Argosy, Vol. 118, No. 2 — page 114: what you’re looking at

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

264 ily winning. The girl talked to Rainey of her own life ashore and at sea on earlier trips with her father, of his own desire to write, of his ambitions, until there was little he had not told her, even to the girl who was the daughter of the Lumber King. And the spell of her nearness, her youth, her beauty, naturally held him. When he was on deck duty she remained in her room. When Lund relieved him, the day’s work giving Lund, Hansen, and Rainey each two regular watches of four hours, though Lund put in most of the night as the ice grew more difficult to navigate, Rainey oc- casionally saw the giant’s eyes sizing him up with a sardonic twinkle. For the time being, the safety of the Karluk and the successful carrying out of the purpose of the trip took all of Lund’s attention and energy. ‘Twice he had been thwarted by the weather from gleaning his golden harvest, and it began to look as if the third attempt might be no more fortu- nate. ‘The Karluk’s stout,” he said once, ‘* but she ain’t built for the Arctic. If we git nipped badly she’ll go like an eggshell.” ‘* And then what?” Rainey asked. “ Git the gold! _That’s what we come for. If we have to make sleds an’ use the hunters for a dorg-team.’”’ He laughed in- domitably, ‘;We’ll make a man of you vit, Rainey, afore we git back.” Lund was snatching sleep in scraps, seek- ing always to feel a way toward the position of the island through the ice that con- tinually baffled progress. Several times they risked the schooner in a narrow lane when a lull of the often uncertain wind would have seen them ground between the edges of the floe. Twice Lund ordered out the boats to save them. Once all hands fended desperately with spars to keep her clear, and only the schooner’s overhung stern saved her rudder from the savagely clashing masses that closed behind them. But he showed few signs of strain. Once in a while he would sit with closed eyes or pass his harids across his brows as if they pained him. But he never complained, and the ice, taking on the dull hues of sea and _ sky, gave off no glare that should affect the sight. Against all opposition Lund THE ARGOSY. forced his way until, just after sunset one night, as the dusk swept down, he gave a shout and pointed to a fitful flare over the port bow. Rainey thought it the aurora, but Lund laughed at him. - ““Tt’s the crater atop the island,” he said. ‘‘ Nothin’ dangerous. Reg’lar lighthouse. Now, boys,” he went on, “ there’s gold in sight! Whistle for a change of weather, every mother’s son of you!” The deck was soon crowded. On the previous trip the schooner had approached the island from a different angle, but the men were swift to acknowledge the glow of the volcano as the expected landfall. Lund remained on deck, and it was late be- fore any of the crew turned in. Rainey, during his watch, saw the mountain fire- pulse, glowing and winking like the eye of a Cyclops, its gleam reflected in the eyes of the watchers who were about to invade the island and rob it of its golden sands. The change of weather came about three in the morning, though not as Lund had hoped. A sudden wind materialized from the north, stiffening the canvas with its ice- laden breath, glazing the schooner wherever moisture dripped, bringing up an angry scud of clouds that fought with the moon. The sea appeared to have thickened. The Karluk went sluggishly, as if she was ies: in a sea of treacle. “ Half slush already,” said Lund. “ We’re in for a real cold snap. There’ll be pan- cake ice all around us afore dawn. That is sure a hard beach to fetch. But it’s too early for winter closing. After this nip we'll have a warm spell. An’ we got to git the stuff aboard an’ start kitin’ south afore the big freeze-up catches us.” CHAPTER XV. SMOKE, W HEN Rainey came on deck the next morning he found the schooner float- ing in a small lagoon that made the center of a floe. The water in it was slush, half solid. Main and-fore were close furled, the headsails also, and the Karluk was nosing against the far end of the rapidly diminish- ing basin. The wind was stili lively. JOO CO mie (E©)