DOUBLE HARDSHIP
Callack stood in front of the tent from which the captives were led by the Indians. He was so bundled up in furs that he was scarcely recognizable, and, as Mr. Baxter walked toward him, the man said:
"I'm going to give you one more chance to tell where the gold is. Will you?"
"I will not."
"Be careful! You don't know what you are going to suffer!"
"You have my answer. I'll not tell you where the gold is, and you had better be careful what you do. Friends are on the way to rescue us."
"They will arrive too late."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that unless you reveal the secret you will be left out in the open all night, with only such clothing as you now have on, and not a morsel of food, nor a drop of warm drink shall you have. Now do you still refuse to tell me?"
Mr. Baxter hesitated. The double hardship might be more than the boys could stand. As for himself, he believed he could hold out until help came. But it was terribly cold, and the storm that was now howling about the camp gave promise of being a fierce one. Should he give in?
A moment's reflection decided him. He thought Holfax must be near at hand. Perhaps he would come by morning, and they could stand the cold and exposure until then.
"Well?" asked Callack impatiently.
"You can go ahead with your cruelty," replied Mr. Baxter. "I'll never tell you where the gold is."
With a muttered exclamation Callack turned aside. At an order from him a moment later the Indians led the captives to the top of the ice hummock. A more exposed place in a storm could not well be found. The wind swept over it with great velocity, making it colder than down in the more sheltered places. To be left there without food was almost certain death.
Yet there Callack was going to leave his prisoners. Johnson, who still suffered from the blow on the head so that he was dazed, was led out from a tent, and the four treasure finders were tied with strong thongs, part of the dog harness being used.
Under the direction of Callack three of the Indians were making the final fastenings of the bonds, when there suddenly arose a disturbance among the others, who were grouped about the sleds of the treasure seekers. There were loud voices, and then angry cries.
"Those imps are fighting!" muttered Callack. "I'll soon put a stop to that!"
He caught up a heavy dog whip, and started down the side of the frozen mound. The disturbance among the Indians became more fierce. Blows were struck right and left, and several of the natives grappled with each other, rolling over and over on the frozen snow.
"They're fighting over the possession of our things," said Fred.
"Yes, there won't be much left for us," observed Jerry. "But I don't know as that makes much difference. We'll never get away from here to use our things."
"Oh, maybe we will," remarked Fred, hopefully.
Callack sprang into the midst of the fighting Indians. He raised his heavy whip, and the cruel lash fell left and right, but owing to the heavy clothing of the natives, it produced little effect. The cries of rage grew louder. The Indians were fairly tearing from each other's hands the choice articles of food, and the other supplies belonging to the captives.
The sight of their fellows in possession of what was to them unlimited wealth was too much for the three savages who were binding the captives. With one accord they dropped the thongs and leaped down the side of the ice hummock.
For a moment, left thus comparatively alone and unguarded, the captives did not know what to do. They watched the three Indians leap into the midst of the fighting, yelling throng of their fellows, amid which Callack stood, vainly plying his whip, as he would among a pack of dogs, to restore order.
"Boys!" cried Mr. Baxter suddenly. "Here's our chance. Can you loosen the thongs?"
As he spoke he exerted all his strength, and the partly-tied leather strips about his hands came loose. A moment later Fred's arms were also free. Jerry was more securely tied, but it did not take long for Fred and Mr. Baxter to release him.
"Now help Johnson," said the old miner, turning to where the colored man sat in the snow, just as he had been dropped when brought from the tent.
The thongs were quickly stripped from the negro.
"Stand up," cried Mr. Baxter, shaking the man, who seemed to be in a daze. "Stand up! We're going to escape! It's our only chance, when they're fighting among themselves!"
The Indians were paying no attention to their captives. They were in the thick of the fight now, the sound of blows echoing loudly in the still air. Clubs, dog whips, chunks of ice, shovels and picks, the implements being taken from the sleds, were used as weapons. Callack was unable to control his men. In fact he was in considerable danger.
But the colored man never stirred. He looked up at Mr. Baxter, smiled stupidly and mumbled:
"It suah am a warm day. Landy, but dis coon has got t' take off some ob his clothes!"
"His mind is wandering," spoke Mr. Baxter sadly. "Come, Johnson," he said. "We will help you to escape. Get up and walk. You must, or we'll have to leave you. We haven't a minute to spare."
But the unfortunate negro could not understand.
"It's no use," murmured Mr. Baxter. "We'll have to leave him to save ourselves. We can't carry him, he's too heavy."
"But what will Callack do to him, when he finds us gone?" asked Fred, for it seemed that they could easily escape during the excitement, which had not ceased.
"I don't believe Callack will harm him," replied Jerry's father. "He knows Johnson can't tell where the treasure is in his present state, and he'll look after him carefully, in the hope that his mind will come back, so he can point out the hiding place of the gold. So he'll not harm him, and if we make good our escape, we can come back with a strong party, and free him. But we must hurry. Callack seems to be getting his men under some kind of submission."
This was so. Though the Indians were still fighting, Callack's use of the heavy whip and his vigorous commands appeared to be having some effect. The captives waited no longer. Bidding Johnson farewell, though the negro probably did not understand what they said, Mr. Baxter and the boys fled down the side of the hummock, away from the camp.
Over the ice and snow they ran as fast as they could, but they welcomed the exertion, since, as they were not as warmly dressed as usual, the terrible cold was numbing them. The fierce fall of snow, which increased rather than diminished, served in a measure to conceal their movements.
"Come on, boys!" called Mr. Baxter cautiously, as he led the way. "We may escape that villain and his savages! Are you all right?"
"All right, but it's terrible cold," answered Jerry.
"Indeed it is, though it's not so bad as it was up on that hummock. Let's stop a minute, and see if they are after us."
They paused to listen. The only sound was the mournful howling of the wind, and the occasional boom, like that of a cannon, as some immense crack opened up in the ice about them.
"They haven't discovered that we are gone, or else they don't know which way we took," said Mr. Baxter. "Come on, we must get farther away than this."
"Where are we going?" inquired Fred. "We can't stand much exposure, in this weather, and without food."
"I know it," replied Mr. Baxter. "I have hopes that we may chance upon some settlement of friendly Indians, where we can not only get food and shelter, but enlist their aid in capturing Callack."
"That sounds too good to be likely to happen," observed Jerry. "Burr-r-r-r but it's cold."
"Don't think of it," advised his father. "Move a little faster, and get your blood in good circulation. Then you'll feel warmer."
"I don't believe I've got any blood left in me," replied his son. "It seems just like ice water."
They trudged on, not knowing and scarcely caring where they were going, as long as it was away from Callack's camp. In fact they could see but a short distance before them, and had to go it almost blind, for the snowflakes were like a pall of frozen fog.
"Hark!" suddenly exclaimed Mr. Baxter, when they had been tramping along about half an hour. "Isn't that shouting behind us?"
The boys listened. Faintly there sounded voices in pursuit.
"They're after us!" exclaimed Fred. "What shall we do? Shall we run, or give fight?"
"We haven't any weapons, or we might stand them off," remarked Jerry. "I'm almost willing to give up. We can't go on this way very far."
"I'd rather freeze to death out here than back in Callack's camp," observed Mr. Baxter grimly. "Let's go on, but we'll turn off to the left."
He swung around and began to run, the boys following. The three fugitives had not taken a dozen steps when suddenly Mr. Baxter, who was in the lead, disappeared.
"Why—why——" began Fred, when he found himself slipping down, and an instant later, Jerry also toppled into a big hole, that opened through the snow right at their feet. The two boys brought up with a jolt, and found themselves sprawled out beside Mr. Baxter. They had fallen down an opening toward a sort of cave, the black mouth of which was directly in front of them.
"Well, we came right down the chimney," observed Mr. Baxter. "This is a lucky fall. We'll have a place to stay, and we'll throw Callack and his Indians off the track."
He rose to his feet, and started into the cave, which seemed a large one. They had toppled down a shaft or hole in the roof. The boys followed him, and as they entered the cavern they saw a faint light at the farther end.
"This cave has a back and a front door," observed Mr. Baxter. "Come on, boys, we'll conceal ourselves in here until they have given up the search."
As he spoke there sounded above their heads, and off to one side, the shouts and yells of Callack and his men, who were running at top speed after their captives. For the fight had been quelled, and the escape discovered.
The cave was found to be one hollowed out under the earth and rocks, and there was no ice or snow in it.
"Say, this is as warm as toast!" exclaimed Jerry.
"Toast! Don't mention such things," begged Fred. "I'm half starved. I wonder why who ever made this cave didn't leave something on the sideboard for visitors to eat?"
"I guess this is a natural cave," replied Mr. Baxter. "There doesn't appear to be any signs that any one was ever in it before. It will serve us well, though, as Fred says, it's hard to be without food."
There was nothing to do but wait until it was safe to emerge. The fugitives went close to the other opening of the cavern. In front of it stretched a big level field of ice and snow, as far as the treasure seekers could observe, which was not far, for the snow still came down in big flakes.
The warmth, which was a welcome change from the terrible cold, made them drowsy, and before they knew it the escaped captives were dozing off. How long they slept they could not tell, as there was no way of measuring time, and with no change from daylight to darkness.
With their awakening came a renewal of the pangs of hunger. In that cold climate men need to eat often and heartily to combat the frost king, and the captives, weakened by the exposure, their exertions and lack of food, suffered very much.
But they grimly bore it all, and, though the boys felt it more than did Mr. Baxter, who was seasoned to hardships, they never complained.
"Maybe if one of us went out, we could find some edible mosses beneath the snow," suggested Fred. "That would be good for us, wouldn't it, Mr. Baxter?"
"Yes, if we can find the moss. There are some kinds that will keep a man from starving. I'll go out of the cave. I think it will be safe now. It must be several hours since Callack and his crowd passed."
Mr. Baxter went to the mouth of the cave and looked out. It had stopped snowing, and the northern lights were flickering in the sky.
"I'll chance it," he said.
As he was about to step forth he heard a noise to one side. It was the movement of something over the frozen surface of the snow. He started, and was about to dart back into the cavern, thinking it was some of the Indians, when Fred, who had come to the entrance with Mr. Baxter, cried out:
"It's one of our sleds, with two dogs fast to it. Hurrah! It's a sled with food on it!"
"Well, if this isn't a marvel!" exclaimed Jerry. "How did that get here? Did Callack send it?"
"The dogs probably wandered away during the fight," said Mr. Baxter. "See, they are not properly harnessed; they are only tangled up in the thongs. I wonder if we can catch them?"
Hurrying out, the old miner called sharply to the animals in the Indian tongue, of which he had learned a few words. The beasts halted. They were almost exhausted from pulling the heavy load from which, doubtless, they had probably tried to break loose.
"Food! food!" cried Fred, rushing from the cave, and beginning to tear away the robes over the load on the sled. "Now we're all right!"
With eager hands Mr. Baxter and Jerry aided Fred. The dogs lay down in the snow, panting and weary.
"We'll feed them well, to pay them for having brought us this sled," said Mr. Baxter. "It has saved our lives. Fate sent the beasts this way. Now boys——"
But he did not finish the sentence, for, at that instant with wild shouts, there came rushing over a little hill of ice several fur-clad figures. And the foremost of them was Callack, while behind him came several Indians.
"Here they are! We've got them!" cried the ugly white man. "I'm glad I decided to trace those straying dogs. Don't run or I'll shoot!" he added, and the captives saw that he had a gun. They could not have run if they wanted to, they were so exhausted. Fate had apparently aided them only to cast them once more into the hands of their enemies.
"Ah! You thought you'd get away from me, did you?" asked Callack exultantly, as he and his men rushed upon the treasure seekers. "Well, you nearly got away, and if it hadn't been that I started off after the dogs that strayed away with the sled, you might have fooled me. But now I've got you, and I'll wager you won't get away again."
The captives said nothing. They were too miserable. They were roughly bound, though their legs were left free, and then they were led away. Callack sat in comfort on the dog sled, the animals managing to pull him and the load of food, as the trail back to camp led down hill.
It was not far to the place where they had escaped from, for as the captives learned later, they had wandered about considerably in their flight. They were soon back at the camp, and this time Callack looked carefully to the tying of the thongs.
When the captives had been securely fastened, holes were made in the ice, and in them stakes were thrust. Then loose ice was tamped in around to make the stakes hold. To these stakes, which soon froze in, almost like part of the ice itself, the prisoners were fastened.
"Now," said Callack when the barbarous work was finished, "let's see how you like that. I think you'll soon wish you'd told me the secret."
No one made him an answer. All were too intent on trying to move about as much as the close bonds would permit to get positions where the cruel wind and the stinging particles of snow would not be in their faces. Poor Johnson, scarcely able to move, groaned in pain.
"Boys, can you stand it?" asked Mr. Baxter in a low voice, "or shall I give in to him?"
"I'll stand it," answered Fred decidedly.
"So will I," added Jerry.
They were left alone. The Indians and Callack retired to the tents where, sheltered from the fierce blasts, they ate of the food which they had taken from the sleds of their captives, for Callack's band was not well supplied with rations.
"The terrible cold was making them stupid"
Page 187
Thicker and thicker came down the snow. It began to form in little mounds over the extended feet of the staked-out prisoners. Soon it would cover them completely. But that might be an advantage rather than otherwise, as it would produce a warmth which might save their lives. But would it happen in time? And would they not die in the meanwhile of faintness, because they were very hungry?
The terrible cold was making them stupid. With a refinement of cruelty Callack had hung a big thermometer on a stake in front of Mr. Baxter that he might look at the little column of colored spirits and see to what low point they fell. The glow of the Northern Lights made an illumination sufficient to see the figures.
The night advanced. More and more intense grew the cold. The snow froze as it fell, until the captives were fairly encased under a covering of ice. Higher and higher it grew, until it was up to their chests. They could not move.
"Fifty degrees below zero," murmured Mr. Baxter as he looked at the thermometer. "And it will get lower. I am afraid I must give in—for the sake of the boys."
He looked over at his son and Fred. They had not spoken nor moved in some time. The cold was making them numb. Even Mr. Baxter, hardened as he was, felt a deadly calm stealing over him.
An hour passed. The thermometer had gone down five degrees more. But the cold was now so intense that a few degrees more or less made no seeming difference. Burrowing their heads down as far as they could in their fur hoods, the captives tried not to think about it. This was easy for poor Johnson, as he was out of his mind from the cruel blow Callack had dealt him.
The snow came down thicker and faster. It was now almost over the heads of the captives. The thermometer could no longer be seen. It was getting darker as the Northern Lights died away.
More keen grew the pangs of hunger, made acute by the great cold. Fred thought he would have to give up, and ask Mr. Baxter to reveal the secret of the gold that they might escape their terrible fate.
But it was doubtful now if even a shout would have attracted Callack's attention. He was in his tent with some of the Indians. The others were also under shelter.
But now the snow, which had seemed to add to their discomforts, proved beneficial to them. As it drifted over their heads while they sat on the ground, bound to the stakes, it shut out some of the terrible cold. Soon there stole over the captives a feeling of delicious warmth. It was not the dangerous sensation that precedes death by freezing, but real warmth; the warmth from their bodies, retained beneath the covering of closely-packed snow.
Though they were completely covered, it was porous enough for them to breathe through, or they might have been suffocated to death.
They could only hear each other now with difficulty, as the snow muffled their voices. Mr. Baxter called to the boys occasionally to learn if they were still alive.
"I'm feeling all right," answered Fred once. "Only I wish Holfax would hurry."
"Wait until morning," advised Mr. Baxter hopefully. "I think he will come then."
Somehow the long night passed. They could tell when the sun arose slightly above the horizon by the increased light that shone through the snow blanket that covered them. They could hear faintly movements in the camp about them—Indians calling to one another.
The captives knew that their enemies were preparing breakfast, and, oh, how they wished for some hot tea, and some warm meat, or even some cold tallow! A candle would have been welcome, provided it was made from suet.
Soon could be heard the blows of picks being driven into the ice. Then shovels tinkled on the frozen crystals. The Indians had resumed their hunt for the buried treasure.
It had stopped snowing, and because of the warm breath of the prisoners little holes had been melted in the white mounds which covered them so that they could see out a bit. They observed a score of Indians digging all around the foot of the hummock, while Callack directed them, occasionally helping himself.
"How are you, boys?" asked Mr. Baxter.
"Still alive," replied Fred.
"Terribly cold and hungry," answered Jerry.
"Shall I give up?"
"No!" exclaimed both boys. They were not going to surrender yet.
The hours passed. Foot after foot the Indians searched. The captives, tortured by being obliged to sit in one position, suffering from cold and hunger, watched them. Callack seemed to become more and more enraged as the time went on and he did not find the gold. Yet he did not again appeal to Mr. Baxter.
The sun began to decline. Night was once more settling down. For over twenty-four hours they had had nothing to eat. They were faint and almost frozen, but they would not give in. As for Johnson, he realized little of what was going on around him.
It began to get dark. Once more the Northern Lights appeared in the sky, wavering and shooting from the horizon to the zenith. The Indians had ceased their digging and returned to their tents.
"How are you, Fred?" asked Mr. Baxter.
"I'm—I'm pretty well—I—I guess I can stand it a little longer."
"Why doesn't Holfax come?" thought Mr. Baxter. "Jerry, do you want to give up?" he asked.
"I'll—I'll stick it out a little longer, dad."
"All right. But I'm almost determined to give in. I did not think Callack would dare carry out his threat. We must save our lives, even if we have to give up the gold. I will wait an hour longer——"
At that moment Mr. Baxter felt something working at the bonds in back of him which bound him to the stake. He could not turn his head to see who it was because of the pile of snow that covered him.
"Who is there?" he asked.
There was no answer.
"Holfax; is that you?" he asked, a great hope coming into his heart.
Still there was no answer.
"Dad!" cried Jerry. "Some one is undoing the thongs about my arms."
A moment later Mr. Baxter felt himself free from the stake at his back. He struggled to his knees, thrust out his arms to make a space in the snow about him, and tried to see who it was who had released him. There was no one in sight.