The spectator., 1922-03-14
COPYRIGHT BoBBs MERRILL co.

Skyilgnt. Inelr faces were eager With the proximity of the gold, yet half sulien 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 ir spirit
 There's the island" said Lund. Well make 1t afore sundown. The beach is there, watin' for us to dig il up. It'll be some job. l don't reckon it's frozen hard, on'y crusted. If 1t is we'll bust the crust with dynamite. But We got to hop to it. Therell be another cold spell after this one peters out an the next is like to be perma- nent. l 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'.
 Well cradle most of the stuff an'. if they's time, we'll Hume the silt tail in's for the fine dust Providin we can git fall of water. There'l be plenty for all hands to do. An the shares go as first fixed. I ain't ex- pectin' you to do the diggin an not git pinch or two of the dust"
 The mems faces lighted. and they shutlled about. looking at one another with grins of relief.
 No cheers?" asked Lund ironically Wall. hardly expected enny Hnn- son, you'Il be one of the foremen. with in'
 "1 cant 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 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'vc got mercury aboard some where" Lund continued. to Rainey, when the men had dispersed. far more cheerful than they had gathered Well use that for concentration in the film rifles. Hansenll have rock CTS made that'll catch the big stuff If the worst comes to the worst. we'll load up the old hooker with the pay dirt an wash It out on the way home. I'll strip that beach down to bedrock if I have to work the toes an fingers off 'em"
 By noon the schooner was glazed in as firmly as toy model that is blew itself entirely out. but the cur rent bore them steadily on to the clamorouS shore, where the swels were creating promon;ories, 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 planes caught the light at proper slant for the play of prisms. Beautiful as it was, the sight was fearful to Rainey, in common with the crew. Only Lund surveyed it nonchalantly.
 Its bustin' up fast" he said. Al we need is a little luck. If we aint got that there's no use of worryin' We cant blast ourselves out o' this without riSkin' the schooner We ought to be thankful We froze in gen tie. There ain't plank started. The tloell fend us on. There aint enny big chunks enny way near us aft Luck to make a decent landiu'-is all we need, an it's my hunch it's comin' our 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 it against broken hill of ice that had lodged on the sharp slopes of little promontory, making the connection without further damage than a split ting of the forward end of their en- casing Hoe, with hardly a jar to the Karluk.
 Lund sent men ashore over the Ice. 'llihhllc tu tue l)IoulpittfS tfdSS Nith hawsers by which they tied up schooner. foe and all. to the land. If the broken hill suffered further catas- trophe. which did not seem likely. it's fragments would fall upon the foe, In case of emergency Luud ordered men told Off day and night to stand by the hawsers, to east loose or cut, as the extremity needed.
 It was dark before they were snugged. The men volunteered, through Hansen, to commence digging that night by the light of ig fires, so crazy were they at the nearness of the gold. But Lund forbade it.
 "You1l work reg1ar shifts when you sit started" he said. "An' you won't start till termorrer. We've got to stand by the ship ternieht until we find out by mornin' how snug we're goin to he berthed"
 All night long they lay in pan- ,fauopipp, ,f nf noiSa After a wbila