The doctor nodded, and, to Steve’s great delight, they pressed on, picked up the next deer, and then all at once Steve handed his gun to Johannes and started off at a trot toward the valley by which they had come.
“Hi! Where’s he going?” cried the doctor, as the men loaded the sledge.
“I don’t know,” said the captain. “Yes, I do: he has run on to light a fire where we found the coal, so as to cook some of the meat.”
“Yes, that’s it,” said the doctor. “I hope he’ll have a good fire. One gets horribly hungry out here.”
They trudged on till they came to where the next deer lay waiting to be picked up. This was the last, and, quite satisfied with their load, they made their way steadily on toward the nearly perpendicular rocks where the coal had been discovered cropping out from the face.
“That’s the place, isn’t it?” said the doctor, pointing and shifting his rifle from one shoulder to the other.
“Yes, sir!” cried Watty Links eagerly. “She can see ta big white ullet flitting aboot and roond and roond because Meester Stevey’s leeting ta fire. She wushes she’d gane. She can leet a fire better tan Meester Stevey, and she could ha’ blow in it wi’ her brath and beat it wi’ her bonnet to mak’ a big blaze coom sune.”
“Did Mr Stephen say to you that he was going to light a fire?”
“Phut!” ejaculated Watty, emitting a sound like an angry turkey-cock, and ruffling up and speaking indignantly. “And tit she thenk she would have let her go and light a fire if she hat kenned aboot it? She’d ha’ gane hersel’, and not let the young chentleman touch the coal stuff. She wadna tell me, and rin away to leet the fire her nainsel’, because she thocht she could do it better. But where’s the smok?”
“Perhaps you are right,” said the captain; “but I don’t see any smoke. He would have been there by now.”