Their occupants, wild looking Esquimaux, had stolen up unobserved on the party below. From his post of vantage, Jack saw Carson snatch out a pistol and fire point-blank into the onrush of natives, who brandished spears and clubs. Sherry and Merryweather, too, covered the retreat of the rest with their service revolvers which they had brought from the revenue cutter.
Three of the Esquimaux fell. The rest faltered. They had no firearms. Jack saw Carson, Sherry and Merryweather fire above the natives’ heads to scare them. The ruse succeeded. Picking up two of the wounded, they made a wild dash for the canoes. The white men picked up the third wounded man and Jack saw them giving him some sort of stimulants and examining his injury. It was not serious, for the man was soon on his feet and apparently imploring the white men not to kill him. The canoes of the others were already putting as great a distance between the island and themselves as possible.
Jack hailed the party below and was soon lowered. His news was a distinct blow to them all. But Uncle Toby took it apathetically. Nothing appeared to disturb him now. Jack asked him for the map, and laid it out on a stone to examine it. It was crudely drawn with a rough picture of the stone chest in one corner.
The Esquimaux, who, it appeared, had not been wounded at all but was merely scared into falling flat on the ground, began jabbering wildly as he saw it. Jack noted that the man’s complexion, though dirty, was fairer than he had imagined an Esquimaux’s skin would be and then, too, the man’s hair was distinctly yellowish in color. He was without doubt one of the famous blonde Esquimaux, the tribe of mystery.
Carson, who could speak the dialect, began putting quick, sharp questions. The man answered, pointing upward at the cedar tree. Carson seemed strangely excited. He turned to Jack.
“You and I and this Esquimaux are going up there to the top of Cedar Mountain,� he said.
“Why, does he know anything about the stone chest?� asked Jack, his heart giving a bound.
“He says he does, but he may be lying. We’ll give him a chance to prove what he says.�
Carson was pulled up first, and then weighted the loop in the rope with a heavy rock and sent it down. Then came the Esquimaux’s turn. He was badly frightened but seemed to be under the impression that he would be killed if he didn’t go, so consented to be hauled up. Jack went last.
At length they all stood on the summit. The Esquimaux began talking rapidly. He drew a stone hatchet from his skin-clad body and advanced swiftly to the tree. He inserted his hatchet in a crack in the thickest part of the trunk.