Boy Scouts on Hudson Bay; Or, The Disappearing Fleet

by G. Harvey Ralphson

It did not seem altogether unlikely, from what he knew of such things. Before he left home he had been shown all sorts of copper ore; and on the way the patrol leader had stored up in his mind many minute descriptions he had read of the famous country north of Superior, where such valuable mines were being worked. Thus, he was pretty well posted on the subject, though, of course, one who had had actual practical experience in copper mines might have put him in possession of many other useful facts.

So far as he could tell the rocks looked very like those around the Mesauba region, and samples of which he carried along with him for comparison when the proper time arrived.

If this affair were indeed a gigantic swindle, then those who were running the game had been smart enough to pick out as the field of their operations a country that at least gave outward evidences of being capable of producing a high grade of copper ore. Ned had at one time fancied the whole thing was a myth, but now he realized that the supposed owners of the new discovery had at least been on the ground. They had carefully selected their site to conform with such conditions as would at least be required, should an expert secretly visit the scene.

Ned was satisfied with the way things were working. If only he could find where the mine was located, and make his investigations secretly, without the others being aware of his presence, he believed he would have no complaint to foster.

An encounter with armed guards who would be hostile to his mission was the last thing he wanted to have happen; though, of course, should this come about he believed he could depend on his chums to give a good account of themselves. They had in the past stuck to him on many occasions through thick and thin. Not one of them but who had done his part manfully, in season and out. The record of their past achievements had been one of almost unbroken successes. He had every reason to expect that this latest enterprise would be along the same order, and that the little party of explorers might return again to the metropolis, bearing with them such a concise and complete report, that Mr. Bosworth, and those interested in the proposed new mine, would have all the information required in order to know just how to act.

Most of the scouts were by this time beginning to look ahead with the idea of being the first to discover the big water that they knew must lie near by. Ned could have undoubtedly made the discovery some time back, because he carried his field glasses slung over his shoulder, by means of a strap; but he preferred to let one of his chums enjoy the sensation.

Jimmy was craning his neck more or less, for being shorter than any of his companions he felt that he labored under a disadvantage. The growth of trees was of a nature to hide what lay beyond, yet all of them could actually feel the presence of salt water. Besides, if other evidences were lacking, their ears told them of waves running up on the shore, to gently break there; though the breeze was from a poor quarter to carry these sounds to them.

All of these lads, living in New York, were accustomed to seeing the ocean, and familiar with the "tang" that usually accompanies the presence of an arm of the sea. For weeks now they had been moving over the interior, and the prospect of sighting this Northern sea, that had ever been the home of mystery to all mariners, thrilled every boyish heart.

In the course of their various travels they had gazed upon strange scenes. Once not so very long before, fortune had been kind enough to take them to the regions of the Polar ice, in carrying out a mission entrusted to their charge; so that this would not be their first introduction to the Northern ocean. But they had heard so much about the unexplained things that took place in Hudson Bay, that one and all grew more anxious, the nearer they drew to their destination.

Ned had already made a discovery that gave him a thrill. He had found that some of the landmarks set down in the description of the wonderful mine were right before his eyes, and this fact gave him renewed confidence in his plan of campaign. The climax must be close at hand. Before many hours had passed by, he would be in a position to know the truth; whether this affair were a gigantic swindle gotten up and engineered by the combine, with the idea of loading a worthless property on Mr. Bosworth; or, actually what it claimed to be—a rich deposit of copper ore that seemed to lie in vast quantities among the rocks above the shore of Hudson Bay, and with shipping facilities at the very door of the proposed mine.