The Internet Detective Library — page 99: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

90 A STRANGE ATTEMPT AT CAPTURE, “Took out,’’ the Esquimau responded; ‘‘we land pretty uick.’’ : As he said this the skipper threw the helm over, and the boat changed her course so suddenly that Stokes was almost thrown overboard. He caught the main sheet and thus held on for an instant, silently growling at the stupidity of the skipper. ‘‘He doesn’t seem to know how to sail a boat,’’ Stokes thought; ‘‘he’ll have the craft aground before he knows what’s happened. ’’ The thought was hardly formed in Stokes’ mind when the boat did indeed go aground with a jolt that threw the detective upon his knees. The Hsquimau let go of the tiller and jumped into the low surf. + ‘‘Must pull ashore now,’’ he cried as he ran through the water and laid hold of the boat’s prow. Under ordinary circumstances Stokes would have jumped in also without any hesitation and would have helped to bring the boat toward the beach; as it was, he threw himself upon the seat in the stern and quietly prepared both his revolvers for action. He did not like the way his skipper acted, and it seemed to him necessary to prepare for trouble. The fact that Stokes sat in the stern enabled the Esquimau to drag the boat several feet farther toward shore, and as he was doing this two men came running from among the trees a little way up the island slope. They were white men, and none that Stokes had ever seen before; they stopped at the water’s edge and looked on for a moment. Stokes’ skipper paused in his work long enough to wave his arm toward the men, whereupon one of them ran to the rowboat that lay out of the water, took a rope from it, and tossed it to the Esquimau. The latter made it fast to a ring bolt in the prow of the boat, and the two men on shore prepared to drag the boat farther up; it was even then grating upon the bottom. Up to this time Stokes had not spoken a word. Now he sang out: ‘*Hold on a minute!”? The men on shore looked at him curiously and the Esquimau turned around with an inquiring expression. ‘Is this the island of Taska?’’ asked Stokes, At this the Esquimau quickly turned his head toward the shore, The two men who seemed to be surprised at the question, * GOmMIG g00ker looked one of It’: Witl ‘*No be trou The revolve The could 1 ‘‘Ve shoutes The men. be In ty to be o their e the wal to witk Stok antly, ° The someth “Tf 4 here sa boat appeare The men st Stok as hee ¢¢ Ho The faces tc His The com