“We will help you.”
At that moment Jarvis, who had wandered down the aisle, came storming back.
“’Oo’s the two ’eathen that just went out the door?” he demanded.
“Just some natives that came here and wished to stay,” smiled the Russian. “When they came, they had been pretty badly torn up by a polar bear. We nursed them back to life and they have been so grateful for it that they have never left.”
“Good reason!” stormed Jarvis. “Gold! Gold! The City of Gold.”
“We have a little gold here,” smiled the Russian, “but precious little good it’s ever been to us.”
“Now mind y’. I’m a tellin’ y’,” stormed Jarvis, striking his fists together, “them’s no natural ’eathen. Them’s two spies from far down the coast. A polar bear me eye! An ice anchor it was that cut ’alf a ear off’n the little one. Them’s the lads that Dave and me ’ad the tussle with on the submarine more’n a year ago. I tell you they’re no natural ’eathen an’ I ’ates to think what’ll ’appen to ’em if I meets up with ’em again.”
Dave sprang to the door through which the men had just passed. They were not to be seen. The incident was disturbing. There could be little doubt but that Jarvis had identified the men as the same pair that had locked them in a prison made of walrus tusks the year before, and had fought with them later on the submarine. Now if they had recognized Jarvis, what might they not do? He continued to think of this while the Russian showed them through the most wonderful greenhouse in all the world.
“You see,” said their host, “we built this against the side of the cliff, at the point where the soft coal mine cropped out. We cut away enough of the coal to make room for a great stone furnace. From this furnace we ran heat tunnels of stone through the entire greenhouse. The work is all very simple. Coal is mined and loaded on trucks of wood, run on wooden tracks. From there it is shoveled into the furnace. We ran stone troughs through the greenhouse connecting them to the warm spring. This furnishes water for use in our homes, and for irrigating the rich soil we have brought from the tundra. At the same time, it keeps the air here sufficiently moist.”
“What a garden of Eden!” exclaimed Dave. “And you would leave all its safety and comfort to take a chance in the great disturbed world? Why will you be so foolish?”