thei
task. The more they got out tn
more there was In it for them. Blu
Lund was their overload. their bettel
and they knew ii. Only Denim
worked with one hand the handle o
the force bellows, or fed the fires. an
sneered.
/ On the fifteenth day, with the wor
better than half done, with more tina
a ton of actual gold in colOrs. tha
ranged from -four dust to nuggets.
the strong-room, the weather began I
change. 1t misted continually, an
Lund, rejoicing, prophesied the breal
! ing up of the cold snap.
BY the eighteenth day regula
Chinook was blowing, melting I'll
sharper outlines of the Icy crags an
ninnaeles, and providing streams
moisture that, In the nights now graz
ually growing longer, gtazed every yaf
of rock with peril.
The men worked in a muck wit
their rubber sea-boots worn out
constant chatting, sweaters taFn, Il
blades Of their shovels reduced by IL
!, work demanded of them, the drill
shortened by steady sharpening, gor
ike the spare flesh of the laborer
who, at last, began to show signs
quicker and quicker exhaustion vii
occasional mutterings OF dlsconten
> while Lund. intent upon cleaning c
the rock as 8 dentist cleans
crumbling tooth. coaxed and curse
|. blamed and praised and sbullied, al
did the actual work of three OF thel
!. Dead with fatigue. filed with foo
I drowsy from the liberal grog allo,
ance AT the end of the day, the m,
slept in a torpor every night al
showed less Inclination TO respon
. though the end of their labprs was
most in sighk,
ssWhat's the use. we got enough
s was the comment beginning to
( heard more and more frequent
sLund, he's got more'n he can spe
! In a lifetime!' %
Rainey could not trace these M
terings to Deming's instigatiOn.
I Rur%a~