The St. Charles herald., 1922-04-15
COPYRIGHT BoBBS MERRILL co.

skylight. Their faces were eager with
the proximity of the gold, yet half
sullen as they waited to hear what
Lund had to say. Since the attempt
against him Lund had said nothing
about their shares. They acknowl-
edged him as master, but they still re-
belled in spirit.
There's the island" said Lund.
well make 1t afore sundown. The
beach is there, waitin' for us to dig it
up. It'll be some job. l don't reckon
it's frozen hard, on'y crusted. If it is
we'll bust the crust with dynamite.
But we got to hop to 1t. There'H be
another cold spell after this one peters
out an the next is like to be perma-
nent. / want the gold washed out
afore then, an us well down the
stmit. It's up to you to hump yore-
selves. an I'll help the humpin'.
"WeIl cradle most of the stuff an,
if they's time, we'll flume the silt tail
ms for the fine dust. PrOvidin' we
can git a fall of water. There1l be
plenty for all hands to do. An the
shares 60 as first fixed. / amt ex-
pectin' you TO do the diggin' an not
git a pinch Or two of the dust"
The mems faces lighted, and they
shuffied about, looking at one another
with grins Of relief.
"No cheers?" asked Lund ironically.
"Wall l hardly expected emmy. Han,
son, you'll be one Of the foremen. with
pay accordin'. Deming."
II can't dig" said the hunter trucu-
| lently. Neither can Beale, with his
ribs"
you've got sweet nerve" said
Lund II reckon you've, won enough
to be sure of yore shares, If 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
the bolshevik 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
"We1l use that for concentration in
| the film rifles. Hansen'll have rock.
| ers made that'l catch the big stuff
If the worst comes to the worst, We'll
load up the old hooker with the pay
dirt an wash 1t out on the way home
| I'll strip that beach down to bedrock
| if have to work the toes an fingers
off 'em."
| By noon the schooner was glazed
| in as firmly as 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 off by the blues and
soft violets OF their shadows, and by
pearly sheen wherever the plane:
caught the light at proper slant fol
| the play Of prisms. Beautiful as II
was, the sight was fearful to Rainey
in common with the crew. Only Lunt
surveyed it nonchalantly.
"It's Dustin up fast" he said. "Al
we need is a little luck. If we AIM
| got that there's no use Of worryin'
/ We can't blast ourselves out O thi!
without riskin' the schooner. W.
ought to be thankful we froze in gen
tie. There amt plank started. Th'
floell fend us off. There amt enn!
big chunks emmy way near us aft. Lucl
Ito make a decent landin'-is all W.
need, an it's my hunch it's comm oi
way"
His ''hunch" was correct. Thougl
they did not actually make the littl'
bay on which the treasure beach de
bouched, they fetched up near |
against q broken hill Of Ice that hat
lodged on the sharp slopes Of littl
promontory, making the connection
without further damage than split
ting of the forward end Of their en-
casing foe, with hardly jar to tn
Karluk.
Lund sent men ashore over the Ice
climbing to the promontory crags wit
hawsers by which they tied u
schooner, foe and all. to the land.
the broken hill suffered further catas
trophe, which did not seem likely. 1t
fragments would fall upon the Hot
In case Of emergency Lund ordere
men told OF day and night to stand b
the hawsers, to cast loose or cut, q
the extremity needed.
It was dark before they wer
snugged. The men volunteeret
through Hansen, to commence diggin
that night by the light of ig fire.
so crazy were they at the nearness
the gold. But Lund forbade it.
"You'n work reg'lar shifts when 70
git started" he said. San you won
start till termorrer. We've got
stand by the ship ternight until "
find oat by mornin' how snug we'r
goin' to be berthed."
Il All night long they lay in a pal
demonium of noise. After a Will
they would become used to 1t as d
the workers in stampmiil. but 'lis
night 1t deafened them, kept thel