And yet those who were to rescue them from their perplexing situation were within five miles of them at that very moment.
[CHAPTER XXXVII]
BIG AMOOK AND THE CHILKAT HUNTERS
“A goat is a good thing so far as it goes,” remarked Phil, gravely, “but one goat divided among one man, two boys, a little chap, and three awfully hungry dogs isn’t likely to last very long. With plenty of goats ready to come and be killed as we wanted them we might hold out here, after a fashion, until the arrival of a tourist steamer. Wouldn’t that be fun, though? And wouldn’t we astonish the tourists? But how we should hate goat by that time! Still, I don’t think there is the slightest chance of our having that experience, for I understand that mountain goats are among the shyest and most difficult to kill of all wild animals.”
“That’s right,” said Serge, “and your chance for that shot was one of the luckiest things I ever heard of. You might hunt goats for years, and not have it happen again.”
“Which being the case,” continued Phil, “it won’t do for us to live as though we had goats to squander. Consequently, we must make an effort to get out of here before our provision is exhausted. As we have no boat in which to go to Sitka, and the nearest point at which we can obtain one is Chilkat, that is the place we have got to reach somehow. So I propose that Serge and I take a prospecting trip into the mountains to-morrow, and see what chance there is for our crossing them. We will be back by dark, and, with the knowledge thus gained, perhaps we can decide to-morrow evening what is best to be done.”
As no better plan than this was offered, Phil and Serge started early the following morning on their tedious climb. Each carried a gun, and they took Musky and Luvtuk with them in the hope of getting a bear, as Serge had heard that bears were plentiful in those mountains. Nel-te was left to take care of the hospital, in which Jalap Coombs, with his many aches, and Amook, with his cut feet, were the patients.
That afternoon was so warm that the door of the little cabin stood wide open. Before a fire that smouldered on the broad hearth Jalap Coombs dozed in a big chair, while Nel-te romped with Amook on the floor. Now the little chap was tantalizing the dog with the fur-seal’s tooth, which, still attached to its buckskin thong, he had taken from his neck. He would dangle it close to Amook’s nose, and when the dog snapped at it snatch it away with a shout of laughter.
While the occupants of the cabin were thus engaged the heads of several Indians were suddenly but cautiously lifted above the beach ridge. After making certain that no one was in the vicinity of the house, one of their number swiftly but noiselessly approached it. Crouching under a side wall, he slowly raised his head. A single glance seemed to satisfy him, for he immediately began to retrace his steps as quietly as he had come.