The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1923-09-06
VIII

Before ever that long night was
done, clouds had overswept the sky
and cold rain was beating u-son the
sea.
The drizzle changed to snow Sr.s.
lay white on the deck and Missed
softly in the water
Once more the craft piled among
islands; but now that they had passed
INTO Boring Sea, the character of the
land had changed These were not
the dull green. wooded isles met with
on first entering Alaskan waters. Wild
| and inhospitable though the latter had
| seemed, they were fairy bowers com.
pared to these. Nor did the messy
mainland continue to show a marvel
Gus beryl green through mist.
The truth was that these islands
were far-scattered fragments of the
Barrens, those great wastes Of moss
and tundra between the timber belt
and the eternal ice cap of the pole.
Lately the ship had taken north
ern turn, following the island chain,
and/the cloudy, windy, rainy days
found them not far from the main
| land, in region that would be Who'll
ly icebound in few weeks more. And
when they were still a full day from
their turning point. Knutsen Sought
out Ned on the deck.
Mr. Cornet, do you not know where
were getting?" he asked quietly.
Unconsciousiy startled by his tone.
Ned whirled toward him. II don't
l
suppose we're approaching Muchinoff
| Island"
Quite sail between here and der,
| yet. Mr.. Cornet, we're getting into
| de most unknown and untraveled wat
| ers in all dis part of the North. De
| boats to Nome go way outside here.
! and de trut' is I'm way out Of my old
haunts, I'm travelling by chart only;
! neither me nor McNab, nor very
many oder people know very much
| the waterways between desc islands.
| You're up here to trade for furs, and
YOU haven't got all winter. You know
dat desc waters here, shut off from
the currents, are going to be tighter
dan drum before very many weeks.
| Why don't you make your destina-
ton Tar Island, and start back from
dere?"
| You think it's really dangerous?"
Not really dangerous, maybe. but
mighty awkward if anything should
go wrong wit de old brig. You un-
derstan' dat not one out of four of
Gese little islands is inhabited. Some
of de larger islands have only a scat
tered village or two; some of EN-
haven't living human being. Ders
plenty and plenty of islands not even
named in dis chart, and I'd hate to hit
the reefs of one after dark! Der's no
one to send S o S calls to, in case
of trouble, even if we had wireless De
only boat know dat works carefully
through dis country is anot'er trader
the Intrepid-and dat won't be along
till spring. Mr.. Cornet, it's best for
you to know dat you're in one Of the
most uninhabited and barren coun-
tries"
And the most dreary and general
ly damnable," Ned agreed with en-
| thusiasm. why didn't you tell me
this before? Muchinoff Island ISM
anything in my young life. I picked
it out as a starting point simply be-
cause it was the farthest north Of
the Skopins, but since there seems
to be plenty of territory"
att will make you hump some to
cover all the good territory now, in
! Guiding some of the best of. de Aleuts
and get around Alaskan Peninsula
before winter sets in. in earnest.
Tar Island is just to our northeast
| Shall I head towards it?'
! How long will it take"
Depends on the wind This is a
ticklish stretch of water in here,
shallow in spots, but safe enough,
| guess. I think we can skim along
and make it long before dawn"
Then do itr' Ned's face suddenly
frightened =Ehs sooner Z can