Part 14 (2/2)

”H'I told you there was minerals,” he exclaimed. ”E's a rich un, this bloomin' 'eathen. H'it's gold, h'I'll be blowed!”

He began digging away with his knife at some yellow spots in the ivory.

They were bits of inlaid gold.

”What's the idea?” asked Dave in surprise. ”Are all prisons up here made of ivory inlaid with gold?”

”Y' can't tell, lad. 'E's a queer one, the bloomin' 'eathen, and if h'I be 'anged,” sputtered Jarvis, ”what's one pole more or less, when you've gold calling to come and take it. What--”

He paused, his mouth agape, words unsaid. The door of the ivory den had been softly opened, and framed in it were the dark, crafty faces of the three natives who had brought about their captivity and imprisonment. In their hands gleamed knives with long blades of a curious oriental type.

But we must return to the Doctor and his crew of gobs who had been left on the submarine.

When the young captain and his chief engineer did not return at sunset, deep concern for their safety was felt. Three searching parties were sent out, while, from time to time, flares were lighted to show them the way to the submarine, should they chance to have lost their directions on the ice-floe. The flares guided the searching parties back to the boat, but so far as finding trace of the missing ones was concerned, neither flares nor searchers were of any avail.

In the meantime, the Doctor paced the deck anxiously. They were losing valuable time. If only they could find a way to sh.o.r.e, the damaged shaft might be repaired and, during the interval, the captain and engineer would doubtless turn up.

At the first hint of dawn the watch discovered a lead half-way through the ice-floe. At once the Doctor ordered the submarine run into this narrow channel. The result was what might have been expected; the ice closed in and the ”sub” was locked in the center of the floe. There remained but one way it could move--down, under the ice. Otherwise, it might drift indefinitely in this solid ma.s.s of ice. They would be carried away from the bay, away from their friends, and all hope of rescuing them would be lost. It was, indeed, a terrible plight.

Just at this time a bright young gob, Tom Rainey, came forward with an ingenious scheme. The ”sub” carried a sufficient length of steel cable to reach to the farther edge of the ice-floe. Why, he reasoned, might they not pole this cable beneath the rather loosely-joined ice ma.s.ses until they reached the open water, then submerge the submarine and, with a capstan, drag it like a hooked trout to the channel. It was a wild scheme, but the doctor was in a mood for anything. The crew were set to work at once, cutting holes in the ice-floes here and there and pa.s.sing the cable from opening to opening. It was slow and freezing work, but in time the job was done.

When the cable was ready, the Doctor insisted that a sufficient crew be aboard the submarine when she submerged to man her in case she broke loose. This was, indeed, a hazardous mission, but volunteers were not lacking. And, with all speed, the trial was made.

The scheme worked better than they had dared to hope. When the ”sub”

pa.s.sed from beneath the ice-floe, the second engineer in his superabundance of joy hazarded a few turns of the disabled shaft.

This set the whole craft vibrating and drove her half-way across the narrow channel.

As the submarine rose to the surface the doctor saw a dark shadow pa.s.s over the gla.s.s window at the top. At the same time he felt a slight jar.

”Must have tilted a small cake of ice,” he chuckled.

Then, as he lifted the hatch: ”By Jove! No, it wasn't. It was a skin-boat full of natives! There they are in the water! Watch them scramble back into their boat. If we had a safer power, we'd go to their rescue. But they'll be all right. Now, they're all aboard.”

That the natives were in a frenzy of fear while in the water, the doctor attributed to their dread of attack by a walrus. But when they began paddling away at top speed, he opened his eyes in wonder.

”Ah, well!” he said, at last, ”who'd marvel at that? s.h.i.+ps are not in the habit of coming up out of the sea in the Arctic. And now I wonder--I just wonder, did they have anything to do with the disappearance of our friend Dave and the engineer?”

When all hands were on board lunch was served. By the time this was over the submarine had drifted to the solid sh.o.r.e-ice. She was at once tied up with the aid of ice-anchors, and preparations made for dragging her out of the water.

”But first,” said the Doctor, ”let us visit our friends, 'the bloomin'

'eathen,' as Jarvis styles them.”

It was a strange sight that met their gaze as they entered the village.

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