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diff --git a/47992.txt b/47992.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 2facca5..0000000 --- a/47992.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9357 +0,0 @@ - IN THE MISTY SEAS - - - - -This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at -http://www.gutenberg.org/license. If you are not located in the United -States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are -located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: In the Misty Seas - A Story of the Sealers of Behring Strait -Author: Harold Bindloss -Release Date: January 18, 2015 [EBook #47992] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE MISTY SEAS *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover art] - - - - - *[Frontispiece: "'TELL YOUR SKIPPER THAT IF EVER I FIND HIS SCHOONER - INSIDE OUR LIMITS AGAIN I'LL HAVE MUCH PLEASURE - IN SINKING HER" (missing from book)]* - - - - - *In the Misty Seas* - - A Story of the - Sealers of Behring Strait - - - By - - Harold Bindloss - - _Author of "True Grit," etc._ - - - - With Six Illustrations - - - - London - S. W. Partridge and Co. - 8 and 9 Paternoster Row, E.C. - - - - - *CONTENTS* - -CHAP. - - I. JIMMY'S DUCK - II. OUT OF DOCK - III. DOWN CHANNEL - IV. A LESSON IN SEAMANSHIP - V. UNDER TOPSAILS - VI. A FAIR WIND - VII. ADRIFT - VIII. THE 'CHAMPLAIN,' SEALER - IX. A TRIAL OF SPEED - X. HOVE TO - XI. AMONG THE HOLLISCHACKIE - XII. PICKING UP THE BOATS - XIII. ON THE BEACH - XIV. GOOD WORK - XV. IN PERIL - XVI. STICKINE MAKES A DEAL - XVII. THE PLEDGE REDEEMED - XVIII. TREACHERY - XIX. THE SEALERS' RECKONING - XX. THE NEXT MEETING - XXI. IN VANCOUVER - XXII. THE RESULT OF THE CHOICE - - - - - *LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS* - - -"'TELL YOUR SKIPPER THAT IF EVER I FIND HIS SCHOONER INSIDE OUR LIMITS -AGAIN I'LL HAVE MUCH PLEASURE IN SINKING HER" (missing from book) . . . -_Frontispiece_ - -"'CHRISS, ARE YOU HURT?'" - -"'ARE YOU TWO LADS GOING OFF TO THE BARQUE OUT THERE?'" - -"GLANCING OVER HIS SHOULDER, SAW THE INDIAN STILL CROUCHING MOTIONLESS, -RIFLE IN HAND" - -"AS HE HOPPED ABOUT THE DECK, APPLEBY LAUGHED UPROARIOUSLY" - -"'I'VE COME FOR THE TWO LADS YOU PICKED UP.'" - - - - - *IN THE MISTY SEAS* - - - - *CHAPTER I* - - *JIMMY'S DUCK* - - -"The sea!" said Bluey, the Nova Scotian, sitting up on his pillow. "Oh, -yes. It's kind of pretty, but the only use I've got for it is for -bathing in." - -There was laughter and a growl of disapproval from two beds in a corner -of the dormitory, for nobody could go to sleep at nine o'clock, -especially on the last night of the term, though retiring at that hour -was compulsory at Sandycombe School. Pearson, the assistant master, had -not, however, come round as yet to turn the lights out, and the gas-jet -blinked fitfully in the big wire cage which apparently protected it from -unlawful experiments. It did not, however, do so in reality, because -Niven had discovered that the cage could be unscrewed, and it was not -difficult to curtail the hour of preparation in the morning and evening -by blowing strenuously down the pipe in turn. There were, of course, -risks attached to this, but Niven had pointed out that anybody caught at -the operation would suffer in a good cause, and it provided work for the -Sandycombe plumber, who was voted a good fellow because he would smuggle -in forbidden dainties for a consideration. - -"The sea," said Appleby, "is everything that's fine. What do you know -about it, Bluey?" - -"Well," said the Nova Scotian in his slowest drawl, "I do know quite a -little. You see, ours is a kind of hard country, and most of our folks -go in sea now and then when they can't do better. Sometimes it's -fishing way out on the Grand Banks where you got lost in a fog in the -dory boats and starve before the schooner finds you, and if you don't -it's quite likely a liner steaming twenty knots runs bang over you. Or -it's carrying dried cod south in little schooners in winter time, with -your long boots stuffed with straw to keep your feet from freezing, -while you run for it under a trysail that's stiff with ice, with a -full-size blizzard screaming behind you. No, sir. Going to sea isn't -any kind of picnic, and that's why I'm sorry for Niven. The fellows who -wrote those books 'bout cutting out pirates and catching slavers are -dead, and it's 'bout time they were." - -"Bluey's not going to stop to-night. Throw a pillow at him, somebody," -said Niven, and there was a thud as the Nova Scotian's slipper, which -was quicker than the pillow, alighted within an inch of the speaker's -head. - -Niven, however, took it good-naturedly, and he would have resented a -better shot less than the remarks which had preceded it. He was going -to sea, and had been describing his apprentice's uniform, and the life -he fancied he was to lead on board a sailing ship, to an appreciative -audience. His contentment had only one alloy, and that was the fact -that Appleby, who had read Marryat and others with him under a gorse -bush on sunny afternoons when he was presumed to be playing cricket, was -not coming with him too. Nobody, however, was apparently willing to pay -Appleby's premium, and Niven pinned his last hope on the possibility of -his comrade being able to ship on the same vessel as ordinary seaman. -Appleby, whom Niven privately considered somewhat slow and -over-cautious, did not appear very enthusiastic about the scheme. - -"To your kennels!" said somebody, and there was a footfall on the -stairway, while two cots rattled as a couple of scantily-attired forms -alighted upon them with a flying leap. They had been lying prone upon -the floor giving a realistic representation of Niven swimming ashore -with the captain in his teeth, though the lad who played the part of -skipper protested vigorously that there was no necessity for his being -grievously bitten. - -"That was fine," said somebody. "When Pearson's gone we'll have it -again. You could pour some water on to him first to make it more real." - -"Then," said the skipper, "you'll get somebody else in the place of me. -It was a good deal nicer the last time I was nibbled by a ferret, and -I'm not going home with hydrophobia to please any of you." - -After this there was silence whilst the footsteps grew nearer, and -presently the assistant master came into the room. - -"You are all here?" he said as he swept his glance from bed to bed. - -Then he gave a little sigh of relief, for he had a good deal to do that -night, and they were all there, and apparently very sleepy, while it was -not his fault that he did not see that two of them wore their outdoor -clothes under their night gear. Appleby and Niven had business on hand, -and they had discovered that with the aid of contributions levied from -their comrades it was possible to lay out a suit of clothing that -sufficed to pass a hasty inspection on their chairs. Pearson, however, -glanced round again, for he had been taught that there was need for -greater watchfulness when his charges were unusually quiet, and then -turned out the gas. - -"Good-night, boys. If there is any breach of rules some of you will not -go home to-morrow," he said. - -Two minutes later everybody was wide awake again, and a voice was raised -in a corner. - -"Let's have a court-martial and try Bluey for conduct unbecoming an -officer and a gentleman," it said. "You'll be president, Appleby, and -we'll make Niven executioner." - -"Sorry," said Niven, "but we can't. You see, Appleby and I have got -another assize on to-night. We're going to put an _habeas corpus_ on -Tileworks Jimmy's duck." - -"More fools you!" said Bluey. "I'm sorry, too, because I've a few -fixings handy that would double the court-martial up. Anyway, you'll -only catch red-hot trouble instead of Jimmy's duck." - -"What's that about a duck?" asked a lad who had come up in the middle of -the term, and a comrade proceeded to enlighten him. - -"It is by this time ancient history, and it may have been a drake," he -said. "Anyway, this is Appleby's story. He stays here in the holidays, -you know, and he made a catapult thing during the last ones." - -"It wasn't," said Appleby. "It was a crossbow, and Pearson thought so -much of it that he took it from me." - -"Well," said the other, "Appleby went out shooting, and shot a wild -duck, but it was a tame one, and Tileworks Jimmy's. Now if he'd been -wiser he'd have buried it, but he took it to Jimmy's house. Jimmy -wasn't in, and Appleby forgot, but a few days later Jimmy came round to -see the Head, and wanted ten shillings for his duck. Took an affidavit -that it would have won prizes at a dog show anywhere. The Head, who -should have kicked him out, gave him five shillings, and stopped it out -of Appleby's pocket-money, and Appleby went back to Jimmy's to ask for -his duck. Jimmy told him how nice it was, and that he'd eaten the thing -to save it going bad. That, I think, is Q.E.D. Appleby." - -Appleby laughed softly. "You're not very far out, but it wasn't the -duck but the principle of the thing that worried me," he said. "The one -I shot was a common one worth one-and-six, and I didn't even get it, -though when Jimmy took the money he sold it me. Now I don't like to be -cheated by anybody." - -There was a little laughter, for Appleby was known to be tenacious of -his rights. - -"It was better than a circus when he made the Aunt Sally man fork out -the cocoa-nuts he won," said somebody. - -"Well," said Appleby slowly, "it was right, and sixpence has to go a -long way with me. I don't get so many of them as the rest of you." - -He slipped out of bed as he spoke, and there was another rustle when -Niven followed him, while a lad in the cot nearest them sat up. - -"You haven't told us how you're going to get the duck," he said. - -"That," said Niven, "is going to be almost too easy. I throw big stones -on Jimmy's roof, and when he comes out after me Appleby slips in and -gets the duck. With a little brains a fellow can do anything." - -Next moment they were out in the dark corridor, and Niven held his -breath as they slipped past the half-open door of a lighted room where -the Head of the school was busy making out the bills. The treatment at -Sandycombe was at least as firm as kind, and the Head was known to have -an unpleasantly heavy hand. Nobody heard them, however, and in another -minute or two they were crawling about the dark passage where Charley, -the boy of all work, had laid out a long row of boots. Niven, it was -characteristic, took the first pair that seemed to fit him, while -Appleby went up and down the row on his hands and knees, until his -comrade fancied he would never be ready. Then Niven shoved up a window. - -"Get through while I hold it. There isn't any sash-weight," he said. - -"Then who's going to hold it for you?" said Appleby. "There'll be no -duck catching if it comes down with a bang." - -Niven growled disgustedly. "Your turn! I never thought of that," he -said. - -"Then," said Appleby, "it's a good thing I did. Put this piece of stick -under it." - -It was done, and they dropped into a flower bed, slipped through the -garden behind the hollies, across a quaggy field, and came out into the -road just beyond the village. It was drizzling, and a bitter wind drove -a thin white mist past them. Niven stood still a moment ankle-deep in -mud, and glanced back towards the lights of the village blinking through -the haze. - -"It doesn't look quite so nice now, but we had better go on," he said. - -Appleby said nothing, but laughed a little as he plodded on into the -rain and mist, and, though the plan was Niven's, this was typical of -him. Appleby was not very brilliant at either work or play, but he -usually did what he took in hand with a slow thoroughness that -occasionally carried him further than his comrade's cleverness. He was -also slow to begin a friendship or make a quarrel, but those who drove -him into the latter usually regretted it, and his friends were good. -Nobody but Niven knew anything about his relations, while it was but -once in the term, somebody sent him a few shillings for pocket money. -Niven on the contrary could do almost anything he wanted well, and came -back each term with several hampers and a big handful of silver in his -pocket. - -"It's beastly cold, and one of these boots is coming off. I'm not sure -it's my own," he said. "It would be a good joke for the other fellow if -I lost it." - -"It wouldn't be for me," said Appleby dryly. "If I lost mine I would -have to go home with you in my stockings, but we'll have to get on -faster than we're doing." - -They could scarcely see the hedgerows, and the mud got deeper. Now and -then a half-seen tree shook big drops down on them as they went by, and -there way a doleful crying of wild fowl from a marsh not far away. The -drizzle also beat into their eyes, and Niven, who felt distinctly sorry -he had ever heard about the duck, presently stopped altogether with his -feet in a pool. - -"We could still go back, Tom," he said. - -"No," said Appleby dryly. "I don't think we could, though because I -could manage it myself there's nothing to stop you if you wanted to." - -There was not much mirth in Niven's laugh. "I'm not very anxious, if -you put it like that," he said. - -They went on again, getting rapidly wetter, until Niven fell down as -they clambered over a dripping stile. "We're a pair of splay-footed -asses, Tom," he said. - -Appleby nodded. "Still, we'd be bigger ones if we did nothing after all -this. I wouldn't sit there in the mud," he said. - -Niven scrambled to his feet, and presently they crawled through a hedge -into a rutted lane with the lighted window of a cottage close in front -of them, and the radiance shone upon them as they stopped to glance up -and down. Appleby stood square and resolute with decision in his face, -and he was short and thick, with long arms and broad shoulders. Niven -shivered a little, and leaned forwards turning his head this way and -that with quick, nervous movements. He was lithe and light, with a -graceful suppleness that was not seen in his companion. - -"Tom," he said softly, "there aren't any stones. Still, I could heave a -lump of stiff mud through the window, and that would fetch him." - -Appleby shook his head. "There are tiles yonder, and they would do as -well," he said. "You see, we are entitled to the duck, but Jimmy's -window is another thing. Give me a minute, and then begin." - -He slipped away into the gloom of a hedge, and it was evidently high -time, for a dog commenced growling. Niven felt very lonely as he stood -still in the rain, but the depression only lasted a moment or two, and -in another minute he had flung a big tile upon the roof. When the -second went banging and rattling down the slates he raised a -high-pitched howl. - -"Jimmy, come out," he said. "Come out, you shuttle-toed clay stamper, -and be a man." - -He was not kept waiting long. The door swung open and a man stood out -black against the light in the opening. He was peering into the -darkness, and apparently grasped a good-sized stick, but when another -tile crashed against the low roof above his head he saw the object -deriding him in the mud. - -"Ellen, loose the dog," he said as he sprang forward. - -Niven promptly darted up the lane, but there were two things he had not -counted on, and one of them was the dog, for Jimmy had not kept one when -they last passed his cottage. The other was even more embarrassing, for -while Niven could run tolerably well on turf in cricket shoes the deep -sticky mud was different, and one of the boots which were somebody -else's would slip up and down his foot. Still because Jimmy was not far -behind him, he did all he could, and was disgusted to find that a -tileworks labourer could run almost as well as he did. Indeed, for the -first Five minutes he had a horrible suspicion that Jimmy was running -better, but presently it became evident that the splashing thud of heavy -boots grew no louder, and he saw that he was at least maintaining his -lead. Still, he could not shake off the pursuer, and while he held on -with clenched hands and laboured breath an unfortunate thing happened. -One foot sank deep in a rut, Niven staggered, blundered through another -stride, and then rolled over in the grass under a tall hedge. That was -bad, but it was worse to find that he had now only a stocking upon one -foot. Jimmy was also unpleasantly close, and Niven, seeing he could not -escape by flight, rolled a little further beneath the hedge. - -Then he lay very still while the man came floundering down the road, and -held his breath when he stopped as if to listen close beside him. - -"The young varmint has made for the hedge gap," gasped the man. "If I -cut across to the stile I might ketch him." - -He went on, and when his footsteps could no longer be heard Niven -crawled out and felt in the puddles for the boot. It was not to be -found, and rising with a groan he worked round towards the back of the -cottage. The dog was growling all the time, and he could hear a woman's -voice as well as a rattle of chain, but presently he saw a dark object -gliding along beneath a hedge. When he came up with it he noticed that -Appleby had something in his hand. - -"I've got it," he said. - -Niven looked at the object he held up. "It's very quiet," he said. - -"Of course!" said Appleby. "You wouldn't make much noise without your -head. Killing anything is beastly, but there was a billhook handy. -We've no time for talking now. It's a good big dog." - -They crossed a field, and Niven's shoeless foot did not greatly -embarrass him until they crawled through a hedge into recent ploughing, -while as they plodded over it the growling of the dog drew nearer. - -"Come on!" gasped Appleby. "She has got him loose at last." - -The beast was close at hand when another hedge rose up blackly against -the sky before them, and Niven swung off a little towards an oak that -grew out of it. - -"It's a horrible brute, but it can't climb a tree. I'm going for the -oak," he said. - -Appleby grasped his shoulder. "Jimmy could," he said. "Go on, and try -if you can pull one of those stakes in the gap up." - -In another minute Niven was tearing out a thick stake, and felt a little -happier when he saw the end of it was sharpened, while Appleby had -clawed up a big clod of stiff clay from the ploughing. - -"He's only a cur, any way, and I think there's a stone in it," he said. - -They could now dimly see the dog, and it was evident that it saw them, -for it stopped, and then commenced to work round sideways in their -direction, growling as though a little disconcerted by their waiting. - -"It's an ugly beast," said Niven, whose heart was in his mouth. "It -would get us if we ran." - -"We're not going to run," said Appleby quietly, though his voice was a -trifle hoarse. "Howl at him, Chriss." - -Niven commenced a discordant hissing, and the dog growled more angrily. -They could see it black against the ploughing, and it looked very big. -Appleby was standing perfectly still with something held up above his -head, and drew back a pace when the brute came creeping towards him. - -"Here's something for you, Towser," he said, flinging his arm up. - -Then a howl followed, and next moment Niven was tearing up the clay, and -hurling it in handfuls after something that seemed fading in the dimness -of the field. When he could see it no longer he stood up breathless. - -"We've beaten him," he gasped. "It's about time we were going." - -They went at once, and did not stop until they reached the road, where -Niven leaned against a gate, and glanced down ruefully at his foot. - -"It wasn't so bad on the grass, but I don't know how I'm going to get -home now," he said. - -"Put up your foot," said Appleby. "We'll tie our handkerchiefs round -it." - -He was quick with his fingers, but when they turned homewards Niven was -not exactly happy. He was wet and very muddy, while, as he afterwards -observed, walking a long way on one foot is not especially easy. It was -also raining steadily, and a little trickle from his soaked cap ran down -his shoulders, while the bare hedgerows seemed to crawl back towards -them very slowly. The mud squelched and splashed underfoot, and there -was only the crying of the plover in the darkness. - -"I never fancied it was such a beastly long way to the tileworks," he -said as he limped on painfully. - -At last when the knotted handkerchief hurt his foot horribly a light or -two blinked faintly through the rain, and presently they plodded into -the silent village. Nobody seemed to see them, the window they had -slipped out of was still open, and crawling in they went up the stairway -and along the corridor on tiptoe with the water draining from them. -Niven had expected to find his comrades asleep, and was too wet and -dispirited to wish to waken them, but there was a murmur of sympathy -when he crept in. - -"I wouldn't be you," said somebody. "The Head came in to ask how many -panes in the greenhouse Nettleton had broken, and he saw you were away." - -"And he came back, and threatened to keep the whole of us here -to-morrow, if we didn't tell him where you were," said another lad. "It -was very nice of you to let us all into lumber." - -"Did you tell him?" asked Appleby. - -"Of course!" said a third speaker sardonically. "It's just what we -would do. I'll thank you for that to-morrow, and I'd get up now only -the Head would hear us, and he's breathing slaughter." - -"Tearing around," said Bluey the Nova Scotian. "Cutlasses and pistols, -and the magazine open! You know the kind of thing you're fond of -reading." - -Niven, who was tired out, groaned. As he told his comrades afterwards -he had enjoyed himself sufficiently already, and one wanted to brace up -before a visit from the Head. - -"What are we going to do, Tom?" he said. - -Appleby laughed softly. "I'm going straight to bed," he said. "The -Head's busy, and there mayn't be anything very dreadful if he sends -Pearson." - -He was undressed in another two minutes, and as Niven crept into bed -somebody said, "Did you get the duck?" - -"We did," said Niven solemnly. "And be hanged to it! That's enough for -you or anybody, and don't worry me. I want to be asleep when the Head -comes." - -"You needn't be afraid he'll mind waking you," said another lad. "I'd -rolled up my jacket, so it looked just like Appleby's big head, and when -he saw it wasn't, he got speechless mad." - -Ten minutes passed, and Niven was just feeling a little warm again when -there were footsteps in the corridor. They drew nearer, and with a -little gasp of dismay he swung himself out of and then under his bed. A -swish and a rustle told him that Appleby had followed his example, and a -voice from under the adjoining cot said, "He'll go away again if he -doesn't find us, and we may tire him out before the morning." - -Next moment the door was opened, and while a light shone in somebody -said, "Asleep, of course, all of you! Have Niven and Appleby returned -yet?" - -Niven, glancing out from under his cot, saw a robust elderly gentleman -holding a candle above him, while he swung what looked like a horse -girth suggestively in his other hand, but a snore answered the master's -question, and he laughed unpleasantly. - -"We have had sufficient nonsense," he said. "You can either tell me at -once where your comrades went, or improve your memories by writing lines -the rest of the night." - -Here and there a sleepy object sat up on a bed, but there was still no -answer, and the head of Sandycombe School tapped his foot impatiently on -the flooring. - -"I'm not in a mood for trifling, boys," he said. "You have another -minute to decide in, and nobody in this room will go home to-morrow if -you do not tell me then." - -There was for several seconds a silence that could be felt, and though -all of those who heard him knew the head of the school would keep his -word, nobody spoke. Then there was a rustle under a bed, and Niven -caught a low murmur, "Keep still. If he get's one of us he'll forget -the other." - -Next moment Appleby was speaking louder. "I'm here, sir," he said. - -The master lowered his candle as something wriggled out from under the -cot, and then swung up the strap when Appleby stood very straight before -him in his night gear. - -"Where is Niven? It was you who took him away?" he said. - -"Yes, sir," said Appleby. "I did, but he came back all right." - -"Very good!" said the master. "You seem to be proud of it. Hold out -your hand." - -Appleby glanced at him, and did not move for a second or two while he -thought rapidly. He did not like what he saw in his master's eyes, and -now he had delivered his comrades it was time to shift for himself. He -and Niven were leaving school early on the morrow, and he fancied he -might escape if he could tide through the next ten minutes, because the -head of the school had a good deal to attend to on the last night. The -door was also open, and not far away, the candle was flickering in the -draughts, and swinging suddenly round he darted for the opening. He -was, however, a second too late, for the great strap came down swishing, -and coiled about his shoulders, but he was in the corridor before it -rose again, and making for the head of a short stairway. The master, -however, seemed to be gaining on him, and Appleby fancied he heard the -swish of the strap when a yard away from the first step. One taste had -been sufficient, and bracing every sinew he went down in a flying leap. -As he alighted there was a thud and a crash, and the candle suddenly -went out. Still, nobody fell down the stairway, and surmising that the -pursuer missing him with the strap had driven the candle against the -wall, Appleby did not wait for a recall but went on, and into the great, -dark schoolroom underneath. There he listened until heavy footsteps -overhead seemed to indicate that the master had gone back to his room, -when creeping up another stairway, he regained the opposite end of the -corridor through a class-room. In another few minutes he had crawled -back into his bed. - -"Does it hurt, Tom?" said Niven sympathetically. "I'm owing you a good -deal for this, but I know you don't like that kind of talk--and did you -forget the duck?" - -Appleby laughed softly, partly to check the groan, for there was a -horrible tingling round his shoulders. - -"I've had a lighter tap, but I've got the duck. It's here under the -bed," he said. - - - - - *CHAPTER II* - - *OUT OF DOCK* - - -Appleby went home with Niven next morning, as he had done once or twice -before, for he had no home to go to, or relations who seemed anxious to -invite him anywhere. Mr. Niven was a prosperous Liverpool merchant who -had, however, made his own way in the world, and he and his wife had -taken a liking to the quiet, friendless lad. Chriss Niven also wrote to -his mother every week, and, though Appleby did not know this, had -mentioned more than one difficulty out of which his comrade had pulled -him. - -It was a week later when Appleby, who had slipped away from the rest, -sat somewhat moodily in a corner of a little ante-room opening out of a -large one that was brilliantly lighted. The chords of a piano rang -through the swish of dresses, patter of feet, and light-hearted -laughter, for it was Mrs. Niven's birthday, and she had invited her -son's and daughter's friends to assist in its celebration. Appleby was -fond of music, and he drummed with his fingers on the arm of his chair, -and now and then glanced wistfully towards the doorway. - -Under the glances of bright eyes that seemed to find his clumsiness -amusing, and amidst the dainty dresses, he had grown horribly conscious -that his clothes were old and somewhat shabby. The fact had not -troubled him before, but he had never been brought into contact with -pretty girls of his own age hitherto. - -Niven, however, always looked well, and Appleby sighed once or twice as -he watched him, and found it hard not to envy him. Chriss could do -everything well, and he was to sail south in a great iron merchant ship -by and by. Appleby had lived beside the warm tropic sea in his -childhood and had loved it ever since, but now, when the sight of the -blue uniform of his friend stirred up the old longing so that his eyes -grew almost dim, he knew that he was to begin a life of distasteful -drudgery in an office. Presently Mr. Niven, who had a lean face and -keen dark eyes, came in. - -"All alone, Tom. Have the girls frightened you?" he said with a smile. - -"Well, sir," said Appleby quietly, "you see, when I tried to turn over -the music for Miss Lester I couldn't quite guess the right time and it -only worried her, while it didn't seem much use to stand about in -everybody's way. I'm going back when they start a game." - -Mr. Niven nodded, for the unembarrassed gravity of the answer pleased -him. "That's right. There's very little use in pretending one can do -things when one can't," he said. "And you are going into business, eh! -I fancy, however, that Chriss told me you wanted to go to sea." - -"Yes," said Appleby with a reluctance that did not escape the listener. -"Still, it seems all the owners ask a good big premium, and of course -there is nobody to lend me the money. The little my father left was -spent on my education, and my guardian writes me that he has heard of an -office where I could earn enough to keep me." - -"How did you know they wanted a premium?" asked Mr. Niven. - -"Because I went round all the shipowners' offices I could find in the -directory, sir," said Appleby. - -The merchant nodded gravely to hide his astonishment. "Your father died -abroad, and your mother too?" he said. - -"Yes, sir," said Appleby quietly. "At Singapore. I can only just -remember them. I was sent back to England when I was very young--and -never saw either of them again." - -Mr. Niven noticed the self-control in the lad's face as well as the -slight tremble in his voice which would not be hidden. It was also if -somewhat impassive a brave young face, and there was a steadiness that -pleased him in the grave, grey eyes, he wished his own son looked as -capable of facing the world alone. - -"And you would still like to go to sea? It is a very hard life," he -said. - -Appleby smiled. "Isn't everything a little hard, sir, when you have no -friends or money?" - -"Well," said Mr. Niven dryly, "it not infrequently is, and I found it -out at your age, though not many youngsters do. Who taught it you?" - -Appleby looked a trifle confused. "I," he said slowly, "don't quite -know--but it seems to make things a little easier now. Of course I did -want to go to sea, but I know it's out of the question." - -The merchant looked at him curiously. "You will probably be very -thankful by and by, but hadn't you better go back to the others? We'll -have a talk again." - -Appleby went out to take part in a game, and Mr. Niven sat looking -straight before him thoughtfully until his wife came in. - -"They are getting on excellently, and I am glad the affair is a success, -because it is difficult to please young people now-a-days, and I want -Chriss to have only pleasant memories to carry away with him," she said. - -She glanced towards the doorway with a little wistfulness in her eyes as -Chriss passed by holding himself very erect while a laughing girl -glanced up at him, and Mr. Niven guessed her thoughts. - -"It will be his own fault if he hasn't," he said with a smile. "It was, -however, the other lad I was thinking of." - -Mrs. Niven sat down and gazed at the fire for almost a minute -reflectively. "You have had an answer from that relative of his?" - -The merchant nodded. "To-day," he said. "He is evidently not disposed -to do much for the lad, and has found him an opening in the office of a -very third-rate firm. Appleby does not like the prospect, and from what -I know of his employers I can sympathize with him." - -"He has no other friends. I asked him," said Mrs. Niven. "Jack, I can't -help thinking we owe a good deal to that lad, and you know I am fond of -him. He has always taken Chriss's part at Sandycombe, and you will -remember he thrashed one of the bigger boys who had been systematically -ill-using him. Then there was another little affair the night before -they left the school. Chriss told Millicent, though he didn't mention -it to me." - -"Nor to me," said Mr. Niven. "A new, senseless trick, presumably?" - -The lady smiled a little as she told the story of Jimmy's duck. "The -point is that the plan was Chriss's, but when they were found out -Appleby took the punishment," she said. "Now I scarcely fancy every lad -would have done that, or have been sufficiently calm just then to -remember that the master, who it seems was very busy, would probably be -content when he had laid his hands on one of them. It was also a really -cruel blow he got." - -"Did he tell you?" said Mr. Niven dryly. - -"No," said the lady. "That was what pleased me, because though I tried -to draw him out about it he would tell me nothing, but a night or two -ago I remembered there were some of his things that wanted mending. The -lad has very few clothes, but he is shy and proud, and I fancied I could -take what I wanted away and replace it without him noticing. Well, he -was fast asleep, and I couldn't resist the temptation of stooping over -him. His pyjama jacket was open, and I could see the big, purple weal -that ran right up to his neck." - -"If he knew, he would never forgive you," said Mr. Niven with a little -laugh. "But what did they do with the duck? Chriss would certainly -have forgotten it." - -"Appleby brought it away, and gave it to some poor body in Chester," -said Mrs. Niven. - -"That was the one sensible part of the whole affair, but I want to know -why you told me." - -"Well," said the lady slowly, "you know he wants to go to sea, and I -feel sure his relative would be only too glad to get rid of him. Now it -wouldn't be very difficult for you to get him a ship almost without a -premium." - -"A ship?" said Mr. Niven with a little smile. - -"Yes," said the lady. "Chriss's ship. Chriss is--well, you know he is -just a trifle thoughtless." - -"I fancy you mean spoiled," said her husband. "Still, as usual, you are -right. It is quite probable that Chriss will want somebody with a -little sense behind him. Going to sea in a merchant ship is a very -different kind of thing from what he believes it is." - -Mrs. Niven sighed. "Of course. Still, about Appleby?" - -"Well," said her husband smiling, "I think I could tell you more when I -have had a talk with the owners to-morrow." - -He nodded as he went away, and it was next afternoon when he sat talking -with an elderly gentleman in a city office. - -"We would of course be willing to take a lad you recommended," said the -latter. "Still, I was not altogether pleased to hear that my partner -had promised to put your son into the _Aldebaran_." - -"No?" said Mr. Niven with a twinkle in his eyes. "Now I fancied you -would have been glad of the opportunity of obliging me." - -The other man looked thoughtful. "To be frank, I would sooner have had -the son of somebody we carried less goods for," said he. "With the -steamers beating us everywhere we have to run our ships economically, -and get the most out of our men, and I accordingly fancy that while it -would not have made him as good a seaman, your son would have been a -good deal more comfortable as one of the new cadet apprentices on board -a steamer." - -Mr. Niven smiled dryly. "I have no great wish to make my lad a seaman. -The fact is, there's a tolerably prosperous business waiting for him, -but in the meanwhile he will go to sea, and it seems to me that the best -thing I can do is to let him. He will probably be quite willing to -listen to what I have to tell him after a trip or two, and find out -things I could never teach him on board your vessel." - -"Well," said the shipowner with a little laugh, "it is often an -effective cure as well as a rough one." - -Mr. Niven left the office with a document in his pocket, and on -Christmas morning Appleby found a big, blue envelope upon his breakfast -plate. - -"I wonder what is inside it," said Mrs. Niven. - -Appleby sighed. "It has a business appearance," he said. "It will be -to tell me when I'm to go to the office." - -"Hadn't you better open it?" said Mrs. Niven with a glance at her -husband, and there was silence while Appleby tore open the envelope. -Then the colour crept into his face, and his fingers trembled as he took -out a document. - -"I can't understand it," he said. "This seems to be an apprentice's -commission--indentures--for me. The ship is the _Aldebaran_." - -There was a howl of delight from Chriss, and a rattle as he knocked over -his coffee, but Appleby sat still, staring at the paper, while belief -slowly replaced the wonder in his eyes. Then he rose up, and his voice -was not even as he said, "It is real. I am to go in the _Aldebaran_. I -have to thank you, sir, for this?" - -Mr. Niven laughed. "No, my lad," he said. "It was my wife's doing, and -if you are sorry by and by you will have her to blame." - -Appleby turned to the lady, and his eyes were shining. "It's almost too -much," he said. "Chriss and I are going together. It is everything I -could have hoped for." - -Mrs. Niven smiled, though there was a little flush in her face. "Sit -down and get your breakfast before Chriss goes wild and destroys all the -crockery," she said. - -Chriss laughed uproariously. "Crockery!" he said. "If we'd been at -Sandycombe we'd have smashed every pane in the Head's conservatory. -Tom, it's--oh, it's jim-bang, blazing, glorious!" - -That was the happiest Christmas Appleby had ever spent, and he -remembered it many a time afterwards when he kept his lonely watch -peering into the bitter night from plunging forecastle and spray-swept -bridge, or while he clung to the slanted topsail yard clawing at the -canvas that banged above him in the whirling snow. - -Then, when he knew the reality, he could smile a little at his boyish -dream, but that day he only felt his blood tingle and every fibre in him -thrill in answer to the calling of the sea. He was English, and the -spirit which had from the beginning of his nation's history driven out -hero and patriot, as well as cutthroat slaver and privateer, to scorch, -and freeze, and suffer, do brave things, and some that were shameful, -too, and with it all keep the red flag flaunting high in symbol of -sovereignty, was in him also. All that day shield-ringed galley, -caravel, towering three-decker, steel-sheathed warship, and ugly cargo -tramp sailed through his visions, and they had for a background palms -and coral beaches, mountains rolled in snow cloud, and the blink of -frozen seas. They and their crews' story were a part of his -inheritance, because, although the times have changed and canvas is -giving place to steam, English lads have not forgotten, and the sea is -still the same. - -Appleby, however, had commenced to realize that going to sea is not all -luxury when he stood on the _Aldebaran's_ sloppy deck one bleak morning -in February. It was drizzling, and the light was dimmed by a smoky haze, -while the ship was foul all over with black grime from the coaling -staithes and the dust that had blown across her from a big elevator -hurling up Indian wheat. It was also very raw, and Niven's face was -almost purple with the cold, while the moisture glistened on his new -uniform. A few bedraggled women and a cluster of dripping men stood on -the dock wall above them. Other men tumbled dejectedly about the -forecastle, falling over the great wet hawsers, while one or two who had -crawled out of the mate's sight lay rather more than half-asleep in the -shadow beneath it. - -A grey-haired man with a sour face paced up and down the poop, raising -one hand now and then when a dock official shouted, while Appleby sprang -aside when another man he spoke to came down the poop-ladder and along -the deck in long, angry strides. He wore a woolly cloth cap, -knee-boots, and a very old pilot-coat, and he had a big, coarse face, -with heavy jawbone and cruel eyes. Still, the very way he put his feet -down denoted strength, and Appleby noticed the depth of his chest and -the spread of his shoulders. Niven, who had not seen him, did not move -in time, and the man flung him backwards. - -"Out of the way!" he said. - -Niven's face was flushed when he recovered his balance, and there was an -angry flash in his eyes as he watched the man plunge into the shadow -below the forecastle. In another moment several figures came scrambling -out of it, and went up the ladder as for their lives, with the man in -the pilot-coat close behind. - -"If that's the new mate he looks more like a prize-fighter than a -sailor," said Niven. "How does he strike you, Tom?" - -"I think he's a brute," said Appleby quietly. - -They said nothing further, for that was their first acquaintance with -the under-side of life at sea, and their thoughts were busy, while in -another minute the mate looking in their direction signed to them, and -it did not appear advisable to keep a man of his kind waiting. - -"Give these beasts a hand," he said when they stood among the seamen on -the sloppy forecastle. "You can't be more useless than they are, -anyway." - -Niven stooped, and clawed disgustedly at the great wet hawser behind the -swaying men, and one of them, who was dark-haired and sallow, glanced -over his shoulder when the mate swung away. - -"Ah, _cochon_!" he said. - -Another, who had tow-hair, stood up and stretched his stalwart limbs. -"Der peeg! Oh, yes. Dot vas goot," he said. "I tink der vas some -troubles mit dot man soon." - -A little man with high cheek bones and curious half-closed eyes loosed -his grasp upon the rope and laughed softly. He also said something to -himself, but as it was Finnish neither Appleby nor Niven were much the -wiser. - -It, however, occurred to them that the language they had listened to was -not quite what one would have expected to hear on board an English ship. -There were a few Englishmen on board her, but they did not talk, and for -the most part leaned up against anything handy, or slouched aimlessly -about looking very unfit for work, which was not altogether astonishing -considering the fashion in which they had spent the previous night. - -Still the hawser was paid out at last, and Appleby stood up breathless, -smeared with slime and coal-dust when the ropes astern fell with a -splash, and there was a hoot from the bustling little tug. Somebody -roared out orders on the quay above, paddles splashed, and the lad felt -his heart give a curious little throb as the _Aldebaran_ slowly -commenced to move. She was a big iron barque loaded until her scuppers -amidships were apparently only a foot or two from the scum of the dock. - -He stood forward behind the maze of wire rope about the jibboom, which -was not yet run out, on the forecastle, but just below him this broke -off, and the deck ran aft sunk almost a man's height between the iron -bulwarks to the raised poop at the opposite end of the ship. Half-way -between stood a little iron house, and down the middle of the deck rose -the three great masts, the last and smallest of them, springing from the -poop. Behind it a man in shining oilskins was spinning the wheel. The -deck looked very long and filthy, for the wheat-dust and the coal-dust -were over everything, and bales, and boxes, and cases strewn amidst the -straggling lengths of rope. - -Then he heard a fresh shouting, and saw that the bowsprit was already -raking through the open gate of the dock, and there were faces smiling -down on him from the wall above. - -"Chriss," he said, "look up." - -Niven did, and Appleby swung his cap off when a hoarse and somewhat -spiritless cheer went up. Mr. Niven was shouting something he could not -catch, Mrs. Niven was smiling down at them with misty eyes, and the very -pretty girl at her side waving a handkerchief. - -Appleby glanced at his comrade out of the corner of his eyes and saw -that Chriss's face had grown unusually red. Still, he was shouting -lustily, and swinging his cap, while in the silence that followed the -cheer a hoarse voice rose up-- - - Blow the men down, - Blow the men down, - Oh, give us time - To blow the men down. - - -There was another scream from the whistle, and a roar from the mate, and -while the last ropes were cast off the two lads ran aft along the deck. -Paddles splashed, ropes slid through the water, and while the red ensign -thrice swung up and sank above their heads the _Aldebaran_ slid out into -the Mersey. Once more the voices rang out hoarsely in farewell, and -then while the groups on the quay grew blurred and dim they were sliding -away with the ebb-tide into the haze and rain. Niven looked astern -until the speck of waving handkerchief was lost to him, and then turned -to Appleby with a little gulp. - -"That's the last of them!" he said. "They're going back to dinner, and -we--now I wonder what we're going to out there." - -He pointed vaguely with a hand that shook a little across the dismal -slate-grey waters beyond the bows, but Appleby understood him, for it -was the unknown that was filled as yet with great and alluring -possibilities the jibboom pointed to. Yet deep down within him he felt -as Niven did, a regret and a yearning after the things he had left -behind. It was very cold and wet on the _Aldebaran's_ deck. - - - - - *CHAPTER III* - - *DOWN CHANNEL* - - -The first day at sea is seldom very pleasant to anybody, especially on -board a sailing ship, and the one the lads had looked forward with -bright hopes to, dragged by dismally. For an hour or two painted buoy -and rolling red lightship came crawling back towards them out of the -rain, and then when the last of the Lancashire sandhills had faded over -their starboard hand, there was only smoky cloud before them and a grey -sea, across which little white ripples splashed. - -Still, the tug was powerful and hauled them steadily along with a -rhythmical splash and tinkle at the bows that rose and fell a little, -and a muddy wake streaked with froth astern. Once or twice they caught -a blink of the hills of Wales, but the vapours that unrolled a trifle -closed in again, and the lads were glad they had not much opportunity -for looking about them. There were huge ropes to be coiled up and -stowed away, bales and cases to be put below, the jibboom to be rigged -out, decks washed and everything cleaned down, and while the drizzle -blew about them they stumbled amidst the litter and got in everybody's -way. Now and then a seaman laughed at them or another growled. One or -two they offered to assist shoved them aside, and it commenced to dawn -upon Chriss Niven for the first time that he was of very little use in -the busy world. The knowledge was not pleasant, but it was probably -good for him. - -Then the daylight died out, and while now and then coloured lights crept -up ahead and grew dim again behind, one after another long streamers of -brilliance whirled up across the sea. They, too, grew brighter, -flashed, and blinked, and flickered, and faded away, and Appleby grew -more chilly when he could find nothing more to do, until at last he -sighed with contentment when somebody told him to go into the deckhouse -if he wanted any tea. - -When he entered it he saw a lamp that smoked a good deal swinging from a -blackened iron beam, and two lads a little older than himself sitting on -their sea-chests with enamelled plates on their knees, and a great can -of steaming tea before them. They were just out of port, and having -brought their own things they feasted for once royally on fresh bread -and butter, sardines and marmalade. One of them who had a pleasant face -filled up Niven's pannikin, and pointed to the bread. - -"Wire in. You'll not have the chance very long," he said. "It's your -job to go to the galley and bring the senna in, but we have let you off -this time. I'd take those things you're wearing off, if I was you. We -don't dress like gunboat commanders on board the _Aldebaran_." - -"You brought this grub yourselves. They don't feed you very well," said -Appleby, and the others laughed. - -"No," said one. "None of the _Aldebarans_ would get a prize at a cattle -show, and you'd be glad to steal the dog's dinner in a week or two, only -we haven't got one. You see a dog can't live on nothing as we're almost -expected to do, and the old man's too mean to waste food on anything -that can't handle sail." - -"What's he like apart from his stinginess?" asked Niven. - -"Well," said one of the others, "I have sailed with worse--a little--but -the old man don't count for very much, anyway, because it's the mate who -runs the ship, and the one we've got now's a terror." - -"He's a pig-faced Geordie with a tiger's heart. I'd sooner live with a -shark," said a lad who sat in a corner. "Hadn't been out two hours when -he pitched one of the fellows forward down the hold. Of course it was -tolerably full, and he didn't fall very far." - -"What did the man do?" asked Appleby. - -"Crawled away out of sight, and went to sleep--of course," said the -first speaker; "none of them will be much good until to-morrow, but -there'll be a circus or two on board this packet before we fetch -Vancouver." - -It was not very encouraging, but it was evident that they must make the -best of it, and Appleby solaced himself with a long draught from his -pannikin. The tea was hot and sweet at least, though there was very -little else to recommend it, and it and the crumbly bread that tore -beneath the knife put a little warmth and vigour into him. There was -very little of the loaf left when all were contented, and following the -example of the others, he and Niven crawled into their shelf-like bunks. -Appleby flung off his jacket only because Lawson the eldest lad warned -him that he might be wanted at any moment, but though his clothes were -wet and his straw mattress might have been more cosy, he was glad to -feel the warmth begin to creep back into his chilled limbs. The lamp -creaked dolefully above him as it swung to and fro, casting a brightness -that flickered and vanished on the brass of the ports. Moisture stood -beaded on the iron beams, and the wooden floor was wet, while now and -then one of the big sea-chests groaned as it moved a little. Nothing -was quite what Appleby had expected, but he did not think there was -anything to be gained by mentioning it, and his eyes were growing dim -when a shout roused him. Lawson was out of his berth in a moment and -struggling into a black oilskin. - -"You should have had yours handy, but you'll have to turn out without -it. They're getting sail on to her," hee said. - -It seemed very black and cold when Appleby went out into the rain again. -The wind had evidently freshened, and sang through the maze of cordage -above him with a doleful wailing, while as he peered into the darkness a -burst of bitter spray beat into his eyes. It was almost a minute before -he could see again, and then he made out the reeling lights of the tug -with a row of paler ones behind them, and not far away a great whirling -blaze. - -"That's the Skerries," said Lawson, who appeared at his elbow. -"Yonder's Holyhead. Wind's freshening out of the south-east, and she'll -about fetch Tuskar on a close jam down channel." - -Appleby did not understand very much of this, but he had little time to -wonder as to its meaning, for the mate went by just then, and Lawson -vanished into the darkness when his voice rang out, "Fore and main -topsails. Forward there, loose the jibs." - -Dark objects went by at a floundering run, and Appleby followed some of -them to the foremost shrouds which ran spreading out with the rattlings -across them from the lower mast-head to the rail. He had swung himself -up on to it, and was glancing down at the leaping foam below, when -somebody grabbed him by the arm, and next moment he was staggering -across the deck. - -"You'll go up there when you're told," the mate's voice said. "We want -a good deal more work out of you before you're drowned." - -"He's a pig," said Niven, appearing close by, and then sank back into -the shadow when a big hand reached out in his direction, while presently -the two found themselves pulling and hauling amidst a group of swaying -figures about the foot of the foremast. It ran up into the darkness -black and shadowy, and dark figures were crawling out on the long yard -above them that stretched out into the night, while there was a groaning -and rattling that drowned the wailing of the wind. - -"Gantlines!" said somebody. "A pull on the lee-sheet. Overhaul your -clew," and black folds of canvas blew out and banged noisily above them. -Then while the men chanted something as they rose and fell, the flapping -folds slowly straightened out, and Niven looking up saw the topsail -stretch into a great shadowy oblong. Then the men upon its yard seemed -to claw at the next one, and there was more banging and thrashing as it -rose, while the tug's whistle hooted, and hoarse shouts fell from the -darkness and mingled with those from the poop. - -"Forward," roared somebody. "Get the jibs on to her." - -Neither Niven nor Appleby knew whether this referred to them or what -they were expected to do, but there was nobody to tell them, so they -followed two men forward, and stood panting a moment on the forecastle. -It was rising and falling sharply now, for a long swell was running up -channel, and they could dimly see a man crawling out upon the jibboom. -This time they did not attempt to follow him, and when somebody drove -them down the ladder a figure in oilskins thrust a rope into their -hands. - -"Hang on while I sweat it up," it said. - -Appleby did not understand the manoeuvre, but when the man caught the -rope beneath a pin and they took up the slack he gave them at every -backward swing, a long triangular strip of canvas ceased banging, and -the lads felt they were doing something useful when presently a second -one rose into the blackness. Then they stood gasping, and watched the -lights of the tug slide by. They could see the white froth from her -paddles and the rise and fall of the black hull, while the voice of her -skipper came ringing across the water. - -"Good voyage!" he said. "You'll fetch Tuskar without breaking tack." - -The tug went by, and Niven set his lips when with a farewell hoot of her -whistle she vanished into the blackness astern. She was going back to -Liverpool, and would be there before the morrow, while when another day -crept out of the rain he would be only so much farther from home. He -was not exactly sorry he had come, but by no means so sure that the sea -was the only calling for Englishmen as he had been. Then the bulwarks -they leaned upon lurched beneath them, and he was sensible that Appleby -was speaking. - -"She's starting now. Look at her. This is good, after all," he said. - -Niven looked, and saw that black tiers of canvas had clothed the masts, -though their upper portions still projected above it. They were also -slanting, and the deck commenced to slope beneath him, while the long -iron hull took on life and motion. There was a roar beneath the bows -which rose and fell with a leisurely regularity, a swing and dip of the -sloppy deck, and the spray began to blow in little stinging clouds over -the forecastle. The wind also grew sharper, and at last Niven laughed -excitedly as he felt the _Aldebaran_ sweep away faster and faster into -the night. - -"Oh, yes," he said. "Now one can forget the other things." - -"She's lying up close," said Lawson, who came by. "Still, I'm glad the -old man doesn't want the topgallants on her yet. Those are the next -higher sails, and she's a very wet ship when you drive her. Look out. -She's beginning her capers now." - -As he spoke the bows dipped sharply, and from the weather side of the -forecastle a cloud of spray whirled up. It blew in long wisps to -leeward, struck with a patter along the rail, and before Niven, whose -face was streaming, could shake himself, a rush of very cold water -sluiced past him ankle-deep. Then the long hull heaved beneath him, and -lurched forward faster still. - -"I'm wetter than I was when we found Jimmy's duck, but this is great. -She's just tearing through it," he said. - -As he spoke a sing-song cry came out of the spray that whirled about the -dipping forecastle, "Steamer's masthead light to starboard, sir." - -Appleby, glancing over his right hand, saw a blink of yellow radiance -beyond the swelling curves of the jibs. It was rising higher rapidly, -and while he watched it, a speck of green flickered out beneath. Then a -deep, organ-toned booming broke through the humming of the wind, and he -saw a dark figure which he fancied was the mate swing up and down the -poop, and another behind it stand rigid at the wheel. - -"One of the Liverpool mailboats doing twenty knots, and it isn't any -wonder their skippers are nervous when they meet a sailing-ship coming -down channel," said Lawson at his side. - -Then somebody gave an order on the _Aldebaran's_ poop, and though it was -not the usual one, any English sailor would have understood it. As it -happened, however, the man who held the wheel was not a Briton, and next -moment Appleby felt the ship swing round a trifle. - -"Jimminy!" gasped Lawson. "The Dutchman's going to ram us right across -her." - -Next moment there was a bewildering roar from the whistle, and ringed -about with lights the great bulk of the liner sprang out of the night. -Towering high with her long rows of deckhouses punctured with specks of -brilliancy and her two great funnels black against the sky, she was -apparently heading straight for them. - -Appleby saw all this in a second while he held his breath, and then -there was a scuffle on the _Aldebaran's_ poop. Somebody sprang towards -the wheel, there was a thud, and a man reeled away from it, while high -up in the darkness, canvas banged as the _Aldebaran_ once more swerved a -trifle. As she did so a man came staggering down the poop ladder, and -with the white froth seething about her the liner swept by. Appleby -gasped, and felt that he was shaking, while he saw that Lawson's face -was a trifle white by the yellow glow that came out of one of the poop -windows. - -Then there was a roaring of orders, rattle of blocks, and hauling at -ropes, and a curious silence by contrast when the _Aldebaran_ swung -forward with a springy lurch again, and Appleby saw the man who had come -down the ladder, sitting apparently half-dazed upon the deck. His face -was bleeding. - -"Der port und der starboard I know. Also der loof, and keep her away, -but der pinch her up I know not, und now I am very seeck," he said. - -"I shouldn't wonder if he was," said Lawson dryly. "Still, though that's -how accidents happen, it wasn't the stupid beggar's fault he didn't -understand pinch her up. The old man wanted him to screw her a little -nearer the wind, and luff, or a little higher would have been the usual -thing." - -"Pinch!" said the seaman. "I not know him, but oop I hear, und I oop -mit him." - -"And he'd have slung us across the liner's bows if the mate hadn't been -too quick for him," said Lawson. "The fellow's head must be made of -iron or that smack would have killed him. Well, these things will -happen when you're fresh from port." - -Appleby and Niven were glad to crawl into their berths again when the -watch was over, and neither of them said anything, though that was not -because they were not thinking. It was evident that going to sea was -not quite all they had fancied it would be, and they had an unpleasant -recollection of the Dutchman's bleeding face, and other tokens of the -mate's temper. Still, they were tired and drowsy, and in another few -minutes Appleby was sleeping too soundly even to dream of slavers and -pirates as he had not infrequently done at Sandycombe. Niven, however, -tossed and groaned, for his head was hot, and everything seemed to be -spinning round, but at last the blinking light faded, and slumber -banished the distressful nausea that tormented him. - -There was a greyness low down to the eastwards when, swathed in -streaming oilskins now, they stood where there was a little shelter -beneath the weather-rail next morning. It was raining heavily, but the -sky was no longer covered by the smoky haze, and here and there a patch -of pale indigo showed between the streaks of driving cloud. The lads -could see the white-flecked sea tops heave against it, and the rows of -straining staysails, and great oblongs of the topsails across the masts, -sharp and black above them as if cut out of ebony. They were not, -however, especially interested in anything just then, for the -_Aldebaran_ was pitching close-hauled into a short head sea, and Appleby -felt unpleasantly dizzy. Niven also clung very tightly to the rail, and -his face, so far as it could be seen, was of a curious greyish-green, -while he gasped each time the barque dipped her nose viciously and sent -a cloud of spray blowing all over her. - -Then for some ten minutes there was a deluge which blotted everything -out, and they could only hear the roar of the rain. It ceased suddenly, -and was followed by a great whirling of cloud, while the streaks of blue -grew larger, and the topsails became grey instead of black as the light -came through. The wind had also almost gone, but Appleby could see the -figure of a man upon the poop with his head turned aft as though looking -for something. In another minute he stood at the top of the ladder -shouting orders, and the deck was suddenly dotted with scrambling men. -They gathered in little groups about the feet of the masts and along the -rail, and became busy flinging down coils of rope. Somebody shoved one -into Niven's hands, and he and Appleby hauled among the rest as the long -yards swung round until they were square across the vessel, and then -pointed a trifle towards the other side of her. There was a banging and -rattling overhead as the staysails came down, and a man laughed when the -_Aldebaran_ lay rolling in a momentary calm. - -"It's not easy to pull a Geordie's tail when he's asleep," he said. -"And you'd better go round the other road if he has a fancy you've got a -bone." - -Niven understood the speech was a compliment to the mate's watchfulness. -"What is he making us do this for?" he asked. - -"Well," said the seaman good-humouredly, "you'll find out these things -by and by. Now we were working down channel close-hauled with the wind -south-east over our port bow, but it has dropped away with the rain. -The mate doesn't wait to see if another one will catch us with topsails -aback, because he smells it coming, and it will be screaming behind us -out of the north-west presently." - -As he spoke one of the topsails swelled out, flapped and banged, then -other great oblongs of canvas ceased their rustling too, and a flash of -brilliant green swept athwart the sea. A patch of brass blinked in the -sudden brightness, the rigging commenced to hum, and the _Aldebaran_ -moved, while once more the hoarse voice rose from the poop. - -"Topgallants," it said, and then after a string of words Niven could not -catch, "Main royal." - -Instantly there was a bustle. Men went up the shrouds, swung high on -the yards, letting little coils of rope run down, and a third big tier -of sailcloth swelled out on either mast. Chain rattled, running wire -screamed, the _Aldebaran_ ceased rolling, and Appleby could see the sea -smitten into white smoke rush past while he endeavoured to shake the -kinks out of very hard and swollen rope. In the meanwhile the voice -rose from the poop again, and when he had time to look about him two -great pyramids of sail with a third of different shape behind covered -the _Aldebaran_ from the last feet of her mastheads to her spray-swept -rail. - -Then Appleby drew in his breath with a little gasp of wonder and -delight. The towering tiers of canvas that gleamed a silvery grey now -were rushing as fast as the clouds that followed them across blue lakes -of sky. The great iron hull had become an animate thing, for there was -life in every swift upward lurch and easy swing, and when he saw the -foam that roared away in ample folds about the bows unite again astern -and swirl straight back athwart the flashing green towards the horizon -he realized for a few moments all the exhilaration of swift motion. - -Presently, however, he was sensible of a horrible qualm under his belt, -and looked at his hands with a little groan--one of them was bleeding -from the rasp of the ropes, and the other swollen and more painful than -if it had been beaten. He stood still for another second or two -endeavouring to convince himself that there was nothing unusual going on -inside him, and then staggered dizzily to the leeward rail. He found -Niven there already, and for the next few minutes two very unhappy lads -gazed down at the foam that whirled and roared beneath them as the -_Aldebaran_ swept out from the narrow seas before the brave -north-wester. - - - - - *CHAPTER IV* - - *A LESSON IN SEAMANSHIP* - - -It was a fine Sunday, and the _Aldebaran_ rolling southwards lazily over -a dazzling sea when Niven and Appleby lay on the warm deck with their -shoulders against the house listening to Lawson who sat in the doorway -reading. Pleasant draughts flickered about them as the warm wind flowed -under the great arch of the mainsail's foot, and above it the sunlit -canvas climbed, tier on tier, to the little royals swaying slowly -athwart the blue. The barque was sliding forward on an even keel, but -now and then she lifted her weather side with a gentle roll, and a -brighter glare was flung up by the shining brine. Behind them the blue -smoke of the galley whirled in little puffs, and glancing aft Appleby -was almost dazzled by a flash from the twinkling brass boss of the -wheel. Then when the poop went down he could see the figure of the -helmsman forced up against the iridescent blueness of the sea. - -Appleby wore a thin singlet and slippers, duck trousers and a jacket of -the same material that had once been white and was a nice grey now. -Niven's things were cleaner, but one rent trouser leg had been -inartistically sewn up with seaming twine, and neither of them looked -very like the somewhat fastidious youngsters who had once found fault -with their rations in Sandycombe School. Their faces were bronzed from -their foreheads to their throats, their hands were ingrained as a -navvy's, and almost as hard, and they could by this time have eaten -anything there was nourishment in. - -"There's no use reading that stuff to us. We can't take it in," said -Niven. - -Lawson grinned at Appleby. "A little thick in the head?" he said. - -"No," said Niven. "My head's as good as those most people have, anyway. -I was top of the list almost every term when I was at school." - -Lawson's smile grew broader. "That's a bad sign," he said. "Now I -never knew how much I didn't know until I came to sea, and you don't -seem to have got that far yet. You see, there's a good deal you want to -forget." - -"Well," said Niven, "forgetting's generally easy. What would you teach a -fellow who wanted to go to sea?" - -Lawson rubbed his head. "How to get fat on bread and water would come -in useful for one thing," he said. "Then it would be handy to know just -when to say nothing when you're kicked, and when it would be better to -put your foot down and answer with your fist. You see, if you do either -of them at the wrong time you're apt to be sorry." - -"Appleby knows that already," said Niven, whose eyes twinkled as he -glanced at his friend. - -Appleby made a grimace, and Lawson laughed. - -"Then it's a good deal more than you do, though I expect the mate will -teach you the first of it," he said. - -"Now, when Cally put soft-soap in your singlet and sewed your trousers -up you should have laughed fit to split yourself, as Appleby did. Cally -tarred his hair for him, and there's some in yet, but any one would have -fancied that he liked it." - -Niven wriggled a little. "Oh, shut up! That's not what we want to -know," he said. - -"No?" said Lawson. "Then we'll get on to the healthful art and practice -of seamanship. Am I to commence at the end, or half-way through? The -beginning will not be much use to you." - -"I'll climb down," said Niven. "Made an ass of myself, as usual. Now, -do you want me to lick your boots for you? Begin at the beginning, and -make it simple." - -Lawson chuckled. "You'll get on while you're in that frame of mind, my -son," he said. "Well, now, there are, generally speaking, two kinds of -sailing ships--first the fore-and-afters, examples, cutter, ketch, and -schooner, with their canvas on one side only of the mast. They're to be -described as tricky, especially when you jibe them going free, but when -you jam them on the wind they'll beat anything." - -"Jam them on the wind?" said Appleby. - -Lawson nodded. "Close-hauled sailing. That's what I'm coming to," he -said. "In the meanwhile there's the other kind, the one the Britisher -holds to, while the Yankee who knows how to run cheap ships smiles, the -square-riggers, examples, the ship and brig. Their sails are bent to -yards which cross the masts, and, as you have found out, you've got to -go aloft in all weathers to handle them, which is not one of their -advantages. Then we come to the modifications or crosses between them, -the barque, two masts square-rigged, fore-and-aft on mizzen, of which -the _Aldebaran_ is a tolerably poor example, topsail schooner, -brigantine, which has yards on her foremast and fore-and-aft main, and -barquentine with foremast square-rigged and two mainmasts carrying -fore-and-aft canvas, though they call the last of them the mizzen. The -other kind I didn't mention is the one that makes the money, and sails -with a screw. Got that into you?" - -"Oh, yes," said Niven, yawning. "Can't you get on? I knew it all years -ago." - -Lawson grinned. "Of course!" he said. "Well, I'll leave the mate to -talk to you." - -He went into the deckhouse, and returned with a sheet of paper and a -little, beautifully-constructed model of a full-rigged ship. "I made it -last trip to work out questions for my examination with," he said, but -the deprecation in his bronzed face betrayed his pride, and Appleby, who -saw how tenderly he handled the model, understood. "Now we come to the -one and universal practice of sailing. I make this ring on the paper, -and you can consider it the compass, or, and it's the same thing, -one-half the globe. Here I draw two lines across it crossing each -other, and we'll mark the ends of them North, South, East, and West. -That divides the circle into four quarters, and the corners where the -lines intersect are right angles, each containing ninety degrees, or -eight points of the compass which has thirty-two in all." - -He laid the paper on the deck, and when he had turned it so that the -first line run from North to South, placed the model at the upper end of -it, and twisted the yards and sails, which moved, square across the -hull. "The wind's blowing from Greenland to the South pole, and she's -going before it," he said. "Anything would sail that way--it's called -running--even a haystack, and you trim the vessel's sails whether she's -fore-and-aft or square-rigged at right angles to a line drawn down the -middle of her hull. Well, we've reached the south end of the -line--we'll say it's the south pole, and want to get back north again, -but the wind is right against us now." - -He picked up the model, and twisted the yards again so that they slanted -sharply across the hull, making a small angle with its middle line. -"Now she's braced sharp up, or close hauled--every sheet's hauled in--on -the wind, and we'll start her heading north-east on the port tack. That -is, the wind's on the port side of her, though we could have started on -the opposite one heading north-west, if we had liked. Run that line -along, and you'll find it makes an angle of four points of the compass, -or forty-five degrees, with the wind, which makes it evident that by and -by you come to the edge of the first quarter of the circle at east. -Then, if we put the ship round with the wind on her opposite side, and -sail at the same angle as far again, we come back to north, where the -wind is blowing from, and when you grasp that you've got the principle -of the whole thing. With the wind behind you all sails flowing, when -you're working up against it, everything's flattened in, but you have to -remember that all vessels don't sail equally close to the wind, and -while a racing cutter will lie very close indeed, a shallow full-bowed -hooker must have it almost on her side to keep her going. That's why I -took four points as a handy example, because two tacks of forty-five -degrees would bring us back again." - -"But why doesn't the wind shove her away sideways when she's -close-hauled?" asked Appleby. - -Lawson nodded approval. "That shows you're following, it does," he -said. "Still it don't amount to very much if the vessel's deep, because -all of her that's in the water offers resistance to it. They all slide -off a little, and that's the leeway." - -"Well," said Niven, "when the wind's so to speak almost against her, -what makes her go ahead at all?" - -Lawson grinned. "What makes a kite go up against the wind? You see the -sails of a close-hauled ship make about the same angle to it as a kite -does. They didn't teach you that at school?" - -"I think they did," said Appleby. "There's something very like it in -the parallelogram of forces." - -"The biscuit's yours," said Lawson. "Get that into you, and you know -all the whys of sailing." - -He yawned and bent over his book, repeating snatches of curious ditties -about green to green and red to red, and steamers crossing, but Appleby -remembered what he had heard, which was fortunate, because it was the -only instruction that anybody ever gave him on board the _Aldebaran_. -Then the cook banged on something in his galley, and Niven, who got up -and stretched himself, went along to bring in the tea. He came back -with a big steaming can and grinned at Appleby. - -"They'll be getting very different tucker at home," he said. "Still, it -will be beastly cold and wet up there just now." - -His merriment was evidently a trifle forced, and another lad who lay -poring over a book in a corner raised his head. - -"Oh, shut up!" he said. "We've heard all that before, and you don't do -it very well. If I could get back into the shop the governor found me -I'd like to catch myself going to sea. Oh, great handspikes! Just -listen to the brute." - -A storm of venomous language came forward from the poop, and through the -drowsy flap of canvas and stillness of the dazzling ocean there rang the -strident voice of the mate. Lawson slowly shook his head. - -"She was scarcely steering, and Biddulph has let her fall off," he said. -"They've stood a good deal forward, but that mate of ours is pushing -them too far." - -Then there was silence that seemed deepened by the light flap and rustle -of sailcloth and gurgle of shining brine, but the peace of the day had -gone, and the shadow which crept into the four young faces was that -which has darkened so many lives at sea. They had all been used to -discipline, and did not resent it, while it had been made evident to two -of them of late that on board a sailing ship toil that is brutal as well -as perilous is often a necessity. They would also have undertaken it -more or less cheerfully, but there had been added to it a ruthless -tyranny, and Appleby's little sigh seemed to ask the question that -downtrodden men have asked from the beginning--why such things must be? -And, for he was young, he could not find an answer. - -A little breeze sprang up after sunset, and the ship was sliding faster -through a sea that blazed about her with lights of green and gold when -Appleby hung about the deck, held still and silent by something in the -harmonies of the night. There was no moon, but there was also no cloud -in the sky, and the great stars the mast-heads swayed across hung set -far back one behind the other in the blue, while the spires of canvas -towered black and sharp under their cold light. Not a cloth rustled, -but there came down from the gossamer tracery of rigging a little -musical humming that suggested the chanting of an invisible choir. - -Forward a black figure was visible on the forecastle. Here and there -another showed along the dusky line of bulwarks, and now and then -Appleby could see the dark shape of the mate standing high upon the -poop. This, however, was not often, because he preferred to keep the -great shadowy mainsail between himself and it. Night and sea were still -and peaceful, and that sinister figure alone jarred upon their serenity. - -Suddenly the harsh voice he feared broke the silence, and Appleby -instinctively set his lips when he saw his comrade cross the deck. It -was noticeable that Niven went at a trot, and if he had been told that -one side of the poop is usually sacred to the officer of the watch -knowing that haste was advisable he forgot. A moment or two later he -stood panting at the head of the ladder, which rose about six feet from -the deck, and the mate strode towards him with arm drawn back. Possibly -something had ruffled his temper, which was at the best a bad one, that -night. - -"There are two ladders to this poop, and this will teach you which is -yours," he said. - -Then before Niven could speak the arm shot out, and the breathless lad -reeled backwards with head swimming and a tingling face. The blow had -possibly not been a very cruel one, but the _Aldebaran_ swung her stern -up just then, and the opening in the rails was close behind him. He -went out through it backwards, caught his foot on the rung of the -ladder, and pitching over came down with a sickening thud on deck. -Appleby, who had seen it all, ran aft and knelt down beside him. - -"Chriss, are you hurt?" he gasped. - -[Illustration: "'CHRISS, ARE YOU HURT?'"] - -There was no answer, and hearing a rattle on the ladder the lad looked -up, and saw the mate standing close by. He had his hands in his -pockets, but there was an unpleasant look in his face. - -"Shamming. Take him forward," he said, and stooped as though about to -shake the lad who still lay motionless. - -He, however, straightened himself as Appleby rose up, and stood before -him, quivering, with hand clenched and a blaze in his eyes. - -"Get back! You have done enough," he said, and if Niven could have -heard it he would scarcely have recognized his comrade's voice. - -"Hello!" the mate said sharply. "Were you talking to me?" - -"Yes," said Appleby hoarsely, but very quietly. "And I have a little -more to tell you. You can't do these things with impunity, and we'll -have you kicked out of the Company for this." - -It was not, of course, a judicious speech, but Appleby was scarcely in a -state to decide what was most fitting then. The mate moved a pace -nearer him, and his hands were out of his pockets now, but he stopped -close by Appleby, for the lad stood stiffly upright, his face grey with -passion. - -"I'll make you sorry. Get him out of this," he said. - -Then Niven raised himself a little, and blinked dizzily at both of them. -"I think I could get up if you helped me, Tom," he said. - -Appleby shivered a little as he saw the red smear on the back of his -head, but before he moved an elderly man with a sour face and grizzled -hair came down the ladder and stopped in front of them. He glanced at -Niven and then at Appleby, but it is probable that a scene of the kind -was not quite new to him, and his face was expressionless. - -"Well, what's it all about?" he said. - -Appleby had but once or twice spoken to the captain, who was a grim, -silent man, and not seen very often in fine weather. Whether he was -contented with the mate's conduct was not apparent, but as usual it was -the latter who handled the ship's company. - -"You had better ask the mate, sir," said Appleby. "He knocked him down -the ladder." - -The skipper turned towards the other man, and the mate laughed a little. - -"That's not quite right, sir," he said. "The lad can't take telling, -and he came up the wrong ladder when I sang out for him. I guessed it -was done out of impudence, and let him have it so it wouldn't hurt him -much with the flat of my hand. She gave a lurch just then that threw -him off his feet and down he went. Then this one began a rumpus, and -told me he'll have me run out of the service." - -The skipper stooped over Niven. "Head's cut--at the back," he said in -an expressionless voice. "Get up, and go aft, my lad. I'll fix it for -you." - -Niven rose shakily, and obeying the skipper's pointing hand walked -towards the poop with uneven steps. Then the latter looked at Appleby. - -"What did he mean by that?" he said quietly. - -Appleby understood the question, and though he fancied he was doing -wisely made a blunder. "I think I can do all I told him, sir," he said. -"You see, this ship is carrying Mr. Niven's goods, and one could fancy -the Company is glad to get them." - -"Niven?" said the skipper, more to himself than the others. "Most of -the freight belongs to Clarke and Hall." - -"They're dead," said Appleby, who had been told this. "There's only Mr. -Niven in the business now." - -The skipper looked thoughtful. "Now I remember," he said as he turned -towards the mate, and stopped. "Well, this is my affair, Appleby, and -I'm the only man who can question what the mate does on board this ship. -If you do it again it will be the worse for you. Remember that." - -Appleby touched his cap and moved away, and presently Niven came forward -from the poop with his head tied up. He was still pale, and moved -slowly, while he had little to tell his comrade. - -"He put some stuff that smarted on the cut, but didn't ask any -questions, and told me to lie down," he said. "I'm going to do it -because I'm not myself yet. My head's all humming, and I don't seem to -want to talk." - -Appleby helped him into his bunk, and then went back to his watch, while -he told Lawson all that had passed when he next had an opportunity. The -elder lad listened gravely. - -"You fancy the old man believed you?" he said. - -"Yes," said Appleby. "It isn't my fault if he didn't. I did my best to -make him." - -Lawson shook his head. "Then I'm afraid you made a mess of things," he -said. "You see, if the old man believed you the mate would." - -"Of course!" said Appleby. "That was what I wanted." - -"Well," said Lawson, "it's unfortunate that you did. Now the old man's -tolerably tough, but he's not a fool, and, to give him his due, is -content with getting two men's work out of every one of the crew. He -knows the men who fill the ships up can make things nasty for the -captain, and it's quite likely he'll talk straight to the mate, though -he wouldn't to you, and that's not going to make the mate any fonder of -you and Niven." - -"I was hoping it would keep him quiet," said Appleby. - -"It wouldn't," said Lawson. "All that Niven's father could do would be -to get him turned out, and if the mate thought that likely he'd make it -warm for you before he went, you see. If you've any pull on the owners -it's not, as a rule, advisable to mention it at sea. It doesn't make -anybody think the better of you." - -Appleby groaned. "I've been an ass again," he said. "Still, I fancied -he had killed Niven--and I had to do something." - -Lawson smiled dryly. "There's only one thing anybody can do at sea, and -that's to keep his mouth shut and out of the way of trouble," he said. -"When you can't help things there's no use in kicking." - -Appleby made no answer. It was a somewhat grim lesson, but it was one -that sooner or later every lad must learn, and the result of it is the -capacity for endurance which is not infrequently worth a good deal more -than courage in action. - - - - - *CHAPTER V* - - *UNDER TOPSAILS* - - -Appleby was not long in discovering that Lawson was right. Hitherto the -mate had only stormed at him and his comrade as he did at the rest of -the vessel's company, but now he seemed to single them out for abuse -whenever he had an opportunity, and he managed to find a good many. It -was true that he attempted no further violence, but they could have -borne that better than the relentless petty persecution, for there was -scarcely a difficult or unpleasant task within their strength that the -lads were not set to do. Unpleasant duties are also by no means uncommon -on board a sailing ship. - -Still, Appleby had seen that to protest was useless and likely to make -things worse, while because the mate was cunning as well as cruel it -would have been difficult to make a definite complaint even if there had -been anybody to listen to him, which, however, was not the case. So he -set his lips and bore it, and so as he could endeavoured to restrain -Niven, who would now and then break out into fits of impotent anger or -lie silent in his bunk after some fresh indignity. Had the work been -always necessary Appleby would have endeavoured to do it willingly, -though it was now and then almost disgusting, but the mate probably knew -this, and arranged things so that he should feel he was doing most of it -only to please his enemy. Grown men have been driven to -self-destruction or murderous retaliation by treatment of this kind, and -after a few weeks of it both lads felt they could endure no more. - -Meanwhile the weather grew colder and the work harder. That was not the -worst time of the year for rounding Cape Horn, but they found it bad -enough, for the _Aldebaran_ met wild weather and she was loaded heavily, -while on the afternoon she lay rather more than a hundred miles to the -eastwards of the dreaded cape her crew were almost too worn out for -duty. She was then heading about south-west upon the starboard tack, -thrashing very slowly to windward under topsails, and flooding her decks -with icy water each time she poked her nose into the seas, and she did -it tolerably often, for the seas were very big. They came rolling down -to meet her out of the south-west, blue-black in the hollows, which were -streaked with foam and frothing on their crests, and Appleby would hold -his breath when one larger than its fellows rose high above the -starboard bow. Most often the _Aldebaran_ would swing up her head in -time and climb over the big wall of water with a swooping lurch, while -the spray that whirled up from her bows rattled like grapeshot into her -foretopsails and blew out in showers between the masts. Now and then, -however, she went through, and then there was a thud and roar and her -forecastle was lost from sight. It seemed a long while before she hove -it up again streaming, and every man held on to what was handiest when -the long deck was swept by torrents of icy brine. Then while frothy -wisps blew away from the forecastle and every scupper on one side -spouted she would stagger on again for perhaps ten minutes more dryly, -because the long ocean seas are by no means all equally steep and high. - -Appleby and Niven were holding on, shivering with cold and wet through -in spite of their oilskins, by a pin on the weather rail, for the deck -slanted sharply and the water was washing everywhere. Glancing forward -they could see nothing but spray, and every now and then the frothing -top of a larger sea hove up against a vivid glare of green. When they -looked up, which it was not often advisable to do, they could see the -mastheads raking across a patch of hard deep blue, athwart which clouds -with torn edges whirled. There was little canvas on the slanted spars, -two jibs that ran water above the bowsprit, two topsails on either mast, -a staysail or two between them, and half the spanker on the mizzen. The -sails did not look as if they were made of flexible canvas but cast in -rigid metal. - -Presently a wet man came clawing his way along, and stopped when Niven -called to him. - -"Did you hear what we had made?" he said. - -The man nodded, and growled at the spray which beat into his face. "The -stooard he heard the old man and the mate a-fixing it," he said. "She's -worked off about another twenty miles since noon yestidday." - -Niven groaned. "Only twenty miles!" he said. "That's another week -before we can square away." - -"Well," said the man with a little grim laugh, "I'd give her another -fortnight when I was at it. She'll take all that to fetch round with -this wind, any way." - -The two lads looked at each other, and neither of them said anything -when in a lull between two plunges the man lurched away, but that was -because they fancied he was right and both were unwilling to admit all -that they were feeling. - -They knew a good deal about close-hauled sailing now, for during four -long weeks the _Aldebaran_ had been thrashing her way to windward in the -face of stinging gales. Sometimes when the sea was a trifle smoother -she would gain a little on every tack, and then a fresh storm would come -roaring down, and when they had furled the higher sails with half-frozen -hands she would do little more than hold the wind upon her side and of -course make nothing at all in the required direction. Also they had -often to heave her to under little rags of sail with the sea upon her -bow while she blew away to leeward and lost in a few hours all they had -won the preceding day. - -Always the decks were flooded, and the men wet to the skin. The galley -fire was frequently washed out, and they got cold provisions, often so -soaked with salt water that they could scarcely eat them, while when -sleep was possible they lay down as they were, all dripping, too worn -out to strip off their clothes. It would not have been advisable to -take them off in any case, for they might be turned out at any moment to -furl upper topsails or haul down staysails in a sudden freshening of the -gale. Canvas was furled and hoisted continually, because a ship will -not sail to windward through a heavy sea unless she is sternly pressed, -while her crew fight for every yard she makes. - -Appleby even in his oilskins looked very gaunt and thin. His face was -hollow and bronzed by exposure to bitter wind and stinging brine, while -Niven, like many of the others, was troubled with painful sores from -sleeping in salt-stiffened clothes. Their hands were stiffened and -clawlike, their knuckles bleeding, and from the ceaseless rasp of ropes -the undersides of their fingers were very like grain-leather. Worn out -utterly and half-fed they were just holding out with the rest of the -_Aldebaran's_ company until they could thrash her far enough to the -westwards to square away and run north into better weather on the other -side of Cape Horn. - -"Hallo!" said Niven presently. "That's a nasty cloud. I wonder what -fresh beastliness it's bringing us." - -Appleby, glancing to windward, saw that the glaring green beyond the -seatops had faded out, and the horizon was smeared with grey. It also -seemed to be closing in upon them rapidly, and overhead a black cloud -with torn edges was swallowing up the strip of blue. - -"More wind, any way. She'll scarcely bear upper topsails now," he said -with a little groan. "Still, the old man's tolerably stubborn at -carrying on." - -Niven, glancing aft, could see the skipper's gaunt figure swung high -upon the poop against a frothing sea as he too glanced to windward. He -was probably as anxious as any one to get round Cape Horn, but it was -only by carrying sail to the last moment and making the most of every -lull he could hope to do it. Even as he gazed ragged ice fell pattering -along the decks, and the daylight died out leaving a grey dimness behind -it. Then for a few minutes sea and ship were hidden by the flying hail. -It cut the lads' raw knuckles until they could have cried out in agony, -thrashed their wet faces and rattled on their oilskins, while the -rigging roared above them, and twice in succession the _Aldebaran_ put -her whole forecastle in. Then a great sea foamed in almost solid over -her weather rail, and through all the uproar rang a high-pitched cry. -The words were indistinguishable as they would have been a yard away, -but the lads recognized it as the summons to shorten sail. For a minute -or two they were busy about the deck, and then while the ship swayed -over further the mate lurched by and grabbed the Dutchman, who was -working awkwardly with one hand, by the shoulder. - -"Lay aloft, and give them a hand up there, you skulking hog," he said. - -"Mine arm," said the seaman, "der right one, she is nod of good to me." - -Appleby remembered that the fellow had badly hurt his arm, and scarcely -wondered at his reluctance to go aloft with only one hand to trust to as -he glanced above. The upper topsail had been partly lowered down, but -the loose canvas was thrashing between the yards, and these sloped down -towards the whitened sea apparently as steeply as the roof of a house. -Still, it was evident that every man was needed, for there were other -sails to be handled and the _Aldebaran_ was apparently going bodily -over. She hove her nose up for an instant, and Appleby had a momentary -glimpse of a jib that had burst its sheet thrashing itself to pieces -above the bowsprit. Then sight and hearing was lost in a cloud of -flying brine. - -When he could open his eyes again he saw the mate lift his fist, and the -Dutchman glance deprecatingly at the arm that hung at his side. - -"Lay aloft," said the former, "before you get a damaged head as well as -an arm." - -The Dutchman shuffled towards the shrouds, and just then a half-heard -shout came down from one of the black figures on the inclined yard. -"We're beat. Send us another hand." - -It was already evident to Niven that as the yard was higher than it -should have been something was foul, and he could see that unless the -men had help they would be hurled off it or the sail blown away. It was -not his especial duty, but it was no time to be particular when the -_Aldebaran_ lay swept from end to end at the mercy of the squall, and he -swung himself up into the shrouds close behind the Dutchman with Appleby -following. The wind flattened them against the rattlings as they fought -their way up, and then almost choked and blinded them as with the -swinging foot-rope against their heel and stiffened hands on the -slippery spar they crept outwards from the mast along the yard. They -were not of very much use there, indeed, most often they were in the -way, but they did what they could while the hail lashed their faces and -the drenched and stiffened canvas banged about them so that to hear -anything else was almost impossible. At times somebody shouted, but the -words were blown to leeward and quite incomprehensible. - -It was their business to roll up the great flapping sail, and lash it to -the yard, but parts of it tore away from them, and blew out with a bang -like a rifle-shot every now and then, while the long wet spar they -leaned across increased the steepness of its slant. Niven glancing down -a moment fancied that the _Aldebaran's_ leeward rail was in the sea, and -saw the rigid figure on the weather side of the poop waving a hand to -them. He could, of course, hear no voice at all, but surmised the -gestures meant it was high time their work was finished. Then the -_Aldebaran_ dipped her nose into a sea, and the cloud of spray she flung -up hid everything, while in another moment a more furious gust shrieked -about them. The yard slanted still further, and he fancied it was -impossible the ship could recover. - -His hands were stiffened and almost useless, his fingers were bleeding, -and his breath was spent, while as he held on helpless for a moment -there was a sound like thunder, and as a strip of canvas rent itself -from the grasp of those about him he saw the Dutchman clawing -desperately at the yard. The man slipped along it a foot or two, and -Niven, seeing his fingers sliding, remembered he had an injured arm. He -had also evidently lost his footing, for one leg was dangling, and the -lad instinctively seized his shoulder. That left him one hand to hold -on by, and he gasped with horror as he felt his fingers slipping from -the yard and saw a great sea burst into a tumultuous frothing beneath -him. - -He was too cold and dazed to wonder if any of the others saw what was -happening, and could remember only that if he loosed his hold the man he -clutched would go whirling down to strike the iron bulwarks or plunge -into the sea. So he set his lips, and while his arms seemed to be -coming away from their sockets held on for a moment or two. - -Then the hand he grasped the yard with slipped a trifle further, and -with a sickening horror he felt his clawlike fingers yield, but dazed, -half-blinded, and too overwrought with the struggle to think, he still -clutched the Dutchman. In another moment the hand came away altogether, -and man and boy went down. - -Now a second or two earlier Appleby had noticed their peril, but could -do nothing because there was a man between them and him. He smote the -fellow's shoulder and shouted, but his words were blown away, and no one -else had eyes for anything but the banging sail. It was too late before -he could shout again, for with a little gasp he saw the two figures -whirl downwards beneath him, until, because the _Aldebaran_ lurched a -trifle just then, the smaller of them struck a big wire stay with folds -of loose canvas about it where it joined the mast, and lay for a second -or two across it. The other fell on the top of the deckhouse, and then, -while Appleby shivered, rolled off it and down on to the deck below. -Almost as this happened Niven slipped from the hauled-down staysail and -fell upon the house too, but apparently upon feet and hands together. - -Then as Appleby endeavoured to get back to the mast so that he could -descend, the man nearest it grasped him and he could not pass. The lad -could not hear what he said, but he guessed its purport, and grew sick -with horror as he saw that the man was right. There were others below -to pick up the fallen if there was any life in them, and with the ship -in peril every hand was needed on the yards. Also, while that fact -might not have stopped him, he could not pass the man, who barred his -way to the mast. - -So he stayed, and did what little he could among the rest, until at last -they had stowed the sail, and then went down in frantic haste, only to -be driven forward by the second mate. The latter was a kindly man, but -there are times when the injured or dying must take care of themselves -at sea, and there was still strenuous work to do. Thus at least -half-an-hour had passed, and the _Aldebaran_ was blowing sideways about -as fast as she forged ahead under lower topsails when Appleby reached -the deckhouse breathless and dripping. It was almost dark inside it, -for driving cloud had blotted the daylight out, but the swinging lamp -diffused a sickly radiance which fell on his comrade as Appleby bent -over his dripping bunk. Everything in the deckhouse was wet, as was -Niven's face, but though it was drawn and white his eyes were open. - -"Not quite all smashed up yet," he said with a little smile. - -Appleby felt almost dizzy with relief, and his voice shook a trifle as -he said, "But you are hurt, Chriss?" - -"Well," said Niven feebly, though there was a little twinkle in his -eyes, "it wouldn't be astonishing if I was, but I think a good lie down -will put me right again. There was a big lump of the staysail under me, -and I fetched the top of the house on my hands and toes. Couldn't get -up just now, however, if I wanted to." - -Appleby could think of nothing fitting to say, and patted his comrade's -shoulder while he turned his head away. His eyes were a trifle hazy, -and he felt that there are a good many things one cannot express in -speech. - -"The Dutchman?" he said presently. - -Niven seemed to shiver, and shook his head. "I don't know. Couldn't -take much notice of anything because I felt all in pieces myself just -then, but I saw him come down," he said. "He just seemed to crunch -up--as if he was an egg." - -Lawson, who was sitting on his chest, made a gesture of impatience. -"Now you shut up and lie still," he said. "Any one would fancy you had -done enough to take a rest." Then he nodded to Appleby. "Get out. It's -quietness he wants, and it's not going to make anything any better to -remember what happened to the other fellow. I'll keep an eye on him, -and you needn't worry." - -Appleby, who knew Lawson could be trusted to do this, went out, and it -was an hour or two later when he and the rest sat in the house again -over a big can of tea which the cook had by some means contrived to -supply them with. They still wore streaming oilskins, and the lamp that -swung above them cast flickers of smoky radiance across their wet faces, -while from outside came a muffled roar of wind and the crash of falling -water as the _Aldebaran_ lurched over the great smoking seas. Niven was -evidently a little better, and smiled, though his face was awry with -pain, when Appleby lifted his shoulders a little and handed him a -biscuit soaked in tea. - -"It's nice yellow jellies and grapes I'd be eating if I was laid up at -home," said he. - -"If you don't stop we'll make you," said one of the other lads. "Who -has got any business to talk of those things at sea? What did the old -man do to you?" - -Niven grinned in a sickly fashion. "He asked me where I felt bad, and I -told him everywhere," he said. "Then he and the steward pulled the -clothes off me and prodded me with their fists. They didn't seem to -find anything broken, but I was sore all over, and I'd sooner be whacked -with a horse-girth than go through that again." - -"Smacked with a horse-girth!" said Lawson, reflectively. "Now I've been -kicked--with sea boots--a good many times, but that would be a new -sensation. What does it feel like?" - -"If you want to know you can ask Appleby," said Niven. "I fancy he -could tell you." - -Appleby laughed, for he saw his comrade was recovering. "But what about -the Dutchman?" he said. - -Lawson shook his head. "I only know the old man went forward to look at -him, and he's tolerably bad. He came down bang on his shoulder, you -see. Did the mate know he had only one arm that was any good to him, -Appleby?" - -"Yes," said Appleby slowly. "He was there when the man hurt it, and -just before he went up I heard him tell him. I saw the mate double up -his fist too--and the Dutchman had to go." - -There was silence for a moment or two, intensified by the roar of wind, -and the lads looked at one another with a curious grimness which seemed -out of place there in their young faces. - -"If he doesn't get better it's manslaughter, any way," said somebody. -"Now we've had almost enough of this. What's to be done, Lawson?" - -Lawson stared at the lamp for almost a minute before he answered. "If -the man comes round we can't do anything," he said. "Of course we and -the men could make a declaration about ill-usage at Vancouver, but the -old man would back the mate up and we'd only be quietly sat upon. If -the Dutchman dies it would be a little easier. The old man would have -to put down all about it in the log, but he'd fix it the nicest way and -then get two witnesses--the mate and the second mate--to sign it." - -"Would the second mate do it?" said Appleby. - -"I think he would have to," said Lawson dryly. - -"Well," said one of the other lads, "where do we come in?" - -"You," said Lawson, with a little, mirthless laugh, "don't come in at -all, but there's one chance yet. When the men are paid off the old man's -account of any death on board is read over, and they're asked if it's -all correct and if the man was ill-used at all. If they could only -stick to one story they'd get a hearing, and the Government would go -into the thing." - -"That doesn't sound difficult," said Appleby. - -Lawson shook his head. "I'm afraid it's more than they could do," he -said. "Every man would tell a different tale and get arguing with the -rest until nobody could make head or tail of it, and the skipper who -says nothing that isn't dragged out of him would come up on top again. -Still, of course, there is just a chance of them being listened to, and -that's going to make the mate a good deal nastier in the meanwhile." - -Niven, who had lain silent, looked over his bunk. "He will not be nasty -to me very long. I've had enough of the brute already. One could get -ashore at Vancouver." - -Lawson glanced at him impatiently. "Better shut up before you're -sorry," he said. "There's only one thing to do, and that's to leave the -old man to run the mate out quietly. He's a tolerably tough old nigger -himself, but I fancy this kind of thing is a little too much for him. -As I've told you before, there's very little use kicking about anything -when you go to sea." - -Then there was once more silence as the unpleasant veracity was borne in -upon the rest. Nobody, it seemed, cared very much what became of them, -and there was no one they could appeal to. They must take what came, -and grin and bear it, however irksome it might be. The knowledge was -especially bitter to Niven, who had possibly been made too much of at -home, but Appleby had already a vague suspicion that in any walk of life -it would be much the same. Every man had rights, he knew, but he had -discovered that it is very little use to make speeches about them when -they are unobtainable, and generally wiser to wait in silence for an -opportunity and then stretch out a firm hand and take them. Some lads -find this out early, though there are men who never discover it at all, -and these are not infrequently a nuisance to everybody. - - - - - *CHAPTER VI* - - *A FAIR WIND* - - -Niven, though severely bruised and shaken, recovered rapidly, and one -morning a fortnight after his injury sat under the partial shelter of -the weather-rail rubbing tar into a long strip of worn-out canvas with -his hands. He had more than a suspicion that the canvas would never be -used, and sitting still in a bitter wind while he dabbled his stiffened -fingers in the sticky mess was far from pleasant, but the mate -frequently found him work of that kind to do, and Niven knew that when -he gave an order it was not advisable to argue. - -Appleby was sitting close beside him similarly occupied, and every now -and then a cloud of spray which swept the rail stung their faces and -rattled upon their oilskins. Icy water came on board, too, but because -they sat well aft they escaped the frothing deluges which poured over -the weather bow and sluiced down the slanted deck to lee. Here and -there a dripping man scrambled out of the way of them or clung fast to -something in the wilder lurches, for the _Aldebaran_ was still hammering -to windward under scanty sail. - -There was, however, clear, cold sunlight, and the wet canvas swayed -across a patch of blue, while the lads could see the froth of the -rollers shine incandescent against the flashing green over the -weather-rail. The _Aldebaran_ was shouldering her way through them with -heavy plunges that buried her forecastle at times. Then she would swing -it up, streaming, high above the sea, and there was a general scramble -clear of the water which came splashing everywhere. The sunlight showed -that the men's faces were gaunt and worn. They had for more than a month -held out stubbornly, living for the most part on uncooked and soaked -provisions, toiling the watch through at shifting sail, and then -flinging themselves down in their drenched clothing only to be turned -out half-dazed by the sleep for which brain and body craved as the -screaming gale freshened again. Now they had, thanks to what the -steward had gleaned in the cabin and told the cook, reason to believe -that if the _Aldebaran_ could make a few more leagues to windward the -next day would see them round Cape Horn. - -Still, they had been almost as near before only to be driven back to the -east again, and haggard faces were turned expectantly towards the hard -blueness athwart which the seatops heaved over the weather-rail. -Presently Appleby glanced up sharply as the shadow of a sail fell upon -him. - -"Hallo!" he said, and there was a curious eagerness in his voice. "The -topsail leach has come between us and the sun." - -"I don't see why that should please you," said Niven. "It only makes it -colder, and it's bad enough already, especially when you've had nothing -worth mentioning to eat for weeks." - -"No?" said Appleby. "Well, if I'm right it means warm weather, dry -clothes, sound sleep when your watch is done, and the galley fire lit -all day." - -Niven looked up. "Oh," he said with a little gasp. "The wind is backing -round--or is he only screwing her up a little?" - -Both of them glanced from the straining canvas to the figure at the -wheel, and the eyes of all on deck were turned in the same direction, -for it was evident that only two things could have happened. Either the -helmsman was jamming the ship half-a-point closer to the wind, which was -unlikely, because the mate would have seen he sailed her as close as -possible before; or the wind was going round. As they watched, the -canvas swung further athwart the sun, and their hearts throbbed faster -because they knew it was the latter. In place of thrashing to windward -tack and tack, and frequently losing on one all they had made upon the -other, they were now sailing almost in the direction they desired to go. - -"I wish I could see the compass," said Niven. "Still, the wind must be -backing southerly by the bearing of the sun. Why doesn't the old man -let her go while he can?" - -It is probable that every man on deck was asking the same question, for -the heads of all were turned towards the poop, and nothing would have -induced one of them to speak when the skipper appeared out of the -companion. He stood quite still for several minutes, and then nodded to -the officer of the watch as though contented, but no one moved on deck -when he went below, and the attitude of the men suggested what they -felt. They were, it seemed, not round Cape Horn yet, and the -_Aldebaran_ still held on plunging through the white-topped rollers -close-hauled. Hour after hour dragged by, and all on board bore them in -tense expectancy, until at last, when the watch was changed again, the -skipper came forward to the edge of the poop with a little sour smile on -his face. He spoke ostensibly to the mate close by him, but it is -possible he meant his voice to carry further. - -"Get a pull on the weather-braces, and the topgallants loosed. We'll -make a fair wind of it," he said. - -The mate came forward shouting, and for once he was very willingly -obeyed. Both watches were on deck, for the one relieved had not left it -yet, and the men fell over each other in their eagerness to get at the -ropes, while Appleby felt his pulses throbbing and the blood surge to -his face, as he watched the figure aft pulling at the wheel. - -Round went the long, slanting yards, stopped, swung further, and stopped -again, while the _Aldebaran_ hove herself more upright and shook the -salt wash from her as she brought the wind upon her quarter. Then there -was a scurrying of agile figures, stripped of their oilskins now, for -the high top-gallant yards, and when the loose canvas blew away from -them, wet and weary men broke into a breathless song as they swung and -fell about the feet of the masts. They had hoarse voices, and the lips -of some were rent and cracked. Their bodies were raw from the constant -lash of brine, but there was a light in their gaunt faces and the ring -of triumph in their song. Its words were senseless rubbish, but through -them the spirit of those who sang was clear, and it was the pride that -comes of a hardly-won victory. They had borne almost all that flesh and -blood could bear, and now they had won the gale they had defied and -beaten was their ally. The _Aldebaran_ seemed to know it, and swept -north-west faster at every roll, hurling off vast folds of froth from -her hove-up bows, while the foam seethed and flashed past, lapping in -places almost to her rail. Still, for a ship will carry more canvas -going free than she will close-hauled, her crew were not contented, and -while they coiled the ropes away still watched the motionless figure on -the poop expectantly. - -Once more he raised a hand, and there was another scramble, more eager -than before, and a rush towards the weather-shrouds, while presently -great folds of canvas came dropping from the long lower yards. They -spread out in a vast curve from rail to rail, and the _Aldebaran_, -quivering to the drag of them, sped on faster than ever, with a wake -that swirled and seethed far back across the long seas that now came -rolling up behind her. - -Then a Breton Frenchman solemnly danced upon the deck, and a little -Italian cackled with shrill laughter, while a half-articulate growl of -victory that was not a cheer went up from the British sailormen. They -were flying faster than any but a very fast steamer, away from cold and -wet and hunger, northwards towards the sun again. - -For two days the _Aldebaran_ drove along, swept by spray, at a pace -which occasionally exceeded twelve miles an hour, and then, though her -decks dried up and the foam sank lower beneath her rail, the pace did -not diminish appreciably, for as the wind fell lighter there was a -crowding on of sail. The royals were shaken out in turn, stay-sails in -rows swelled between the masts, and while the long heave that was -smoother now and dazzlingly blue came rolling up on her beam, she swung -along, three towering spires of canvas above a froth-licked hull, with -her jibboom pointing to the midday sun. It grew warmer every day, -oilskins, pilot-coats and long boots were flung aside, wet berths and -saturated bedding dried, and there was no more dining on pulpy biscuit -because a sea had washed out the galley as well as the fire. - -Then there might have been peace and contentment on board the -_Aldebaran_ had not the mate's temper apparently grown worse as the -weather grew finer, until the half-cowed, sullen crew were glad to crawl -away below out of the reach of his beady eyes when the watch was done. -They were kept hard at work at something all day long, chipping iron, -painting, scraping spars down, and the man who had only a bitter jibe -for the most willing and scurrilous abuse for the tired generally -contrived when nothing more unpleasant suggested itself that Niven or -Appleby should carry the tar pot, while the blood would surge to their -faces at the words which followed, if at any time they let fall one -splash of it where it was not wanted. - -The work began as soon as there was light enough to see by, and was -never done. A good deal of it was brutal and much unnecessary, and it -went on without intermission under the scorching sun of the equator, and -was apparently no nearer finished when reaching in close-hauled one day -they had their first glimpse of the great, snow-crested mountains that -rise above the forests of Washington. Then the apprentices envied the -men who had only signed on to Vancouver, because they at least would -soon be free of the ceaseless small-persecution and hateful tyranny. - -At last as they worked into the Straits of San Juan the pines of -Vancouver Island lifted themselves above the horizon, and a day or two -later the _Aldebaran_ came to an anchor off Port Parry, which is where -the warships lie and close to Victoria City. Vancouver, where she was -to unload, stands on the Canadian coast about a day's sail with a fair -wind further east, but the straits are sprinkled with islands and swept -by tides, and because the wind was easterly and the sky dimmed by smoke, -the skipper had gone ashore that morning to send off telegrams and if -possible engage a tug. He did not return all day, and when evening was -closing in Appleby and Niven sat outside the deckhouse, while the mate -stood up on the poop apparently to see if there was any signal from the -shore. - -The evening was chilly, and a fresh breeze streaked the waters with a -haze of smoke from some great forest fire which drove in thin wisps -across the rising moon and now and then growing thicker blotted out the -dark pines ashore. The lads had been working hard helping to send down -the lighter canvas all day, and now they were aching in every limb. -They were also moody, for do what they would the mate's bitter tongue -had not spared them. Somebody was singing forward in the forecastle, -and now and then a burst of hoarse laughter came aft, for the men there -would be leaving the _Aldebaran_ in a day or two. Niven sighed a little -as he listened. - -"Those fellows are well off. It's no wonder they're singing," he said. -"Things are getting worse every day, and I'm very sick of it, Tom." - -Appleby laughed, but there was not much merriment in his face. "Of the -sea?" - -"Well," said Niven slowly, "the sea is different from what I expected it -would be, but that's not what I mean." - -"The mate then?" - -Niven nodded. "Of course," he said. "Now, he stops with the ship, and -we don't know where we're going to from Vancouver. Lawson was telling -me the Company's ships are away sometimes four years together. Four -years of that mate, Tom. Just fancy it!" - -Appleby's face grew a trifle grim. It was not an encouraging prospect, -and he could see no way of avoiding it. - -"It does not sound nice," he said. - -"No," said Niven savagely. "If there's no improvement--and I don't -expect there will be--I'm not going to put up with it." Then he glanced -at his companion. "Tom, you'll stand in with me?" - -Appleby looked grave. "Don't be an ass, Chriss. Wait and see what can -be done when you go home." - -Niven sat silent for almost a minute, and when he spoke his young face -was very determined. "The point is, when are we going home? If we sail -from here for England I'll try to put up with him, but if there's to be -two or three more years of it I'm going to make for the bush before she -leaves Vancouver. There's no use talking. I'm quite decided, and the -only question is whether you will come with me!" - -Appleby, glancing at his comrade, saw that no arguments could persuade -him. Niven could be very obstinate, and Appleby had reasons for -believing that the other apprentices also intended slipping away. - -"If you go I'll go too, but I don't want to," he said quietly. "You -see, there are good mates as well as brutes like this one, while I may -never get another chance if I throw away the one your father has given -me. I don't like the _Aldebaran_, but I still like the sea." - -"The pater would find you a dozen better ones," said Niven eagerly, but -Appleby shook his head. - -"I couldn't take another favour from him if I made a bad use of this -one." - -Niven rose and moved once or twice wearily across the deck. "I'd get -him to make you. Then you're not coming?" - -"Yes," said Appleby gravely. "Whatever you decide on I shall do, but -that will separate us very soon, because I will not ask your father to -find me another opportunity." - -Niven stopped and stood still with indecision in his face, while his -voice was a trifle hoarse as he said, "Tom, you're a good fellow, and -ever since I knew you have done your best for me, but now--oh, it's just -because you're so decent you're stopping me putting an end to this -misery." - -"I'm not sorry," said Appleby dryly. "If you go, I'm coming too. Only -when your father sends for you I shall stay out here and do anything I -can or go on board another ship as seaman." - -Niven saw he was beaten, and sat down wearily. "Very well!" he said with -a little groan. "Perhaps something will happen, and I don't care what -it is. Anything would be better than--this--and I simply can't bear it -very much longer. Now the Dutchman's coming round the mate will be more -brutal than ever." - -He said nothing further, and while he sat still with a hopeless face in -black dejection, the mate, who did not know all that he was doing, took -his affairs in hand. Coming forward along the deck he stopped before -them with a packet in his hand. - -"Take the gig ashore, and put these letters in the post," he said. -"Wait for half-an-hour, and then if you see no sign of the skipper, come -off again. You can take Cally with you." - -The lads were almost desperate, or they would not have done a foolish -thing, for Appleby did not stand up. - -"It's not our watch, sir," he said. - -The mate swung round and looked at him with a little glint in his eyes. -"You're talking again," he said. "If you're not on board the gig inside -five minutes, I'll have my answer ready for you." - -Appleby rose up and touched his cap sardonically, but Niven was sullen. -"Very well, sir, but the gig's too big for us, and I don't know that we -can pull her back against the breeze," he said. - -The mate moved a little nearer with an unpleasant smile in his face. -"The stream will sweep you off the land unless you do, and it should -help you to pull if you remember it," he said. "That reminds me, I want -Cally for something else." - -Appleby saw that he had made a mistake again. Since he had spoken to the -skipper their persecutor had avoided violence and harassed them with a -vindictive cunning which left no room for any objection that would not -put them in the wrong. So far speech had only lost them the help of a -third hand who could have taken his turn at an oar and steered for them, -and he grasped Niven fiercely by the shoulder lest he should answer as -he turned away. The gig lay astern, and in another minute or two they -had climbed down into her, and casting off stepped the mast and ran up -the little sail. The wind would carry them ashore, but the gig though -light was nearly twenty feet long, and, while they could row tolerably -well, both knew it would cost them a strenuous effort to pull her off -again. - -"He's a pig and a beast!" said Niven, hoarse with rage, as he sat aft -with the tiller in his hand while the boat swung over the little -splashing sea. "She's not going to fetch the ship under sail coming -back, and it will be no end of a fag to pull her, while I'm about done -with handling those staysails all day already." - -Appleby said nothing, but his face was very sombre as he slacked the -sheet a little when a puff of spray flew over the weather gunwale, and -the brine lapped perilously near the opposite one. He saw that the -breeze was freshening, as an easterly wind often does at nightfall, and -did not anticipate any pleasure in rowing back again. - - - - - *CHAPTER VII* - - *ADRIFT* - - -When Appleby and Niven came clattering down the beach it was growing -very cold and night was closing in. They had not found the skipper, and -a man had told them that the little tramway between Port Parry and -Victoria had stopped running. The lads had also been working hard in -the sunshine all day, and because the mate had given them no time to -change the light clothes they stood in they shivered a little in the -chilly breeze. It came down moaning across the dark pines, crisping the -land-locked harbour where two big warships lay, and when they stood on -the pebbles there was a clear ringing of bugles. - -"Half-an-hour, to the minute," said Appleby. "There's a tolerably stiff -breeze." - -"You timed us?" said Niven. "Of course, you would. Now, I could never -have remembered it." - -Appleby laughed a trifle grimly. "Yes," he said. "You see, I didn't -want to stay here any longer than was necessary with the wind -freshening. It's going to be quite hard enough work to get back as it -is." - -Niven groaned a little as he helped to thrust off the boat, for he was -very tired, and his limbs had stiffened with the cold, while as he was -about to step on board a Canadian came sauntering down the beach. - -"Are you two lads going off to the barque out there?" he asked. - -[Illustration: "'ARE YOU TWO LADS GOING OFF TO THE BARQUE OUT THERE?'"] - -Appleby nodded, and the man glanced towards the swaying trees and the -little streaks of froth that showed white against the dimness out at -sea. "It's a tolerably big contract," he said reflectively. "You've -got to go?" - -"Yes," said Appleby. "If you knew what our mate was like you wouldn't -ask that question." - -The Canadian laughed. "I figure I can guess," he said. "Well, now, you -pull up well to windward along the shore where you'll get less breeze -and smoother water, and when it strikes you you're far enough to head -her across pull fit to split your boots--but don't miss her." - -Appleby saw it was good advice, and did his best to follow it, but his -back was aching and his arms were stiff; while when Niven missed a -stroke, which he did not infrequently, the wind drove them a trifle -further off shore before they could pull the gig's head round again. -She had been built for four men to row, and while they would have no -difficulty in propelling her in smooth water it was different when with -the wind against them every little lurch checked her speed. Still, they -toiled for half-an-hour or so, making no great progress that Appleby who -watched the trees ashore could see, until Niven groaned. - -"I'm almost done," he said. "If you don't head across soon I'll double -up before we fetch the _Aldebaran_." - -Appleby glanced at the shore, and then at the barque's riding light -blinking fitfully half-a-mile away. - -It was no great distance, but the breeze that blew slantwise off the -shore would be on their side while they headed for her, and if the boat -made much leeway they could not reach her. Nor did he fancy they would -have the strength to drive the gig back to windward if they once drifted -astern of her. - -"Shake yourself together, Chriss, and we'll make a shot at it," he said. - -Niven said nothing, but he bent his back, and for ten minutes they -strained every sinew while the boat lurched and plunged on the little -splashing sea as they drew out from the land. Cold as it was the -perspiration dripped from them, and the oars slipped in their greasy -palms, while both were gasping when a haze of smoke that blotted out -everything drove down upon them. - -"Head her up a little," said Appleby when the blinking light faded. -"Put all you're good for into it, and row. There's nothing but the -Pacific before us if we miss the _Aldebaran_." - -For another five minutes Niven rowed desperately, his heart thumping and -his breath coming in half-stifled gasps, while the boat plunged more -viciously with the sea upon her bow. Then he missed his stroke as the -moon came through, and Appleby could not check a little groan of dismay. -They were close to the _Aldebaran_ and could see her plainly as a cold -blast drove the haze away, but she was well up on their weather instead -of under their lee, and he knew it was beyond the power of any two -worn-out lads to reach her against the wind. - -"It's no use," said Niven hoarsely. "I can't do any more. Shout if you -can, though we'd be out of sight before they could get the other boat -over." - -They made the most noise they could, but it is difficult to shout when -exhausted by a strenuous effort, and it is more than possible that the -splash of the sea and sighing of the wind drowned their strained voices. -Nor is the low dusky shape of a boat easy to discern from a ship's deck -on a hazy night. In any case, there was no answer, and for a minute the -lads watched the three tall spars and strip of hull that rose black -against the moon slide away from them--and that was the last they ever -saw of the _Aldebaran_. Then another gust brought down the haze again, -and while the smoky greyness drifted past them they were alone. - -"I can scarcely pull," said Niven. "Do you think we could fetch -ashore?" - -"I don't," said Appleby with grim directness. "Still, we can try, and -it's the only thing we can do." - -They rowed for about twenty minutes, the splashing strokes growing -slower while the plunging grew sharper, and then stopped again as the -haze thinned a little. The blink of the barque's riding light was no -longer perceptible, nor could they see anything of the shore. - -"Well?" said Niven dejectedly. - -Appleby laughed, though his voice was not mirthful and there was a -curious tremor in it. "You wanted to leave the _Aldebaran_--and I fancy -you've got your wish," he said. "We're blowing out from land, and -there's quite a sea getting up." - -"Yes," groaned Niven. "That's plain enough. What are we going to do?" - -"I don't know," said Appleby. "It's not blowing much, and the proper -thing would be to keep her lying head to with the oars until the -morning. Then we'd see the land. If we kept pulling easy she wouldn't -drift very much. The difficulty is that we're not fit to do it." - -"No," said Niven decisively. "No more rowing for me. That's not going -to work, anyway. What's the next best thing?" - -"Make a sea anchor with the mast and sail and a piece of iron hanging -from it, and lie to it with a long cable," said Appleby who had been -reading some of Lawson's books. - -"Rot again!" said Niven. "We haven't got any iron, and the few yards of -rope forward wouldn't be half enough." - -"Then," said Appleby with a little hollow laugh, "we can only let her -drift, unless the sea gets too big for it. I don't feel like rowing any -more myself." - -They threw the oars in, and sat down out of the wind on the floorings, -feeling very lonely, for an hour or so. The gig was long and narrow with -only a few inches of her bottom in the water, and the wind did what it -would with her. Now it drove her sideways, now it whirled her round, -and all the while the dark slopes of water rose higher and the night -grew colder. At last when a little splash of brine fell on Appleby's -face he rose to his knees and saw a yellow flicker with a green blink -beneath it swinging towards them through the haze. - -"Get your oar out--quick! There's a steamer coming up," he said. - -Niven obeyed him, but it was another thing to pull the oar. Their tired -arms had stiffened, and it is somewhat difficult to row in tumbling -water. The wind would also blow the gig's head round in spite of them, -and little frothy splashes came in over the bow, but the lights were -growing brighter, and when at last they stopped rowing a big, shadowy -bow was forging through the water close in front of them. - -Twice they sent up a breathless shout, while the bow drew out into a -length of dusky hull. They could see the double row of deckhouses -showing dimly white, and the big, black funnel high above them, but only -the thumping of engines answered their cry, and in another moment the -boat reeled and plunged as the steamer's stern went by. Then a little -seething rush of foam lapped in over the gunwale, and Niven groaned. - -"The brutes--they could have heard us if they had wanted to," he said -with hoarse unevenness, and Appleby saw what was going to happen by the -way his comrade flung in his oar. - -"Hold up!" he said sternly. "Shake it off, and stiffen your back, -Chriss. If you're going to give up we can't do anything." - -"It can't make any difference," said Niven with hopeless apathy. "You -know as well as I do that we can do nothing now." - -It was not astonishing that his courage should desert him. He was worn -out, and already the gig was taking more than splashes in over her -gunwale, for they had blown well out from land and the freshening breeze -had raised a little frothing sea in the more open water. It appeared -very possible that the craft would roll over presently. Appleby, -however, though very near it, was not quite beaten yet. - -"That's where you're wrong," said he. "We can get a little sail on her -and keep her running. There's not sea enough to hurt her when she's -going before it, and we're tolerably sure to pick up a ship or see the -land to-morrow." - -It was a relief to have something to do, and Niven felt a very little -easier in mind when they had stepped the mast, half-hoisted the sail and -baled the boat dry. She ran well as long, flat-floored boats do, and, -though there was usually a sea that looked unpleasantly big following -close behind her, no more water came on board. Niven lay on the -floorings by his comrade's feet where the stern kept the wind and spray -off him, and Appleby sat at the tiller doing his best to keep the boat -before the sea, and watching the froth swirl past her. It raced forward -faster than they were travelling, rose above the gunwale on either hand, -and then surged on into the darkness and was lost again. He had only -this and the chill of the wind that swept over his shoulder to guide -him, and by and by, when the gig swerved a little, in place of seething -past, the foam lapped into her. Then Niven would stir himself and bale -to free the boat of the water before more came on board her. He had, -however, no great difficulty in doing it, because a buoyant craft of -that kind will, so long as one can keep her straight, run before a -tolerably nasty sea without shipping much water, but both lads knew they -were driving four or five miles further from the land every hour. - -They saw no more steamers, and very little of anything beyond the -streaks of froth that went hissing by. Sometimes for a few minutes the -moon shone through, but the silvery radiance was promptly blotted out by -the haze again, and Appleby grew steadily colder and stiffer at the -tiller. He was also getting drowsy, though he knew that if he relaxed -his vigilance for a moment and let the gig swerve as she lurched forward -with a sea the next would fill her to the gunwales or roll her over. At -last when his head would droop a little in spite of his efforts, Niven, -who was looking aft just then, rose half-upright. - -"Hallo!" he said excitedly. "There's something coming up astern." - -Appleby, with every nerve quivering, glanced over his shoulder, which -was not wise of him, and saw a tall, dusky shape rush out of the -darkness. Then the boat shot up to windward a little, and her weather -gunwale was lost in a rush of foam. - -"Bale!" he shouted, as he felt the chilly water splash about his ankles. - -Niven grasped the baler, for there was evidently no time to lose, but as -he did so a banging and rattling came out of the darkness, and a hoarse -cry reached them. - -"Down sail, and pull her up to us!" - -Appleby let the sheet fly, and scrambled forward, and in another moment -the flapping sail fell into the boat. - -Then while the gig lurched perilously and they struggled to get the oars -out a shadowy blur of thrashing canvas swept past them and stopped close -ahead. After that he only remembered rowing savagely until a low dark -hull that plunged and rolled swayed down upon the boat and smote her -heavily. A man sprang down apparently with a rope, another leaning over -the bulwarks clutched Niven and dragged him up, and Appleby, who did not -quite know how he got there, found himself standing on a little -schooner's deck. Somebody was speaking close beside him. - -"She's twenty feet, anyway, and there's nowhere we could stow her." - -"Then you can let her go," said another man. "Box her round with the -staysail, Donegal. She'll fall off now. Let draw, and out with the -main-boom again!" - -There was no sharpness in the man's voice, and he spoke with a drawl, -but Appleby had never seen sail handled as quickly on board the -_Aldebaran_. Here and there a dark object hauled on a rope, and then -with a swing to leeward and a swift upward lurch the schooner was on her -way again. He did not fancy the vessel was a trader, because she seemed -too fast and small for that, and while he wondered what her business -might be the man who had spoken touched him. - -"Come right along, and we'll have a look at you," he said. - -Appleby and Niven followed him into the little house under the mainboom, -the floor of which was below the level of the deck, and stood still with -the water trickling from them while a lamp swung above them. A little -stove burned in one corner, the place seemed very hot, while a curious -odour pervaded it. Then Appleby's eyes rested on the man who sat down -at one end of the little swing table. He was tall and lanky, and his -face was lean, while his skin was the colour of new leather, and a -ponderous hand rested on the table in front of him. His hair was -slightly grizzled, and there was something that suggested resolution in -the set of his lips and the shape of his chin. There was, however, a -little smile in his eyes, which were very keen. - -"Sit you down," he said. "Kind of cold night for a picnic, and you were -making good time for Yokohama when we saw you first." - -The lads obeyed him, and the man thumped upon the beam above him when -Niven sank huddled into a corner and closed his eyes. Then there was a -cold draught as a skylight opened and a man looked in. "Wanting -anything?" he said. - -"Tell Brulee to worry round and raise a pint or two of coffee--hot," -said the man at the table, who glanced at Appleby. "Your partner's -played out, but we'll fix him in a minute." - -"Are you the skipper of this schooner, sir?" asked Appleby. - -The man nodded. "That's just what I am--Ned Jordan of Vancouver, -British Columbia, though I kind of figure it's me that's conducting this -meeting. It was about the picnic you were going to tell me." - -Appleby felt reassured, for the man's voice was good-humoured, though he -fancied it would not be advisable to trifle with him. - -"There wasn't any picnic, sir," he said. "We didn't come out for -pleasure." - -"No," said Jordan dryly. "I didn't figure there was. Those things -you've got on don't look quite like a city lad's outfit. Still, I was -wondering if you were going to put it that way." - -Appleby flushed a trifle, for he guessed the man's thoughts. "What do -you fancy we are?" said he. - -Jordan smiled dryly. "It's me that's asking the questions, but I'm -quite open to tell you. You're two English lads from the big barque off -Port Parry, and I figure you got tired of her." - -"We didn't run away from her," said Appleby. - -"Well," said Jordan with a trace of grimness, "whether you did or didn't -don't count for much with me, but I've no use for crooked talking on -board this packet. Better tell me what started you off for Japan, and -put it as straight as you can." - -Appleby told his story, and Jordan glanced at Niven, who had opened his -eyes again. "You would tell it the same way, too?" - -"Of course," said Niven angrily. "Still, I'm not going to do it since -you don't believe him." - -There was a little gleam in Jordan's eyes, and, as he looked at them in -turn, they found his gaze somewhat embarrassing. "Still, you're not -worrying because you can't get back?" he said. - -"No," said Appleby. "I'm uncommonly glad I can't." - -Jordan nodded. "Not much to eat, and plenty kicks?" he said, as a man -came in. "Well, here's the coffee, and I figure you could worry through -a little grub as well. Whatever they fed you with on board the barque, -they didn't make you fat." - -He laid a fresh loaf, butter, and a can of meat upon the table, and the -lads did not wait for a second invitation, while it was a good many -minutes later when Appleby laid his knife down with a little sigh of -content. - -"We have got to thank you, sir, but it's time we asked where the -schooner's going to, and when you can put us ashore?" he said. - -Jordan nodded, and pointed to the northern half of the compass fixed in -the skylight above him. "That's where she's going--up there into the -ice and fog where the fur seals live," he said. "As to the other -question, we could land you in Vancouver when the season's over. We're -away five or six months as the usual thing." - -"But that would never do for us," said Niven with dismay. - -"No?" said Jordan dryly. "Well, you see, I wasn't thinking of you very -much. I didn't ask you to come here, and there are a few other men as -well as myself I've got to suit on board this packet." - -Appleby stared at him in silence for a space. "But you can't take us -away north unless we are willing to go," said he. "You could haul her -on a wind, and put us ashore on the west coast of Vancouver Island -to-morrow. My friend's father would pay you well for doing it." - -Again the expression Appleby had noticed crept into Jordan's eyes. -"Well," he said with a little laugh, "I figure I can, and if I put you -ashore on the beach you'd starve in the bush. Now, I don't quite like -the way you're talking, because while there's no kicking on board the -_Champlain_, we've no use for more than one skipper--and that's me. -When you've got that into your head we'll go on a little. Says you, -'The other lad's father will pay you.' Well, I don't know him, and he's -living six thousand miles away, while if he'd sense enough to raise -dollars he could heave away, he'd never have sent his son to sea. -That's quite plain to me." - -"My father is a rich merchant, and a clever one," said Niven -indignantly. "The value of a good many schooners like this one wouldn't -be much to him." - -"Then," said Jordan with a grim smile, "it's quite clear you don't take -after him. Folks of that kind know when talking's not much use to them, -but it's time we got ahead a little. We were nigh a month behind when -we started from Vancouver, and with five boats way up before me, I'm not -stopping one hour for anybody, and the _Champlain_ is going north like a -steamer while this breeze lasts. You've heard all I've got to tell you -as to that. Now it might be two or three months before I could put you -on board anything coming south, and in the meanwhile I've got to give -you clothes and feed you, while, as I want all the dollars I've got, to -do it for nothing wouldn't be square to me. So since you came on board -the _Champlain_, I'm wanting your word that you'll stay there until we -get back to Vancouver. You'll get half a man's share in what we make, if -we find you useful and willing, and that seems to me a square offer." - -Appleby looked at Niven. "It can't be helped--and we couldn't be worse -off than we were in the _Aldebaran_," he said. "There's no use in -telling him any more about your father." - -Niven sat silent a little, and then nodded. "We'll come, sir," he said. - -"Then," said Jordan, "it's a deal. Now those things of yours aren't -quite fit to go sealing in, and you can take these along. Stickine will -show you how to fix them up to-morrow." - -He took out several curiously smelling garments from a cupboard, and -shouted, "Stickine!" and in another minute the lads went out on deck and -down a hatchway with a big silent man who grinned at them reassuringly. - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII* - - *THE 'CHAMPLAIN,' SEALER* - - -A streak of sunlight that crept warm across his face and then swung away -again awakened Appleby next morning, and for a moment or two he lay -still staring about him in dreamy wonder. The _Aldebaran's_ deckhouse -was held together by little iron beams, and in place of these great -square timbers and ponderous knees ran into the vessel's framing above -his head. There was something curiously unfamiliar about them. Then he -saw that a long shelf, divided into wooden bunks, extended beyond the -one he lay in, and there were more of them on the opposite side of the -vessel. Between lay a space of shadow save where a shaft of sunlight -came down through an opening, and Appleby remembered suddenly when as he -watched it swing to and fro he felt a quick rise and fall which was very -different from the long upward lurch of the _Aldebaran_. Reaching over -he laid his hand on Niven's shoulder. - -"Turn out! It's eight bells, and they're tacking ship," he said. - -Niven was out of his bunk in a moment, and a burst of hoarse laughter -greeted him, when he stood swaying, half-awake, on the deck, in the -scantiest of attire, with dismay in his face. - -"What's--what's all this?" he said. "Wherever have I got to?" - -"Well," said the man called Stickine they had seen in the cabin, "I -guess it isn't the _Aldebaran_. Now, hadn't you better get some of -those things on to you?" - -Niven struggled into the garments the man pointed to, while Appleby sat -on the edge of his bunk and grinned at him, and a group of men sitting -in the shadow with plates upon their knees watched them both curiously. -There were five or six of them, and all had bronzed faces that had been -darkened by frost and ice blink, as well as sun and wind, and there was, -he fancied, a difference between these men and any he had seen on board -the _Aldebaran_. He came to know them later--as a few gentlemen who -watched affairs of State in Vladivostock, Washington, and Ottawa did--as -very daring seamen and fearless free lances, who now and then came home -rich with fur seal pelts from the misty seas, in spite of the edicts and -gunboats of three great nations. In the meanwhile he saw they were -getting a much better breakfast than that usually sent forward on board -the _Aldebaran_, and there was an air of good-humoured comradeship about -them. Appleby had by this time got into his trousers, and one of the -group stood up when he dropped to the deck. - -"Clear away for firing practice with the turret gun!" he said. - -Niven stared at him a moment, and then guessing what was meant laughed a -little. "No," he said "you've missed it this time." - -"Be easy while I try him," said another man, and then slammed his hand -down on the table. "Eyes front. 'Tinshun company!" - -"Wrong again!" said Appleby who, remembering the warships at Port Parry, -surmised that they were taken for lads who had quitted their nation's -service without permission. - -"Sure, an' how was I to know, when the woods is thick with them!" said -the seaman glancing round at his comrades deprecatingly. "Then 'tis -watch your topsail leaches and mainsail haul, again." - -"Yes," said Appleby, grinning, "now you've got it. If you'd had any -sense you'd have seen we were too thin for navy lads, and too young for -the marines." - -There was a chuckle, and the man, who had twinkling blue eyes, stretched -out an inviting arm. "Then come along, darling, and ate," he said. - -They sat down on a chest, and one of the company gave each of them a can -of very good coffee, and pointing to the great piece of fish in a -frying-pan tossed a loaf in their direction. - -"Ned Jordan will see you earn it, so you needn't be afraid," he said. - -Appleby helped himself, and Niven laughed when he saw that the men were -watching him admiringly. "They feed you well out here," he said. "We -didn't get soft bread and halibut for breakfast on board the -_Aldebaran_." - -"This," said a grinning man, "is a great country. Now I'm going to raise -you, Donegal. The lad's with me." - -The man he spoke to turned with a sparkle in his eyes, and the sun that -shone down the hatch glinting on his coppery hair. - -"This," he said, "is not a country--'tis the sea, an' the place ye come -from is made up of the leavings of the old one. 'Tis the dumping-ground -for all them we've no use for yonder--bankrupts, suicides and -green-and-red-blind sailors. When a gintleman in my country is too big -a nuisance to his neighbours, the boys sind the hat round and prisint -him wid a ticket for Canadaw." - -He brought out the last word with the accentuation of the French -Canadian; but the big, lean sailorman only grinned at him. "An'," he -said, "fwhat was ut brought you here thin, Donegal?" - -Donegal laughed softly. "A hare," said he. "She would come an' sit on -the turf-wall winking--impudent at me, an' with one of the guns that was -out in '98 in the cabin, what would anny man of intilligince do? She was -a good gun if ye gave her time and had something sthrong to lean her on, -but the magistrate--an' me owing him tin pound rint--did not agree with -me. There was no Ground Game Act thin, an' ye tuck the chances when ye -went shooting in my counthry. Would ye be finding the lads another -loaf--one is no use to them--Brulee, and now Mainsail Haul, was it the -mate or the skipper who did not agree with ye?" - -Appleby realized that speech was direct here and he must hold his own. -"I fancy you all know how I came here, by this time, as well as I do," -he said, glancing towards Stickine. "That man was about the cabin when -I told my story--and they bring you a joint when you're through with -your second course in the old country." - -"Hear him!" said Donegal. "Sure now, for a sailorman, 'tis Stickine -that romances tremenjous, an' he told us the other one was an earl's son -from the old country. 'Turn the _Champlain_ round and put me ashore--at -once. What's the value of ten schooners to the father av me?' says he." - -Niven looked somewhat foolish, but Appleby laughed. "Well, there was an -Emperor's relative who went to sea in a merchant ship not very long -ago," he said. - -Donegal shook his head solemnly. "The man was mad. All thim royal -families but our one is," he said. - -"In the meanwhile I'd like to know a little more about where we're going -and what we're going to do, now I'm one of you," said Niven. "You see, -I couldn't ask the skipper too many questions." - -"'Tis his condescending modesty," said Donegal. "'One of you,' says he! -Sure, 'tis ten years it would take to make a man of ye, an' it takes ten -more to make a man into a sealer. Stickine, will ye enlighten the son -av the ducal earl?" - -Niven fidgeted, for he realized that education is not everything, and -that even in speech he had not shown himself the seaman's equal; but -Stickine tapped on the table. "It works out like this," he said; "we're -going to hear the bear growl, and the eagle scream, and if it's a -white-flag gunboat, put a pinch of salt right on the beaver's tail." - -"Russia," said Niven, "and America, the beaver's Canada, but what have -the gunboats to do with the seals?" - -"Sure," said Donegal, "'tis plain they did not teach ye very much at -school. Now, the seal, ye will observe, lives most of his time where no -man can get at him in the lonely sea, but wanst in the year he crawls -out on the rocks of St. Paul and St. George, up in the Behring Sea, and -when it is not convenient for ye to find him there ye may call at one or -two reefs in Russian water or the Copper Islands." - -"Well," said Niven, "where do the warships come in?" - -"'Tis patient as well as modest ye are," said the sealer. "Now, 'tis -not discreet of a youngster to hurry a grown man, an' that they would -have taught ye wid the thick end of a gun whin ye were in the marines!" - -"I was never in the marines," said Niven a trifle hotly, and Donegal -sighed. - -"Sure," he said, "'tis a pity, but I will prolong the discussion. Now, -by the laws of the three nations ye may kill the seals at sea, though -they will not help ye to find them, that being left--with other -things--to the sealerman's devices, an' the sea, ye will remember, is -not the sea until it's more than three miles from land." - -"That's a little mixed," said Appleby, glancing at the rest of the -company. - -"No," said Donegal. "'Tis reason. When you are inside the three miles -you are in Russia, America, or Canada, because that's just how far a big -gun could blow the head off ye." - -"There was once an American who figured it was ten," said Stickine -dryly. - -"Fighting Bob!" said somebody, and there was a hoarse guffaw, during -which Donegal said quietly, "An' the lashings of dollars it cost him." - -"Now, 'tis strictly prohibited to any one but the American company that -rints them Pribyloff islands to kill the seals on land, an' if ye come -too close on others I could tell of the Russians are not kind to ye. -There was wanst a fifty-year-old schooner came home manned by starving -men, an' they'd ate the last tail of the rats aboard her. 'Twas that or -Siberia with them, but Stickine will tell ye the tale again." - -"Then where do you catch the seals?" asked Appleby. - -There was a little quiet laughter, and Donegal shook his head. "Asleep -anywhere eight and ten miles out at sea, as 'tis entered in the -logbook," he said. "Still, ye may discover that under circumstances -unconthrollable the sealerman kills the holluschackie--where he can." - -Appleby, glancing at the men's bronzed faces, fancied that their -merriment was a trifle grim, but a voice came down through the hatch -just then-- - -"If you are quite through with your talking you might come up and get -more sail on her." - -They went up in a body, for though Appleby had noticed already that -discipline was not especially evident on board the _Champlain_ he was -also to discover that nobody loitered when there was work on hand. The -lads followed, and the first thing that occurred to them was that the -schooner was ridiculously small. After the great length and height of -the _Aldebaran_ she seemed a toy ship with two dainty little masts. -Still, Appleby saw that they were tall for her length and made of the -beautiful figured redwood which affords the maximum of strength. Her -bowsprit was tilted high to lift the men who crawled out on it above the -icy seas, and the great boom along her mainsail's foot ran out at least -a fathom beyond her stern. Then he began to notice her slenderness -forward in spite of the breadth of the beam that gave her stability to -carry a press of sail, and the lift of the deck towards the bows which -the rail carried higher in a bold curve that would keep her dry when she -thrashed to windward. Between the masts stood a nest of boats packed -one inside the other with their thwarts lifted out, and Niven wondered -what so small a vessel did with so many. It was evident she did not -carry them as a precaution, for he could see that everything about her -suggested strength and safety. - -About the boats stood a few Siwash Indians, squat, broad-shouldered men -dressed in jean and canvas, and looking, except for their brown colour, -very much like the rest of the crew. They were, it seemed, by no means -savages, but again Appleby wondered, for they were doing nothing, and -the _Champlain_ carried almost men enough to work an English merchant -ship. Aft with half his lean height showing above the deckhouse skipper -Jordan stood swaying at the wheel, and he swung one hand up when he saw -the lads. - -"Feeling quite pert this morning?" he said when they came aft. "Well, -you can go up and loose the fore-topsail." - -Though this was not the kind of order the lads had been used to they -went forward, and felt that the skipper's eyes were on them when they -stopped abreast of the foremast. There were no rattlings on the -_Champlain's_ shrouds, and Appleby was wondering how they were to get -aloft when Niven pointed to the hoops the big foresail was bound to -which ran like a ladder up the mast. - -"I fancy those would do?" he said. - -They went up, and it was an easy matter to loose the little -three-cornered topsail which stretched when set from the masthead to the -end of the gaff. Then they stood still a moment or two perched high on -the cross-trees looking down on the slender strip of hull and the -white-topped sea. The _Champlain_ was swinging over it, and the foam -that roared off from her bows and swept away down the white wake showed -the pace at which she was travelling. Niven drew in a deep breath of -contentment as he swung in a wide sweep to and fro, the blue of the sky -above him and the blue and white of the sea below. - -"I'm not sorry the _Aldebaran's_ at Port Parry, and we're here," he -said. "She's a beauty, and they feed you well, while I never fancied -anything twice her size could tear along like this." - -"Hallo! Going to sleep up there?" said somebody, and Appleby glancing -down saw a little twinkle in the eyes of Stickine. - -"Topsail's all clear for hoisting, sir," he said, and one or two of -those about the big man laughed. "What's the quickest way of getting -down, Chriss?" - -Niven stooped and grasped a rope. "Topsail tack, I think. It should -do," he said. - -In another second the rope was rasping between his ankles and through -his hands, then it yielded suddenly and he fell at least a fathom with -Appleby's feet just above his head. It held again, however, and he slid -to the deck, while the rest were setting the big maintopsail with a yard -along the head of it when he went aft. The skipper glanced at him a -moment, and then turned to the men. - -"We'll goosewing her, boys. Get your boom foresail over," he said. - -He span the wheel a trifle, the long narrow foresail lurched across, and -when it swung outboard on the opposite side the _Champlain_ lifted her -head a little and the foam that lapped higher swept almost to her -quarter-rail. - -"She's flying," said Niven. "Going like a train." - -Then he felt that the skipper was watching him, and wondered whether he -had done anything unfitting when he saw his little, dry smile. - -"It was a straight tale you told me--most of it. Stick to that kind of -talk," he said. - -Niven flushed a trifle, and was about to answer when Appleby kicked him, -and he said, "Yes, sir," instead. - -Jordan nodded. "Rich men's sons don't go to sea," he said. "Well, now, -there's a thing you can remember. Never swing yourself down by anything -until you know just what it is and what it's made fast to. We've no use -for show tricks on board this packet, and I figure the cook will find -something you can do." - -They went forward, Appleby grinning, Niven somewhat flushed, and it was -that night before they quite understood the skipper's meaning. The wind -had fallen and the sky was hazy when they sat talking on the forehatch. -Donegal leaned upon the rail not far from them, Stickine swung black -against the dimness at the wheel, and the _Champlain_ was sliding slowly -north, a vague moving shadow across the great emptiness. It seemed to -Appleby that he could feel the sea as he had never done on board the -_Aldebaran_. It was so close beneath him, and life and zest of it -throbbed through everything he touched. Niven, however, was looking at -the sealer. - -"You were aft when the skipper spoke to us, Donegal," he said. "What -did he mean by saying he knew we'd told him the right tale?" - -The man turned round and regarded him gravely. "Mr. Callaghan--an' -Donegal to my friends--an' for the son of a ducal earl there's a lot of -things you don't know," he said. - -"Then," said Niven, "how am I going to learn them if I don't ask -questions?" - -"Now," said Donegal dryly, "ye are showing ye have some sinse, an' if -it's searching for knowledge ye are, I will enlighten ye. The moral av -ut is that while ye speak the truth, the little things ye do don't stand -up and conthradict ye. Now, when ye knew where the topsail was that -showed ye had been to sea, but they've rattlings on the shrouds av a -square-rigger, an' it was easy to see that when ye could not find them -it perplexed ye. Then when ye were sleeping Ned Jordan had Stickine -bring some of the things ye tuk off into the cabin, an' there was names -done nice in red on wan or two of them. 'It's all quite straight but -the last ov it, an' there's lads who can't help talking big. Many's the -time I've tried to teach my own ones better--wid a fence rail,' says -he." - -Donegal looked hard at Niven, but Appleby, who laughed softly, kicked -his comrade's leg. - -"We'll not worry about what he told your skipper any more--but it's -true," he said. - -Donegal said nothing further, but his eyes twinkled curiously, and there -was silence for a space until a blink of light crept out of the dimness -astern. The moon had risen, but was hidden by a cloud-bank in the -south-east, and there was nothing to be seen but the light that grew -steadily higher and brighter. Then a red one became visible, and while -a vague black shape grew into form there was a blink of green. Stickine -struck the deckhouse with his foot as he pulled over the wheel, and the -_Champlain_ swung round a little, but still the lights seemed to follow -her. - -"A steamer," said Appleby. "What can they be after? Our canvas is -plain enough against the sky." - -Donegal grunted. "A top-heavy coal basket of a gunboat, sure!" he said. -"How is it I know? Well, ye will have a better acquaintance by and by -with the ships-of-war, an' any one could see the way she's rolling if he -looked at her." - -Appleby could see the higher light reeling to and fro, and a long smear -of smoke that streaked the sea below. While he watched it the dim hull -lengthened out, and he saw the white froth boil beneath the flung-up -bows. They came down amidst a spray cloud, and the slanted masts swung -wildly as the long roll of the Pacific lapped about the shadowy hull. -The steamer was close upon the _Champlain's_ quarter now. - -Suddenly there was a faint twinkle of brightness on board her, and then -a great shaft of light smote a glittering track across the waters and -rested on the schooner's stern. Jordan's lean figure was forced up -against it, and Appleby could see the little dry smile in his face as he -nodded to Stickine at the wheel. He pulled it over a spoke or two, and -the _Champlain_ swerved a trifle, while Jordan's smile became a trifle -grimmer, for the light also swinging still blazed upon her stern. Then -it beat into the lad's eyes and dazzled them, swept forward and lighted -all the foresail when it rested on the boats, flickered up and down the -deck, forcing up every rope by its brilliancy, and vanished so suddenly -that Niven afterwards said he could hear it snap. Next moment the -steamer drew ahead, and the last he saw of her was her shadowy stern -lifted high on the shoulder of a long smooth sea. - -Jordan laughed a little as he paced up and down beside the wheel. -"American," he said. "That fellow will know us if he falls in with us -again." - - - - - *CHAPTER IX* - - *A TRIAL OF SPEED* - - -It was early one morning rather more than three weeks after the lads had -fallen in with the _Champlain_, and a little breeze had just sprung up -with the sun when Appleby, who was scrubbing down decks just then, -turned upon Niven who stood close by with a dripping bucket in his hand. - -"I want the water here, and not all over me," he said, pointing with his -bare toes to the sand he had sprinkled on the planking. - -Niven grinned, and stooping, rolled his trousers to the knee, after -which he commenced a little step-dance up and down the forehatch, and -his laugh rang lightly when a drowsy growl rose from beneath. - -"You want good thick clogs to do it well, but I fancy this will bring -him up," he said. "Did yez sleep all day in the old country, Donegal?" - -Now few men would have ventured to do what Niven was doing on board a -merchant ship, where the time for sleep is scanty, but as the -_Champlain_ carried twice as many men as were apparently needed, they -had ample space for rest. Still, as he swung round grimacing with his -back to the scuttle in the hatch, a coppery head rose up from it, and a -long arm reached out. Then there was a chuckle from Stickine at the -wheel, and Niven turned again just in time to receive the contents of -the bucket full in his face. After that there was a scurry across the -deck, and he swung himself up by the mast-hoops, while a rope-end -flicked about the one from which he had just whipped his naked feet, and -Donegal sat down on the hatch with a placid grin. - -"Ye can stop up there and cool, me son, until Ned Jordan comes up," he -said. - -Niven sat down on the jaws of the foresail gaff, and wiped his dripping -face. "Sure, 'tis an ungrateful beast, an' me just rousing him while -the morning's fresh," he said. "Tom, if I had that bucket I could drop -it nicely on his head." - -Donegal gazed up at the lad reflectively. "'Tis what comes of fattening -ye too quick," he said. "There was no thricks of that kind about ye on -board the _Aldebaran_, and ye had a distressful hungry look when we got -ye." - -Niven could not find a neat rejoinder, and sat still with his arm round -the throat halliards high up on the gaff, while the sun that rose with a -smoky glare out of the eastern haze shone into his face. It was bronzed -to the colour of copper, and it is possible that his friends would at -first sight have found it difficult to recognize the lad they had last -seen strutting in new uniform. He now wore jean trousers and a thick -canvas jacket which Jordan had given him, and while both were -considerably too large there were big smears of tar on them. His hands -were as hard as a navvy's, and though he had not lost the love of frolic -he had found no scope for on board the _Aldebaran_ there was a -difference in his face. - -The sea had set its stamp upon Niven, and the set of his lips had grown -more resolute, while though they could still twinkle his eyes were -steadier. Hardship and the need for quick decision and self-reliance -had stiffened him, for Niven had been taught a good deal since he left -Sandycombe School, and the knowledge that even a rich merchant's son was -entitled to nothing he could not obtain by his native wit or the -strength of his hand was perhaps the most useful of it all. Money, he -had discovered, was not much use at sea, where nobody cared in the least -who he was, and it was by the things he did he must stand or fall. - -There was less change in Appleby, who had been early cast upon his own -resources, but he, who had never been boisterous, was a trifle quieter, -and had already added an inch or two to the breadth of his chest. His -skin also resembled half-tanned leather, and he was picturesquely -arrayed in garments of patched canvas somewhat too large for him. - -In the meanwhile Niven glancing aft, and wondering by what means he -could avoid Donegal, who appeared disposed to sit where he was all -morning, saw the crimson glare of the sunrise beat athwart the sea. It -streaked the long smooth undulations that rolled up after the -_Champlain_ a coppery red, and the schooner swung over them lazily with -half-filled mainsail banging. Under the sun there rolled a bank of -smoky vapour, and just as Jordan came up from the little deckhouse, -Niven saw something slide out of it. He was not altogether sorry, for -although there was no abuse of the men on board the _Champlain_, he -fancied the skipper's toleration had its limits, and when he looked down -Donegal flicked a rope-end suggestively. - -Next moment Jordan saw him. "Now, I figured you were washing decks. -Anybody tell you to go up there?" he said. - -Niven looked distinctly sheepish, and Donegal grinned. "Is ut telling -that's any use to him, an' me inviting him to come down the last -half-hour," he said. Just then the object that crept out of the haze -grew clearer, and swinging himself up by the peak halliard, Niven -stretched out an arm. "There's a schooner coming up astern, sir," he -said. "Another just showing abeam!" - -Donegal sprang into the shrouds, Jordan whipped up his glasses, and -Niven, who saw they had forgotten him, slipped down. He had scarcely -reached the deck when the skipper called out, and two or three men came -scrambling out of the scuttle. - -"Hand those topsails down, and get up the biggest yard-headers," he -said. - -There was no scurrying, but the men were very swift, and in a few -minutes the little three-cornered topsails they had carried at night -were down, and two big ones set. The _Champlain_ quickened her pace a -trifle, but it was evident the other schooners were coming up with her. -Jordan laid down his glasses. - -"The _Belle_ and the _Argo_. They're bringing the breeze along with -them," he said. - -The sea was still only faintly rippled about them, and the smoke from -the galley eddied in the hollow of the foresail, but the other vessels -had grown plainer and were slanting over, while Niven, who resumed his -deck scrubbing, fancied that Jordan strode up and down impatiently. -Then Brulee, the French-Canadian cook, put his head out of the galley. -"The breakfast is quite ready, _camarades_," he said. - -The lads took their places with the rest, and when they sat down Niven -glanced at the big lean-faced Stickine. - -"What are we running away from those fellows for?" he said. - -"Hear him!" said Donegal. "'Tis marvellous, his observation." - -"Give the lad a show now and then," said the Canadian. "Well, now, when -you see Ned Jordan run away you can figure there's dollars somewhere at -the bottom of it, because if he didn't want to it would take quite a -fleet of gunboats to put a move on him." - -Brulee laughed. "You others are all lak that," he said. "_V'la la -belle chose--courant en courant--la chasse de dollar_. It is so with -you also in my country, the Quebec." - -"Well, now," said a little man who hailed from Montreal, "there was a -time when some of you made tolerably good running down there under -Montcalm too. I've seen the place where that chase came off, and it's -right behind the ramparts at Quebec." - -"They run!" said Niven, who had read of the famous scene on the heights -of Abraham, but Donegal stretched out a big hand, and he wriggled -backwards with his plate. - -"What come well from General Wolfe is a thrifle too big for the size av -ye," he said. "They were good men, both Montcalm and him, and 'tis but -the makings of one I'm after licking out of ye. Stickine, ye may -purceed." - -"Well," said the Canadian, "where the fur seals go to when they haul off -from the Behring Sea nobody quite knows, but they're coming north, -thousands of them, now, and some men can figure better than others where -they'll first show up again." - -"Is the skipper fortunate at finding them?" asked Appleby. - -"Well, I wouldn't put it like that, just because it's tolerably plain -figuring that it wants a good big head to make a lucky man," said -Stickine. "It's the one who can do the most thinking comes out on top, -and the things Jordan knows are the ones that work out the reckoning." - -"You've hit it plump," said another man. "Ned Jordan's chased the seals -that long he can tell you just what they're thinking." - -Stickine nodded. "And think they can; they, and the sea otter, and the -salmon they live upon. Well, now, when Ned Jordan has worried it all -out for days, he has no use for a crowd of men who're too lazy to do -their own thinking, hanging right on to him. No, sir. When the -_Champlain_ drops right down on top of the seal herd she'll be there -alone." - -They went up as soon as breakfast was over, and Niven saw that one of -the schooners had drawn close up on the _Champlain's_ quarter. The -breeze had freshened, and both vessels were hurling the froth about -their bows, and slanting over until the foam was near the rail. Foot by -foot the stranger drew up, and Niven saw the reason as he noticed the -length of her slanted masts. She sank to her bowsprit at every dip, and -the spray whirled half the height of her tall foresail, when she swung -her streaming bows up again. A man stood aft with both hands gripping -her wheel, and another with a broad grin on his face leaned on her rail. -His voice reached them faintly. - -"We've been feeling lonely for the sight of you these two weeks," he -said. "Now it 'pears to me that as the _Belle_ has got the speed, we're -going to have your company." - -Jordan smiled grimly as he glanced to weather. "Well, I don't know. -There's more wind coming along," he said. - -Appleby was sensible of a little thrill of pleasurable excitement, for -it was evident that if Jordan desired to fall in with the seal herds -alone he must sail for it, and glancing aft at the skipper's lean figure -and quiet bronzed face he felt that he was not the man to be lightly -beaten. - -At noon there was no great distance between the vessels, though the -_Belle_ with her tall masts had crept forward a little upon the -_Champlain's_ weather-quarter, and the third one lay a quarter of a mile -astern. The spray was whirling in sheets, and now and then a frothing -green deluge came in, for all three were listed well down to their -rails. The sea was also flecked and seamed with white, and it was -evident to the lads that no skipper would have driven his vessel so hard -had he not men enough to swiftly shorten sail. Then just as Brulee put -his head out of the galley, the _Champlain_ heeled further by a -screaming blast, buried her lee bow, and when she hove her head clear -again all that side of her ran water. - -Jordan glanced up at his main topmast, and there was a little twinkle in -his eyes as he said, "I figure nobody would blame us for not hanging on -to our sail. Boys, we'll have the topsail down." - -The big sail swung down below the mainsail gaff, but when Appleby would -have laid his hand upon the tack to haul it lower still Stickine laughed -as he stopped him. "There's two ways of winning a race," he said. "Let -her lie. 'Pears to me Ned Jordan will want her up again." - -Appleby did not quite understand, but he saw Jordan's pose stiffen and -his face grow intent as the _Belle_, still carrying everything, forged -ahead. Then her topsail also fluttered, and he swung up his hand. - -"Sheets in, and stand by your peak halliard to let go with a run," he -said. - -Then there was a scurry along the deck, blocks groaned and rattled, and -the long booms were dragged in as the skipper put down his helm. The -schooner came round, and because no vessel will carry the sail on a wind -that she will going free, her lee-rail was in the sea and the deck -sloped like a roof. Foam and green water seethed over her weather bow, -and Appleby thrilled all through as he hung on by a pin with one hand on -the peak halliard ready to let the mainsail gaff swing down to ease the -pressure. He understood the manoeuvre now, for the _Champlain_ was -shooting up across the other schooner's stern for the berth that would -give her a free hand upon her weather. It was almost too late when the -skipper of the _Belle_ realized this, but he put his helm down pluckily, -and then the weight of his tall masts came into play. The _Belle_ -seemed buried in a white confusion when she came up, too, and a huddle -of dripping figures appeared to wash aft together when she dipped her -nose in a sea. Then there was a crash as she swung her jibs out of the -foam again, and her foresail blew over to leeward banging, while the -_Champlain_ swept up dripping on her weather. A man sprang up in the -shrouds shouting ironically, but Jordan shook his head and called him -down. - -"We've no use for that kind of thing here," he said. - -Appleby was dripping with the spray, but his blood tingled, and his face -was flushed, while Stickine, who stood close by, nodded to him -approvingly. - -"Neat, oh, yes. Quite neat!" he said. "Her foresail gaff's gone, and -we're well up on her weather where we can do what we like with her. -Still, I figure we're not going to hold on to our own sticks very long." - -"Square away!" Jordan's voice rang out, and the long mainboom swung out -again, while there was by contrast a curious ease of motion when the -_Champlain_, rising more upright, turned her stern to the sea. It no -longer thrashed in over her weather bow, but ran forward white-topped on -either side of her, but the breeze was even stronger, and Appleby -wondered, when the voice rose again. - -"Run the gaff topsail back to the masthead, boys!" - -It took several of them to do it, and more were needed before they -hauled the sheet home. Then the _Belle_ dropped away behind, though the -other vessel stayed where she was, half-a-mile under their lee quarter, -a pyramid of swaying sail. - -Jordan laughed softly as he glanced towards her over his shoulder. "Old -man Carter's most as stubborn as a mule," he said. "Well, we'll have -more wind by and by, and I'm figuring we'll see things then. I don't -know any reason you shouldn't get your dinner in the meanwhile, boys." - -They trooped below, and there was no great change when they came up, -except that the _Belle_ was farther astern and the sea seemed to be -getting steeper. They swept on before it all afternoon, and the men -were a little more silent when, with a great rolling in of smoky -vapours, nightfall came. It was now blowing tolerably hard, but while -the seas frothed white as they surged past high above the rail, the -_Champlain_ still drove on under all her lower sails. She was swept by -bitter spray, and the man who held her straight was panting at the -wheel, but the vapours rolled down thicker and the _Belle_ and the -_Argo_ were indistinguishable. Niven was lying in his bunk when -Stickine came down, and his face was a trifle grave, while, as he flung -off his dripping oilskins, there was a great thud and gurgle forward, -and something seethed across the hatch. - -"Put her nose in that time," he said. "Well, we've got to shake them -off, but we're taking steep chances already, and we can't press her as -we're doing very long." - -"Could you make the others out?" asked a man, and Stickine laughed -silently. - -"No," he said. "Still, we will do if the moon comes through. I know -old man Carter, and he'd run her under before he'd let us beat him. It -wouldn't take them long to get the spare gaff on the _Belle_." - -He flung himself into his bunk as he was, and Appleby, who had heard -him, asked no questions. He began to realize that these big, -good-humoured sealers could on occasion be very grim, though this was -not a cause of much astonishment to him, for he had seen already that it -is not, as a rule, the domineering and ostentatious who take the -foremost place when the real stress comes. He slept, but it was -lightly, for the roar of the sea about the bows and groaning of the -hard-pressed hull roused him now and then. At times he seemed to feel -the great beams and knees straining above him and the tremulous quiver -of the vessel's skin, while when for the fourth time he wakened suddenly -a shower of brine came down with a hoarse voice through the scuttle. -The light of the swinging lamp showed that Niven was sitting up wide -awake, and in a few more minutes they crawled out on deck with several -of the men. - -A shower of stinging spray beat into their eyes, and when he could see -again, Niven had a disconcerting glimpse of a big frothing comber -apparently curling above the schooner's stern. The decks ran water, but -when he glanced aloft every sail but the topsail was drawing still, and -he clutched the rail when as they swung upwards a blink of moonlight -pierced the flying vapours. To leeward of them lay a schooner, her hull -just showing faintly black through the white smother that seethed about -her, until she hove a breadth of it up streaming in a leeward roll. It -appeared insignificant in comparison with the mass of dusky sail that -swayed low again towards the rushing froth as she lurched back to -weather, and then Appleby glanced aft with a little thrill to the grim -set face of the man who stood panting at the _Champlain's_ wheel. - -The hiss of the seas that followed, the roar at the bows, the wild -humming of the blast and the whirling spray stirred his blood. They -were all of them tokens of what man could dare, and the strain, that -human nerve could bear, for he knew that already hemp and wire and -timber were being taxed to the uttermost, and that if the helmsman gave -her a spoke too much or too little the next sea would curl on board or -the great black mainsail jibe over and strew the _Champlain's_ decks -with ruin. Niven stood beside him, and Appleby saw that although his -face was almost colourless in the moonlight, his eyes were shining. - -"Oh, it's great!" he said. "Worth all we stood on board the _Aldebaran_ -to have a hand in this." - -"And how many hands were ye born with when I see two av them holding ye -where ye are?" said Donegal, who apparently heard him. "Is ut dollars -or diversion a man goes to sea after?" - -Niven laughed. "Dollars. Oh, get out! You know you feel it yourself," -he said. "You've got everything just throbbing inside you as I have -now." - -Donegal grinned broadly. "And what if you're right?" he said. "'Tis -born in the blood av the likes av me, but if I was the son av a ducal -earl it's sorrow on the day would find me on the sea." - -He got no further, but grabbed the lad's shoulder and held him fast as -the _Champlain_ swerved a little and a sea came in. It swirled about -them icy cold as she rolled down to lee, and the scuppers were spouting -when with a wild lurch she swung back to weather. Then Donegal thrust -the pair of them aft together. - -"Get a good hold an' keep it, until we have some need av ye," he said. - -Then the blink of moonlight went out and the _Champlain_ was alone, -while the two lads shivered and dodged the spray as she swept onwards -through the night, until a faint light crept out of the east across the -whitened sea. The wet canvas showed black against it, there was a -doleful wail of wind, and then when man's strength sinks to its lowest -something happened. The _Champlain_ put her bows in, and Jordan sprang -suddenly up on the deckhouse gazing astern. What he said was scarcely -audible, but the sealers apparently understood it, for the deck was -filled with scrambling men. Down came the mainsail's peak, forward a -slashing sail slid down, and the outer jib thrashed furiously above the -bowsprit. Niven was clawing his way towards it when Stickine grasped -his shoulder and flung him back. - -"I guess this is going to be work for a man," he said. - -Niven, who watched him crawl out along the bowsprit, held his breath -when spar and man dipped into the sea, and then floundered aft to where -the others were rolling up the foot of the half-lowered mainsail. It -slatted and banged above them, and now and then the long boom beneath -the foot of it that ran a fathom or more beyond the stern, swung in, for -the schooner was coming up to the wind, but the rush and stress of the -race had stirred his blood, and when it became evident that somebody was -wanted there, he swung himself up on the foot-rope beneath its outer end -as he otherwise might not have done. In another moment Appleby was up -beside him, and Jordan standing at the wheel glanced dubiously at them. -Then he nodded. - -"You've got to begin sometime," he said. - -It was not easy to keep a grip of the foot-rope, and more difficult -still to roll up the sail and tie the reef points round it because both -hands were needed and to hold on they must lie across the boom. Still, -they accomplished it, and Appleby felt content when Jordan made a little -gesture as they sprang down. He was not a man who said more than was -necessary, but it was evident that he was pleased with them. Then they -hauled at the halliards with the rest, and in a few more minutes they -were once more on their way under easy sail. - -"She's snug for a while, but we'll have the trysail handy," said Jordan -quietly. "Old man Carter was a little slow. They're catching the heft -of it on board the _Argo_." - -Appleby glanced down to leeward and saw the _Argo_. She was hove down -with one side lifted high above the sea, and loose canvas thrashing all -over her. - -"I'll figure he'll just save his masts," said Stickine. "Wouldn't snug -her down till we did. Well, I figure Carter couldn't help being born a -mule." - -Then the _Argo_ grew dim behind them, and they swept on into an empty -sea, for the race was over, and there was no sign of the _Belle_. - - - - - *CHAPTER X* - - *HOVE TO* - - -At noon next day, Jordan once more brought the _Champlain's_ head to -wind, and they put the third reef in her mainsail, while when she swept -on again the sea grew steeper behind her, until the combers that raced -after her apparently hung frothing above her helmsman's head. She would -fling her stern up to meet them and while the man panted over his -jerking wheel her bowsprit went down and down. Then she would leisurely -lift her nose and surge forward lapped in seething foam, only to sink -with a smooth, swift lurch again. - -It was dryest aft, though there was water splashing everywhere, and the -two lads hung about the mainmast where the little deckhouse partly -sheltered them, watching the helmsman's grim face as he swung with his -wheel. They knew, by this time, that, while it is a somewhat difficult -affair to keep a hard-pressed vessel straight before the sea, unpleasant -things are apt to happen to a fore-and-aft one if it is not done. - -Still, the man knew his work, and did it, and at last, towards -nightfall, when the sea was all spray and foam, Jordan, who came up, -stood staring astern. After a minute or two he shook his head. - -"We had better round her up while we can," he said. "Get the main-gaff -down, and you'll be handy with the trysail." - -They were very handy, and there was a good many of them, but Appleby -held his breath when the foresail was lowered, and the mainsail peak -swung down. Jordan was still looking astern, and he nodded after an -especially big sea went smoking past them. - -"We'll try it now," he said. - -The man beside him swayed with the wheel, the _Champlain_ swung round to -windward, and there was a roar when a roller burst into spray upon that -side of her. Then she swung further yet, and as the big mainboom came -down the little three-cornered trysail went thrashing up the mast. -Everybody was doing something amidst a great banging of canvas, and in -another few moments there was a wonderful quietness. Appleby gasped, -and Stickine who went by dripping grinned at him, while Jordan nodded to -the men. - -"She'll lie easy now," he said. - -In place of running before it the _Champlain_ lay almost head to wind, -rising and falling with now and then a little lurch to leeward and a -curious buoyancy. The strip of sail above her bowsprit and the trysail -aft just sufficed to hold her stationary, and it was with little more -than a spray wisp at her bows she bobbed in a curious cork-like fashion -to the sea. Except for one or two of them the men crawled away below, -and the lads, who were wet through, were glad to climb down into the -stuffy warmth beneath the hatch. - -It was dark down there now save for the flickering radiance of the lamp -which shone upon the wet brown faces and the smears of smoke. The dusky -hold reeked with the smell of steaming clothes, but the lads had grown -used to odours which would have sickened them before they went to sea. -Niven shook off the oilskins Jordan had given him, and as usual -commenced his questions. - -"The sea looked nasty before we brought her up," he said. "How was it -we scarcely shipped any of it?" - -"It was," said Stickine dryly. "Still, Ned Jordan knows his business, -sonny." - -Niven did not care for the epithet, or the grin which usually -accompanied it, but he had discovered that one has to put up with a good -deal that one does not like at sea. - -"Of course!" he said. "But why couldn't we have gone on running?" - -Montreal, the man who sat nearest the stove, laughed softly as he raised -his head. "Listen to it. That's why!" he said. - -There was a moment's silence, and while the _Champlain_ rolled to -leeward, and the floorings slanted under them until no man could have -kept his footing, all could hear the scream of the rigging ring through -the roar of the wind. It was a significant answer, but it left a little -that was not quite plain yet, and Stickine nodded when Appleby glanced -at him. - -"It works out like this. A time comes when she'll run no longer--and -then it's too late to heave her to," he said. - -"Yes," said Appleby reflectively. "Of course if the sea was too bad to -run before it would be too big to bring her up in, because while she was -swinging round she'd catch it on her beam. Still, if you had run too -long what could you do?" - -"Just nothing," said Stickine gravely. "Wait until she ran under and -took you down." - -He stopped, and there was a thud that sent a little shiver through two -of the listeners as the _Champlain_ plunged into a sea, for they had -been taught sufficient to see the picture the brief words called up. In -the silence that followed Brulee leaned forward with a curious -intentness in his eyes. - -"_Comme ca!_" he said, swinging down a brown hand with suggestive -suddenness. "I have seen it. We come down from Labrador in the -_Acadie_ brig, and it is blow the grand ouragan." - -He drew in his breath, and gazed into the dimness as though he saw none -of those about him, and then with a little shake of his shoulders -stretched out a finger and pointed to Niven. "I was as young as him, -and it was in the clear of the moon when the _Acadie_ was hove to, one -brought me to the rail to see the _Madeleine_. She was topsail schooner -which load with us, and we had all the friend on board her. Whether she -will not heave to, or the captain he is dare too much, I do not know, -but she comes up from the spray and pass close, so close. I see the -topsails black in the moon, and the jib she lift high. Then she is over -run the sea, and I shut tight my eye. It is in a moment I look -again--and there is no more _Madeleine_." - -Again there was silence, and Donegal nodded sympathetically when the -French-Canadian turned away his head. "_Ave!_" he said. "For their -good rest." - -It was a minute or two before Niven, who had shivered a little at the -tale, spoke again. "He told us the captain dared too much," he said. - -"Sure!" said Donegal. "Is that perplexing ye, an' am I to stuff ye with -wisdom so ye can spill it out av ye? Still, that wan's easy. 'Tis the -daring ye want at sea, but ye must dare just so far, an' when it's -necessary, for the man who does not know when the conthract is too big -for him is going to have it shown him what he is. Ye can follow me?" - -Niven was not quite sure that he did, but Stickine smiled grimly as he -nodded. "It's quite plain figuring. He's a blame fool," he said. - -Appleby stared at the speaker with a faint perplexity, for while there -were occasions when Donegal the sealer and his comrades talked arrant -rubbish they now and then brought truths the lad had scarcely realized -home to him in a fashion that carried conviction as well as astonishment -with it. He wondered whether the sea had taught them, or there was -something that opened the eyes of the thoughtful in the simple life they -led. It was one which at least demanded qualities that were an ornament -to any man, and more often than not the primitive virtues which humanity -cannot rise beyond showed through what some would have deemed his -comrades' coarseness. Once or twice as he listened it was dimly borne -in upon the lad that while manhood was a greater thing than culture or -refinement all that was most worthy in it was founded on a few eternal -verities. - -Niven, however, could not be serious long, and presently he laughed at -Donegal as he turned over to dry his other side before the little stove. -He felt luxuriously contented to lie there in the stuffy warmth, and -listen to the growling of the seas. - -"There was something Stickine was to tell us--about a fifty-year-old -schooner, and a crew of starving men," he said. - -Donegal nodded. "That ate the rats? Get up on the hind legs av ye, -now, an' talk, Stickine." - -There was a little murmur from the rest, and the big, lean-faced -Canadian looked uneasy. "Pshaw! You've heard that tale before," he -said. - -"Some av us," said Donegal. "An thim would hear it again. The others -has not, and they're waiting on ye anxiously!" - -The men murmured approval, and Stickine shook out his pipe with a little -deprecatory gesture. "I'll make you very tired, boys, but if you will -have it this is how it was," he said. "It was 'bout through with the -afternoon watch when the fog shut down on the four of them in the whaler -in Russian water. They heard the schooner's bell, but it's kind of -difficult to fix a sound in a fog, and when it let up sudden they -allowed they'd lost her." - -"Sure!" said Donegal. "Mainsail Haul could tell ye that in a fog ye -hear the sounds in front of ye behind ye. It is digressing ye are, -Stickine, but the boys is wondhering what four sealermen were -squandhering their time luxurious for in a whaler." - -Appleby understood the comment, for he had seen a couple of whale boats -on the beach at Port Parry, and they were costly examples of the -boat-builder's skill. Stickine, however, laughed silently. - -"Old man Corliss got her for nothing--and she was built for the -Government with flooring gratings fore and aft, but we needn't worry -'bout how he did it now. Well, there they were, with a big lump of a sea -running, shut in by the fog, and they had to keep her head-to with the -oars when the wind came down." - -"Fog--and a breeze!" said Niven, and Donegal shook his fist at him. - -"'Tis bethraying the ignorance av ye, ye are again," he said. "Up there -'tis fog for ever except when 'tis a gale, an' before it's through with -that the fog crawls in again. Ye will not heed the lad, Stickine." - -"Well," said the sealer, "they held her head to wind, until just before -sun up a gunboat came along, and she come that sudden they'd no time to -heave the seals they'd with them over before she was going hard astern -close alongside of them. The first look at her kind of sickened them. -She was a Russian." - -"There was fog--and they stopped there?" said Montreal. - -"They did. There was quick-firer turned right down on the boat," said -Stickine dryly. "Well, it was all fixed up inside five minutes. The -whaler was hove up, and a guard with side-arms marched them before a -Russian officer, and he was quite anxious to know where they'd last seen -the schooner. Now, it was kind of curious there wasn't one of the boys -could remember." - -"Had they been sealing inside the limits?" asked Appleby. - -"No, sir," said Stickine. "Not that time, anyway. When they last saw -the land they were well off shore." - -"Then the Russians had no right to seize them, and the Canadian -Government could have made them pay up thousands of dollars," said -Niven. - -A little, grim smile crept into the faces of the men. "That," said one -of them, "is where you're wrong. They had all the right they wanted when -they had the men and guns, and who's going to believe a poaching sealer -when an officer in kid-gloves tells quite a different story?" - -"And have British subjects no redress?" asked Appleby with a little -flush in his face, and Montreal grinned at him with grim approval. - -"Oh, yes, when they can get it--and they do now and then, though they -don't usually worry the Government folks at Ottawa," he said. "They -took them to Peter Paul, Stickine?" - -"They did," said Stickine. "And they kept them most of eight months -there cooped up in a loghouse with a little dried fish to eat, and 'bout -half enough sour black bread. They wouldn't tell the officer where that -schooner was, you see, and when they're not put down on the papers men -in prison get kind of forgotten in that country." - -"And you believe it has happened--to Canadians?" asked Niven with a -little gasp of anger. - -The veins swelled up on Montreal's forehead. "Well, there are sealer's -boats, British and American, that get lost, and nobody but the partners -of the men who pulled in them and a woman or two away down south worries -very much," he said. "I had a brother in one of them." - -There was silence for almost a minute before Stickine went on again. -"Two of them got very sick, and they all got thin, until when the spring -came they were walked out every day with a guard to take care of them. -Perhaps the officer figured it would be kind of awkward if they died on -his hands and then somebody remembered them. Well, one day nigh sundown -the mate and a sick man were sitting on the beach looking at the sea, -and wondering if their folks in Canada would ever hear of them again. -They were to be sent away from that place in a day or two. - -"Now, there was an old schooner that must have been getting shaky when -the Russians seized her years before moored in front of them. The oakum -was spewing from her seams, her bulwarks were worn and weather-cracked -so you could put your fingers in the rents in them, and it wasn't much -use telling a sealerman what kind of canvas she would have after lying -there since the Russians took her in the rain and wind. Still, she -looked kind of homely, and they sat there watching her until they heard -the boom of gun and there was a Russian soldier signing to them. Now, -some of those folks were kind enough, but this was a bad man, and when -the sealer who was sick couldn't get along fast enough he kicked him -hard, and where it would hurt him." - -Montreal drew his breath, and a little grey patch showed in his cheeks. - -"But," he said hoarsely, "he didn't do it again!" - -Stickine laughed a curious little laugh. "No," he said. "He meant to, -but the man who wasn't sick was too quick for him, and the soldier -wasn't handy getting his side arm out. The sealer took the point in his -arm, and it ripped it to the wrist, but he got his right fist on that -soldier's chin, and when he went down he made no great show of getting -up again. Then the other two left him, and went back to the prison -where a soldier locked them in, and when the rest heard what had -happened they did some talking. They didn't take long about it, for the -mate had a notion the soldier looked very sick when he left him, and it -was quite plain that anything they did must be put through before they -were marched away from sea. - -"'We've got to light out of this right now,' says one. - -"'Well,' says another, 'where are we going to?' - -"'That,' says the mate, 'is quite easy. There's a schooner handy and -we're going straight to sea.' - -"Nobody said any more for a little, and the boys looked kind of solemn. -It was a long way to British Columbia, and they knew what that schooner -was like because they'd see her. Then one of them gets up. - -"'I'd sooner drown out yonder than work in the mines,' says he. - -"In 'bout five minutes they'd fixed up the thing, and there was one of -them waiting behind the door when a soldier came in. Before he got -started talking the man had his arms about him. Then there was a circus -that didn't last very long, and the soldier was lying tied up quite snug -with his tunic round his head when they slipped out one by one. The -moon was getting up, but it was hazy with a little breeze blowing out to -sea when two of them lit out for the place where the schooner was lying -while the rest went for the beach where it was nearest them. There was -a boat or two handy, but they were big, and you can't get a vessel -that's been lying by for years off in a minute. When the two stopped -abreast of her the water was very cold, and it isn't quite easy swimming -in your clothes, but they knew if they took them off they would have to -go home naked, and made the best of it they could, though one of them -was played out when they fetched the vessel. They couldn't get a holt -of her, and the tide swung them along bobbing and clawing at her side, -until the mate got his fingers in a crack the sun had made. Then he got -up, though he was never quite sure how it was done, and pulled the other -one after him, but they fell down on deck and lay there a minute, -anyway. - -"After that one crawls to the foremast, and it was while he made shift -to get the foresail on to her he found out what prison and hunger had -done for him. It wasn't a big sail, but he sat down faint and choking -when he'd got it up. Then he found where the shackle was on the chain, -and smashed his fingers as he pounded it, for the pin was rusted in. He -couldn't quite see straight and his hands were bleeding, but he figured -they'd got to light out quick, for there was a dog howling and he could -hear a boat coming. At last, when he knew another blow would knock out -the pin, he let up and he and the other man tried to get the mainsail -up, and stopped because they'd 'bout the strength of Mainsail Haul -between them. Then while they stood there gasping a boat comes banging -alongside, and the rest was crawling over the rail when the mate hears -another splash of oars behind. - -"'They're coming along with rifles,' says somebody. - -"Well, there was nobody wanting to waste any time, and they got the -mainsail up with a split you could have ridden a horse through in the -middle of it, and 'bout half the staysail to swing her with. When -they'd done that much they saw there wasn't much use in hoisting the -rest of it, and they pulled the head right out of one of her jibs. The -boat was coming up tolerably fast, and somebody hailing them, but they -didn't stop to answer, and getting the staysail aback knocked out the -shackle-pin. The cable ran out all right, and then they stood still, -very quiet and feeling sick, for most a minute, for they could see the -boat now, and the schooner wouldn't fall off handy. One or two of them -will remember that minute while they live. There was so much in front of -them, and, so far as they could see, more behind--and the old schooner -was just hanging there with her mainsail peak swung down. - -"At last she fell off slowly, but there wasn't one of them fit to howl -when she started off before the wind. The mate had a kind of fancy -somebody was shooting, but nobody was quite sure then or after, because -they were too busy swaying the mainsail peak up and looking for a sound -place to bend the halliards to the jibs. They got them up in pieces, but -she was off the wind, and when the boat dropped back into the haze -behind her the mate fell over on the hatch and lay there until somebody -poured water on to him. It was sun up next morning before he remembered -very much more, and then that schooner scared him. You could have -clawed out pieces from her masts with your nails, and there were more -holes than canvas in her sails. No compass, no water, not a handful of -grub, and the Pacific to cross. - -"They ran down the coast that day, and came to with the kedge-anchor off -a village the next one. The folks came off, and brought them dried fish -and water for all the odds and ends of rope and ironwork they could -spare off the schooner. Then they cleared for sea again, and hung out -for two weeks starving on a handful of grub each morning for every man, -with only the sun, that wasn't always there, and the stars to guide -them." - -Stickine stopped a moment, and his face grew very grim while there was -silence in the _Champlain's_ hold, and Appleby shivered as he pictured -the crazy schooner crawling as it were at random across the face of the -Pacific with her crew of starving men. - -"It must have been horrible," he said. "Did they lose any of them?" - -Stickine shook his head. "Not a man," he said. "Still, two of them were -on their backs and the others just ready to lie down when a steamer came -along, and they ran slap for the bows of her when they saw the flag she -was flying. She stopped, and they felt kind of shaky when she lay there -rolling with white men hailing them and a boat swinging out, while when -a man came on board they couldn't quite talk to him sensible, and he -stared at them and the masts a minute without a word. Then he sized up -what they were wanting, and there was grub and coal and water in the -schooner besides a compass when the steamer went on. After that it was -easier. Somehow they nursed her through two gales, and drove her -south-east when they could, and then one morning there was the snow -shining high, up in the sky and they knew they were through with their -troubles. That's 'bout all there is to it, and I've done quite enough -talking!" - -"Did the Government get them any compensation, and what became of the -schooner?" asked Appleby. - -Stickine laughed dryly. "No, sir," he said. "They didn't. Nobody -asked them to, and that schooner isn't sailing now." - -"But you knew the mate?" said Appleby. "Of course it was he who brought -them through." - -Stickine did not answer, and Donegal reached out suddenly and grabbed -his arm. Taken unawares he could not extricate it, and next moment his -sleeve was drawn back and the lads saw a long white scar that ran down -to the wrist. Then Stickine's face flushed a trifle, and Donegal -grinned. "Ye have heard where he got it--and he swum off to her that -night," he said. - -The flush faded from Stickine's face, which grew grim again. "I'm owing -the folks who did it more than that and the hunger," he said. "We were -set down, all of us, as lost at sea, and while I was lying in that -prison things had gone wrong. When I got back to Canada I knew they -could never be straightened out again." - -Appleby noticed how Stickine's big hands trembled, and surmised that -some great sorrow he would not speak about had darkened the home-coming -of the man who had risen as it were from the dead. He, however, sat -still with the rest until Montreal slowly clenched a big brown fist. - -"And," he said with a curious quietness, "it's a brother they're owing -me." - -Then there was a silence that was intensified by the roar of the sea. - - - - - *CHAPTER XI* - - *AMONG THE HOLLISCHACKIE* - - -The bitter gale they had run before for two days had fallen suddenly, -and it was a hazy afternoon when the lads saw St. George of the -Pribyloffs lying a faint blur on the rim of the Behring Sea. In between -swung long slopes of grey water, that flickered here and there into -green, where a pale ray of sunlight shone down. They did not, however, -see it long, because the sun went in, and a smear of vapour crawled up -from the horizon, for where the warmer waters of the Pacific meet the -icy currents from the Pole, the clammy fog follows close upon the gale. - -They had still short sail upon the schooner, and she rolled -distressfully with a great rattle of blocks and banging of booms, but -Jordan stood poised on the house with glasses levelled, and white men -and Indians clustered aft and beneath him. - -"No smoke anywhere, but we'll have the wind back before night," he said. -"How far do you make us off the land?" - -"Six miles, anyway," said Stickine, and Jordan nodded. - -"I'd have put another half-mile on to that," he said. "Well, you can get -the boats over and look for the holluschackie." - -Stickine raised his hand, and the men fell to work. He scarcely gave an -order, and there was no shouting or confusion, for every one knew what -to do and did it with a silent swiftness which the lads had never seen -on board the _Aldebaran_. The hurrying figures seemed everywhere at -once, and before Appleby could decide whom to help, the first boat was -swinging from a tackle between the masts. Then there was a splash, and -when he gained the bulwarks, a copper-faced Indian was crouching in the -bows and the oars were out. It was quick work. Boat after boat was -hove up, thwarts fitted, rifles put on board, and while the _Champlain_ -rolled so that no landsman could have kept his footing, swung into the -sea. - -Finally when the deck was almost empty Stickine glanced at Jordan. The -skipper said nothing for a minute, but once more swept his glasses round -the horizon, and his face was a trifle dubious when at last he laid them -down. - -"You can take Donovitch and Donegal and try what the lads can do," he -said. "That leaves two of us to work the schooner, but I don't figure -we'll have any wind to speak of for an hour or two." - -Stickine nodded as he moved forward, and thrust a rope into Appleby's -hands. "Lay hold and heave," he said. "You're not going to be quite so -keen on sealing by the time you pull her back again." - -The lads gasped and panted as they hauled upon the tackle, but the boat -was swung high before they had lifted her stern a foot, and they began -to understand that even in such an apparently simple thing it would take -them years to attain the dexterity of the men who had preceded them. - -Still, they did what they could, while their faces grew red and the -veins on their foreheads swelled, and at last the boat fell almost -level, when at a sign from Stickine they let her go with a run. Then -they dropped from the rail, and, though Niven fell over Appleby, got the -oars out and the boat away before the _Champlain_ rolled down on that -side heavily. Appleby had lost his cap and his face was flushed, but he -kept stroke with Donegal, who pulled on the thwart in front of him, and -saw a little twinkle in the eyes of the skipper who looked down from the -rail. - -"I'd remember the kind of crew you've got, Stickine, though I've seen -raw hands make a worse show," he said. - -They were well clear of the schooner when Donegal spoke. "'Twas a -compliment Ned Jordan paid ye, an' it he had the thraining av ye for ten -years I'd have some hopes av ye." - -"Ten years!" said Niven with a little laugh that hid the pride he felt. -"Well, I fancy I'd have been made into a merchant in less than that time -if I'd stayed at home." - -"An' who would be afther throwing the likes av you away on a merchant's -business?" said Donegal dryly. - -Niven said nothing further, and they had pulled for another half-hour -when Appleby asked, "Why was the skipper looking for smoke?" - -Donegal laughed. "'Tis a diction'ry wid pictures in it to tell ye the -meaning av all things ye want to know. Sure now, but what would be -afther making a smoke?" - -"A gunboat," said Appleby. "But we're a good deal more than three miles -off the land." - -"An' what av it?" said Donegal. "'Tis not easy to fix your distance at -sea without a four point bearing, an' when 'tis a matter of opinion 'tis -not the pelagic sealerman that folks will listen to, or where would be -the use av the men in uniform who're a credit to their nation an' the -prothectors of the American company?" - -"Well, now, I've known quite a few sealers who couldn't tell the -difference between one mile and three," said Stickine dryly. - -As he spoke the Indian grunted in the bows, and Stickine, who bade them -stop pulling, stood up for a few minutes while the lads gathered breath -and looked about them. When the boat swung upwards they could see the -schooner roll with slanted spars down the side of the sea about two -miles away. Then they saw nothing but a dark slope of water, until they -rose again, and a few little dots that swung into sight and sank became -visible scattered here and there along the horizon. A puff of whiteness -curled about one of them, and that was all which served to show they -were boats sealing. St. George had faded into a bank of vapour, and when -the boat was hove aloft again Appleby noticed that the horizon was -closer in upon them. Then as a filmy streak of whiteness slid across -the sea a few hundred yards away, she seemed to become suddenly very -small, and the cold grey water very near them. Stickine did not -apparently notice it, and Appleby, glancing over his shoulder, saw the -Indian still crouching motionless, rifle in hand, in the bow. - -[Illustration: "GLANCING OVER HIS SHOULDER, SAW THE INDIAN STILL -CROUCHING MOTIONLESS, RIFLE IN HAND."] - -Suddenly he spoke, and Stickine moved his oar. "Pull," he said quietly. -"Steady and easy." - -Appleby had seen nothing move on the long slope of sea, but he felt his -heart beat, and his blood pulse faster as he dipped his oar; for the -crouching figure in the bows had risen a trifle and the rifle was -pitched forward now. - -Then he looked aft again watching Stickine, who stood up, swaying with -the boat, but otherwise very still, with his eyes fixed forward and a -little glint in them. Presently he moved his head, Donegal stopped -rowing, and while the lads rested on their oars there was a bang, and a -wisp of acrid smoke curled about them. - -"All you're worth!" said Stickine sharply, swaying with his oar, and the -lads bent their backs with a will. The boat seemed to lift with every -stroke, Donegal made a little hissing with his breath, and Niven gasped -from strenuous effort and excitement as he heard the swish of water that -swirled past them, and strove to keep stroke. He felt that another -minute or two would see him beaten, when Stickine flung up one hand, and -there was a curious quietness, until something brushed softly against -the sliding boat. - -"Get hold!" said Donegal, leaning over, and a clumsy, almost shapeless, -object came in with a roll. - -It was not what they expected, but both Niven and Appleby long -remembered the killing of their first seal, and while they sat flushed -and breathless, with the salt brine trickling from their oars, the -surroundings were of a kind likely to impress themselves on any lad's -memory. - -In front of them a long slope of grey water rolled up against the hazy -sky, and another big undulation that shut out the schooner hove itself -high behind. A little, thin, blue smoke still curled from the muzzle of -the Indian's rifle as he stood up in the bows with his impassive bronze -face cut sharp against the sea, and Stickine was stooping over the -hump-shouldered object that lay quivering on the floorings astern, in a -fashion that suggested a shaken jelly. It was a dingy grey colour, and -covered with long, coarse hair which did not bear the slightest -resemblance to the beautiful glossy fur they had been accustomed to in -England, and the lads' hands were sticky with the grease of it. - -"And that's a seal!" said Niven, glancing disgustedly at his fingers. -"I'd sooner claw a dog that hadn't been washed for years. They make -ladies' jackets out of that beastly stuff?" - -Stickine nodded, and touched the object, which quivered again, with his -foot. "Oh, yes," he said, with a little laugh. "That's just a -holluschack. The under-hair's quite fine enough, and--you see him -shaking--he's got two or three inches of blubber under that." - -"What's a holluschack?" asked Appleby. - -"Riches," said Donegal. "If ye can catch wan often enough, and, by the -token, the Americans who leased those islands yonder made more out av -them than their Government paid the Russians for them and the whole of -Alaska. How many years was they doing it, Stickine?" - -"'Bout two years," said the Canadian. "There was more seals crawling -round there then, but they got kind of tired of being clubbed and shot -at." - -"We don't know what a holluschack is yet," said Appleby. - -"Well," said Stickine, "it's just a bachelor seal, so young that the -bulls don't have no use for it hanging around, and that's why you find -the holluschackie by themselves, which is fortunate, anyway, because -it's only them one wants to catch. The cows go free--that is, -mostly--and the bulls are that chewed up they're not worth killing." - -"What with?" asked Appleby. - -"Fighting," said Stickine. "The bull he comes up first and crawls out -on St. George there, to look for a nice place for his cows to lie down -in. Just as soon as he finds it another bull comes along and wants to -take it from him. If he's got grit enough he hangs on to it, and when -the cows crawl out of the sea the circus begins. Every bull has to -fight for those that belong to him, and for six weeks anyway you can -hear them roaring." - -"I can't fancy that thing roaring," said Niven, pointing to the -holluschack. - -Stickine laughed softly. - -"Well," he said, "when the bull stiffens up he can do most anything but -sing, and you can hear him quite as far as a steamer's whistle. Time we -were getting a move on, Donovitch." - -The Indian said something the lads did not understand in the Chinook -idiom, and they clipped the oars again. For an hour they pulled -shorewards, and now and then the sound of a rifle reached them faintly, -but the boats were seldom visible, for a filmy greyness was crawling -across the sea. Once Appleby had a momentary glimpse of the schooner, a -blur of slanted canvas against a patch of hazy sky, but she faded next -moment and was not seen again. - -Then the Indian spoke softly, and when they stopped pulling at a sign -from Stickine, Appleby, twisting himself round, saw something that was a -little darker than the water swing with a grey slope of sea. The Indian -was now lying huddled in the bows, and the rifle-barrel poked forward -over them, while the copper cheek was down on the stock of it. It, -however, seemed almost impossible that, as the boat swung up and down, -any man could hit the dim moving thing which showed above the water with -a single bullet, but while Appleby waited breathless the muzzle jerked -upwards, and there was a thin flash. Then stinging smoke curled about -him, and the jar of the report was flung back by the heaving slopes of -sea. The Indian grunted as the cartridge rattled at his feet, and -Stickine grabbed his oar. - -"I'm not sure he got him, and a wounded seal generally goes right down," -he said. "Still, he might give us another show, and we'll pull ahead -somewhat, my lads." - -They rowed for what seemed to the lads, who could see nothing but water, -a considerable time, twisting now and then to left and right, until the -rifle flashed again, and Stickine roared at them. Then for three or -four minutes they pulled breathlessly, until there was another shout, -and they flung the oars in and grabbed at something that slid past them. -It took the whole of them to roll it in, and then there was a little -laugh from Donegal, while Stickine stood looking down on the victim -disgustedly. It was nearly twice the size of the other, but its fur was -loose and thin, and there were big patches where it had been apparently -torn away and had not grown again. - -"It would take any man all his time to find a dollar's worth of sound -hide on him," said Donegal, with a chuckle. "'Tis spectacles ye and -Donovitch are wanting, Stickine." - -"Well," said Stickine dryly, "a dollar's a kind of handy thing, but we -needn't have pulled so far to leeward after a blame old bull." - -None of them had apparently had much thought of the weather during the -past half-hour, but now when they sat breathless resting on the dripping -oars a cold wind chilled their flushed faces, and they saw that there -was sliding vapour everywhere. - -"She was lying 'bout south and dodging with staysail to windward when we -had the last sight av her," said Donegal. "Is it any way likely Ned -Jordan would get way on her?" - -Stickine shook his head. "If it was clear he might have done, but once -the haze shut down he'd stop right where he was so the boys would know -where to look for him. We'll try south, anyway." - -They bent their backs, for Stickine took his place again, but as they -swung up with a sea Appleby wondered how any one could tell where the -south might be. - -There was no sign of either boat or schooner, only a heaving stretch of -water across which the fleecy vapours rolled more thickly. They had -pulled for about twenty minutes when it seemed to the lads that the -splashes at the bows grew louder and the work harder, while there was no -doubt at all that the wind was colder. Then little puffs of spray -commenced to fly over their shoulders, and at times there was a white -splash on the top of a sea. Appleby could hear Niven panting, and began -to envy Donegal, who swung back and forwards with tireless regularity. -His own oar was getting unpleasantly heavy. - -"Stiffen up," said Stickine. "We've got to get there quick. Wind's -coming along right now." - -He had scarcely spoken when the splash from Niven's oar blew over -Appleby's shoulder and wetted his face, while the slope of the next sea -was lined with ripples curiously. Then one frothed angrily on its top, -and when the boat plunged over the next one a cloud of spray whirled up. -She seemed to stop a trifle, while as the oars went down again Appleby -gasped, for Donegal and Stickine were swinging a trifle faster, and he -found it almost impossible to keep stroke. He had also a shrewd -suspicion that they could, if it was necessary, row as they were doing -all through the night, while it was evident that another half-hour would -exhaust the last of his strength. Still, he set his lips and tugged at -his oar, while as the lurches grew sharper it became more difficult to -keep the blade out of the water. - -At last when the bows were flung high he missed his stroke and fell -backwards upon Niven, while as he scrambled to his feet again Stickine -stopped rowing, and twisting round, looked at them over his shoulder. It -is more than possible he saw distress in the young faces, for that was a -bigger and heavier boat than those generally used for sealing, and -Appleby noticed that he shook his head as he glanced at Donegal. - -"The schooner's 'bout a mile to windward still," he said. "You've got -to wake right up and pull." - -His voice was sterner than usual, and the lads, who recognized the -difference, shook themselves together and fell to again. They were very -tired, but they had discovered on board the _Aldebaran_ that there are -times when the overtaxed body must be kept to its task by sheer force of -mind, and that worn out, ill or well, men must work at sea. Still, -Stickine's stroke was a trifle slower when they went on again, and -gasping and panting, while their arms grew powerless and their temples -throbbed, they kept time to it. The spray was flying freely, and there -was nothing to be seen but dim slopes of water tipped with froth, for -the right was smothered in the fog and the dusk which replaces night at -that season closing in. Niven was groaning audibly now and then, and -Appleby pulled in torment with a horrible pain in his side, when at last -the crash of a gun came out of the dimness. - -"Over our starboard bow!" said Donegal; and as he swung into faster -stroke, the task became grimmer yet. - -Now, Niven had been one of the best hares the Sandycombe Harriers had -ever known, and Appleby had brought the school boat home first in the -local regatta, but they had never taxed their uttermost endurance of -mind and body as they did in the wild ten minutes that followed. It was -one thing to race for honour or a silver cup, and a very different one -to row for their lives, as they felt unpleasantly certain they were -doing now. All round them seatops came frothing whitely out of the -darkness, but the sound they made was lost in the scream of wind. - -At last, however, and with relief unspeakable, Appleby saw the -schooner's canvas grow out of the mist. They were close upon her before -they could see her hull, and then it was only the dripping bows swung -high with a jib hauled to windward above them. She crawled out of the -vapour, rolling to leeward, with the streaky backwash streaming down her -sides, and while Niven wondered whether it would by any means be -possible to get on board her, the boat slid in under her bulwarks as -they came swinging down, and Stickine clutched the rope that was flung -him. - -Niven did not know whether he crawled up or Stickine pulled him, but in -another moment he was on board the _Champlain_ with Appleby beside him -and a row of men floundering aft along the deck. Then the boat swung in -between the masts, and when she dropped upon the hatch he saw that -Jordan was talking to Stickine a yard or two away. - -"One good one," said the latter. "And a bull. We'll do if we get two -dollars for him. Two of the boats away yet?" - -"Charley's," said Jordan with a little laugh. "No need to worry over -him. He'd fetch her through a gale of wind when he got hungry, but I'm -kind of anxious about Montreal and the other one. You and the lads had -to row?" - -"They're played out, but they pulled quite handy," said Stickine. - -Jordan swung round and glanced at Appleby, who leaned against the mast -with flushed face and heaving chest, while Niven sat close by on the -hatch still gasping heavily. - -"I don't know that we've any use for you just now," he said. "You can -get your tea from Brulee and crawl down below." - -The lads did not want telling twice, and when they sat down with a -steaming can of tea before them in the stuffy, curiously-smelling hold -Appleby's face relaxed and Niven laughed. - -"I'd never have believed I could be glad to get back to a place like -this once, but I am," he said. "In fact, I scarcely fancy I was ever so -glad to see anything in my life as I was when we got the first glimpse -of the _Champlain_." - -Appleby nodded with his mouth full. "I wasn't sorry myself," he said. -"Now, it seems to me it isn't the ship but the men you sail with that -makes all the difference when you go to sea." - -He turned and saw Donegal grinning at him. "An' that's thrue," said he. -"Ye will not as a rule make men glad to work for ye by kicking them." - - - - - *CHAPTER XII* - - *PICKING UP THE BOATS* - - -Warm and snug as it was in the _Champlain's_ hold neither of the lads -cared to stay below. They could tell it was blowing hard by the humming -of the rigging and the way the deck sloped under them, and their -thoughts were with the two boats still out in the fog. The cold struck -through them when they crawled out on deck, and little showers of brine -blew in from the rail shining in the light that blinked forward through -the filmy whiteness. Somebody beneath it was ringing a bell, and its -dismal jangle seemed to intensify the doleful wail of wind. Now and -then they caught a pale glimmer as a white-topped sea went by, and then -for a space there was only a blank wall of sliding fog, until finding -the desolation of it all creep in upon them they went aft along the -sloppy deck. - -A silent man stood almost motionless at the wheel, for the _Champlain_ -was lying to under her trysail and jib, making no way through the water, -but bobbing with her bow to the sea. Jordan paced up and down behind -the house, stopping now and then to gaze into the fog, and the rest were -clustered under the lee of it. A lantern flickered above them, and they -had evidently been busy over something, for two of them were wiping -their knives and there was a horrible sickly smell. Then a man went by -carrying a bundle of furs which reeked with the same odour, and -Stickine, who saw them, called to the lads. - -"Get the bucket and swab up," he said. - -It was not easy to fill the bucket, and when at last Niven stood swaying -with most of the contents splashing about him he sniffed disgustedly as -he glanced at the deck, which was slippery with grease and blood. - -"Essence of roses is nothing to this. What is it?" he said. - -"Holluschackie blubber," said a grinning man. "You'd have smelt stronger -than a scent store if we'd waited until you came up to heave the -corpuses over. Hadn't you better start in before you sit down in it?" - -Niven swilled on water, Appleby plied the swab, but though they got the -deck clean the smell would not wash out, and when they crawled under the -shelter of the deckhouse among the rest, Appleby gasped as he flung away -his swab. "Does it always smell like that?" he said. - -Jordan looked down from the house. "It generally does, but dollars -don't lie around in the Vancouver streets," he said. "Dry that swab -right out now and hang it up." - -"Yes, sir," said Appleby, but his face was a trifle pale in the light -from the lantern when he came back. "It about turned me sick--and it's -going to take some time to get used to this," he said. - -"Well," said a man, glancing at Niven, "it's the more smell the bigger -profits when you go sealing. It's different from the things you were -taught to do in the old country?" - -Niven laughed a little, for the man's tone was ironical, and he had -discovered that the less he talked about what he had been used to in -England the better it was for him. "We don't have any seals to catch -over there," he said. "Still, however do they clean up those things and -make them into ladies' jackets? They have to get the smell off them." - -"It's done back there in your country, in London," said another man. -"Most beasts have two coats on them, anyway, and somebody once told me -they pulled the outside half off with little pincers. Then I guess they -shave them down and dye them. They're smart people there in London, and -they don't let up when the holluschackie can't be had. No, sir. -They'll make you a seal-skin jacket out of most anything. It's all in -the dressing." - -"But do the Americans send their seals to London?" asked Niven. - -"Yes," said Stickine. "That's just what they do. Bring them back again -dressed, paying a heavy duty, too, and one way or other those seals -fetch the States a tolerable big revenue. That's why it galls them to -see any other folk catching them." - -Just then Jordan sprang up on the house with a flare in his hand, and -the lurid wind-blown blaze that streamed above them showed the same look -in the faces of the men. It suggested confidence in their skipper and -their comrades out at sea, and yet grimly-suppressed expectancy. Then -the darkness was intensified as the light went out. - -"It's 'bout time you fired the gun again," he said. - -A man floundered forward, and presently a long red flash blazed out over -the rail, but the thud of the report was probably plainer a mile to -leeward than it was on the deck of the _Champlain_. Then for five -minutes nobody spoke and the bell tinkled dolefully, but no answer came -out of the sliding fog. - -"Thicker than ever!" said Jordan. "Try her again." - -Three times at five minutes' intervals the red flash blazed out, and -then while they listened a man sprang into the shrouds. "Here's one of -them!" he said. - -There followed a few moments of tense expectancy until a roar of voices -went up as a faint cry came out of the fog. Then there was another -silence, even worse to bear, until the man in the shrouds swung up an -arm. - -"Stand by," he shouted. "Here they come!" - -Appleby running forward saw a dim black shape hove up on a sea that -swept past the bows, and for a moment the light from the forestay shone -down upon the boat. She was lapped about in foam, and while the men, -with wet, grim faces, bent their backs as the oars swung through it, a -dark ridge with froth about its top rolled up out of the night behind -her. Then all was dark again, for she swept in beneath the bulwarks and -the schooner rolled viciously. Out of the darkness came a thud and a -shouting, black figures fell in over the rail, and while blocks rattled -the boat swung dripping high above the bulwarks, until they dropped her -neatly inside the other ones. Appleby surmised that the operation would -have been almost impossible on board the _Aldebaran_, and he had heard -that it not infrequently takes an hour to get a boat out on board a -steamer. Then the men came aft with the water running from them, and -Jordan, who once more paced up and down, stopped a moment. - -"Where's Montreal?" he asked. - -The foremost sealer turned and pointed to the sliding whiteness over the -rail. "I don't know," he said. "One couldn't make out much of anything -in that." - -Jordan nodded. "What have you got?" - -"Three holluschackie," said the sealer. "I guess we'll get the boat -cleaned up and the hides off them." - -Jordan said nothing but paced up and down again, and while a few dark -objects moved about the boat the men floundered back into the partial -shelter of the house. They did not express their fears in speech, but -all of them knew the chances were against Montreal and his crew finding -the schooner. If he failed the prospect of his boat living through the -gale that was evidently rising appeared very small. To leeward lay St. -Paul and St. George, but the sea foams and seethes about them, and any -sealer who might make a landing in the dark, which very few men could -do, would in all probability find himself a prisoner. Still the men of -the _Champlain_ faced such risks almost daily in the misty seas, and -when the boat was stripped they and the Indians quietly set about -flaying the seals. The fog whirled past them, their knives twinkled in -the flickering lantern light, and now and then a brighter beam fell on -their impassive brown faces and blubber-smeared hands. Then it would -swing away as the schooner rolled, and the lads who stood about with -swab and bucket could only see them dimly until it blinked into -brilliancy again. The rigging screamed, the bell jangled on, and now -and then through the confused sounds rose the thud of the gun. - -How long they worked Appleby did not know, but he forgot the smell of -the blubber and the horrible sliminess of the swab as he pictured the -worn-out men grimly swinging the oars in the fog. Each time the -schooner swung her bows aloft the black shape of a man crouching forward -in the spray became visible, and now and then Jordan tramped along the -deck to speak to him. The lads could guess what his question was, but -there was no answer to either bell or gun, until at last the skipper -stood still suddenly, and every man who saw him turned and stared across -the rail. For a minute nobody moved or spoke, and there was nothing to -hear but the wail of the wind in the rigging. - -Then Jordan swung himself into the shrouds, and the men went forward -with a rush. Clinging to the rail Appleby looked down, and as the -flicker of the light fell upon the sea something went by, and he had a -glimpse of part of a dripping boat with two men whose faces showed white -and set straining at the oars. One of the others had apparently fallen -forward, and a fourth was standing erect astern. The attitude of all of -them expressed exhaustion. Then as the boat swung round a trifle a sea -that rolled up caught her on the bow and the men at the oars made a last -effort as she swept astern. Next moment she had passed out of the -light, and there was only foam beneath him. - -"We've lost them. They'll never pull her up," he gasped. - -Jordan sprang down from the shrouds, and his voice rang out, "Down -trysail. Sheet your staysail to weather and run it up." - -He said nothing to Stickine, who now held the wheel, but Appleby saw him -bending over it, and there was a banging and thrashing of canvas as the -staysail went up and the trysail came down. Then the schooner slowly -swung round, until a shout rose again, "Let draw, and sing out forward -if we're running over them!" - -The _Champlain_ had her stern to the wind now, and was running before it -after the boat which had blown away to lee, while the men stood silent -here and there along her rail, until one of them forward shouted, and as -Stickine swung with the wheel something half-seen went by. It was lost -in a moment as the schooner drove ahead, and Appleby recognized the -horror he felt in Niven's voice. - -"He can't be going to leave them!" he said. - -Donegal, who was standing close by, dropped a heavy hand on his shoulder -and held it in a painful grip. "Is it a head or a shroud deadeye ye -have that ye do not know Ned Jordan yet?" he said. "Away with ye to the -trysail halliards. They'll be wanted presently." - -For about a minute the _Champlain_ lurched on before the seas, and then -from where Jordan stood in the shrouds a great blue blaze flared out and -Stickine pulled round the wheel. Men whose faces showed intent in the -streaming radiance floundered towards the mast, and as the _Champlain_ -came round the trysail went up. In another moment or two Appleby and -Niven were hauling at its sheet among the rest, and presently the -schooner lay rolling almost head to the sea. Then there was a brief -space of breathless waiting while every man stared over the rail, and -Appleby knew that the schooner would lie there scarcely moving through -the water until the boat came up with her. He could feel his heart -beating as he strained his ears and eyes. - -"Here they come!" shouted somebody, and while the blue radiance streamed -out across the waters the boat swung into sight. - -It was evident that the worn-out men knew they could take no chance of -driving down to lee this time, and the lads held their breath as they -saw the boat whirl towards them on the top of a sea. One could almost -have fancied she would be flung on board over the rail. - -"Down helm!" said Jordan. "Luff, if you can. Handy with the tackles -there. Make sure of them." - -The schooner swung round a trifle, the boat slewed, there was a crash, -and she was lost in the shadow below the rail, while black darkness -followed as the light went out. Hoarse shouts came out of it, men -scurried here and there, and fell from the rail, then there was a rattle -of blocks, and Appleby found himself floundering along the deck with -panting men behind him and a rope in his hand. The boat they hove up -was dropped into her nest, a seal or two flung out, and Jordan, who came -forward with a lantern, shook his head as he glanced at her. - -"Coming alongside that way is kind of expensive, but I guess you hadn't -much choice just then," he said. - -"No," said a man who stood, gasping still, with half-closed eyes in the -lantern light. "We just had to fetch you the best way we could, and -we'd have missed you sure while we tried to round her up to lee. She -was 'bout half-swamped and all of us used up considerable." - -In another few minutes the lads and most of the others went back into -the hold and sat watching the last comers, who wasted no time in talking -as they attacked the meal Brulee set before them. One of them, however, -sat somewhat limply, and his face, which was tinged with grey, seemed -drawn together. He ate nothing and only drank a little tea. Then as -the others stretched out their long limbs towards the stove Donegal -looked at Montreal. - -"And what was it kept ye so long?" he said. - -Montreal laughed softly, though the stamp of exhaustion was on his face. -"Just the wind!" he said. "We was well away to leeward, and when we'd -pulled 'bout a mile Tom there got a kind of kink inside him and had to -let up. Then Siwash Bob sprung his oar, and we lost all we'd made the -last hour while Tom got his wind again and I was fixing it. After that -the boat began to take it in heavy and we had to stop to bale. There -wasn't much left in us, and Tom was groaning awful when we heard the -gun." - -Niven stared at the speaker with a little wonder, and Appleby smiled, -for the story was a singularly unimpressive narration of what they knew -had been a grim struggle for life. Then Niven saw that Donegal was -watching him, and became sensible of a faint embarrassment, for the -sealer had an unpleasant habit of guessing what he was thinking. - -"You and me could have told it better, Mainsail Haul," said he. - -Niven flushed a trifle. He knew he could have made the story a good -deal more effective, for there had been times when he had held the -dormitory silent and expectant as he narrated some small feat of his at -Sandycombe, but he had an unpleasant suspicion that this gift was apt to -win its possessor derision rather than respect at sea, where the men who -did things that would have formed a theme for an epic poem seemed -reluctant to talk about them. Montreal, the sealer who under Providence -owed his life to his splendid strength and valour, said nothing about -the effort and almost superhuman strain, but only mentioned that they -had sprung an oar and his comrade suffered from what he termed a kink -inside him. - -"Well," said Niven awkwardly, "it's a good while now since I told you -anything at all." - -"Sure," said Donegal, grinning. "'Tis since I've had the teaching av -ye. But ye do not seem quite easy, Tom. Sit up while me and Mainsail -Haul pull the clothes off ye." - -The man grumbled and protested that there was nothing wrong with him, -but Donegal worked on unheeding and shoved him by main force into his -bunk. - -"Now, you lie right there till I get something from Jordan that will fix -you," said Stickine. "If he tries to get up, boys, one of you will sit -on him!" - -He came back presently with something in a can, and the man, who gulped -down the contents, grinned. - -"I guess it would take a kink with considerable grit in it to face -another dose of that," he said, and turned his face, which was beaded -with the damp of pain, from the light. - -The others, however, seemed to know what he was suffering from and went -on with their talk, while presently Appleby asked a question. - -"What would have happened if we'd been blown ashore?" he said. - -Stickine laughed a little. "Well," he said, "I don't quite know, but -it's kind of likely the Indians would have taken their clubs to us. -Anyway, it would have been a long while before we did any more sealing." - -It took Appleby several more questions before he elicited much -information, and what he got was not very plain to him. It, however, -appeared that the seals which bred on the lonely beaches of the misty -seas had been growing scarcer, and that one or two of the commanders of -the gunboats sent to watch them had now and then exceeded their rights. -Three miles to sea is the limit placed to a nation's authority, but it -seemed from stories told in the _Champlain's_ hold, boats had been -chased when farther than that from land. The men were not very explicit, -but Appleby surmised that reprisals were made now and then when a -schooner's crew landed on forbidden beaches. - -"Still," he said, "if you lose a day or two's sealing when a gunboat's -about it means a good many dollars." - -A little twinkle crept into Montreal's eyes. "It don't always," said -he. "Here you are with the boats all out raking in the holluschackie, -and a gunboat comes along. 'Clear out of this or I'll make you,' says -her skipper. 'All right,' says you. It's so many seals he's doing me -out of now, when he has no right to, and I'm going in to get them where -it's easiest when he steams away." - -Niven seemed a trifle astonished. "That's here," he said. "Do they do -things the same way everywhere?" - -There was a little grim laughter, and Montreal pointed towards the west. -"No, sir," he said. "When you go where the Russian seals live there's -no use for talking of any kind, because you can't understand each other, -and you use the clubs. There's men I know have seen other things come -in quite handy too. Now old man Harper of the Golden Horn----" - -Donegal stopped him. "'Tis talking too much ye are, and, as everybody -knows, Ned Jordan is a quiet man," he said. "'Tis curious tales -Mainsail Haul will be telling the earl about us when he goes home." - -"Let up!" said Niven. "I'm a sealer now, and I only want to know if any -one tried to arrest the skipper wrongfully, what would he do?" - -Donegal's eyes twinkled. "He would run away like a sensible man, or -hide in the fog," he said. - -"But if he couldn't, or there wasn't any fog?" - -Donegal shook his head. "'Tis persistent ye are," he said. "Peace is a -thing Ned Jordan's fond of, but if folks will not let him have it his -fist is as big as most." - -Nobody said anything further, but there was a curious little smile in -the men's bronzed faces, and while Appleby endeavoured to kick his -comrade in warning that it would not be desirable to ask any more -questions there was a crash above. - -"There," said Donegal, grabbing Brulee's shoulder. "'Tis your galley -tore up by the roots." - -"No," said Stickine. "I figure it's the water tank got adrift. We want -a lashing on her before she goes right out through the bulwarks, boys." - -They were out of the scuttle in another minute, and when he got on deck -Appleby saw a big, black object drive against the mast. Before any one -could seize it it had rolled aside again, and in another few moments -struck the bulwarks with a heavy thud, for the _Champlain_ was still -lying hove to and lurching wildly. How they at last secured it the lads -could not quite make out, for the big tank would have crushed the man -who got between it and anything, but it was done, and as they were -relashing it Jordan came up with a lantern. - -"Heave her over, boys. She has started the rivets, and that's going to -make trouble for us," he said. - -They hove the tank the other side up, and Appleby saw that the skipper's -face was grave as he lifted the cover off, but there was apparently no -more to be done, and he went below with the other men. - -"What did Jordan mean?" he said to one of them. "Of course it would be -awkward to run short of water if we were far from land, but there is -plenty within a few miles of us." - -"Oh, yes," said the man dryly. "But it wouldn't be much use telling the -folks ashore you'd only come for water and didn't want no seals. They'd -be quite glad to get their hands on us, whatever brought us there!" - -"But we can't do without it," said Niven. - -"No," said the sealer. "Still, I wouldn't worry. When Ned Jordan's -short of water it's quite likely he'll get it if there's any handy." - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII* - - *ON THE BEACH* - - -It blew hard that night, and seeing there was no hope of sealing next -day Jordan beat the _Champlain_ slowly out to sea. He said nothing to -any one until when noon came he called the men together. - -"We want water, and there's plenty yonder," he said, pointing vaguely -across the sea-tops that swung up under the rain. "Still, I don't know -that we mightn't have some trouble getting it." - -"When you tell us you're ready for it we'll bring that water off," said -somebody. - -Jordan nodded. "There'll be a big surf on the beaches, but you might do -it unless somebody stopped you," he said. "They have a crowd of Aleuts -on St. George, and I figure there's a gunboat hanging round somewhere -handy. Well, now, if we went east to the Aleutians we could get all the -water we wanted with less worry, but it would take us a while getting -there, and every day means dollars." - -"We'll take our chances at St. George," said Montreal. - -"So long as you're willing!" said the skipper. "You've all got a stake -in this deal, and I don't know that I'd like to help Mrs. Jordan keep -house on nothing if I bring the schooner home without the skins. Still, -if the Aleuts got you it's very few dollars you'd make sealing the next -year or two." - -He spoke slowly, and there was nothing to show that he was asking the -men to do a perilous thing. Nor was there anything unusual in their -answer returned by Montreal. "We're not sailing around here for -pleasure. As soon as it's dusk you can run her in." - -The rest of the day passed slowly with Appleby and Niven, but it came to -an end at last, and when dusk was closing in the _Champlain_, under -trysail and jib only, crept in towards the land. The sea ran behind her -heaving, white-topped out of the gloom, for though there is no actual -darkness up there at that season the haze that slid by before a nipping -wind was thickened by the rain. - -There was nothing now to be seen but the filmy vapours that whirled -about them or heard but the splash of the sea, and Appleby wondered at -the skipper's daring in running in for the land. At last, however, when -the obscurity had grown almost impenetrable the lads heard a deep -rumbling sound that came off to them faintly in long reverberations. -They surmised it was the roar of surf on a rocky shore, but it was to -windward instead of under their lee. - -"We were to weather of the island, Stickine," said Appleby. - -"Oh, yes," said the Canadian. "But there wouldn't be much left of the -man who tried to land on that side of it, and Jordan's running under the -lee of it now." - -"But it's beastly thick, and we've scarcely seen the land since -morning," said Niven. - -Stickine laughed. "It's about six hours since I had a glimpse of it -myself, but that don't count for much," he said. "Ned Jordan got a -bearing, and he'd tell you right off what the schooner had made every -tack. Tie him up with a sack round his head, and she'd be just where he -wanted her when he brought her up. I guess we've 'bout got there now." - -Almost as he spoke Jordan's voice rose up. "Jib to windward, and get -the boats over soon as she loses way. Don't hang around a minute after -you're through with the water." - -"Will we take the rifles?" asked Stickine. - -"One," said Jordan dryly. "If you fire quick twice I'll send off -another boat to you, but you've got to remember I don't want to. We've -nothing against the Americans just now, and I'm not going round looking -for trouble with anybody." - -They swung two boats over, and Appleby managed to slip on board one -before he was noticed by anybody except Niven, who sprang into the last -one as the men got the oars out. - -The skipper's dark figure showed up for a moment as he looked down from -the bulwarks of the rolling schooner. - -"You're going for water, boys, and if you bring one holluschack along -you'll take it right back ashore," he said. "That's quite plain?" - -There was a murmur which did not suggest altogether willing obedience, -but no one could mistake the little ring in Jordan's voice, and Stickine -signed to the men. - -"You heard him, boys? Now, stretch your backs," he said. - -They had pulled a few strokes, and the schooner was melting into the -haze astern when one of the men looked round. - -"Who've we got there in the bows?" he asked. - -Appleby, who had hoped to escape their notice for a while, told him. "I -fancied my place was in this boat," he said. - -"Well," said Stickine dryly, "if I'd seen you before you'd have gone -right back with a run. Hello! have you got the other lad, Montreal?" - -"Sure!" came back the answer, and Donegal laughed. - -"There was no keeping them out," he said. "It would not take a minute -to pitch them over." - -"We'll try it next time," said Stickine. "Pull in along our wake, -Montreal. It's not a nice beach to land on." - -After that nobody said anything for a while, and only the splash of oars -marked the passage of the boats. Appleby crouched aft on the floorings -where he could see the men sway through the dimness above him, while -another sound grew louder than the hoarse growl of the seas that seethed -about the reefs. It was scarcely like anything he had heard before, -though once it faintly resembled the whistling of scores of engines and -then swelled into a roar. He surmised it was made by the seals. - -"The rookery's just thick with the bulls," said somebody. - -"Hold on," said Stickine. "I guess you're here to row, and any talking -that's wanted will be done by me." - -They lurched on, seeing nothing, into the haze, but Stickine appeared to -know where he was heading for, and by the easier rise and fall Appleby -guessed they were pulling closer in under the sheltered side of the -island. - -Still, it was evident by the dull booming sound which grew louder that -the swell lapped round to leeward too, and there would be a difficulty -in making a landing. - -Suddenly, however, the men stopped rowing, and the splash and thud -ceased astern, while Stickine sharply turned his head as another sound -that none of them had expected to hear came out of the haze. It was a -dull grind and a rattle that jarred through the roar of the surf, and -then stopped again. Appleby recognized it, and surmised that it meant -peril to all of them. - -"A gunboat," said Stickine half-aloud. "They're giving her more chain." - -They lay on their oars a minute, staring about them and breathing hard, -but could only see the sliding haze, and no sound that suggested man's -presence in those misty waters reached them now. - -"She's to windward. They wouldn't have heard us, boys," said Stickine -quietly. - -They went on, the oars splashing softly, while they strained their eyes, -knowing that it was quite possible the gunboat's officers had gone -ashore, and they might blunder upon her cutter. Still, there was no -sound but that the seals made and the swelling roar of surf, until a -wavy strip of whiteness heaved against the mist in front of them. Then -Stickine laughed curiously as he turned his head and stared at the haze. - -"I don't know if we'll find a cutter on the beach, but we have got to -get the water, and we are going in," he said. - -He gave no instructions, and they were apparently not needed, for the -men knew their work, and while they bent to their oars a sea that -frothed a little swung them high and carried them inshore. When they -sank down on the back of it the one behind grew steeper and the boat -seemed driven forward by an unseen force as she swept up on its crest. -This happened several times, and then a great rattling of pebbles came -out of the spray ahead and the last rush was almost bewildering. Then -there was a crash, and the foam that seethed about her lapped into the -boat, but the men sprang over knee-deep in water, and whipped her out, -while almost before they realized that they had got there the lads found -themselves standing on dry land. The men who had pulled the boats up -were, however, already shouldering little wooden kegs. - -"You'll stop right here with the lads," said Stickine, turning to two of -them. "Get the boats down as far as you can if you hear us coming back -in a hurry. Now, boys, we'll get a move on." - -In another minute the men had started, and the lads watched them -flounder over the shingle and up a misty slope, until they faded into -the dim background and the patter of their footsteps was lost in the -growling of the seas. Then they sat down beside Donegal in the shelter -of the boat, though the other man stood upright at her bows. There was -a chilly wind, and now and then the uproar the seals made, rolled about -them. It was also very lonely, and Niven shivered as he crawled closer -beneath the boat and wished he was back in the snug hold of the -schooner. - -"How will they know where to find the water?" he asked at last. - -Charley, the man who stood up, laughed. "That," he said, "is quite -easy. You see, Stickine has been here before." - -"But you don't always damage your water tank, and Jordan wouldn't let -them kill the seals," said Appleby. - -Donegal nodded. "'Tis as inquisitive as Mainsail Haul ye are," he said. -"Now, Ned Jordan never took a dollar that didn't belong to him from any -one, and he's carrying no score against the Americans just now." - -"Still, you or Montreal told me they'd tried to stop him sealing," said -Niven. - -"Oh, yes," said Charley. "That's just what they did, but you've heard -Donegal. Ned Jordan don't let his debts run on, and he don't like -anybody else to owe him anything." - -"But from his way of looking at it the Americans owed him a good deal," -persisted Appleby. - -Donegal laughed. "They don't now, and when Ned Jordan has got what was -owing him he don't want any more," he said. "'Tis the man that's never -contented who gets into throuble." - -This was not very clear, but Appleby fancied he understood, because -there was only one way in which Jordan could have paid himself. Appleby -was, however, by no means sure that what Jordan had done was altogether -warranted, but that was for him to decide, and the lad had already -surmised that a man must relinquish his rights or enforce them by the -means that came handiest in the misty seas. In the meanwhile, the -skipper had been kind to him, and the excitement of the life they led -appealed to him. Turning to Niven he laughed a little. - -"I wonder what your father would think if he heard we were taken to -Alaska in handcuffs for seal poaching, Chriss," he said. - -"Well," said Niven dryly, "I hope we're not going to be, and I don't -quite think he'd find it so amusing as you seem to fancy. There's not -much use in talking that kind of rot!" - -They said no more for a little, and Appleby felt inclined to regret his -speech. It called up unpleasant reflections, for he had more than a -suspicion that the thing he had mentioned might very readily come about. - -There were, he had been told, well-armed Aleut Indians on the island, -and not far away a gunboat lay hidden in the haze. If Jordan grew -impatient and fired his gun the prospect of escape seemed very small for -any of them. By and by he turned to Donegal as the din the seals made -vibrated about them. - -"Do they make that uproar always, and what do they do it for?" he said. - -"They'll go on another month, and this is the way av it," said Donegal. -"The seals are lying as thick as herrings in the rookery, and 'tis more -room every bull is wanting to bring up his family in, while the place -that seems nicest to him is just the one his neighbour is lying in. -Sure, they're just like men, and when ye hear one roaring he's looking -savage at the big fellow that's crowding too near and wondering if he's -able to tear the hide off him." - -Niven laughed a little. "I never heard of a man wondering if he could -do that," he said. - -"Then," said Donegal dryly, "'tis a curiosity that is not unknown in -Ireland. Is it lambs ye are at the English schools, my son?--Ye do not -see them, Charley?" - -"No," said the other man, and while they waited the roar of the sea -seemed to grow louder and the wind colder, and unpleasant misgivings -began to creep upon the lads as they wondered what was happening behind -them in the mist. It seemed quite possible that Stickine had blundered -into the Aleuts' clutches or that a body of the gunboat's bluejackets -had been sent ashore. Charley, however, laughed when Appleby mentioned -it. - -"It kind of strikes me we'd have heard them," he said. "There would be -a circus before they corralled Stickine." - -At last the sound of footsteps became faintly audible, and a line of men -came out of the haze. They were panting as they floundered down hill -under their burdens, and a few moments later Stickine gasped as he laid -the breaker he carried into the boat. - -"It's 'bout time we were out of this, boys. Heave her off," he said. - -They went down the beach at a floundering run as a sea seethed in, -splashed knee-deep with the pebbles ringing and rattling under them, and -sprang on board just in time to get the oars out before another -white-topped slope of water came hissing out of the mist. - -"Shove her through!" roared Stickine. "Pull the buttons off you, boys!" - -The oars bent as the men swung backwards, there was a plunge and a thud, -and seething froth swept about the boat. It splashed into her to their -ankles, and then, while Appleby plied the baler, swept away behind, and -the boat flung her bows high to meet another comber. They went over -this one more dryly, and drawing out from the surf pulled as noiselessly -as possible, straining eyes and ears for any sign of the gunboat. There -was none, however, and at last, tired with the long pull over the steep -heave of sea, they came up with the schooner. It appeared astonishing -to Appleby that they had found her, and while he watched the dark hull -reel on the long slopes of water he wondered how they would ever get the -breakers on board her. The sealers, however, were used to doing even -more difficult things, and it was accomplished while the boats swung in -towards the schooner, and then off into the fog again. As soon as they -were on board Stickine drew the skipper aside. - -"There was a gunboat lying 'bout abreast of the head when we were -pulling in," he said. - -"Then do you figure she isn't there now?" said Jordan. - -"I don't know," said Stickine. "Any way, we couldn't see her, and it -wasn't quite thick all the time." - -Jordan nodded as he said, "We'll have the mainsail on her and the boom -foresail, boys." - -In five minutes the trysail was below, and though it was blowing -tolerably fresh the _Champlain_ was thrashing out to windward under all -her lower sail. Two men stood forward in the whirling spray, and Jordan -staring to windward through his glasses on the house, but for at least -half-an-hour there was nothing visible but the whirling fog and long -tumbling seas. Then a man swung up his arm, and Appleby gasped as -something blacker than the vapours slid out of the fog. It was not far -away to windward and coming on swiftly, for as he watched it the white -froth about the shadowy hull grew into visibility, and he held his -breath a minute as he made out a funnel and two slanted spars. Black and -dark, with no light about her and ominous in her silence, the gunboat -lay across their course. - -There was, however, no sign of either confusion or consternation, and -Jordan's voice was quieter than usual. - -"Up helm. Off with the mainboom, boys," he said. - -Stickine pulled over the wheel, the long mainboom swung out amidst a -rattle of blocks, and the _Champlain_ came round, until instead of -sailing close hauled to it she was running before the wind. - -"Topsails," said Jordan. "Yard-headers. He hasn't got us yet." - -There was no controverting that, but while Appleby knew the pace the -_Champlain_ could make when hard pressed it seemed almost impossible -that she could out-sail a steamer. Still, the skipper's quiet voice was -curiously reassuring, and he remembered that Stickine had told him there -were two ways of winning a race. In the meanwhile the gaff topsails -went up banging, and the foam was flying white when they were sheeted -home. Then the men stood still about the rail, each busy with the -unasked question--Had the commander of the gunboat seen them? The -_Champlain's_ stern was towards him now, and her mainsail alone would be -visible with her masts in line. - -They had not, however, long to wait for an answer, for suddenly a blaze -of light drove through the haze and smote the straining canvas. Then it -sank a little, forcing up the men's set faces and lighting all the deck. - -For a moment or two the lads could see every one of them sharp and clear -in the dazzling brilliancy, and then there was a bewildering darkness -again, for the light went out. The gunboat had also gone with it, and -they were once more alone in the fog. - -"Seen us sure!" said Stickine. - -Jordan laughed softly. "Running!" he said. "She'll not come round with -him as we did. Let her come up. Boys, we'll have all sheets in." - -In came the mainboom, the foresail and jibs were hauled in too, and the -schooner's lee rail was swept by the frothing brine when she came up -once more close-hauled to the wind. Still, Appleby wondered, for the -gunboat was to windward of them, and Niven, who stood close by him, -turned to one of the men to ask a question. - -"We're going back straight towards the American?" he said. - -The sailor seemed to chuckle. "We're going where she was, but she'll be -somewhere else just now," he said. "When they've brought her round -they'll steam after us the way they saw us going before the wind, and -we're pinched right up within 'bout three and a half points of it. It -would take a very smart man to get in ahead of Ned Jordan." - -Niven laughed excitedly, for, remembering Lawson's lesson on board the -_Aldebaran_ and what he had been taught since, the manoeuvre was now -plain to him. If the gunboat steamed away before the wind it was -evident that as they were heading at a very small angle to it the -vessels would be sailing in almost opposite directions, and there only -remained the unpleasant uncertainty whether the pursuer would find them -with her light again. Still, the _Champlain_ was driving to windward -very fast and the haze was thick. - -"What did he switch his light off for?" asked Appleby. - -"Well," said the sealer, "I don't figure he did. Seems more likely that -something went wrong with it." - -Others were doubtless wondering over the same point, for the men were -still looking astern, and at last a faint silvery beam moved athwart the -fog and then swept back again. Appleby fancied Jordan laughed as he -came down from the house and stood by the wheel. - -"That fellow's easily fooled. He's going right away to leeward as fast -as they can shove her along, and the only thing that's worrying me is -the mainmast head," he said. "'Pears to me we wrung it a little in the -race with the _Belle_." - -Almost as he spoke the _Champlain_ put her bows in, and the deck was -flooded ankle-deep with icy brine, while the lads could understand the -skipper's misgivings as they glanced up at the big topsail and long gaff -that stretched out the great mainsail's head. It was not difficult to -see that the strain they put upon the mast must be considerable. - -Stickine nodded from the wheel. "We've got to carry on and take our -chances now," he said. - -"Oh, yes," said Jordan. "Anyway, for another hour or so." - -The time, however, had not passed when as the _Champlain_ swung her bows -out of a sea there was a sharp crack overhead, and almost simultaneously -Jordan's voice followed it. - -"Drop your gaff topsail and get the mainsail off her quick," he said. - -Nobody lost any time, and there were many willing hands. In a few -minutes the long boom was lying on the quarter and the _Champlain_ -jogging slowly to windward with the trysail only on her mainmast. -Jordan did not appear by any means disturbed. - -"I don't figure that fellow will find us again to-night, and we'll see -what's wrong up there when daylight comes," he said. "You'll find me -below, Stickine, if you're wanting me." - -Then, except those who were needed for the watch, the men crawled below, -and the _Champlain_ rolled on into a thicker wisp of fog. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV* - - *GOOD WORK* - - -Next morning Montreal, who had been a carpenter, went aloft, and -remained a while sitting on a little board the others hoisted up the -mast. When he came down he followed Jordan and Stickine into the cabin, -and all hands were curious when one of the Indians was sent for, too. -Still, nothing transpired beyond that Brulee, who made an excuse for -visiting the cabin, informed the rest that they were doing a deal of -talking, until when breakfast was brought in Stickine and Montreal -joined their comrades. Donegal quietly placed the can of coffee between -his feet and signed to Niven to remove the eatables. - -"Ye will have something to tell us, and breakfast will come on just as -soon as ye have done it," he said. - -Stickine laughed. "I don't talk when I'm hungry, and I want that can," -he said. "When I've got a holt of it Montreal will start in." - -"Well," said the carpenter, "my lot's just this. She's wrung her -masthead, and I could splice a new one in with the lump of redwood -forward and the irons Jordan found me, but it's a contract one could -only put through in smooth water." - -"What does he mean by wrung?" asked Niven. - -"'Tis a complete 'cyclopedia with pictorial illusthrations ye will be -when ye go home," said Donegal. "Just wrung, same as ye would twist a -towel, by the strain on the halliard bolts! Ye will feed him on -mustard, Brulee, if he talks again. Well now, Stickine?" - -"We're making for a snug berth under one of the Aleutians," said -Stickine. "Montreal figures he'll want three days there, but the Indian -has a kind of notion we might find a sea otter." - -"We wouldn't be very much better off if we did," said Niven. "Will -anybody give me twenty-five cents for my share in one sea otter?" - -Charley fumbled in his pockets, and apparently finding nothing there -gravely laid a beautifully-made knife upon his knees. "If you'll take -that for it we'll make the deal," he said. - -Niven looked at the speaker in astonishment, and was about to take the -knife when Donegal laid his hand upon it. - -"'Twould serve ye right if I let ye. Is it shaming me with the -ignorance av ye will be doing always?" he said. "What's a sea otter? -Sure, 'tis the same thing as pearls and rubies, and what Mandarins and -Emperors wear. Sorrow on the beast that would get himself exthinct." - -Niven chuckled. "That's his usual rot, and I'll take the knife," he -said. "What's the use of hunting any beast when it's extinct?" - -"Give it him," said Donegal. "Thim as can't take telling ye must teach -wid a stick." - -Charley's eyes twinkled as he held out the knife, but Appleby broke in, -"I fancy you had better wait a little," he said. "There are sea otters, -Stickine?" - -Stickine laughed a little. "They're getting scarce, and it takes a rich -man to buy one now. If I had a few of them and silver foxes I would not -go to sea. No, sir, I'd sit still ashore telling yarns in luxury. -You're still open to make the deal?" - -Niven saw that the eyes of all of them were upon him. "Of course!" he -said. "I've made the offer, and I've been an ass again. Give me the -knife, Charley." - -Then somewhat to his astonishment the sealer slipped the knife back into -its sheath, and Donegal thumped him on the back. "'Tis the makings av a -man ye have in ye," he said. "A little sense is all ye need, but 'tis -very hard to teach it ye." - -Niven was not sorry that one of the others asked a question about the -mast, and he was allowed to finish his breakfast in silence. Before it -was over he heard a rattle of blocks, and when he went up on deck the -_Champlain_ was heading towards the east. Some time had passed, -however, before she reached an anchorage under a rocky island hemmed in -by smoking reefs. It was not an inspiriting place, and when they crept -slowly in under shortened sail with the long swell heaving after them -and the Indian standing impassive as a bronze statue at the wheel, the -lads felt its desolation. There was no sign of life on the low shore -that showed up dimly through the mist and rain. The grey rocks ran -water, and the whiteness of the surf that seethed upon the beaches of -rattling pebbles was the only brightness in all the sombre colouring. -Here and there to seaward a stony barrier hove its black fangs out of -the spouting foam and the growl of the sea rose from every side. - -Still, they had little time to contemplate the dreary picture, for the -cable had scarcely rattled out when the work commenced. The swell -worked into the anchorage, and the schooner rolled with it lazily, but -one of the big masts that swayed above her must be lifted out, and that -was an operation usually accomplished in smooth water by the help of two -great poles raised on end and lashed so that with the mast they formed a -tripod. Jordan, however, had only his mainboom, and a few other very -small spars to make them with, and while the others helped him Montreal -spent the rest of the day lashing them together and wedging the -fastenings before he fancied he could trust them to lift the heavy mast. -It rained all the time. - -Even then he appeared to have misgivings, and the light was growing dim -before they had jammed one end of them fast and hove the other up with -the end of the mainboom lashed to it. Then he and Jordan talked for -some time together, and the men went below to rest and wait for morning. -They were all of them tired, for the rolling of the vessel had rendered -the task of getting the big spars on end and fastening them a very -arduous one, and the two lads, who had done what they could among the -rest, were aching in every limb. When they had stripped off their wet -clothes they were glad to crawl into their bunks and lie there almost -too tired and drowsy to ask any questions of the men who sat smoking -below. Still, it took a good deal to overcome Niven's curiosity, and -presently he reached out and tapped Montreal on the shoulder. - -"Once or twice I fancied the whole affair was coming down on us," he -said. "Can you lift the mast with it to-morrow?" - -Montreal grinned. "Well," he said dryly, "I don't quite know, but I -guess I can. Isn't that the kind of thing you could leave to me and -Jordan?" - -"Oh, yes, but I am a little curious. You see, I might be under it," -said Niven. "What's going to happen if you make a mess of it?" - -"A funeral if you don't get out from under handy," said the sealer. -"What's more important to the rest of us, it might tear out half the -decks. When she gets loose and swinging you can't fool with that size -of mast." - -"Then why can't you let it stay where it is?" asked Niven. "It would -set the trysail, and that's about all the sail we seem to carry on the -mainmast." - -"And how fast will she go under trysail?" asked Charley. - -"That depends upon how much wind there is," said Niven. - -Donegal looked at him a moment and solemnly shook his head. "'Tis no -credit ye are to me, and I've tried to do my duty by ye," he said. "The -question is how fast ye would want to go when there were two cutters -stuffed wid men and cutlasses pulling after ye. Then 'twould be sailing -nice and quiet under trysail would content ye?" - -"We haven't seen any of those cutters yet," said Niven. - -Donegal laughed softly, and a little grim smile crept into the faces of -the rest. "There's a good many things ye have not seen, but ye may have -the opportunity of observing one or two av them yet, and I don't know -that it would please ye then," he said. - -Niven was about to answer when Stickine, who crawled into his bunk, -flung a wet fur cap at him. "It's about time you were sleeping, sonny, -and you'll want all the breath you've got to-morrow," he said. - -When morning came Niven found this was correct enough, for as soon as it -was light the work commenced, and when Brulee called them for breakfast -the mainmast was ready for lifting, while the men were unusually quiet -as they went back on deck. The mast looked very big and heavy, and the -_Champlain_ was rolling more than she had done as yet. It was also -raining hard, and a cold wind blew the drizzle into their eyes, while -the tackles were stiff and swollen, but when Jordan raised his hand they -bent their backs, and for five minutes the mast rose inch by inch. Then -it stuck, and Appleby fancied he could feel the deck quiver beneath him -under the strain as one of the beams it was fastened to took part of the -weight. - -The men, finding they could not move it, stood still a moment, their -faces showing set and drawn with the fierceness of their effort, some -with hands clenched above their heads upon the rigid ropes and one or -two with bent backs, while their eyes were fixed on Jordan who stood -impassive and motionless on the house. - -"Hold on to it," he said quietly. "Montreal, see what's jamming her." - -Montreal was, however, below already, and presently his voice rose -muffled from the hatch. "Heave," he said, and then more hoarsely, -"Heave!" - -Appleby was gasping, while the veins swelled on his forehead as he -clutched a rope, and he wondered whether the men who had borne that -intense strain could make another effort, for already the faces of some -were purple. - -"Now. Up she comes!" said somebody. - -Then the sinewy bodies rose and sank again, the blocks rattled, and the -mast rose slowly, stopped a moment, and rose again. - -"You've got to do it this time, boys," said Jordan very quietly. - -Their foreheads were drawn together, their breath was spent in an -intensity of effort, but they succeeded, and there was a half-articulate -yell when the foot of the mast rose out of the hole. Then a man sprang -wildly across the deck, and in another moment mast and shears were -tottering as the former swung towards the rail when the schooner rolled. - -"Check her. Give him a hand, Charley," said Jordan, and Appleby -wondered that his voice was even. Then there was a bang as something -yielded under the strain, and the mast swayed out-board while the frayed -ends of a rope whistled past the lad who for several seconds held the -little breath that was left in him. The great spar swung up and down -above the vessel, and the shears it hung from were rocking with it, -while it was not difficult to see that unless something were done at -once they would come down together, smashing the men beneath. Still, it -also appeared that Jordan had provided for similar accidents and not -trusted to any single rope. - -"Catch her with the preventer, Charley, when she comes in," he said. - -Charley nodded, for he was bent double hauling at a rope, and for a -horrible moment or two, while everything that held it groaned, the mast -swayed above their heads. Appleby could feel his heart thumping and a -curious coldness under his belt as he watched it. Then the strain -slackened a moment when the _Champlain's_ foremast swung upright, and -Jordan's voice broke harshly through the silence--"Down with her!" - -Blocks rattled, men panted, the end of the mast hung lower over them, -there was a great clatter and a thud, and Appleby stood up gasping and -drenched with perspiration. The mast was down on the deck, the men -apparently blinking at it, and there was a horrible tingling in one of -his hands. Still, it was a little while before he glanced at it and saw -that the rope had chafed the skin away and left his fingers raw and -bleeding. That, however, scarcely troubled him just then, for he felt -the keen and wholesome joy which comes to those who by the strenuous -toil of their bodies have done an arduous and perilous thing. - -Rude as it might have seemed to those who knew no better it was a man's -work he had done, and the pride of accomplishment stirred him. It was a -significant victory they had won, not by brute strength alone, for that -would have been useless unless guided by the nerve and intelligence -which gives man dominion over all the beasts as well as inanimate -matter. The sealers also seemed to feel it, for there was something in -their eyes which had not been there a few minutes earlier, and Jordan -laughed softly as he turned to them. - -"You fixed it quite handy, boys, though she was very near getting away -from you," he said. - -They laid the mast where Montreal wanted it, and that finished their -task, but in the afternoon two boats went out to look for a sea otter. -It was, however, blowing fresh, and when they met the long seas outside -the reefs they were driven back again, and the water was ankle-deep in -them when they returned to the _Champlain_. Jordan laughed when he -looked down at the dripping men from the rail of the rolling schooner. - -"I figured you'd find it too much for you," he said. "We'll try again -to-morrow, and you can lazy round any way that pleases you till then." - -Nobody seemed to want to go ashore, and even the lads did not find the -appearance of the foam-fringed beaches and desolate grey rocks that -showed through the haze and rain inviting. So while the chunk, chunk of -Montreal's axe rose muffled through the doleful wail of wind they sat -snug about the stove listening to stories of the sea and bush. Some of -them were astonishing, for the sealer sees more than the merchant seaman -does, and at one time or other most of the crew of the _Champlain_ had -marched with survey expeditions through, or wandered alone prospecting -far up in, the great shadowy forests of British Columbia. Now and then -the lads' eyes grew wide with wonder, but the faces of the men showed -gravely intent through the drifting tobacco smoke, and it was evident -they believed the tales they listened to. They were simple men, but -they had seen many things beyond the knowledge of those who dwell in the -cities, and even Niven sat silent, lost in the glamour of the real -romance as he wandered with them in fancy over misty seas and amidst the -awful desolation of ice-ribbed ranges. - -At last when one of them lighted the lamp Montreal came down, and -flinging off his dripping jacket stretched himself wearily. - -"Can't see any more, but I'll have the contract through before I let up -next time," he said. "If you want that sea otter, boys, you've got to -get him to-morrow." - -It may have been because of what he had helped to do that morning, but -Appleby, glancing at the wet face of the tired man, realized there was a -greatness in all craftsmanship which had never occurred to him before. -There was, of course, very much that Montreal did not know, but if one -gave him the top of a redwood tree it would under his sinewy hands -become a spar that would transmit the stress and strain of the -_Champlain's_ canvas into useful effort that would drive her safely -through screaming gale and over icy seas. He could also build a boat or -bridge, and Appleby had realized already that among all the things man -has ever made nothing more nearly approaches the simplicity of -perfection than the former, a frail shell evolved very slowly before the -knowledge of them came in wonderful compliance with the great laws that -uphold the universe. It was, of course, but dimly the lad grasped this, -but he understood in part that now, as it was when the world was young, -it was after all the toil of the craftsmen that human progress was built -upon. The world, it seemed, could dispense with the artist and orator -and a good many more, but it could not well get on without the smith and -carpenter. - -Still, reflections of this kind did not usually occupy Appleby very -long, and he might have brushed them aside but that he presently heard -something which gave him an insight into the responsibility that is -attached to all skilled labour. - -"'Tis you that's the fine carpenter, Montreal," said Donegal. "But I've -been wondering what was after bringing a man who could earn his three -dollars every day ashore to sea." - -Montreal sat down steaming by the stove, and laughed as he took out his -pipe. Then he seemed to remember something and his face grew grave -again. - -"That's quite simple," he said. "I was working on a big railroad -trestle back there in the ranges when one morning the contractor's -foreman comes along. The bridge wasn't quite ready for the metals, and -I was sitting on the girder with the river a hundred feet under me, -anyway. They'd lost a man or two on that trestle already, and I was -getting my five dollars a day. - -"'You can drop those stringer ends into the notches without the tenon, -and you'll do 'bout twice as many in the time,' says he. - -"'I'm not doing them that way. It's not a good joint under a big load,' -says I. - -"'And what has that got to do with you?' says he. - -"It wasn't quite easy explaining, but I knew just a little about what -bridge ties can do, and the river was a hundred feet under the trestle. - -"'Well, so long as I'm notching these things in I'll do them so they'll -stand,' says I. - -"The foreman he didn't say any more, but I knew what he would do, and -when we were through with the trestle he comes to me. 'Here's your pay -ticket and you can light out of this right now,' says he. - -"I went, and trade was bad everywhere in the province that year. Nobody -was taking on carpenters, and when I'd 'bout half-a-dollar left I went -up on a steamboat that wanted patching up to Alaska. It was there I -fell in with the sealers." - -Montreal slowly lighted his pipe and looked at the stove, while Donegal -smiled. "Ye do not tell a story well, and 'tis after leaving the point -av it out ye are," he said. "There would be no big freight locomotive -going through that trestle into the river, which is a disthressful -accident that is not quite uncommon in the country ye and Stickine come -from. But bad thrade mends again, and ye have not told us what is -keeping ye at sea." - -Montreal sighed a little and did not turn his head. "My brother was -raised a sealer, and he's up here or in Siberia still," he said. "I -don't know that he's living, but I seem to feel it in me that if I can -wait long enough I shall find him." - -Donegal slowly closed one big hand, and Appleby saw the glint which -showed in his eyes creep into those of the other men. - -"Dead or living he's not alone," he said with a hoarseness that -expressed more than sympathy. "May them that watch above send him back -to ye!" - -Then he turned to the others and his laugh had a little ominous ring as -he pointed towards the west. "He's finding the time long, but wan day -you and me or better men than us will call on them folks down there with -clubs and rifles, and ask them what they've done with the men who sailed -with us." - -Nobody spoke, but Niven, glancing round at the stern brown faces, felt -that whether they were right or wrong he would not care to be the man of -whom the sealers asked that grim question. - - - - - *CHAPTER XV* - - *IN PERIL* - - -Early next morning the lads took their places in Stickine's boat, and -the chunk of Montreal's axe followed them as they pulled towards the -opening in the reef. He had not spoken to any one since he finished his -story the previous night, and when they last saw him he was chipping -grimly at the mast. The lads, however, forgot him as they watched the -long, grey seas crumble on the reef, and once they reeled out and met -the swell the rowing occupied all their attention, for it was needful to -watch every stroke and check the boat now and then when the top of the -heave frothed a little. - -There was no wind, but the sea still rolled rumbling on the reefs, and -the grey shadow which apparently never lifted there lay heavily upon the -waters. Appleby did not remember how long they had rowed, but the -schooner had faded into the haze, when the Indian pointed to a blurred -line of rocks that showed here and there amidst a white upheaval. The -lads fancied there was land behind them, but the smoky vapours were -rolled in thicker belts in that direction, and they could see nothing -but dim seas and foam as they pulled slowly under the lee of the reef. -Now and then they crept close in with a rock, where long streamers of -weed swayed about them as the sea that poured in frothy cataracts down -the stone rolled in and out. It did not, however, only float off from -the rock, but swung up with the heave from what appeared to be deep -water, and Appleby had never seen any seaweed that would compare with -this. The stems of it were apparently as thick as a man's arm, and the -leaves a good deal longer than the boat. It gave him a curious, -unpleasant sensation while he watched it writhe and twist as if alive, -as far as he could see down into the icy brine. - -"Is it growing loose on the top?" he asked. - -"No," said Stickine. "It comes right up from the bottom forty or fifty -feet, and if there's a sea otter anywhere around you're likely to find -him crawling in and out among it. Seen anything yet, Charley?" - -A man in a boat astern of them shook his head. "I guess the Aleuts have -them all corralled now, though there's no sign of any Indians here," he -said. "Anyway, if there is one left this is the kind of place we should -find him in." - -Besting now and then upon their oars while the boat swung up and clown -on the heave that lapped frothing about the reef, they pulled on, until -at last the Indian in the bows raised his hand, and for five long -minutes after that crouched motionless. No man moved or asked a -question, and there was nothing visible but swaying weed and foam, or to -be heard but the growling of the sea. Then the Indian signed again, and -with oars dipping softly they crept nearer in, the man with the brown -face crouching still and impassive with his hands clenched on the rifle -barrel, though Appleby, glancing over his shoulder, could see nothing on -the face of the froth-swept stone. He, however, knew that no one born -in the cities could hope to equal the Indian's powers of vision, for it -is the artificial life of an incomplete civilization that dulls the -white man's physical faculties, and there were few things in which -Donovitch, who lived in close touch with nature, was not a match for the -beasts. - -Suddenly the rifle went up, moved as the boat swung, and grew still -again, while the crouching object in the bows stiffened rigidly. Nobody -was rowing now, and the lads, glancing over their shoulders, could see -the side of the Indian's face pressed down on the butt, and it and the -brown fingers on the barrel were still and lifeless as copper. Then -there was a flash, the muzzle jerked upwards, and the smoke was in their -eyes, but so intent were they that the report scarcely reached them, and -what they heard most plainly was a soft splash in the sea. As Appleby -looked down something that left a train of bubbles behind it seemed to -flash beneath the boat, and passed beyond his vision into the waving -weed. - -"Did you get him?" a voice rose from the other boat. - -"No. Pull in between him and the second rock," said Stickine, and there -was a splash of oars as Charley's boat slid away. - -Then the Indian stood upright in the bows staring at the sea, and for a -time the boats swung with the lift of swell, while the water trickled -from the oars. Every eye was fixed on the long heave, but no more -bubbles rose up, and there was nothing to be seen save when a great -streamer of weed whirled and swayed beneath them as though it were an -animate thing. How long this lasted the lads did not know, but the -intent bronzed faces, smears of froth, grey sea, and drifting haze had -all grown hazy before their straining eyes, when a rifle flashed in -Charley's boat, and there was a shout, "Heading your way, played out!" - -"Pull," said Stickine. "In towards the rock a stroke or two." - -The boat slid forward and stopped. Once more the Indian's rifle -flashed, and a hazy shape showed for a moment beneath them in the water. -Then there was a shout from Charley, "Stop right where you are. One of -us will get out on the rock." - -His boat slid in towards the froth-swept stone, and when she swung up -with the swell two men sprang out of her and floundered along a perilous -ledge over the slimy weed. Then the boats pulled out, and for what -seemed a very long time moved one way and another, while every now and -then a rifle flashed. The lads, however, could see nothing but the weed -streaming in the water, and surmised by Stickine's face that he saw -little more, for it was the Indians who took command now. - -At last a grey patch showed for a moment amidst the froth that swirled -about the rock, and sank from sight as suddenly when a man floundered -towards it swinging up a club. Then as they dipped the oars the Indian -stood up and with a hoarse shout launched himself from the boat. -Appleby saw his tense figure for a second, and then held his breath as -he plunged down, a dim shadow, into the waving weed. He felt a little -shivery, for it seemed scarcely possible that the swimmer could evade -the horrible embrace of those whirling sterns. Then a head rose from -the surface, there was a muffled shout, and when the man went down again -Stickine stood up on a thwart. - -"A white man's as good as an Indian, anyway," he said. "We'll head him -in to you on the rock, boys." - -The boat rocked as he plunged down with hollowed back and stiffened -arms, and Appleby shivered again. He could swim, but he felt that only -the direst necessity would have sent him down amidst that clinging weed. -Now they pulled in to the rock, and now back again, while between times -the men beat the water with their oars and for a moment or two an arm or -face rose up. Twice the boats drove together, and there was a shouting -while a man thrust down a long-shafted weapon which resembled both a -hook and a spear. Still, the lads could see no sign of the otter, until -at last, when they were quivering with excitement, there was a shout -from the rock, and a man clinging to it swung up his club, and then -dropped it into the water. Next moment both boats had driven against the -stone, and Appleby grabbed Stickine, who clung panting to the stern, -while when somebody had helped him to drag him in, the Indian flung a -limp object into the boat. Its head was flattened in apparently by a -club, and the lads found it somewhat difficult to believe that it would -reward them for their exertions in capturing it. There was, however, no -mistaking the content in the faces of the men, and presently Stickine, -who spoke to the Indian, pulled off his jacket. - -"I guess we'll head for the schooner, boys. It's quite likely it would -take us a week to find another otter, if we did it then, and that -water's kind of cold," he said. - -They turned back towards the _Champlain_ while Charley's boat went on, -and when Stickine had shaken off the chill by pulling and they had -rested a few moments on their oars, Appleby said to him, "I fancied -these Indians could shoot well, but it took them a long while to hit the -otter." - -Stickine laughed. "They didn't want to unless they could get him in the -head. Nobody wants to drill big holes in a skin that's worth a bagful -of dollars," he said. - -Niven nodded, and turning round grinned at his comrade. "Of course, if -you hadn't been so thick you'd have seen that, Tom," he said. - -"Well," said Appleby dryly. "No doubt this is different, but I once -went shooting with a friend at Sandycombe who gave a farmer's lad -half-a-crown to meet him with a gun, and he would creep up so close to -the first thing he fired at that all he could find afterwards was a few -pieces." - -Stickine's eyes twinkled. "Now, I knew a man down in British Columbia -who found a fur seal on a reef, and got out his axe to catch him with," -he said. "He'd never been sealing, and he wanted to make quite sure of -him. I guess he did it, for when we went into that place for water the -skipper laughed when he asked him to buy the skin. - -"'One dollar for a seal?' says the man. - -"'Yes,' says the skipper, solemn. 'You've chopped the rest of them -right out of him. Nobody has much use for a pelt that's made of holes -instead of skin.'" - -It was noon when they reached the _Champlain_, and they spent the rest -of the day helping Montreal to drive the iron bands Brulee whipped out -of the galley fire on to the patched mast, so that they would shrink and -bind the joint together, and refitting the rigging, while it was dusk -when Charley came back without having seen another otter. Jordan, -however, did not appear surprised at this. - -"I've heard of the Indians prowling round for three months and getting -nothing," he said. - -The next day was spent in arduous and anxious toil replacing the mast, -but worn out as everybody was, Jordan slipped out to sea when they hove -the last shroud taut in the dusk, and they were busy afterwards reeving -halliards and bending on the mainsail half the night. - -"Every hour means dollars, boys," he said. - -It was, however, fortunate they finished the work, for on the next -evening the _Champlain_ had need of all her speed. They had crept along -slowly through the drizzle all day, but towards sundown the breeze -suddenly freshened, and a dull red glare flickered for a few minutes on -the horizon. It smote a coppery track across the heaving waters as they -sailed westwards into it, but the smoky vapours came rolling up astern, -and a low island along which the surf beat white showed up blurred and -grey to the south of them. The sea rolled out of the north foam-flecked -here and there, and the _Champlain_ swung with the heave of it, hurling -the spray from her bows as she drove along with a fresh beam wind. - -The ominous red glare was, however, fading rapidly, and the lads, who -sought shelter from the cold wind under the lee of the galley, knew that -in half-an-hour or so the dimness that was creeping up from the east and -south would close about them. There is no night in the north at that -season, but for a few hours the light almost dies away, and times, when -the skies are veiled by haze and rain, there is very little day. - -It was very cold and clammy, and the lads' faces smarted from the -stinging of the spray, while as the coppery streaks grew dimmer, the -seas turned grey, and the wet rocks to the south of them became dim and -shadowy. The surf was to leeward so they could not hear it, and the -splashing at the bows and shrill moan of wind seemed to intensify the -silence that descended on the sea. Then just before the last paling -rays flickered out in the north, something showed up black and sharp -against it. In another moment the _Champlain_ had slid down a sea and -the thing had gone, but Niven stared at Appleby because the form of it -had been curiously familiar. - -Appleby nodded. "Yes," he said. "I believe it was the gunboat, but -wait until she lifts again." - -In another minute the _Champlain_ was hove up with the brine frothing -about her, and there was no mistaking the object that moved out into the -dying light from the contracting horizon. A smear of smoke hung about -it, and for a second or two the dim slanted shape was outlined against a -flicker of saffron. Then it and the radiance faded out together, and -the lads stared at the empty waters wondering if they had been a prey to -a disordered fancy. Others had seen it, however, for already a man hung -out from the hoops half-way up the mainmast. - -"The American, sure!" he said. - -Jordan, who signed to him to go higher, sat down on the house, and his -face was anxious as he glanced at the men who gathered about him. - -"I don't know quite whether he's on his way to St. Michael's or looking -for us, but I figure he can't have seen us yet," he said. "She was -steaming fast?" - -"'Bout as hard as they could shove her along, by the drift of her -smoke," said the man, who now stood on the jaws of the gaff. - -"Well," said Jordan, "we'll see what he's after when she heaves in sight -again. Let her fall off a point or two. Slack up your sheets." - -The _Champlain_ swung off a little towards the land, and Appleby fancied -he understood the manoeuvre because it is one thing to see a vessel -against the horizon, and quite another to make her out when grey rocks, -round which vapours crawl, lie close behind her. Still, that reef-girt -shore swept by the filmy whiteness of the surf did not look inviting. - -For ten minutes or thereabouts they waited in silence, Stickine looking -straight before him with his hands upon the wheel, Jordan sitting -apparently quite unconcerned upon the house, while the men hung about -the rail. Then the low, black shape of the gunboat crept out of the haze -again, and the smoke cloud at her funnel showed she was steaming her -fastest. Jordan turned his head and watched her in silence for several -minutes. - -"She's coming up with us fast, and we're going along," he said. "I -guess we'll have the topsails on her as soon as you can get them. Tell -Donovitch I want him. Stickine, you can give Charley the wheel." - -In a minute or two the topsails were aloft and the _Champlain_ sailing -very fast, swinging her lee-rail down into the swirling froth when she -rolled. The steamer, however, was closing with her rapidly, while there -was only a desolation of reefs and foam under their lee. It seemed -there was no escape for them, but Jordan was still sitting quietly on -the house tracing something upon it with his finger, while the Indian -nodded as he watched him, and now and then a grim smile crept into the -face of Stickine. Appleby, however, found the silence was growing -almost insupportable and walked up to Montreal. - -"She's evidently coming after us, but they couldn't stop us when we're -doing nothing wrong," he said. - -Montreal laughed a little. "I don't quite know 'bout the sea otter, but -we were right in abreast of the seal beaches when he last saw us," he -said. "That with the pelts on board, would be quite enough for him." - -"But we didn't get the skins there," said Appleby. - -"Well," said Montreal dryly, "you'd find it hard to make any one believe -it. When you catch a dog with a mutton chop in a butchery store -nobody's going to ask him where he found it." - -"Still, with the land to leeward, the skipper can't get away unless he -runs her on the reefs," said Appleby. - -"He'd do that before he let those fellows have her, but that land's an -island. They've most of them more than one shore," said Montreal. - -Appleby asked no more questions. He was by this time quivering with -suppressed excitement, and fancied the others were quite as anxious too, -though there was little in their appearance to show it. They were -quietly watching the gunboat rise higher out of the dimness, though they -knew that a good many unpleasant things would follow their capture. One -or two of them, however, glanced towards the land, which was very -blurred and hazy now, and then turned to watch the skipper, who was -still talking half-aloud with Stickine. At last he moved a little. - -"We've got to take our chances, but I wish I knew just what water he -draws in cruising trim," he said. "We're 'bout level with the passage. -Donovitch will take her in." - -Stickine said something, the mainboom swung further outboard, and as the -schooner fell off towards the land, the lads, looking forward anxiously, -could only see the dim face of a crag, and the whiteness of tumbling -foam. Then they saw the man on the main-gaff nod as the skipper glanced -up at him. - -"Coming right in after us," he said. - -Jordan laughed softly. "Well," he said, "I guess he'll feel kind of -sorry he did before very long." - -As he spoke there was a flash astern of them, and while yellow vapour -whirled about the steamer the lads heard the roar of a gun. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVI* - - *STICKINE MAKES A DEAL* - - -Nobody on board the _Champlain_ showed that they had heard the gunboat's -warning shot, and the sound was lost in the roar of the surf which was -now spouting white close in front of her. The shadowy crags were, -however, falling away, and Jordan still sat on the house unconcernedly, -though there were apparently only foam-swept reefs before him, and the -war-vessel was coming up rapidly behind. - -"I've been worrying about her draught when I've got it all the time," he -said. "Bring me the handy book up, Stickine." - -Stickine disappeared, and when he returned with a battered volume in -which Appleby had once or twice seen the skipper writing, the two men's -faces showed up sharp against the dimness as they bent over it in the -faint radiance that came up through the skylights of the house. -Jordan's was quietly contemplative as he turned over the pages. - -"Here she is," he said at last. "Four-expansion engines; still that's -not what we want. Now we're coming to it. Small displacement vessel -for coast-wise service. Depth moulded. Here it is. Draught in -seagoing trim!" - -Stickine followed the skipper's pointing finger, and then laughed softly -as he looked up. "Two feet more than the _Champlain_, and he's coming -in," he said. "Well, he's not going to find it so easy to take her out -again. We'll have the haze down thick as a blanket before we're -through." - -Appleby who heard them understood but little of this, though its meaning -became apparent later, and his attention was too occupied for him to -wonder much about it just then. The reefs were unpleasantly close to -them, and the gunboat coming on, though the vapours that drove past the -schooner left very little of her visible. The men were silent, and -Donovitch held the wheel, while another Indian stood forward calling out -to him. - -Ahead the sea frothed horribly, and several times the schooner swung -round a trifle as a cloud of spray rushed up from a big, white upheaval. -Then a grey rock buried almost in the wash of a sea slid past, and the -combers' tops subsided. Only a confused swell heaved behind them, but -the stream seemed to be running with them, and the lads surmised that -one of the reefs they had passed behind partly sheltered them from the -sea. They were sailing through a tortuous strait apparently. The vapours -were, however, closing in, and presently they could make out nothing -ahead, though they could still occasionally see the masts of the gunboat -or her smoke rolling blackly through the fog, while the wind seemed to -be freshening, for the deck slanted further as the _Champlain_ tore -along. Twice again a rock that rose suddenly out of the grey heave went -by, and once a beam of brightness flickered past the schooner and faded -in the fog. Jordan laughed as he glanced astern. - -"He's not going to see much of anything in about two minutes," he said. -"Down topsails, and get the mainsail off her, boys." - -It was done, though the lads who helped wondered, for the gunboat was -coming on, until it occurred to them that with the little sail she still -carried it would be very difficult to distinguish the _Champlain_ in the -haze. Once again the blaze that whirled up dimly behind them went past, -and then grey and clammy the fog rolled down. - -Jordan nodded with evident content. "We've shown that fellow the way -in, and that's about all we'll do for nothing, boys," he said. "You'll -be handy with your sheets because it's going to take a little contriving -to wriggle out of this." - -The men stood about with the ropes in their hands, and swung the boom -foresail over when Donovitch spoke to them. They did it more than once, -hauled the sheets in and let them run again while the schooner -apparently twisted like an eel, and here and there a dim line of foam -crept by. Once or twice the lads held their breath as they watched it, -and they could see that their strained anxiety was shared by the men, -for the roar of the surf rose from every side, and it was evident that -all the helmsman's nerve was needed to thread that labyrinth of reefs. -Indeed, Appleby fancied that nobody but a sealer would ever have -attempted that perilous passage. There was no sign of the gunboat now, -and he could picture the consternation of her Commander who had, he -surmised, no Indian to take him through. - -That, however, was the Commander's affair, and did not lessen the lads' -anxiety, while now the thrill of the chase had gone they stood expectant -and silent among the rest, listening to the clamour of the surf and -staring at the sliding fog. At last there was a slackening of the -strain, and Niven laughed excitedly while Appleby drew his breath in -when Jordan's voice rose up. - -"We've clear water before us now, and we'll have the trysail on her," he -said. "Then we'll let her come up with staysail to weather. The -Commander will be wanting us by and by." - -They went about the decks at a floundering run, and the _Champlain_ soon -lay almost stationary with her head to the wind. Then they stood still -to listen. No unusual sound the lads could catch came out of the -vapours, but one of the men fancied he heard the American's cable. The -roar of running chain carries a long distance, and Jordan seemed -inclined to agree with him. - -"That fellow's had 'bout enough, and he'll be feeling kind of sick when -he sees his anchor coming home," he said. "We'll give him an hour to -find out the fix he's in, and then some of you will go off and talk to -him. Boys, there's dollars in the thing." - -Most of the men went below, and the lads with them. There was nothing -to be done on deck, and it was considerably warmer in the hold, while it -was plain that the gunboat had given up the chase. When they sat down -under the swinging lamp there was a little bewilderment in some of the -faces, and Stickine watched them with a quiet chuckle. - -"Ye will be permitted to reshume the intherrogation, Mainsail Haul. -There's things one or two av us would like to know," said Donegal. - -Niven was not unwilling to avail himself of the opportunity. "Then," he -said, "what sort of a place was it we were running through, and what is -keeping the American?" - -Stickine laughed softly. "The fog and his nerves; but I wouldn't blame -the man," he said, placing a can or two upon the floor, and pointing to -them. - -"Now, you'll see the island's there, and this can is one reef and that -one another. More of them yonder. Says you, 'It's a nasty place to -crawl through even in clear weather,' but the Indian knows it just as he -knows the back of his hand. He was round here for most a year once, -before they killed off the sea otter. Still, there's no charts that show -these places quite complete, and the American came in because he'd have -a man aloft to watch us and another taking bearings each time we swung -round. He done it very well. Says he, 'Where that schooner goes there's -water enough for me.'" - -There was a murmur of somewhat impatient comprehension, for the men at -least understood most of this already, and Stickine proceeded, "When we -got the mainsail off her he lost us, and I'm figuring he felt kind of -sorry for himself. Still, like a sensible man he brings up with his -anchor." - -"What will he do now?" asked Appleby. - -Stickine looked at the rest, and grinned. "First thing, he'll find that -anchor's not going to hold him. There's a big stream going through, and -it's not the kind of bottom you can get a grip in. Then he'll get his -boats out to look for the passage, and when they come back to tell him -they've only been finding reefs he'll feel sicker than ever." - -"Still, he could stop where he is with his engines just turning to take -the weight off the chain until the fog lifted," said Niven. - -There was a general chuckle, and Montreal said, "It mightn't lift for a -week, and I've known it last a month, while the breeze that shifts it -will bring the sea right in." - -"Then," said Appleby, "what are we going to do?" - -Stickine laughed again. "Wait till the Commander's shaking in his -boots, and then get a boat over and go in and assist him. I'm figuring -it will pay us better than sealing." - -There was grim humour in the faces of the men, and Charley grinned. -"It's a head Ned Jordan has," he said. - -The lads joined in the laughter, for they could realize that the skipper -had with no small ability turned what had looked very like disaster into -victory. He had also done no wrong, and was, so far as they could see, -justified in exacting some compensation from the men who would in all -probability at least have seized all the skins and prevented him sealing -any more that season. They had not, however, long to consider the -question, for presently Jordan sent for Stickine, and a few minutes -later Appleby, to his great delight, was told to help to swing out a -boat. He did not ask for any further instructions, and but once she was -over the rail sprang down into her, and in a few more minutes the fog -was blowing into his face as they drove her lurching over the long -swell. It was not, however, very thick, which was possibly fortunate, -because they could see the foam upon the reefs before they came too -close to them. - -Still, the lad found the shadowy dimness that was not night curiously -impressive, as he did the reverberations of the seas that swung in -smooth, black slopes out of the haze and crumbled into smoke upon the -unseen barriers. Now and then the blurred outline of a crag upon the -island loomed up and was lost again, while the wind moaned dolefully, -though at times it sank awhile and the vapours rolled down upon the sea -like a great, grey curtain. At last, however, they made out a light, -and the men pulled a trifle faster. More lights blinked at them -presently through the haze, and when a hoarse shout came down they -stopped pulling close under the side of the gunboat. She swung up and -down above them looking very big and black, while now and then when her -bows went up there was a horrible grind of cable. - -"Boat ahoy!" said somebody. "What are you wanting?" - -"A talk with your Commander," said Stickine. "We're sealers from the -schooner." - -"Pull her in," said the unseen man. "We'll give you a rope." - -"That's not going to do for me," said Stickine, with his soft, almost -silent laugh. "I want the ladder." - -Appleby chuckled, for he could understand how this demand from one of -the men he had almost made prisoners of would exasperate the Commander, -while he also knew that it takes some time to get a steamer's -accommodation ladder over. So far as he could make out by the voices -above him, some of the officers were conferring together, and he managed -to catch the words, "Concerned insolence!" - -"We don't feel like waiting here all night," said Stickine; "unless you -get a move on we'll pull away." - -"You wouldn't pull far," said somebody. "We've got a quick-firer -trained on to you. Now then, up with you!" - -"No, sir," said Stickine, grinning. "I'm expecting some show of -civility as an officer of the sealer, and if you turned that gun loose -on us there'd be nobody to take you out of here." - -There was a growl on the deck above them, and somebody said, "Oh, give -it him! We want to get through with the thing." - -It was probably ten minutes before the ladder was hung over, and leaving -one man in the boat the others went up, while Appleby stared about him -with interest when he reached the deck. The gunboat looked very big -after the _Champlain_, and even in the haze he could see that she was -very trim. Lights blinked about him, there was a simmering of steam, -and the long wet deck, tall spars, swaying funnel, spotless paint, and -the neatness of everything gave him a sense of security and comfort -which he had not been used to on board the schooner. He had, however, -little time to look round, for as the sealers stepped in through the -gangway a cluster of bluejackets closed in about them, and one of them -laid his hand on Stickine's shoulder. The sealer shook his grasp off, -and swung round, doubling up a great fist. - -"Hello! Are you wanting anything?" he said. - -An officer stepped out into the light. "You're under arrest! The -Commander is waiting aft," he said. - -Appleby was almost surprised into a little gasp of consternation, but he -saw that Stickine was smiling dryly and checked it. Then they tramped -aft along the deck, and finally stopped outside a cabin in the poop. - -"I'll bring the leader in first, sir?" said their conductor. - -"That's what I am wanting," said Stickine. "Still, as somebody has got -to hear what he has to tell me, this lad's coming along." - -He grasped Appleby's arm and shoved him into the cabin, and for a moment -or two the lad stood blinking about him. At first, being still a trifle -dazzled by the light, he only noticed that the little cabin with its -snowy paint, varnished panelling, and curtains on the brass-ringed -ports, seemed very luxurious after the hold of the _Champlain_. Then he -saw that a young officer sat at a table, while another stood behind him. -His face was not unpleasant, though just then he looked angry, and in -his trim uniform he formed a striking contrast to Stickine, who stood, -bronzed and lean, in curiously fashioned garments of fur and canvas, -smiling at him. - -"It's a kind of thick night," said the latter with a little nod. "Now, -as I'm going to talk to you neighbourly, I've no use for the boys -outside there. Because it wouldn't have been quite square to you as -Commander I didn't object to them before." - -There was something very like a grin in the face of the officer who -still stood in the doorway, and the Commander's cheeks flushed a trifle. -Stickine, however, met his gaze with complete unconcern, and finally he -raised his hand and a patter of feet on deck showed that the guard was -retiring. - -"You don't seem to understand that unless you give me a very good reason -for not doing it I'm going to take you prisoners to Alaska," he said. - -Stickine laughed a little. "Well," he said dryly, "I don't figure you -will. In the first place, you can't take us anywhere until you get out -of here, and unless you and me agree it's when you try to the trouble -will begin. She's not holding with you now, and we'll have it thicker -still until the wind piles the sea in to-morrow. When you've got a holt -on that we'll go on." - -The other officer leaned over the Commander's shoulder, and said -something Appleby did not hear. Then the Commander sat silent a while as -he watched Stickine. "Well?" he said at last. - -Stickine's eyes twinkled a little. "First time you've been up here -after the sealers? You don't know us yet. Now, I was wondering when -you were going to offer us something to eat and drink." - -The Commander stared at him, while the other man, who appeared divided -between anger and laughter, turned away his head. Then, as if it were -in spite of him, a little smile crept into the former's face. - -"Sit down. You deserve anything we can give you for your assurance," he -said. "Well, have you any especial fancy?" - -Stickine appeared to reflect, "Champagne would be good enough for me," -he said. "The last time I had any a Russian officer I did something for -gave it me. The lad will have coffee. That is, if the cook has any fire -in his galley." - -The Commander touched a bell, and the other officer flung himself, -laughing, into the chair. "I guess you'll get on with him better that -way, sir," he said. "I've had a good deal to do with these fellows, and -generally found them difficult to bluff." - -In a few minutes a man brought in a big cup of very good coffee, and set -some glasses and a box of biscuits upon the table, but while Appleby -fell to when the Commander nodded to him, Stickine did not touch his -glass. - -"Now I'm going to talk," he said. "In the first place, I've shown you -where you are. Next, the schooner's waiting outside the reefs, and -unless the boat's back inside an hour with a note from me to the skipper -he'll get sail on her, and you can take us and your ship to Alaska, if -you can get her out of here. To put it quite plain, we've got the best -end of the stick, and we know enough to keep a holt on it." - -Somewhat, to Appleby's surprise, the Commander laughed. "I almost -believe you have," he said. - -Stickine nodded, and once more Appleby wondered. A few months earlier it -would have appeared incomprehensible to him that a rough schooner sailor -should so quietly enforce his right to be treated as an equal by a naval -officer, and prove a match for him. The Commander now appeared quite -willing to recognize it. - -"Well," said Stickine, "we'll take you out to-morrow for----" and he -asked a sum that astonished Appleby. - -"No, sir," said the Commander. "I'll have the boats over at sun up and -find my own way out." - -"I guess not," said the sealer. "You've been looking round and coming -right upon a fresh reef at every turn already, while there's a sunk -ledge in one of the openings, and before you're through you'd have the -gale in on you." - -The two officers conferred together half-aloud, and finally the -Commander said, "I couldn't pay more than half what you're asking." - -"Well," said Stickine dryly, "it strikes me it would be a long way -cheaper than losing your ship. The dollars would come in quite handy to -us but they wouldn't count for very much with the U.S. Treasury." - -The Commander drummed on the table with his fingers. "The trouble is I -don't know I could send a bill of that kind to the Treasury," he said. -"I'm not a rich man, and the dollars would take a good deal of raising -if I had to find them myself." - -Stickine nodded sympathetically. "Then I'll come down a hundred, but we -can't take less. I've got to do the square thing by the boys." - -The Commander sat still again, and Appleby could not quite understand -the expression of his face. Then he said, "I should be taking a risk. -You're not fond of us, anyway, and even you mightn't know all the -reefs." - -Stickine stood up very straight and grim. "You've just got to trust me, -as we'll trust you for the pay. We wouldn't have made that deal with -you unless we knew we could put it through." - -"Sit down," said the Commander with a little smile. "We'll make it a -deal. Take us out, and you'll get your dollars. Put us ashore and -we'll shoot you. It's quite plain you're taking a few risks too. And -now if you will join me in a glass of wine." - -Stickine nodded, and laughed silently as he held up his glass. "I'm -taking those dollars from you, as you'd have taken the pelts or the -schooner from us, if you had the chance, and that makes us square," he -said. "Every man to his own business, but that's no reason he should -hate the folks who are now and then too much for him." - -Ten minutes later and Appleby and the rest were in the boat pulling for -the _Champlain_ with a note asking Jordan to send the Indian across to -the steamer. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVII* - - *THE PLEDGE REDEEMED* - - -The light was slowly creeping through the mist when Appleby, who had -returned with two of the Indians, sat with Stickine in the gunboat's -cabin. It was very early in the morning, and though there is no actual -darkness in those seas at that season, the haze provided a very good -substitute, and now it was sliding past as thickly as ever. Appleby -also felt clammy all through, for they had had a hard pull from the -schooner against a freshening wind, and nobody is very vigorous at four -o'clock on a very cold morning. He shivered a little as he sat with a -steaming cup of coffee before him watching his companions. Their faces -showed curiously pallid in the dim light, and Stickine's was grave, -while the two Americans appeared more than a little anxious. Outside -the wind was wailing through the rigging, and every now and then there -was a jarring grind of cable as the gunboat swung up her bows. - -"You believe we had better make a start right now, and you can pick up -the passage?" asked the Commander. - -Stickine nodded. "The haze is not going to lift to-day, and you'd find -it hard work to hold her here when the sea rolls in. There's a nasty -reef close astern of you too. Now, before we start we'll go over the -deal again and see if you've got it straight. Our skipper has your -cheque, and I'm to take you out. You're to take our word we've killed -no seals in American waters, and leave us to go just where we're wanting -once you're free of the reefs." - -"Yes," said the Commander. "I pledge myself to that, but you've -overlooked one thing, and that's the one that's going to happen to you -if you make a blunder." - -There was a moment's silence, and during it the naval officer pulled his -belt round a trifle and rubbed a speck of dust off his pistol-holster. -The hint was plain enough, but the sealer only smiled. - -"That's all right, but I want the lad up on your bridge with me," he -said. "If there was any trouble he could tell folks I did the square -thing by you!" - -The Commander signified agreement. "Who is the lad, anyway?" he said. -"He hasn't the hard look of the rest of you." - -Stickine glanced at Appleby. "I don't quite know. We picked him up, and -his partner told a kind of curious story. Allowed his father was a big -man back there in the old country." - -A little smile crept into the Commander's eyes. "Well, I shouldn't -wonder if it was the right one, but that don't concern us now. Would -you like more coffee before you begin?" - -"No," said Stickine. "You can tell them to start the windlass when -you're ready." - -The windlass was rattling and the chain grinding in when they crossed -the sloppy deck and climbed to the bridge. A jet of steam roared away -into the haze from beside the funnel, and the tinkle of iron came up -from the gratings, while Appleby noticed that every boat was swung out -ready for lowering at a moment's notice. Except for one or two men -forward the bluejackets were drawn up in little groups about the deck -and stood motionless, apparently watching the sealers' boat that heaved -in the haze ahead. Then the windlass stopped rattling and there was for -a moment or two a curious silence while the steamer rolling lazily slid -sideways with the stream. - -"Keep your anchor at the bows," said Stickine. "Back her until she comes -round under a starboard helm." - -The Commander touched a handle, there was a tinkle below, the bridge -commenced to tremble, and with a thud-thud of engines the steamer -crawled astern. Then when her bows had swung round Stickine raised his -hand. - -"Ahead slow!" he said. "Just keep her going." - -The engines thudded once more, and then commenced a monotonous rumbling -as they crept on into the haze, while with every man pulling hard the -sealers' boat slid towards them. Donovitch the Indian was standing in -the bows, and Appleby, glancing round a moment, saw that the faces of -the two officers on the bridge were grim and set. Neither of them or -the men below, however, moved an inch, and the stillness and the silence -through which he seemed to hear his heart thumping affected Appleby -curiously. He felt cold beneath the old fur waistcoat Jordan had given -him, for he had more than a suspicion that Stickine would only have the -one chance of blundering now, and that if he did it a good many of the -gunboat's company would never get ashore. A long swell heaved through -the passage, roaring ominously as it seethed upon the reefs. - -Then the Indian in the bows swung up an arm, and while Stickine signed -to the helmsman who stood rigidly still gripping his wheel the sea was -rent ahead and there rushed upwards a great cloud of spray and foam. It -whirled high and a deep rumbling followed it, while another hoarse roar -rang through the haze in front of them, and Appleby saw the officers -glance at one another. He knew, as they did, what would happen if -lifted by the swell they struck that froth-swept stone, and he felt that -swift death was very near them all just then. - -Still, Stickine only nodded to the helmsman, and the bows swung slowly -round, while when the long swell foamed again the reef lay a score of -yards away from them, and the growl of another grew louder. Appleby -could faintly see the filmy cloud that whirled about it, and held his -breath as he realized that the stream was carrying them towards it, and -wondered if the helmsman could swing the ship clear in time. Then he -gathered a little comfort from a glance at Stickine, whose face was -unconcerned. - -"Give her steam," he said. - -For a moment the Commander stood quite still with his fingers motionless -on the handle that would quicken the engines, and Appleby could guess -his thoughts. If they drove the steamer faster now, and she would not -swing, in less than another minute her bows would be crumpled in. - -"You're taking your chances with us," he said. - -"Oh, yes," said Stickine. "Unless you're quick with that telegraph I'm -not going to have any. Give her steam." - -The Commander thrust down the handle, there was a tinkle below, and -while the engines beat faster Stickine turned his hand round as he -glanced at the helmsman. Then Appleby saw nothing but the spray ahead, -and heard a hollow rumbling sound that sent a shiver through him as once -more a white cloud whirled up. His eyes grew dazed as he watched it -blow away until the foam about the reef beneath it was blotted out by -the steamer's bows. Next he became dimly conscious that the helmsman -was spinning his wheel, and noticed nothing further until the horrible -white confusion was sliding away behind them. There was only the haze -before them now, and it seemed to be growing thinner. - -"Slow!" said Stickine signing with his hand, and while the rumble of -engines slackened a faint cry came out of the dimness. - -Then the sealer turned to the officer, and his bronzed face was as -unconcerned as ever, though his hands seemed to tremble a little. The -Commander was standing very rigid, but there were beads of moisture on -his forehead. - -"We've left your boat astern," he said. - -"Well," said Stickine gravely, "we're not going to want her. I guess -I've put this contract through, and you can whistle for the schooner." - -Then the tension suddenly slackened, and there was a half-audible murmur -from the men below when the scream of the whistle was flung into the -fog. It screamed twice before the thin tinkle of a bell rose up in -answer. - -"That will be your schooner. She's not far away," said the Commander. - -Five minutes later the steamer stopped her engines, and while the boat -crept up again the _Champlain_, rolling under her jibs and trysail, grew -out of the haze. Stickine touched Appleby's shoulder, and turning -towards the Commander held out his hand. - -"It's about time we were going now. A deal's a deal, and I've kept my -part of it," he said. - -There was a little grim smile in the Commander's eyes, but he shook -hands gravely with the sealer. "And I'll do mine," he said to Stickine -as he went down the ladder. "Still, you can tell your skipper that if I -ever find his schooner inside our limits again, I'll have much pleasure -in sinking her." - -Stickine made no answer, but he grinned. - -In another minute they were pulling towards the _Champlain_, and when -with the froth streaming away across the sea behind her the steamer -forged ahead, a red flag with a beaver and maple-leaf in a corner -fluttered aloft to the _Champlain's_ masthead. Appleby smiled as he -watched it stream out and sink again, for there was, it seemed to him, -something almost ludicrous in this assertion of equality between the -little rolling schooner and the big war-vessel, and he waited to see if -the Commander would return the salutation or steam past in contemptuous -silence. As he watched, a figure on the gunboat's bridge raised a hand, -and the scream of her whistle vibrated across the waters. Again it -hurled out its greeting while the schooner's flag rose and fell, and -then with a last great volume of sound ringing above the clamour of the -surf the gunboat steaming at full speed swept into the haze. - -Next minute the boat was under the _Champlain's_ rail, and Jordan -looking down on them with a little, dry smile. - -"I've no use for riling folks when it can be helped, and that fellow -took his licking well," he said. - -They climbed on board and hove the boat in, and Stickine followed Jordan -into the cabin while Appleby sat down to tell the story to every -unoccupied man of the _Champlain's_ company. There was a broad grin on -the listener's faces when he had finished, and one of them said, -"There's not many men who could come out to windward of Ned Jordan." - -Montreal nodded solemnly. "No," he said. "I guess you'd get tired -considerably before you found one of them." - -By and by Stickine came out of the cabin. "We'll have the reefed -mainsail on her, boys," he said. "Now we're here and the wind's hauling -westerly so we can't get back, we're going to run a little further east -to a place where we might pick up a few pelts cheap from the Indians." - -It blew hard presently, but the haze still followed them, and towards -the close of the afternoon they hove the _Champlain_ to, and lay with -the stinging drift whirling about her plunging to a sea that frothed -white as snow. Most of the men were sleeping or sitting snug in the hold -when Stickine came below, and shook his head at Niven and Appleby. "The -skipper's wanting you," he said. - -Both lads felt a trifle uneasy as they went out on deck. They could not -recollect any offences they had committed, but there was an unfortunate -resemblance between Stickine's intimation and others they had received -at Sandycombe when unpleasant things had followed the headmaster's -request to see them in his study. - -"I wonder if he means to put us ashore when we get to the place we're -going to," said Niven. - -"Wouldn't that please you?" asked Appleby with a little smile. - -Niven appeared thoughtful. "No," he said, "it wouldn't, or you either. -That is, if it meant we had to go back to the _Aldebaran_. Still, by -this time she should be half-way to China, or somewhere else as far." - -They had, however, reached the house now, and when they went in Jordan -was sitting by the little stove, with a big lead-bottomed ink-pot -standing on some papers on the table beside him. The lads stood still a -moment, and waited somewhat anxiously for him to speak. - -"You've folks in the old country who would worry about what had become -of you?" he said. - -"Yes, sir," said Niven. "It has troubled me a good deal now and then." - -Jordan nodded. "You can write and tell them where you are," he said. -"Sit down right here and do it now. If we've better weather we'll run -for the harbour I'm making for to-morrow, and now and then a boat from -St. Michael's looks in there. She would take any letters I left to -Vancouver." - -Niven sat down at the table, and Appleby felt very lonely as he watched -the smile creep into his face, and the rusty pen scratch across the -paper. He knew that other eyes would brighten when they read that -letter, but there was nobody to grieve or rejoice over him, and once he -coughed for no reason that was apparent to Jordan, who was watching him. - -"And you. Haven't you got anybody? There's another pen," said the -latter. - -Appleby was never quite sure what prompted him, but the skipper's tone -was kindly, and fumbling in an inner pocket he pulled out a little -leather case and took from it a picture of a sandy mound with palm -fronds drooping over the wooden cross at one end of it. - -"That is all I have, sir," he said. - -Jordan took the photograph, and his eyes grew softer as he returned it -with a little nod of sympathy. "It's rough when you're young, but a -lonely man's not always the worst off, my lad," he said. - -Niven, however, looked round with a flush on his face. "That's not -straight talk, Tom," he said. "You know my mother would do almost -anything for you, and there's the rest of them. Even Nettie, and she -has the faddiest notions, took to you." - -"Hadn't you better get on with your writing, sonny?" said Jordan dryly. -"She's your mother, and not his, anyway." - -Niven made another dab at the inkpot, and though it was difficult to -keep his feet at the table as the schooner rose and fell he finished his -letter. He was about to fold it up when Jordan glanced at him. "You've -put something 'bout me and the _Champlain_ in?" he said. - -"Yes, sir," said Niven. - -"Well," said Jordan, "I'd like to hear that part of it." - -Niven flushed a trifle, and sat still a moment twisting round his pen -before he said, "It isn't worth listening to." - -"Still," said Jordan grimly, "I'm waiting to hear it. Start in." - -Niven looked round at Appleby, but Appleby only grinned, and then with -the colour showing plainer in his face read a line or two. "The skipper -has, taking it all round, been very good to us. He's----" The lad -stopped for a moment. "This piece isn't of any moment. I'll leave it -out, sir." - -"I can tell better when you've read it," said Jordan. - -Niven made a little half-conscious gesture of dismay, but he had reasons -for remembering that when Jordan asked for anything it was wise to give -it him, and he continued hastily, "He's quite a clever man in his own -way, though nobody would fancy it from his appearance." - -Appleby could not quite restrain a chuckle, and saw a twinkle in -Jordan's eyes. He nodded as he said, "I can't find fault with that, -anyway. Go on with the rest of it." - -"If you saw him in his usual rig you would take him for something -between a stuffed sealskin and a navvy on the tramp," said Niven. - -"Now, I don't know what a navvy is," said Jordan. - -Niven looked at his comrade again, and Appleby tried not to laugh. -"He's a man who digs drains and makes railways in our country, sir," he -said. - -"Well," said Jordan dryly. "It can't be tougher work than sealing. Go -on." - -"Still," said Niven, turning again to the letter, "he has been quite -decent, and treated us a good deal better than they did on board the -_Aldebaran_, and I fancy it would be a nice thing if----" - -He stopped again. "I can't read any more of it, sir," he said, growing -very flushed in the face. - -"Then," said Jordan, "I figure your partner can, and one of you is going -to." - -Niven set his lips a moment, and then went on with a little groan, "It -would be a nice thing if you wrote one of your Canadian friends to give -him a cheque. There can't be much profit in sealing and----" - -"I guess that will do," said Jordan, whose face grew suddenly grim. -"Get hold of your pen, and knock the last piece out of it. You've done -it? Then you can put this in. 'Don't worry 'bout me. Skipper Jordan -will see I earn every dollar's worth of anything I get from him, and -before I get home he and Donegal have hopes of licking a little sense -into me.' Got that down--all of it?" - -"Yes, sir," said Niven, who was apparently almost suffocated, hoarsely. - -"Well," said Jordan with a little, dry smile, "that will set your folks' -minds at rest, and I guess your father will be grateful to me. Now you -can tell the rest of them to get any letters they want sent home ready." - -They went out together, and Niven kicked at the first thing that lay in -his way savagely. As it happened, it was one of the iron pump -fastenings, and it hurt his toe, while as he hopped about the deck -Appleby laughed uproariously. Then almost before he knew it Niven was -laughing, too, and when they climbed down into the hold there was water -in both their eyes. - -[Illustration: "AS HE HOPPED ABOUT THE DECK APPLEBY LAUGHED -UPROARIOUSLY."] - -"Have ye been after hearing anything funny in the cabin?" asked Donegal. - -"Well," said Niven with a little chuckle, "I can't help fancying the -skipper did, since you want to know. Sure, now, Donegal, 'tis a -testhimonial he's been after giving you." - -"Tell me," said Donegal, seizing him by the neck and nipping it while -the lad struggled fruitlessly. - -"It's no use. I wouldn't tell any one a word of it if you strangled -me," he said. - -They made sail again early nest morning, but in the forenoon the wind -fell away, and it was late on the following day when they crept into -sight of a grey blurr that lifted itself out of the misty horizon. They -could just make out that it was land, but Jordan, who went up the mast -hoops with his glasses, saw something more. - -"No chance of a deal now we've got here, boys," he said. "There's a -steamer coming in. She'll be heading south at this season, and it's not -going to take them long to heave a few bundles of furs on board her, so -if you've any letters to go along with mine you'd better be handy -getting the boat over." - -They had her out in about two minutes, and as it was Stickine's boat the -lads who sprang down refused to come out of her. She was also the -biggest boat they had, and had in all probability seldom travelled -faster than she did for the first mile or so. There was scarcely a -breath of wind now, and the long swell ran with them, while Niven -remembered what the letter he had written would mean to those who had -long waited for news of him at home as he put all his strength into the -oar. Appleby also recollected the tenderness he had now and then seen -in Mrs. Niven's eyes as she looked at her son, and her kindness to him, -and strained every muscle, for now at least it seemed he could do a -little to repay her. - -So they sent the boat foaming over the long swell, but each time she -rose the land seemed very little nearer, and when at last a smear of -smoke rose out of the greyness that hung about it, Stickine spoke. - -"The steamer's firing up! You've got to stretch out, boys." - -Panting and gasping they swayed up and down, the oars thudding, and the -grey sea frothing under them when the boat surged forward quivering at -every stroke. Still, when the veins on Appleby's forehead felt swollen -to the bursting and Appleby's eyes were dim the land was at least a mile -from them, and a jarring rattle came off across the water. - -"Windlass going! She'll be off soon as they heave her anchor. Stiffen -up," said Stickine. - -The lads did what they could, for they knew it was a good deal they were -rowing for. The letter they carried would bring relief from torturing -anxiety to those who loved them, and tranquillity to a mother's mind, -while Niven, half-choked as he was, nerved his aching arms as he -remembered how in all his follies his father had borne with him. -Appleby was aiding him loyally, his lips set, his face almost purple, -and still, though Stickine and Donegal made the oars creak and groan, -the land was only crawling towards them. - -"You've got to do it, boys! There's folks back south worrying 'bout -most of us," said Stickine when the scream of a whistle came off to -them. - -Neither of the lads had more than a hazy recollection of the last ten -minutes. They had no breath left, every joint was aching, but their -arms still moved almost without their will, and they were dimly sensible -of the thud of oars, gurgle of water, and lurch of the quivering boat -beneath them. They felt they could not be beaten now. At last while -the whistle screamed again something big and black bore down on them, -and they heard the thudding of engines and the flap-flap of a -slowly-turning propeller. - -"Stop pulling. Hang on to her," gasped Stickine, and then while the -oars rested in their palms the lads could see that the bows of a steamer -hung almost over them. Next moment there was a crash, and they were -being hauled along with the froth splashing about them and Donegal -holding on to something desperately. A man was shouting above them, and -while the foam that was piled about her bows sluiced into the boat -Stickine roared out hoarsely, "Letters!" - -"Give us a grip of them. Let go before she goes over with you," shouted -somebody, and a man swinging himself over the rail clutched at the -packet held out to him. Then Donegal loosed his grasp, and they were -rocking on the white wake as the steamer went on. - -"Just 'bout did it," said Stickine. "I guess it was worth a pull." - -Neither of the lads said anything, for they were dazed and dripping, and -had no breath to waste, but they forgot their pains in a supreme -content. It had been a good race, perhaps the best they would ever -make, for they knew as they watched her roll away into the mist that the -letters the steamer was bearing south would lift a dark cloud from an -English home. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVIII* - - *TREACHERY* - - -Here and there a streak of ripples crept across the water as they -returned to the schooner, and when they stopped rowing, Jordan called to -them. - -"You can pull her head round before you come on board." - -They pulled hard before they swung the schooner round, and when they had -hoisted the boat in Stickine glanced at the skipper. - -"We're going back west?" he said. - -Jordan nodded. "Right now," he said. "We've lost two weeks already and -the season's getting through." - -They close hauled the schooner, and the lads went below when she slowly -crawled away. They had questions to ask, and it was Donegal who -answered them. - -"And what would be the use av going on when Jordan knew the steamer had -got all the skins there was?" he said. "'Tis a week this journey will -be costing him, and ye will observe 'tis not sitting still and -complaining that 'tis hard on him the skipper would be doing. ''Tis the -best av it, we've got to make and get back at wance, or sooner,' sez he, -and there's folks as don't know better call him a--fortunit--man." - -Niven made a little grimace, and swung himself out of reach of the -sealer's hand. "Sure 'tis a priest or a schoolmaster ye should have -been," said he. - -It was some time before they worked their way back to the sealing -ground, and then, although the boats were out all day, they got very few -skins. The holluschackie had, it seemed, all crawled out on the -beaches, and the men grew gloomy as they saw the prospect of returning -home with dollars to draw growing rapidly smaller, until at last one -morning Stickine came forward after a talk with Jordan. - -"There's just 'bout nothing to be done here, boys, and we're going west -to see what we can find," he said. - -There was a murmur of approval, and Appleby fancied he understood the -curious expression in the men's bronzed faces, for it was Russian waters -they were making for. It was, however, some time before they reached -them, and then they found few seals, while the men were growing anxious -again, when at last one wild evening they beat in to an anchorage under -an island. Like the others the lads had seen in those misty seas it was -a desolation of wet rocks and foam-licked beaches; but worn out by a -week's bitter gale, they were glad when the _Champlain_ ceased her wild -plunging at last and swung to her anchor on the long, smooth heave. - -Nobody wasted much time in stowing the canvas, and when they sat -listening to the swish of the rain and the growling of the surf in the -stuffy hold, Appleby turned to Stickine. - -"What have we come in here for?" he asked. - -"You can't always catch seals, but you can buy them now and then when -you know where to go," said Stickine. "The further it is from the -market the more likely you are to get a bargain." - -"Then there is somebody living here?" asked Niven. - -"Sure!" said Donegal. "There's no place that forlorn a man can't -somehow raise a living out av it, but the one Ned Jordan's after -visiting is not what ye would considher a favourable specimen." - -Charley looked up and laughed. "Meaner than a shark. There's nothing -too low down for that man to do." - -Donegal evidently saw the curiosity in Niven's eyes and nodded gravely. -"'Tis Charley that's speaking thrue. Now, some men are bad on occasion, -and ye will now and then find sailors and sealers doing things that are -no credit to them by way av diversion, but they work, and that and the -lashing of the bitther seas is the saving av them. Still, there's -things no man may do continual." - -Stickine smiled dryly. "That's quite right," he said. "The sea, and -just the sea--that sets Donegal talking like one of those patent -medicine books--and if we had a thousand dollars which of us wouldn't be -glad to leave it? Still, I've no use for a man who goes back on his own -country, and if it's solid meanness and wickedness you're wanting, -you'll find them and Motter quite close together." - -"He must work if he catches seals," said Niven. - -Charley grinned ironically. "I guess you've found that out, but when -Motter has any pelts to sell it's tolerably plain figuring he stole -them. Tricked the Indians out of them--though they're not Indians on -this side either--and they didn't belong to them, anyway." - -"Then why don't the Russians run him out?" asked Appleby. - -Stickine laughed softly. "I guess the ones who would do don't know," he -said. "This is a kind of curious country." - -Just then Jordan flung back the scuttle. "Get your boat over, Stickine. -I'm going ashore," he said. - -Stickine rose, and Montreal, who had been sitting gloomily silent, -looked up. "If you've any use for me I'd like to come along," he said. - -Jordan shook his head. "It 'pears to me you're better where you are," -he said. - -Montreal sighed, but said nothing, and in a few minutes Niven and -Appleby were pulling the skipper ashore. It was raining when they -stepped out on the beach, and saw for the first time a ramshackle wooden -house that seemed falling to pieces beneath a dripping crag. Two great -dogs growled at them as they picked their way towards it amidst a litter -of fish-bones and offal that had been apparently flung out of the -windows. Then somebody beat off the dogs, and when they went in a man -who lay in a skin chair by the stove nodded to them. A smoky lamp hung -above him, and the lads felt a curious disgust as they glanced at him. -His eyes were red and bleary, though there was a blink of evil cunning -in them, and his puffy cheeks overhung his chin. He seemed horribly -flabby, and wore greasy canvas garments which looked as though nobody -had ever washed them. Appleby realized as he watched him that -loneliness is not good for a white man unless he has work to do. - -"How are you, Motter?" said Jordan. "This place hasn't made you tired -yet? It's kind of forlorn for a Britisher." - -Appleby fancied there was a little half-scornful inflection in the -skipper's voice, which was not altogether astonishing, for the building -had a horrible smell, and here and there the rain dripped in, but Motter -laughed. - -"Well," he said, "I was an American too, and I guess I'm a Russian now. -Up here it pays one better--but it's business you came after?" - -Jordan nodded, and the contrast between his lean, bronzed face and -steady eyes and that of the other man did not escape the lads' -attention. "Got anything to sell?" he asked. - -"I might have," said Motter. "Still, I'm in no way anxious, because by -and by there's a steamer coming along, and I've no great use for dry -talking." - -He thrust a bottle towards the skipper, but Jordan shook his head. -"That's a stuff I'm not used to, and I don't like the smell," he said. -"Well, now, let me hear what you've got and I'll make you a bid. This -place is a little too open to leave the schooner long." - -Appleby fancied Motter was not pleased at this, but he helped himself -freely to the liquor, and for half-an-hour he and the skipper were busy -bargaining. Neither of the lads quite understood all they said, and -they sat vacantly listening to the rumble of the surf, until at last -Motter raised his hand. - -"Well," he said with a curious little laugh that jarred upon the lads -unpleasantly, "you're too keen for me, and it will save worry if I let -you have the skins. I want one hundred dollars down for the bundle I've -got here, and you can take them with you or leave them until you come -back again. The rest are lying at Peter's Bay, but I'll be there to -hand them over or send one of my people along the beach, and across by -the skin boat. It's going to take you some time to get there with the -wind ahead." - -"It's a deal," said Jordan, counting out the dollar bills. "We should -fetch the beach by to-morrow evening. You haven't seen any gunboat -round here lately?" - -"No, sir," said Motter. "There's none nearer than Peter Paul, and I'm -going to be a richer man if they'll keep away. By the way, I heard they -had a Canadian at the sealing post." - -"Are you sure of that?" asked Jordan. "What would he be doing there?" - -Motter fumbled at his glass. "Well, I don't quite know," he said. -"Still, I scarcely figure he was there because he liked it. Anyway, the -folks could tell you more about him at Peter's Bay." - -Somebody was waving a lantern on the schooner and the roar of the surf -had grown louder when they returned to the beach, while it was with -difficulty the lads got the boat afloat. Jordan did not seem pleased at -something, and bade them pull their hardest, for the wind had gone round -and the sea was working in. - -"It's kind of unfortunate Motter didn't remember he'd lost his store key -before he got my dollars," he said reflectively. "Still, it's no great -risk, because he knows we could pull the place down for him when we come -back." - -The schooner was plunging viciously when they reached her, and while -they swung the boat in Jordan said, "Get the trysail and foresail on -her, and we'll let her lie to when we're round the head." Then he -signed to Appleby. "You'll not tell them anything about that Canadian." - -They beat out of the bay they had only a few hours earlier beaten into, -and, for the sun was going back to the south now, it was quite dark when -on the next night they crept into an inlet hemmed in by smoking reefs. -The wind was fresh and astern of them, but when they brought the -schooner to off the first of the reefs Jordan stopped Stickine who was -about to lower her forward sails. - -"It's not going to take us long to bring off a boatload of skins, and -you'll keep the canvas on her," he said. "I've no use for taking chances -with a man like Motter." - -Appleby, of course, understood that as there was evidently a seal -rookery not far away it would be perilous for Jordan to be discovered -within Russian limits, but he could not see how he would run any risk -since there was no gun-boat in the vicinity. He had seen that Jordan -could be daring, but he fancied he was almost needlessly cautious when, -although only one was wanted for the skins, he had two boats swung out. -He also sent back Montreal, who would have gone in one of them, and bade -the men bring their sealing-clubs with them, which seemed curious, since -if they fell in with any Russians, it would be a proof that they were -prepared to kill seals ashore. - -It was dark save for the light of a half-moon when they started, and -when they landed with difficulty through the smoking surf the beach was -wrapped in shadow. Here and there a boat of some kind was drawn up, but -nobody could see them clearly, and the only light was the blink from the -windows of a tottering wooden house. - -"You lads will come with me," said Jordan. "Donegal and Charley too. -The rest of you will stand by the boats and keep your eyes open." - -Then they turned towards the house, and when Appleby afterwards recalled -that night he could remember the pungent smell of the weed, and the -curious shrinking he felt when he set his foot on a fish head or some of -the slimy offal that lay everywhere around. He could just see the -schooner, flitting a dim shape across the long heave that rolled into -the bay and frothed upon the roaring beaches. It was some minutes -before they reached the house, which seemed horribly damp and foul, and -found Motter sitting at a table. His eyes had, Appleby fancied, a little -cunning gleam, and his hand seemed to tremble slightly. - -"Excuse me coming down to meet you. This place is rough on one's legs," -he said. "Well, you have come to put the deal through and brought the -dollars?" - -"Yes," said Jordan. "As I'm anxious to be off I want it done right -now." - -"That will suit me," said Motter. "If you don't want to be sociable you -can come along and count the skins." - -He limped before them into an adjoining room, which was littered with -bundled furs, and Appleby noticed that while these were no doubt of -value, and there was a shutter to the window, it was not closed. Motter -also turned the lamp up a little, though it was apparently burning well, -when he set it on a table. Then Jordan opened several bundles of the -furs, and when the two other men took up a load Motter laughed a little -as he said, "Haven't you forgot the dollars?" - -Jordan looked at him steadily. "You'll get them all right when we're -through. This lot 'bout squares up the others I didn't get from you." - -Motter smiled again. "Well," he said dryly, "a man would have to get up -tolerably early if he wanted to come in ahead of you." - -Then Donegal and Charley went back to the boat with their bundles, and -Motter sat down watching Jordan sort out and count the furs. - -"Quite sure you've got them all?" he said ironically when the skipper -stopped at last. "Then we'll go back to the stove. It's kind of -shivery here." - -"Shall I bring the lamp along?" asked Jordan. - -"Leave it there. We've another in the room," said Motter, and fumbled -about some time striking a good many matches before he lighted it, while -Appleby became sensible of a curious uneasiness as he watched him. -There was no apparent reason for this, but he fancied the man could have -been quicker had he wanted. At last the lamp was lighted, and Motter sat -down at the table with his face towards the door. - -"You've seen the furs are there?" he said. - -Jordan took out his wallet, and laid a roll of dollar bills on the -table. He had another in his hand when Donegal stood in the doorway -signing to him. - -"You're wanted out here," he said. - -Jordan asked no questions but rose at once, and Appleby, fancying there -had been a change of wind, followed him. When they stood outside -Donegal laid his hand on the skipper's arm, and Appleby saw that he and -Charley both carried their clubs. - -"'Tis a trap the beast has laid for us. Will I tell them to shove off?" -he said. - -"Go on," said Jordan quietly. - -"'Tis like this," said Donegal. "When he went in with the light he -opened the shutter, and what was he after doing that for? Then he would -leave it so any wan could see there was two lights where there was wan -before." - -Jordan nodded. "The rest--out with it." - -"Well," said Charley dryly, "there was somebody running a boat down way -back along the beach. They did it kind of quietly, but we could hear -them. 'Pears to me it's 'bout time we were getting out of this." - -"Somebody coming down the gully," shouted a man below, and there was a -faint patter of running feet in a dusky hollow that wound amidst the -rocks behind the house. - -Jordan swung round. "Motter has sold us to the Russians, boys," he -said. "Still, if there's time yet we'll take him along." - -They were back in the room the next moment, but Motter had gone, and -when another shout came from outside Jordan swung round again with his -face showing very grim. - -"He'd have had all my dollars in another minute," he said. "Well, we'll -be going." - -Charley, however, stopped a moment, and taking down the big lamp swung -it round his head, while a great blaze sprang up when he hurled it on -the floor. - -"I guess it will take them all they know to put that out," he said. - -Then they blundered down the stairway, and in another moment were -floundering across the beach. It was rough and strewn with boulders, -while the boats lay some little distance away, and as they tripped and -stumbled a hoarse shout rose out of the darkness. Nobody stopped to -answer, and a rifle flashed, while a patter of feet became audible -behind them. - -"They're tolerably close," said Jordan. "We've got to run, boys." - -There was for some reason no more firing, but the men behind were -evidently used to the boulders and gaining on them. Once Appleby fell -heavily, but he lost no time in picking himself up again, and went on -with a horrible pain in his side, gasping as he watched the white wash -of the surf that seemed to grow nearer so slowly. Just before they -reached it Niven went down, and groaned when Appleby seized his shoulder -and jerked him to his feet. - -"Don't give in, Chriss. You must hold out," he said, and floundered on -again, dragging his comrade after him. - -"I'm hurt. Only one foot to run with," gasped Niven. - -Stumbling and blundering they reached the boats, but the men behind were -almost upon them when Appleby, taking his hand from Niven's arm, grasped -the nearest. Then there was a breathless shout, and they were -floundering down the beach waist-deep in froth as a sea rolled in, while -dusky objects came clattering over the shingle a few paces behind them. -Two men sprang in over the gunwale, and Jordan's voice rose up. - -"Don't fool it by too much hurry, boys. Wade right in until she's clear -afloat." - -The next sea took them up to the shoulders, and Appleby, gasping with -the icy cold, and half-blinded by the spray, saw that Niven was no -longer with them. - -"Chriss. Hallo! Where are you?" he shouted breathlessly. - -He fancied a half-stifled cry answered him, and loosed his grasp on the -boat. He did not remember whether he shouted again, or not, for he was -only sensible that his comrade had been left behind, but next moment -another shout rang out, and he felt his heart throb, as struggling -shorewards he recognized the voice. - -"Boys, will ye be leaving Mainsail Haul?" it said. - -There was a growl in answer, and the boat came surging in almost on top -of Appleby. Then men were apparently splashing through the water all -about him, and one ran several yards in front of them howling gleefully -and swinging a great club. After that Appleby was not quite sure what -happened, but there were shouts and blows and a pistol shot, and they -were floundering back again, Donegal dragging Niven through the water -after him, and most of the men swinging their clubs. The boat lay -half-swamped on her side when they reached her, and Appleby wondered -afterwards how they got her through the surf, but he knew Niven lay on -the floorings, and straining every muscle and sinew he tugged at his -oar. Donegal was apparently yelling gleefully still. Then, as they -drew out from the shore there was another red flash, and Jordan's voice -rose up from the next boat. - -"If he can't be quiet, boys, you'd better heave him over. I've no use -for letting them know just where to shoot." - -"That's sense," said Charley. "Reach out and put some weight on, -Appleby. Your partner's all right." - -Appleby did as he was bidden, though the spray that whirled about them -rendered the boat almost invisible as she lurched over the swell, while -his contentment increased when Niven assured him that it was only his -foot, that was hurting him. Presently the _Champlain_ ran past the boat -with canvas banging, and while they hove her in Stickine drew the -skipper towards the rail. - -"There's a boat on our bow. Came off 'bout a mile back down the beach," -he said. "They pull like white men, so far as I make out." - -"Heading straight to windward, too!" said Jordan, quietly. "Well, we'll -have the main topsail on her." - -The topsail was aloft in another minute, and the _Champlain's_ rail -almost awash as she thrashed out to sea, but it was only in short tacks -she could work out of the bay, and their pursuers seemed to know it, for -they had rowed to windward and could accordingly chose their time for -approaching her. - -"'Pears to me they mean to come on board," said Jordan dryly. "Well, -you'll pass up the clubs and lay them handy on the house, but there'll -be trouble for any one who takes one up before he's told to. Is it you, -Montreal, at the wheel?" - -There was a growl in answer, and Jordan seemed to smile. - -"Then," he said, "you'll keep her going and not too high, until I tell -you." - -They swept on hurling the spray aloft, for though the bay was slightly -sheltered the swell worked in, and it was blowing tolerably hard, while, -so far as Appleby could see, the boat meant to intercept them when they -went about close off a smoking reef. He could just make her out every -now and then as she rose with a sea. - -"That," said Jordan, "'pears to me uncommonly like a gun-boat's cutter, -and by the way they're pulling they've a good many men in her." - -They drove on, the boat growing nearer and larger, until she came -reeling towards them with oars thrashing up the froth, and Jordan sprang -up on the rail. Appleby could see that if they went round now, the boat -pulling straight to windward would still close with them when they came -about to clear another reef not far away, but Jordan, it seemed, had no -intention of coming round. - -"It's not my fault I can't run away," he said quietly. "Keep her going, -Montreal." - -The reef was close to leeward now, the boat nearer still to weather, and -already somebody was shouting on board her. She was pulling straight -towards the schooner's bows, and would be alongside in another few -moments. Appleby felt his heart throbbing painfully. Then the skipper -raised his hand. - -"Down helm--a spoke or two," he said. - -There was another shout from the boat, for it seemed that the schooner -had yielded, but if that was its meaning it was premature, for while her -headsails rattled she still drove ahead, and Montreal's harsh laugh -jarred through the crash and sound of smashing oars below. - -"Up again. Fill on her!" roared Jordan, and Appleby, running aft with -the rest, saw the boat drive away helpless astern. Nobody was -apparently pulling, and he surmised that the rending oars had hurled the -men who held them one upon the other. - -Then the _Champlain_ came round, and a rifle flashed harmlessly as she -once more swept past the disabled craft. Ten minutes later there was no -sign of the boat, and they were thrashing out to sea alone. - -"I don't quite know what they were, or that I want to, but if they'd -been sealers they'd have had us sure," said Jordan, with a little laugh. -"Well, we'll fix up how we're going to square this thing off with Motter -to-morrow." - - - - - *CHAPTER XIX* - - *THE SEALERS' RECKONING* - - -The wind fell light next morning, and the haze closed in, but it became -evident there were reefs not far away when the _Champlain_ fell in with -a herd of holluschackie. The men were in an unpleasant temper, and -worked in eager haste when Jordan bade them get the boats over, for to -have gone back and swept every seal off the island would have been a -relief to them then. Jordan, however, seldom let his feelings overcome -his prudence, and he smiled dryly as he watched the men. - -"I don't quite know where the beach is, but there are the seals," he -said. "If we run the flag up you'll pull back just as quick as you -can." - -The boats had started in another minute, and with rifles flashing every -now and then they swung over the long swell, until the men's arms and -backs were aching. - -Darkness was creeping in when they came back one by one, and then by the -flicker of blinking lanterns the work went on. The deck grew foul with -grease and blood, the knives slipped in the tired hands that held them, -and the lads would stop gasping a moment or two each time a stripped -carcase went over the side, and wonder whether anything would ever free -them from the horrible smell. At last it was over, and while the -_Champlain_ crept on her way again they sat greasy and slimy in the -hold. They were very tired, but there was content in the sealers' -bronzed faces, save for that of Montreal, who sat gloomily silent away -from the rest. - -"You've not been talking much to-day. Feeling sick?" said somebody. - -Montreal's brown fingers slowly clenched themselves. "Not in the way you -mean. You know what I came up here for, boys, and I've had 'bout enough -of this," he said. "How'm I going to find out anything when Jordan -yanks me out of every boat that goes ashore?" - -Donegal, whose forehead was wrapped in a crusted bandage, shook his -head. - -"And Ned Jordan knows as well. Can ye not be trusting him?" he said. - -Montreal appeared to find some difficulty in checking a groan. "I've -waited a long while, boys, and I'm kind of tired," he said. - -There was silence for a minute, for the men knew it was a brother their -comrade had come to find, and Niven, who lay upon the floorings with one -foot tied up, remembering what he had heard in Motter's house, was about -to speak when Appleby kicked him on the leg. - -"Still," said somebody, "there's nothing you can do." - -Montreal glanced round the shadowy hold as though to make sure that -Stickine was not there. "Well," he said slowly, "I guess the -_Champlain_ will be short of a boat and a man short one morning--and -there'll be trouble for some folks yonder if it's dead that man's -brother is. It's the not knowing--the knowing nothing, that's killing -me." - -"One man couldn't do much alone," said Charley dryly. - -Montreal laughed mirthlessly, and there was a curious glint in his eyes. -"I guess he could," he said. "That is, if he had a rifle, and didn't -worry 'bout anything so long as he used up the magazine before they got -him down." - -Donegal's face lit up under the crusted bandage, and his voice had a -little gleeful ring. "And two av them would do just twice as much--and -it's two, or more, there'll be, but we'll give Ned Jordan a fair show -first," said he. - -A little growl of grim approval rose from the men, but none of them said -anything further, and they did not seem quite at ease when Jordan and -Stickine came down the ladder. The skipper sat down, and looked at them -gravely, but if he noticed anything unusual he did not mention it. - -"We've got to have a little talk, boys," he said. "You know the kind of -trick Motter would have worked off on me. He'd have taken my dollars -and then before I got the furs turned the Russians loose on us. He and -one of their officers fixed up the thing, and before I got out of their -grip I'd have left skins and schooner behind me. Now, I don't like -being kicked that way by anybody." - -The skipper may have been mistaken, but the men believed him. - -"We'll go back and pull his place down," said somebody. - -Jordan smiled and shook his head. "And find a squad of bluejackets -waiting for you? That's just what Motter would figure on, and there's a -gunboat crawling round," he said. - -"Are we going to sit down and do nothing?" asked Montreal. - -"No," said Jordan with a little twinkle in his eyes. "Now, it's kind of -difficult for a gunboat to be in two places at once, and while she's -hanging round Motter's watching for us there's nothing to stop us -walking right into the sealing post." - -He stopped a moment, and looked straight at Montreal. "Well, now, that -isn't in the deal you made to go sealing with me, but I heard they had a -white man there." - -There was a murmur of astonishment, and Montreal stood up quivering a -little. "And," he said hoarsely, "you're going for him?" - -Jordan nodded. "Oh, yes," he said. "If the boys are willing." - -The answer was not effusive, but Jordan, who saw the little darker flush -that crept into the bronzed faces and the slow clenching of a brown hand -here and there, appeared contented. He knew that he had but to lead and -the men would follow. - -"Well," he said grimly, "if we've any kind of fortune we'll be there -to-morrow." - -He nodded to them, and when he went up the ladder Donegal gleefully -thumped Montreal on the shoulder. - -"It's you and me that's spoiling--just spoiling for to-morrow," he said, -and made a run at Appleby who was grinning at him. "And you knew it and -never told. Sure I saw ye kicking Mainsail Haul. It's me that would be -caressing ye wid a rope end, me darling." - -Appleby swung himself up the ladder. "Sure, 'tis no sensible man would -go looking for a row when he could run away," he said. - -Donegal shook his fist at him. "Ye will stop up there where it's nice -and fresh," he said. "No man can be sensible always. 'Twould not be -good for him." - -Next day they raised a gray blur above the horizon, and Jordan, when he -saw it, headed out to sea again. Then he laid the _Champlain_ to, and it -was not until dusk was creeping across the waters that they edged in -towards the land again. The time passed very slowly, and the men were -for the most part unusually silent, though there was a curious -anticipation in their faces, and Montreal sat very grim and quiet -rubbing out a rifle. It occurred to the lads who watched him now and -then that it would not be nice to be the Russians who had ill-used his -brother if he came across them. - -There was no moon, and the sky was dimmed by driving haze when they -pulled ashore, three boatloads of them with rifles, clubs and knives, -and no man spoke when they sprang out waist-deep in the long white wash -that went seething up the beach. Two stayed behind to watch the boats, -and with the stones rattling beneath them the rest went on. Appleby and -Niven, who limped painfully, followed too, because Jordan had apparently -been too much occupied to notice them. It seemed to the lads that -anybody who might be listening must hear the noise they made a mile -away, but the sea frothed and roared upon the beaches close behind, and -when they wound beneath the face of a crag another sound grew louder. -It was the voice of the big bull seals, and while they blundered over -the slippery ledges the lads could dimly see that every shelf of rock -was packed with curious shadowy objects. Some of them were shambling -forward, some lying still with heads held up, but all were roaring, -piping, bleating at once, and the din they made was indescribable. - -Suddenly two of them flopped over a ledge and came shambling towards the -men, one of whom stepped aside, while Appleby, starting a little at the -sight of the half-seen shapeless thing heading for him, swung up his -club. It looked very big as it came on through the semi-darkness. -Somebody, however, laughed and grabbed his arm. - -"He's not going to hurt you, sonny, if you get out of his way," a voice -said. "Just a bull seal they've shoved out of the rookery. He'll go -back and pull one of the rest of them out presently." - -The seal flopped away into the shadow or into the sea, and the men -finding better footing went on more rapidly, until when Jordan signed to -them they stopped breathless on the crest of a rise. Beneath them in -the dimness the sea frothed whitely, and a swarm of shadowy objects were -apparently shuffling down the slope between. - -"Holluschackie!" said Jordan dryly. "It's quite likely we'll take a few -of them along. Get the lie of the place into you, boys. You might want -to find the boats handy when you come back again." - -The lads looked round with the others, but there was very little to see. -A low black rise ran up into the haze in front of them, and here and -there they caught the glimmer of a patch of snow. All round the -darkness seemed closing in, and out of it came the boom of the sea on -the beaches and a doleful wail of wind, for the seals were almost quiet -again. Appleby could feel his heart beating and his temples throbbing -as he wondered what that dimness hid. - -"It reminds me of the night we stole Jimmy's duck," said Niven, but his -voice was not quite the same as usual. "It will be something to look -back upon." - -"Oh, yes," said Appleby dryly. "So long as we do it on board the -schooner. It wouldn't be quite so nice to remember it in Siberia." - -"If I couldn't talk of anything more cheerful I'd shut my mouth tight!" -said Niven, who felt the chilly darkness growing curiously unpleasant. - -He fancied he could have made a dash at an armed loghouse as well as the -rest, but this slow crawling in on an unknown enemy was a very different -and much more disconcerting affair. - -Just then Jordan raised his hand, and they went on again, blundering -over a boulder here and there, and now and then splashing through a -little slushy snow, but still there was only sliding haze about them and -in front grey obscurity, until the lads commenced to wonder whether they -would go tramping on the whole night through. At last, however, they -stopped again on the summit of another rise, and Appleby grasped Niven's -arm when he made out the dim blink of a light in the fog. The men -murmured together, and Jordan seemed to be speaking, but Appleby did not -hear what he said. He could only watch the light, while Niven -afterwards admitted that he could recollect very little but a feverish -desire to get what they had to do over. - -Once more the men wont on, a little quicker now, while the soft patter -of their feet and the rattle of a rifle as one of them stumbled seemed -horribly distinct in the stillness. Nobody, however, appeared to hear -them, and at last when the dim outline of a house rose blackly against -the night the pace grew faster, until it became a run, and the lads saw -the line of shadowy figures split up left and right. Then they heard -Jordan's voice. - -"In with you. You know what you have to do!" - -Appleby's fears seemed to fall from him, and it was with a wild desire -to shout that he followed the rest at a breathless run, while Niven -floundered along a few paces behind him. The house rose higher and -blacker, and still nobody seemed to hear them until a dog commenced -growling as they swept round to the rear of it, and stood apart on -either side when Montreal with his rifle-butt beat upon the door. - -There was a cry of surprise inside, a sound of voices, and footsteps -that stopped again, while a deep growl made answer when Montreal once -more beat upon the door. Then he stepped back and swung up his rifle. - -"No time for fooling, boys," he said. "In she goes." - -Appleby saw the weapon whirl high, and another shadowy man standing with -the muzzle of his rifle pointed at the door. Then it came down -crashing, there was a rush of feet, and he went in with the rest over -the shattered door. - -A glare of light shone into his eyes, there was a savage growl and a -flash as something sprang straight at the foremost of them. A smear of -acrid smoke filled the passage, but Appleby fancied he saw a big -sealing-club whirl up, and the dog went down, for next moment he -stumbled over something that felt soft beneath him. Then with somebody -running before them they burst into a room, and the lads long remembered -the picture that met them. - -Two men who had apparently fled along the passage stood sullenly at the -further end of it, and two more who had evidently dragged a table into a -corner behind it. They were less than half-dressed, but one who was -tall with blue eyes and straw-coloured hair had on a partly buttoned -naval uniform. A pistol glinted in his hand, and an inch or two of -blue-grey steel shone at his belt. The other man's face was sallow, but -he was unarmed, and there was a curious glint in his little dark eyes as -he watched the sealers. - -For a moment they stood looking at each other, and then another door on -the opposite side of the room was driven open and Jordan, rifle in hand, -came in. Behind him came Stickine and Donegal. More sealers in shaggy -furs and greasy canvas trooped in, but still the blue-eyed officer stood -apparently unconcerned. Then Jordan dropped his rifle-butt and held up -his hand. - -"When I want a man to do anything I'll tell him," he said, and turned -gravely to the officer. "You can put that thing down. Nobody's going -to hurt you. Can you talk any English?" - -The officer who, Appleby surmised, was from the Baltic coast, made a -sign of comprehension. "A little--but more easy the French," he said. - -"Then," said Jordan dryly, "we'll get ahead. Fetch Brulee in, -Stickine." - -While Stickine went out the officer laid down his pistol, and with a -little deprecatory gesture straightened his uniform and drew tight his -belt. Then, to Appleby's astonishment, he took out a little silver box -and shook a few cigarettes out from it on to the table. He did not seem -in any way disturbed, though the faces of the big bronzed sealers who -carried clubs and rifles were very grim as they watched him. This was -almost a shock to Appleby, who had hitherto half-instinctively believed -that quiet fearlessness and resolute composure in times of stress and -peril were only to be expected from Englishmen. Yet here was a Russian -helpless in the hands of men whom he knew had a bitter grievance against -him and his comrades, and if he felt the slightest fear of them it was -at least imperceptible. Appleby was, however, to discover later on that -while some lands are considerably more pleasant to live in than others -the fact that he was born in England or Russia, or elsewhere, after all -makes no great difference in the qualities that become any man. - -Then he saw that Stickine had returned, and the officer was speaking. -"What you make here, Captain?" he said, getting out the words with -evident difficulty. - -"He's too slow," said Jordan. "Ask him if he has more men anywhere -around, Brulee." - -"Two of them at the huts, and 'bout a dozen natives," was the answer. - -Jordan nodded, and Montreal stepped forward, his face grey and set, and -his fingers trembling on his rifle. "I guess it's 'bout time I did some -talking too," he said "Ask if he has seen my brother." - -"Get right back until you're wanted. It's me that's running this show," -said Jordan. "Ask him if they've got an Englishman there, Brulee." - -The officer made a little gesture of assent. "They have one who works," -he said. - -"Send for him right now," said Jordan sternly. "Four of my men will go -along in case there's any blundering." - -The dark-skinned man slipped out from behind the table, and when he went -out with four of the sealers behind him the blue-eyed officer held out -the little box. - -"You will do me the pleasure, Captain," he said in French. - -Jordan smiled dryly. "No, thanks," he said. "I've no great use for -these things, and I don't know that I'm open to take anything of that -kind from you just now." - -The Russian, who seemed to understand him, laughed a little. "With -permission," he said, and lighted a cigarette. "Now you can tell me -what you come for, Captain." - -"You can tell him 'bout Motter, Brulee. Two of you will keep a look-out -outside there," said Jordan, and crossing over sat down on the table. - -Then there followed a very anxious interval, and Appleby fancied by the -way the men glanced towards the door that they were as expectant as he -was himself. Now and then one of them moved restlessly, and the lads -could hear the crackle of the stove and the moan of the wind about the -building. They caught very little of Brulee's narrative, but long -afterwards the scene returned to them, and they could see Jordan sitting -very still, with an impassive bronzed face beneath his fur cap, on the -table, and the blue-eyed officer languidly watching him while the smoke -of the cigarette drifted between them. It also seemed to both the lads -that if either of the men let his fear or anger master him a much more -deadly vapour would whirl in thicker wreaths about the lonely building. -Brulee seemed disposed to make the most of his opportunity, but he -stopped at last, and the officer nodded to Jordan comprehendingly. - -"_Lache_. _Infame_! It was not my affair," he said in French. - -After that there was silence, until a tramp of feet grew nearer, and a -murmur rose from the anxious men when a voice came out of the darkness -hoarse and exultant, "We've got him." - -Then, with Montreal and another man in front of them, the sealers came -in, and there was once more a murmur when the first two stopped close by -Jordan, who held out his hand. - -"And you're Tom Allardyce?" he said. - -The man's hand seemed to shake as he grasped the skipper's, and his eyes -grew a trifle hazy when the rest grinned at him encouragingly and -Montreal patted his shoulder. - -"Yes," he said. "I was cast away up here 'most two years ago." - -"Sit down," said Jordan quietly, with a glance at the Russian officer. -"Tell us all about it. Don't worry, and go slow. I've a reason for -wanting to know." - -The man sat down, and there was another little murmur when the sealers -saw his lined and haggard face, for there was on it the stamp of hunger -and suffering. His hands were clawlike, and there was a great scar upon -his forehead. - -"It's good to see you, boys," he said, and his voice died away hoarsely. -Then he turned to Jordan. "You're going to take me back with you?" - -Jordan laughed a little. "Oh, yes," he said. "Look at the boys. I -guess they're not going to let me leave you, if I wanted to." - -The lurking fear died out of Allardyce's eyes. "Well," he said, "I was -cast away--me and an Indian and Stetson, sealing from the old St. -Michael. 'Twas back there on the eastern reefs we came ashore, and when -I got him out Stetson's head was crushed in. That left me and the -Indian, and the Russians sent us west when the gun-boat came. I don't -know how long they kept us yonder, but one night when they sent us down -the coast on a schooner me and the Indian got away from her. The boat -was a good one, and, for it was blowing fresh, we ran back north before -the wind I don't know where, and lived with the natives ashore until the -Indian got drowned in an ice crack while we starved through that winter. -There's lots of things I don't seem to remember, but I got blown off in -a skin boat at last, and when I'd lived most of a week on nothing a -schooner fetched me here." - -It was a very disjointed story, but the sealers could fill in the cold -and hunger of those terrible wanderings which Allardyce, whose face -spoke more plainly for him, left out. Brulee rendered it into French, -and Jordan turned to the officer. - -"Your people take away a white man's liberty and leave him to rot -without a hearing?" he said. - -The Russian made a little deprecatory gesture. "The Department is -slow--or perhaps it is occupied, and he ran away too soon. One waits -the instructions, and if the papers do not come--what would you? -Sometimes a man is forgotten." - -"Did you ever see this man before, Allardyce?" asked Jordan. - -"No," said the sealer. "Not until he came here with the gun-boat a week -ago." - -Jordan nodded, and pointed to the dark-skinned man. "Have the folks here -ill-treated you?" - -"No," said Allardyce. "I had to work for them, and I was glad I had, -but they never did no harm to me." - -Jordan turned once more to the Russians. "I guess," he said grimly, -"that was quite fortunate for all of you. Now, how long have you been -working for them, Allardyce?" - -"Since soon after the ice broke up. When that was I don't quite know." - -"Well," said Jordan dryly, "we'll fix up the thing. I've had to come -here with my schooner for this man, and I'll charge my time to you at -forty dollars the day besides what Motter stole from me. We'll figure -he has been working here two months, anyway, and he'd have got 'bout two -dollars and a half for every day of it in our country. Then there's the -months you kept him on the other coast without giving him a show to make -out his innocence, and his damaged feelings. That will run to five -hundred dollars, anyway, and it's very moderate. You can't do things of -that kind to a Canadian without it costing something. Still, the -trading folks aren't going to lose anything, because the Government's -bound to pay them. Now, have you got any roubles with you?" - -"Very few," said the dark-skinned man in French. "We pay the natives in -provisions." - -Jordan nodded. "Then I'll work it out in seals," he said. "Now I'm -wanting that pistol and your sword from you." - -The blue-eyed officer laid his hand upon the blade. "You can have my -word--a six hour's truce--but this only in one way." - -"Well," said Jordan with a little laugh, "I guess I can trust you, -because we've got your men's rifles, and I'll leave enough of the boys -to take care of you. Montreal, you'll stop with four of them, and the -rest will come along with me. It's going to take a good many -holluschackie to square this deal." - -The Russian nodded, and lighted another cigarette, and the lads went out -with the rest into the misty night. - - - - - *CHAPTER XX* - - *THE NEXT MEETING* - - -The men stopped at last at the head of the slope to the sea, and the -lads discovered that the task before them was a good deal less simple -than they had fancied. There were the seals--they could see them dimly -lying in groups on the shingle or shambling about--but it became evident -that their destruction could not be undertaken in a haphazard fashion, -for Jordan sent two of the men to work round between them and the sea. - -"We'll give them 'bout ten minutes, boys, and then start in. I'm -entitled to so many skins, but I've no use for spoiling the whole herd," -he said. - -Here and there a man beat his hands while they waited, for the night was -cold, others lighted their pipes, and Niven, who was glad to rest his -wrenched foot, sat down. - -"Why don't we go straight in and club them?" he asked Stickine. - -"It wouldn't be the square thing," said the Canadian. "A seal knows a -good deal, and if we killed 'bout half of them among the rest, those -that got away would tell the others, and it would be a long while before -they came back to this beach again." - -"But seals only do things instinctively," said Niven. - -Donegal, who was standing close by, laughed as he asked, "And what is -instinct, anyway?" - -Niven appeared to have some difficulty in finding an answer, and Appleby -grinned at him. "Better tell him you don't know," he said. - -Donegal nodded. "Nor any one else, but the holluschackie have brains in -their heads, as ye will see before this conthract's through. And what -were they given brains for if 'twas not to make use av them? 'Tis the -vanity of ignorance would have ye believe there's no sense in the -wondherful things in the sea. Sure, Donovitch and his Indians could tell -ye better." - -This was a new point of view to Appleby, but being aware that his sealer -comrades had seen more of the denizens of the waters than all the city -men who lectured and wrote about them put together he made no answer. - -"Then when are we going to club them?" asked Niven. - -"When we've drawn out those we want and driven them nice and slow to a -handy place," said Stickine. - -Before they had time for further questions Jordan spoke to Stickine, and -spreading out they floundered down the slope and then closed in on the -seals. The latter made no very great effort to avoid them, and when -they had driven them together Jordan separated those he wanted from the -rest. - -"We'll take these along," he said. - -Then while most of the herd went flopping down the slope in a hurry to -the sea the men urged the rest slowly towards the higher ground, pushing -one here and there with their feet, or prodding them with their rifles. -It was dark, but the lads could see the seals more or less plainly, -though it would have puzzled either of them to describe their -progression. They did not walk, they did not crawl, but every move set -their blubber-coated bodies quivering, and nothing more appropriate than -flopping occurred to Niven. They also went faster than he fancied they -could have done, though the men seemed desirous not to hurry them, and -when he asked, Stickine told him the reason. - -"If you make them hot before you club them, they'll spoil their pelts," -he said. "You could strip the fur right off a seal that had been run -too hard with your fingers." - -They went on, and when now and then one of the seals made a futile -endeavour to get away, or stopped, and, raising itself in a curious -fashion, gazed at its persecutors, the lads commenced to be sorry for -them. They also felt a squeamishness that was almost too much for them -when at last, after they and the seals had rested a little, the men set -about the slaughter. After the first few minutes both lads slipped away, -for the sight of the limp, quivering bodies and whirling clubs almost -sickened them, but they dare not go too far, and the thud of the -crushing blows followed them. Niven had seen Donovitch stand over his -victims and beat their heads in, and the recollection of it remained -with him. - -"Of course you can't have seal-skins without killing seals, but they -seemed so harmless--and I wish I hadn't come," he said. - -His regret was even stronger when Jordan called him, and very much -against his wishes he helped to roll round the horribly smelling, greasy -bodies while the others flayed them. At every clutch his fingers sank -in the warm, shaking blubber, and when at last the work was over his -face was white and he shivered from revulsion. It was daylight now, and -the men stood about him dabbled here and there with blood, and foul with -grease all over, while he fancied that one could have smelt them from -the schooner. - -"It's beastly," he said to Appleby. "I feel as if I'd eaten no end of -things that didn't agree with me." - -Then Jordan sent two men back for the Russian officer, and nodded to him -when he came. - -"I want you to see what we've got. We're 'bout square now," he said. - -The officer glanced down at the slaughtered holluschackie with a little -gesture of disgust. Then he laughed as he said in French, "It is not my -affair. I see you again one day, Captain, and it is perhaps different -then." - -Brulee made this plain, and Jordan smiled. "If you do it's quite likely -I can show as good a fist as you. Anyway, we're going off now, and I'll -bid you good-morning. You'll find your men's rifles down there on the -beach when you want them." - -In another half-hour they were pulling off to the schooner, and when -they sat at breakfast in the hold Stickine grinned at the lads. - -"Feeling any better now?" he said. "You don't like clubbing -holluschackie?" - -"No," said Appleby with a little shiver of disgust. "I've been wondering -whether it's not going to make trouble for Jordan, too, because somebody -will, in all probability, send on the demand to Canada if those folks -ask their Government to pay the damage." - -Stickine smiled dryly. "It's not quite likely that they will," he said. -"The fellows who're responsible do some kind of curious things, and -neither they nor the sealers have much use for talking. 'Pears to me -that more than one Government is getting tired of us, and the Russian -department bosses want a man who knows how to keep out of trouble. If -he gets worrying them they're quite likely to find another use for him. -Of course, there'll be some writing, but Ned Jordan only took what he -was entitled to when he might have swept the island, and it isn't going -to suit anybody to drag Tom Allardyce in." - -Appleby could not decide then or afterwards whether Stickine was right, -but it seemed to him that there was a good deal of reason in his -opinion. In any case he had little leisure to consider the affair just -then, for Jordan called them up on deck to hoist the topsails, and they -spent most of that day watching for a wind. It was as usual dim and -hazy, and the lads fancied that Jordan was a trifle anxious, for he -swept the sea with his glasses as they rolled slowly east. Appleby was -also within hearing when he drew Stickine away from the rest. - -"We're in a kind of fix," he said. "There's nothing the Russians -wouldn't do to square up the deal with us, and that fellow we left -behind will be pulling all he's worth for Motter's to turn the gun-boat -loose. If I'd figured we were going to have this weather I'd have set -his boat adrift. Send an Indian to the cross-trees to keep a look-out -for her." - -The wind came, almost too much of it, in the afternoon, and at dusk the -_Champlain_ was lying as close as she could to it with her lighter -canvas stowed, and a nest of reefs to leeward. The lads could see the -white foam flying and the whirling clouds of spray, and were wondering -whether the schooner could weather them on that tack when the Indian -aloft stretched out his hand, and somebody shouted-- - -"Boat close in with the surf." - -Appleby went up the masthoops, and could just make out something that -swung into sight now and then against the whiteness of the surf behind -it. It was, he surmised, a boat, and he saw that Jordan was watching -her under the main-boom. - -"The Russian!" he said. "It don't seem sense to let her get that close -in with the rocks to lee." - -"Somebody waving!" said Stickine, who had taken up the glasses. -"They're used up, and can't pull her out against the sea." - -There was silence for at least another minute, while the men stared at -the whirling spray and the dusky object that was hove up every now and -then, and Niven shivered a little, for he could guess what would happen -to worn-out men, hurled upon those fangs of rock by the frothing sea. -The reefs would mangle them out of human semblance, in all probability. -Then Jordan glanced to weather at the big froth-tipped slopes of water -that rolled up towards them, and shook his head solemnly. - -"We can't let them drown," he said. "Get your maintopsail up, but let -it lie below the gaff, and shake loose the outer jib. We'll want them -when we come to beat her out again." - -"Square away?" asked Montreal at the helm. - -Jordan nodded. "Out main-boom, boys. Slack up everything." - -The long boom swung outboard, the schooner swung round, and as she swept -in for the reefs with the wind on her quarter now the lads realized as -well as the others did, the risks the skipper was quietly taking. It was -easy to run for the boat, but to beat out again would be a very -different affair, and Appleby fancied that only a very handy vessel -would do it once she felt the grip of the sea that grew higher as it -swept forward through shallowing water to crumble on the reefs. It was -also unpleasantly evident as he watched the white spouting that swimming -would not be much use to him if she did not succeed. Still, he had -confidence in the lean, grim-faced man who stood quietly by the house. -The men in the boat would have taken the schooner from him and ruined -him if they could, but Appleby knew that so long as the _Champlain's_ -spars and canvas would hold out, Jordan would not let them drown. - -In another few minutes it was also apparent that the Russians were in -sorest need of help, for each time she swung up the boat seemed closer -to the surf. The men were pulling desperately while the spray that blew -in from the streaming bows whirled about them, but every one could see -they were making no headway, and the reefs were close astern. At last -Jordan signed to Stickine. - -"You've got to be handy, boys," he said quietly. - -Appleby was at the rail, and saw for a moment the straining bodies swing -with the thrashing oars and the white upturned faces, as the schooner -rushed by the boat. A great wreath of foam frothed about her as she -swung over the top of a sea, but in another second she had passed -astern, and every man on board the _Champlain_ became busy when Jordan -raised his hand. Down went the helm, in came the long boom, there was a -great rattle of blocks and banging of canvas, and as the schooner swept -round a voice rang through the din. - -"Get a holt of them. Up gaff topsail and jib while she's shaking!" - -Appleby, as it happened, was at the topsail halliard, and could see very -little as they ran the sail up. He, however, knew the schooner had run -to leeward of the boat, and now when she lay to, he had a momentary -glimpse of the Russians. They were flying towards her with the boat -hove up on the back of a sea, but the _Champlain_ rolled heavily and he -lost sight of her. In another moment or two there was a thud and a -shouting beneath him to lee, and struggling with the topsail tack, he -could dimly see black figures leaning down through the shrouds and -apparently clutching at something in the sea. Then bedraggled objects -came scrambling over the rail, and Montreal was whirling the wheel round -while something drove away astern. - -"They're here. Haul staysail," said Jordan. - -It had taken less than a minute, and now the _Champlain_, heaving her -bows out of a seatop, was going on again nobody seemed to consider that -they had done anything unusual, though it was evident that it might -still cost them very dearly. The reefs were waiting close astern, there -was also an ominous spouting in front of them, and black seas that had -grown steeper came seething out of the dimness to weather. The schooner -was hove down by her canvas until the lads could scarcely stand upon her -deck, but she must carry the last inch of it if she was to beat off -shore. - -On she went, deluging her jibs at every plunge and drenching her -foresail half-way up, until the reef was close ahead, and Jordan signed -with his hand. Then with canvas banging she swept round head to wind, -and, while the men, who needed no telling, grasped the jib-sheets, hung -there a few breathless moments, for everybody on board her knew that if -she would not stay, or come round on the other tack, she would be on the -reef in another minute. Appleby cast one brief glance at the tumultuous -spouting and chaos of crumbling seas, and then turned his eyes away, for -he had seen rather more than was good for him. - -"Let draw staysail. Lee-sheets," said somebody, and she was coming -round with them. - -Dripping men grabbed at the ropes, there was a banging of canvas, and -she was thrashing out on the other tack when Jordan, turning to the -blue-eyed officer, held out his hand. - -"It's kind of fortunate we came along just then. I'll fix you up by and -by," he said. - -There was still just enough light to see by, and Appleby afterwards -remembered the cloud of spray that blew into the foresail, the white -seething of the reefs, and the two figures beneath the drenched canvas -on the _Champlain's_ deck. The Russian stood erect in his wet uniform, -Jordan swaying a little, uncouth and ungainly in his spray-wet canvas -and greasy furs, but the two shook hands as men and equals, and Appleby -dimly realized that a great deal was implied by that grasp. One was, up -there, an outlaw, the other an officer of the Tsar, but the likeness -between them was greater than the difference of race, and Appleby -commenced to understand things he had heard and read that had once been -incomprehensible to him. Men, it seemed, were much the same wherever -they came from, and neither varying speech nor colour could make them -less than men, while the pride that set the nations at each others' -throats was an evil thing. Then there flashed into his memory lines he -had once been made to learn, and had straightway forgotten, "When the -battle flags are furled." - -In the meanwhile he was wanted to get another pull on the -staysail-sheet, and when that was done all his attention was occupied by -the reefs and the schooner. Hove down by her canvas she put her bows in -every now and then, and her deck ran water, while the masts were -groaning under the pressure, and the surf seemed very little farther -away. Once or twice when a white sea smote her it seemed to both the -lads who clung tight to what was handiest that she was going over, and -Appleby saw that Montreal glanced at Jordan as though asking a question -from the wheel. The skipper, however, shook his head. - -"We've no time for luffing. She has got to take what comes," he said. - -For several minutes it seemed scarcely possible that the _Champlain_ -could resist the overwhelming heeling stress of her canvas, and her deck -was swept fore and aft during them. Then there was a lull in the wind, -and as she lifted her rail a little, Stickine glanced at the boat astern -of them. - -"She's most swamped, and a big drag on us," he said. "Shall I cut the -painter?" - -Again Jordan shook his head. "Not unless we have to. We'll want her -to-morrow." - -For an hour they thrashed to windward before they could clear the reefs, -and when at last the horrible white seething swept away behind them, and -they swung the topsail and mainsail peak down it was with a great -contentment that the lads, who were drenched through, crawled away -below. Niven laughed excitedly as he stripped off his dripping clothes. - -"I'm glad we got them," he said. "Still, I wouldn't like to do this -kind of thing often." - -In the meanwhile the Russian officer had gone with Jordan into the -cabin, but the bluejackets were put into the hold, and though nobody -could understand them they smiled and nodded to the sealers and took all -the tobacco that was offered them. Next morning the wind had once more -fallen, and a little grey smear, which was apparently an island, showed -on the hazy horizon. The lads knew that Brulee had taken an unusually -good breakfast into the cabin, and Jordan and the Russians came on deck -together. Montreal, at a sign from the former, span round the wheel, -and the _Champlain_ came up head to wind. She lay there for ten minutes -while the Russians emptied and dried up their boat, then water and a bag -of provisions were lowered into her, and Jordan smiled at the blue-eyed -officer. - -"There's not going to be much wind for three or four hours, and you'll -be ashore by then," he said. "It's a good pull, but you'll be that much -longer sending the gun-boat after me." - -The Russian, who seemed to understand him, laughed and clapped the -skipper's shoulder. Then he glanced down at his uniform with a -deprecatory gesture. - -"It is my affair," he said in French. "But, my captain, what you do for -us we others do not forget." - -Then he went over the side, and the boat slid away when he spoke to his -men. Jordan signed to Montreal and the schooner went on again, but -looking aft they saw the blue-eyed officer for a moment standing upright -bareheaded, as the boat lurched over a swell. They saw no more of him, -but when they sat at dinner Stickine came grinning into the hold. - -"That fellow left a little silver box with some pencil writing in it on -the cabin table," he said. "Brulee's been down worrying out what it -means, and it's quite a long while since I saw Ned Jordan so proud of -anything." - - - - - *CHAPTER XXI* - - *IN VANCOUVER* - - -It was, as Donegal observed, in American waters, but far enough outside -them, that the _Champlain_ fell in with the last holluschackie herd, and -that day bright sunlight shone down on the gently heaving sea. There -was not a boat that returned without its load, and tired as they were -the men seemed unusually cheerful as they pulled back to the schooner -when dusk was creeping in. - -"The seals were a long way out to-day," said Appleby when they stopped -pulling for a minute or two. "Except when we first came up we haven't -found them so far from the beach before." - -Donegal nodded as he shifted his brown hands along his oar. "'Tis -getting into training they are. They'll be off south to where they come -from by and by, the same as us," he said. "When is it we're taking the -road, Stickine?" - -Stickine laughed softly as he glanced towards the north across the long -heave, and a little cold breeze fanned the lads' faces as they followed -his gaze. - -"I don't know. Jordan hasn't told me yet, but I guess we'll be shoving -her along for Vancouver the first time the wind frees us," he said. - -"It's fair now," said Niven with a curious eagerness. - -"Is anybody telling you different?" Stickine said dryly. "It's time we -were getting our supper, boys." - -They went on again, and though they had rowed since morning the stroke -was faster than it had been before, while all seemed expectant when they -lay waiting for the other boats to give them room close by the rolling -schooner. At last they hove her in, and there was a curious silence -when Jordan moved a pace or two forward and glanced at the trysail with -a little smile in his face. The schooner was just creeping through the -water under it and her jibs. - -"We'll have it down and the mainsail up. It would be a kind of pity to -waste a slant like this," he said, and stopped a moment while the men -watched him expectantly with the twinkle showing plainer in his eyes. "I -don't know any reason you shouldn't give her the topsails too. She'd be -that much nearer Vancouver to-morrow, boys." - -In a moment the deck seemed covered with scrambling men. Blocks -rattled, brawny backs were bent, great folds of rustling canvas swayed -aloft, and as it swelled and banged Stickine's voice rose up, "Blow, -boys, blow!" - -The peak of the big mainsail tilted faster, with a fresh rattle the -foresail stretched out too, and the lads' cheeks were flushed and a -light was in their eyes when with voices hoarse from excitement they -swelled the roaring chorus-- - - "Blow, boys, blow for Californio, - For there's shining gold in heaps, I'm told, - On the sunny Sacramento." - - -It grew louder and faster, and they pulled with feverish eagerness as -they sang, while when at last one or two gasped and stopped, their -voices were replaced by the wheezing of Brulee's accordion as playing -with all his might he capered on the hatch. - -"Way oh, Sacramento!" the voices rose again, and stopped when Montreal -turned on Niven, who was dragging a sail after him. - -"We've no use for that thing. Get the biggest yard header. We're -starting home," he said. - -Then they sent the topsail up, and the schooner was sliding south with a -merry splashing at the bows when the last refrain floated out to -leeward, and was lost in the silence that crept up across the sea, from -the frozen North they had turned their backs upon. - - "Shining gold in heaps, I'm told, - Down there in Sacramento." - - -"Now I guess we'll fix these pelts up," said Jordan quietly. - -Without a thought of weariness they worked most of the night, and the -lads did not even notice the horrible smell, while when at last the deck -was swilled down Niven went forward and leaned a moment over the rail in -the bows. The jibs swung blackly through the night ia front of him, the -sea frothed white below, and the breeze was fresh and cold now, but the -lad's face was flushed, for with every lurch that flung off the creaming -foam the _Champlain_ was bearing him so much nearer home. Then he -turned and, because a half-moon hung low in the sky, noticed that there -was another dark figure close beside him. It was Tom Allardyce, and -when the man moved his head his face still showed worn and drawn, but -his eyes seemed to shine, and it was with a curious little sigh that -bespoke a great content he stretched out his hand and pointed to the -south. - -"She's footing it bravely--and taking us home," he said. "Many a time -I've wondered what it would feel like--up there--when there wasn't much -use worrying over things of that kind." - -"It must have been beastly," said Niven, feeling that this very -inadequately expressed his sympathy, and the man's voice was a trifle -strained as he answered him. - -"It's behind me now, and the folks I left down there in Vancouver are -alive and waiting for me. It's--kind of wonderful, but Ned Jordan fixed -it all. Well, I'm not the only one who'll bless the _Champlain_ and -him." - -Niven felt curiously moved as he went down into the hold, and long -afterwards the memory of the lonely man staring south across the dusky -sea from the bows of the _Champlain_ returned to him. Just then, -however, his blood was tingling with exultation. He, too, was going -home, and there were folks in England waiting to welcome him. - -Next day it was blowing tolerably fresh, but though the spray whirled -about them and the seas frothed white behind, not an inch of canvas was -taken in, and it was with a little smile in his haggard face that Tom -Allardyce held the wheel. As it happened the favouring wind swept south -with them, and one morning a cry brought every man on deck. - -"There, that's _British Columbia_," said Stickine when the lads stared -over the rail. "She'd most have licked the C.P.R. steamer." - -Looking east the lads could see a great white rampart lifted high -against the sky. Drifting mists cut it off from the world below, and -here and there the fires of sunrise burned up from behind it through the -hollows between the peaks. No light, however, touched the western snow -as yet, and it shone ethereally majestic in its blue-white purity. Then -a single golden ray streamed heavenward like a flash of a celestial -beacon, and the lads watched it in wondering silence held still almost -in awe, and forgot the limitless sweep of prairie, rock and forest that -lay between those mountains' eastern slope and Montreal, until -Stickine'e voice reminded them that they had still work to do. - -"She'd go home faster, boys, with another foot of main-sheet in," he -said, cheerily. - -It was a week later when one night they crept past Port Parry before a -faint wind. Ahead the lights of Victoria blinked at them, and every now -and then a smoky haze drove athwart the moon, while Appleby, watching -the dusky shore slide by, could almost have fancied it was once more the -night he and Niven had been blown away from the _Aldebaran_. She was -not there, however, and though the scene was the same he and his comrade -had changed. They had seen things few men have looked upon up in the -misty seas, and the spirit of the silent North had set its stamp on -them, giving them gravity in place of boyish exuberance, and for the -quality Niven had esteemed as dash the sterner, colder courage of -steadfastness. - -Presently a sailing-boat came flitting towards them, and a man in her -waved his liaud. - -"Hello, Jordan! Going straight across?" he said. - -"Oh, yes," said Jordan, who seemed to recognize the voice. "I'm getting -along as fast as I can, though there's not much wind. Have you anything -for us?" - -"No," said the man. "I just wanted to make sure of you. Holway of -Vancouver asked me to wire him if I saw you pass." - -"Well," said Jordan, "what has it to do with him?" - -"I don't know," said the other man, as the boat dropped astern. "Still, -he seemed quite anxious to hear when you were coming." - -Jordan turned to Stickine. "There's something I don't understand. I -don't owe a dollar to Holway or anybody." - -Niven heard a little chuckle, and drew Appleby away as he saw that -Donegal was grinning at them. "I fancy Ned Jordan will get a surprise -to-morrow. It's you and I Holway is anxious about," said he. - -An hour later Jordan called them into the little cabin. "We'll be in -to-morrow, and have got to have a talk," he said. "Now, I've a use -onboard the _Champlain_ for lads like you, and would be open to take you -again next season, but"--and he looked at Niven--"you'll be hearing from -your folks in the old country?" - -"Yes, sir," said Niven, checking a smile with difficulty, as he glanced -at Appleby. "I fancy they will want me home again." - -"It would cost a good many dollars to take you there, and this is a -great country for a young man who wants to make his living," said -Jordan. "You figure they will send you them?" - -"Yes, sir," said Niven gravely. "I believe they will." - -"Well," said Jordan, "in the meanwhile you can come home with me. That -leaves your partner out, and he turned to Appleby. "Now, if you're open -to sail north again it's quite likely I might get you something to do -this winter on the wharf or in a mill, and I guess Mrs. Jordan could -find room in the house for you." - -Appleby felt the kindliness which had prompted this offer to one whom -the skipper evidently believed to be a destitute lad, and his face -flushed a little. - -"It is very good of you, sir, but I fancy my contract with the -shipowners is binding still," he said. "Anyway, I would like to write -and ask Mr. Niven." - -Jordan nodded. "One has to do the square thing. Take your time, my lad, -and I'll put you in the way of earning your keep in the meanwhile." - -Then Niven stood up. "I fancy he will go ashore with me to-morrow, -sir," he said. "That is why, as I may not have another opportunity, I -want to thank you for the kindness you have shown us both. I believe -that others, as well as Appleby and I, will always be grateful to you." - -Jordan looked at him curiously, and then made a little gesture of -impatience. "Now, that's a kind of talking I've no use for, and you've -earned everything you got out of me. You'll let me know what you're -going to do to-morrow, Appleby." - -They went back to their duties, Niven chuckling over something with -evident delight, and it was next day when they crept past the pines on -Beaver Point, into view of the clustering roofs of Vancouver. As they -slid into the blue inlet a boat came pulling towards them, and while the -mainsail peak swung down a gentleman climbed on board. Jordan, who -recognized him as one of the wealthiest merchants of that city, nodded -in salute, and then stared at him in astonishment. - -"You'll know me, Captain Jordan, though I've not had the pleasure of -talking to you before," he said. "I've come for the two lads you picked -up, and with your permission I'd like to take them now. Niven's father -has asked me to look after them, and you'll find them at my house any -time you want them the next few days." - -[Illustration: "'I'VE COME FOR THE TWO LADS YOU PICKED UP.'"] - -Jordan seemed to gasp, Stickine nodded, and Donegal smiled curiously as -he glanced at the skipper. - -"I could let them off their work to-day, though they're not through -yet," said Jordan. "Still, I was figuring on their going along with me. -They might worry Mrs. Holway, and my wife is used to lads from the -schooners." - -The merchant, who laid his hand on Niven's shoulder, laughed a little. -"I scarcely fancy they'll go to sea as sealers again," he said. "Boys, -we'll go right along, and you needn't worry about your things. We'll -get you an outfit at a store in the city." - -The lads shook hands with Jordan, who had apparently not yet recovered -from his astonishment, and only looked at them gravely when Niven said, -"Thank you for letting us off, sir, and I'll just bid you good-morning -now, because we're coming down to see you and the boys again." - -Then they sprang into the boat, and Jordan shook his head bewilderedly -as they pulled away. "Well, I'm jim-banged--and that lad was talking -straight all the while," he said. "Going along to stay with one of the -biggest men in Vancouver City!" - -"Sure," said Donegal, "an' who would take better care av the son av a -ducal earl?" - -In the meanwhile Niven and Appleby went home with Mr. Holway to a very -pretty wooden house on the hill above the city, where they revelled in -the luxury of a bath with hot water and clean towels, and new clothes, -though it took them an hour or two to get used to the tight collars that -galled their necks. The merchant and his wife were also very kind to -them, and when they concluded the recountal of their adventures late -that night, Niven said, "Now, there's one thing I would like, and that -would be to do something for all of them. I feel quite sure my father -would be pleased with it." - -Mr. Holway nodded. "I believe he would. In fact, he wrote me to make -the skipper any recompense that appeared advisable. The trouble, -however, is that things are different here from what they are in the old -country, and these men earn dollars enough themselves to resent any -attempt to pay them for a kindness." - -"Still, it could be managed somehow," said Niven. - -"Yes," said Mr. Holway, "I believe it could. We can find out if the -skipper wants, for example, a good sextant, and I've a notion that the -men would be pleased if you gave them a farewell dinner. It would show -that you still looked upon yourself as one of them." - -"Yes," said Niven, "that would be the best thing." - -When they next saw Jordan he was squaring accounts with the men, and -apparently too busy to do more than nod to them. They accordingly -waited among the rest, who were dressed much as they were in neat, new -clothes, and had only the bronze in their, faces and the steadiness of -their eyes, to show they were from the sea, until at last he drew his -pen through two lines on the roll on the table in front of him. - -"Christopher Niven and Thomas Appleby," he said, holding out two little -piles of silver coins with a few bills beneath them on a document. -"Look through that, and tell me if it's all quite straight before you -sign it." - -Niven flushed a trifle as he said, "I don't fancy we should take the -dollars, sir." - -Jordan looked at him somewhat grimly. "I've a good deal to put through, -and no use for talking," he said. "You made the deal the night I found -you, and they're yours, my lad." - -The lads took the dollars, and found Mr. Holway waiting for them when -they went out. He glanced at the handfuls of coin, and laughed a little -as he asked, "Whose are all those dollars?" - -"They're mine," said Niven, with a trace of pride in his smile. "I've -earned them, and I fancy it would astonish the folks at home. My father -used to tell me now and then that I'd never have a shilling that wasn't -given me. Now take me to one of your biggest shops, because I'm going -to buy my mother a brooch or a bracelet with the first money I ever -earned in my life." - -The merchant nodded gravely. "I fancy that would only be the square -thing," he said. "Now, I was keeping myself and my sister when I was -younger than you." - -The bracelet was bought, and during the day Niven sent a note down to -the schooner, while on the next evening they and the sealers sat down to -a very elaborate dinner in a big room of the Canadian Pacific Hotel. -They were all of them present, and nobody appeared in any way -uncomfortable or ill at ease in his unusual clothes, for the life they -led had made them men, which is very much the same and occasionally a -greater thing than gentlemen. In fact, Niven felt curiously abashed -when before they went into the dining room he spread out before them the -things he had brought. There was a silver-mounted sextant for Jordan, a -knife that most sealers coveted with an inlaid handle for Stickine, a -watch for Donegal, and boxes of tobacco for every one of the rest. - -"I'd like you to take these little things just to remember us by," he -said diffidently. "I wouldn't have asked you if they had been of any -value, but it would be good of you to keep them, because you have, -though of course it isn't for that, done a good deal for Appleby and -me." - -Donegal's eyes twinkled. "Tis twice, anyway, I've run ye round the deck -wid a rope's end, and I would have licked ye often if 'twould have been -of any use," he said. "Sure, we'll take them and remember ye. 'Tis not -every day the son av a ducal earl goes sealing with me." - -Then they went in to dinner, and when Niven had insisted on Jordan -taking the head of the table most of them made a somewhat astonishing -meal, that is, to those who did not know how the sealers ate and worked. -Afterwards there were a few speeches, but these were to the point and -short. - -"Mr. Niven and boys," said Jordan. "I've had a good company with me -this run, and the next time I go to sea I don't want a better one. I'm -counting the lads in, and we'll feel kind of lonely without them when -they go back to the old country. That's 'bout all. I'm not much use at -talking." - -Then Donegal stood up and rubbed his coppery hair. "Sure," he said, -"'tis rough on me. They're taking my bhoys away--just when me and -Stickine was licking them into men. Still, I'll be bearing it better if -'tis credit they're doing us in the old country. Boys, ye will not go -back on Donegal, and if sealing has taught ye anything 'tis this that's -at the bottom of the scheme: 'Thrue hearts is worth more than silver -spoons,' an if that's not quite what the pote said it's what he was -meaning." - -It was getting late, and there was a pause in the laughter, when Niven -rose up. "I wish I could talk as I want to--but now when I've so much -to tell you I can't," he said, standing with flushed face and eyes -shining at the foot of the table. "Still, before we go I want you to -join in a last good wish with me. Boys, here's long life to Ned -Jordan." - -There was a roar, and the voices rang through it one by one. "The man -who beat the Russians and the Americans too. The skipper who never went -back on his crew. Ned Jordan of the _Champlain_ who brought me home -again!" - -Niven long remembered them standing about the long table with the -sea-bronze in their faces and the pride in their eyes that were turned -on Jordan. At last he once more stood up awkwardly. - -"Boys," he said simply, "I couldn't have done nothing without the rest -of you, and with the same men behind me it wouldn't be very much to do -it all again." - -Then they went out, shaking hands with Niven and Appleby, who stood in -the great hall of the hotel, to bid farewell to them. Last of all came -Jordan, and he stopped a moment. - -"I've been wrong a good many times in my life, Mr. Niven, and that makes -it the easier to tell you I was more club-headed than usual 'bout you," -he said. "Still, I figure there's nothing but good feeling between us -now, and you'll not forget Ned Jordan if you come back again." - -Then he went down the pathway, and the two lads stood still, until from -out of the darkness down by the water-front a voice they knew raised a -song and the last of it came faintly up to them-- - - "Shining gold in heaps, I'm told, - On the bunks of Sacramento." - - -Niven glanced at Appleby, and his voice was not quite steady as he said, -"Starting home to-morrow--and we'll not see any of them again. Well, -I'm sorry." - -"Yes," said Appleby quietly. "I feel that way too." - - - - - *CHAPTER XXII* - - *THE RESULT OF THE CHOICE* - - -The Montreal express was waiting to commence its six days' eastward -journey when Appleby and Niven stood in the C.P.R. station next -afternoon. The lads, however, scarcely noticed the great locomotive and -long cars, or the roofs of the city that rose row and row up the face of -the hill with the ragged spires of the sombre pines towering high above -them. They were looking out on the blue inlet which, streaked in places -by the smoke of the mills, lay shining in the sun, with dusky forests -and a lofty line of snow beyond. Broad in the foreground rode the -_Champlain_, looking very small and dainty with her bare masts standing -high above the sweep of bulwarks, and they could recognize the men -stripping the canvas off her. Behind her with the beaver ensign -streaming at her peak another schooner was beating in, and Niven smiled -curiously as he followed her with his eyes. - -"It's the _Argo_," he said. "We'll be off in a minute or two--and of -course I'm glad we're going home. Still, it hurts a little to leave it -all behind." - -Appleby nodded, for he fancied he knew what Niven was feeling, and it -was with a faint sigh he turned towards the cars. - -"It will be a long time before I forget the _Champlain_," he said. -"Still, you see we couldn't be sealers." - -Then a big bell commenced ringing, and Mr. Holway came up. "Here are -your ticket coupons right through to Liverpool, and the Allan boat will -sail an hour or two after you get to Montreal," he said. "Better take -your places." - -They shook hands with him while the big engine panted, and swung -themselves on to the platform of the nearest car. It lurched forward, -Mr. Holway waving his hand to them, slid away behind, wharf and mill -went by, but they still stood out on the platform looking back at the -_Champlain_, until with a sudden roar of wheels the train swept into the -shadow of the pines that shut out blue inlet and schooner from their -sight. Then Niven sighed a little and Appleby looked at him with a -curious little smile. - -"That's the last of her, Chriss," he said. "We've got to look forward -now." - -They were, however, soon too occupied for any vague regrets, and that -journey from ocean to ocean over British soil excited their wonder and -now and then brought them a little thrill of pride. Hour by hour the -cars went lurching through the shadow of great pine-forests, and up an -awful chasm with a river foaming far away below, swung over dizzy -trestles, and past flashing glaciers through a tremendous desolation of -rock and ice and snow that no man's foot had ever trodden. Still, the -valleys were sprinkled with little wooden towns from which there rose -the scream of saws and the smoke of mines, while when two great engines -hauled them slowly in snake-like curves up to the Selkirk passes the -lads stood gazing in silent awe at the white peaks above them. - -"The men who built this road would stick at nothing," said Niven with a -little gasp of wonder as he glanced back at the shining metals which lay -apparently straight beneath him. - -Later, with a roar of wheels flung back from the dark rocks that had for -centuries barred off from the prairie the wild mountain land, they -climbed the Kicking Horse defile beside a frothing river, and went -roaring down into the rolling hills on the Rockies' eastern side. These, -too, swept back and faded, and they were racing eastwards straight as -the crow flies across the prairie. - -Little wooden stations, herds of sheep and cattle, lonely mounted men -seen miles away, were left behind, and still hour by hour the great -white levels stretched away. From the dawn that flushed red before them -until the sunset flamed behind, the gaunt telegraph poles and shining -metals that led straight on came flying back to them, and there was no -change in the white waste the moonlight shone upon. Then they ran -through yellow stubble where the splendid wheat had been, past lonely -homesteads, lines of toiling teams, and clouds of dust and blue smoke -where the thrashers were working in the field, until they rolled across -a great river into Winnipeg City. - -There they stopped an hour or two, and afterwards ran past vast blue -lakes into the forests again, swept across wooden bridges over frothing -rivers, until the lads clinging to the platform looked down on an inland -sea when the dusty cars went lurching along the Superior shore over a -road riven out of the adamantine granite that had been paid for with -brave men's lives. By and by they came out of the wilderness again, and -swept through green Ontario past wooden farms and orchards into -Montreal, where they had decided to join the steamer, though they could -have done so nearer the sea. They were, however, stiff and aching, and -glad to stretch their limbs, while Niven stared about him in wonder as -they walked through Montreal and stopped a moment outside the great -cathedral. - -"It's a city of palaces and churches, and there's no dust and smoke at -all," he said. "I never fancied they'd places of this kind in Canada. -Well, we'll go on to the steamer as soon as we've worked out the kinks -we got in the cars." - -The steamer went down the river soon after they reached her, and it was -an hour or two before the lads felt at home on board her. She seemed so -big and high above the water after the _Champlain_, and they felt almost -abashed and out of place amidst the luxury of the great saloons. That -did not, however, last long, and there was much to occupy them, the huge -rafts of timber with houses on them, barges piled with hay until they -resembled a drifting farmyard, the countless islands they steamed among, -and the tin-roofed villages along the wooded shores. Then they stopped -where the river narrows under the battlements of Quebec, and saw the -crowded roofs of the city climb the slopes of the plateau where Wolfe -won that great Dominion for England. - -After that the river grew broader, until at last they rolled out past -the rocks of Labrador into the Atlantic, and it was scarcely a fortnight -since they left Vancouver when one night the liner steamed into the -Mersey. Rows of lights blinked at them through the smoke and drizzle, -whistles screamed, steamers crowded with passengers went by, and at last -the tender swung alongside. Then amidst the bustle and confusion a -gentleman forcing his way through the groups of travellers grasped -Appleby's hand, and he saw his comrade, who did not seem abashed as he -once would have done, being hugged publicly by Mrs. Niven. - -In another minute she had turned to Appleby, and Mr. Niven led both of -them under a big electric light. He stared hard at them, and then smiled -at his wife. - -"Well," he said slowly, "these are not the lads we sent away. The sea -has done a good deal for them, and if I hadn't been looking for him I -would scarcely have known my son." - -It was a very happy party the tender took ashore, and for several days -Mrs. Niven, who regaled the lads with dainties and fussed over them, -would scarcely let Chriss out of her sight. On the third night, -however, Mr. Niven called them into his own room. - -"And now it's about time we had a little talk," he said with a trace of -dryness in his smile, as, lighting a cigar, he laid the box on the -table. "You can take one if you like. No doubt you know the flavour by -this time, and it would take a good deal to hurt you now." - -Chriss grinned at Appleby. "As a matter of fact we found that out at -Sandycombe, sir, though the results were very far from encouraging," he -said. - -"No?" said Mr. Niven. - -Appleby laughed. "I lost a good chance of winning the quarter-mile, and -Chriss spent two Saturdays writing lines." - -"I understand," said Mr. Niven dryly, "that you didn't get many luxuries -on board the _Aldebaran_." - -"We didn't," said Chriss. "Still, after a month or so, there wasn't -much we couldn't eat except the stuff in one barrel the pickle had run -out of. Appleby tried it once when we hadn't had anything worth -mentioning for a week. Tom, how long did you revel in that pork?" - -"About two minutes," said Appleby. "Eating it wasn't quite as nice as -skinning holluschackie." - -Mr. Niven nodded, but there was a twinkle in his eyes, and once more he -noticed the steadiness with which they returned his gaze, and that -though they smiled there was a new gravity in their sea-tanned faces. - -"I fancy you have found out how much one can do without, and that is a -good deal gained," he said. "Still, all that is beside the question, for -I want to know right off how you like the sea, and I've no use for -anything but the straightest kind of talking." - -Chriss seemed a trifle astonished. "That was just how Ned Jordan -spoke," he said. - -Mr. Niven laughed. "You may remember that I have been over a good deal -of Canada on business and in Vancouver. In fact, you may do so too. It -depends on your answer to my question." - -Chriss sat silent for almost a minute in place of speaking at once, -which is more than he would have done before he went to sea. Then he -answered very slowly. - -"Well, I like the sea, and would be willing to go back again, but -not--if it could be helped--in the _Aldebaran_. Still, after what I -have seen of it, I fancy I could be quite content to live ashore if -there were other things for me to do." - -"Even if people laughed at you for swallowing the anchor, which I -believe is how they put it?" asked Mr. Niven. - -Chriss laughed without any sign of confusion or embarrassment, and his -father noticed it. "One doesn't mind a little banter after being kicked -with seaboots, and growled at all day for weeks. You don't fancy it -would matter greatly if they did?" - -"Not in the least," said Mr. Niven with dry approval, "In fact, the man -who does not mind being made fun of has often the best cause for -laughing. So you would go back to sea if I told you to?" - -"Yes, sir," said Chriss. "Still, if you fancied it would be better I -would stay ashore." - -"Then," said Mr. Niven, "we'll decide on the latter. You might after -years of hard work, and if you were very fortunate, make five hundred -pounds a year at sea, but while there are thousands of lads in the -country who would be very content with the prospect of getting it, there -are considerably fewer who have your opportunities, and by and by I -shall want somebody to take up my business after me. If you are to do -it you must begin at once at the bottom, do what you are told, and make -your way upwards slowly as you would at sea. Now, then, would it suit -you to go down to my office at nine o'clock the day after to-morrow?" - -"Yes, sir," said Chriss. "It would." - -"Then," said Mr. Niven, "that will do in the meanwhile, though we will -have a good deal to talk about later. Now, Appleby, you have heard what -I proposed to Chriss, and we can find room for you. I will see you get -a fair start in life--and what it may lead to afterwards will depend -largely upon yourself." - -Appleby's answer was quiet but resolute. "I have to thank you, sir, but -I am afraid I should never be quite contented away from the sea." - -"Don't be hasty," said Mr. Niven. "It's a hard life, but you know that -better than I do. I also fancy that if you serve me well you will be a -richer man by and by than you ever would be at sea." - -Appleby looked at him steadily. "I've been considering ever since I -left the _Aldebaran_, sir. It's hard enough--but I can't help fancying -it is the life that is best for me." - -Mr. Niven nodded gravely. "Then you are right in going back, but we'll -try to find you a more comfortable ship. Well, we have decided quite -enough for one night, and I fancy Mrs. Niven is waiting for you." - -The lads went out, and though both of them afterwards found there was -now and then need of all their courage and endurance in the lives they -led neither regretted the decision they had made. Niven went into his -father's office, and Appleby back to sea, while a good many things -happened to both of them before the former, who was now a partner, -returned on business to Vancouver. The day after he got there he stood -on the wharf with Mr. Holway. It was crowded with travellers making for -a steamer on the point of sailing, for the Montreal express had just -come in, but Niven was watching the trail of swiftly-moving smoke that -smeared the blue sky behind the great pines on Beaver Point. - -"That will be her by the pace she's making," he said. - -Mr. Holway nodded. "Yes. They're wonderful boats," he said. "It's a -long way to Japan, but they keep their time like a clock, and they'll -not check the engines until she's close up to the wharf." - -"Twin screws," said Niven. "Still, with the barque yonder there's very -little room to swing a big vessel in, though, of course, he could scrape -past the schooner and back one propeller." - -Mr. Holway laughed. "You might have been to sea yourself!" - -"Well," said Niven dryly, "I have, and they taught me a good deal in the -_Champlain_." - -"I had forgotten," said Mr. Holway. "You'll have been glad you left -it." - -Niven smiled. "There have been times of business anxiety when I've been -almost sorry, too. After all, one had nothing to worry over on board -the _Champlain_ when his work was done. But she's coming in." - -With the blue water frothing at her bows a great white-painted steamer -swung out of the shadow of the pines, and while her whistle sent a -sonorous scream ringing across the inlet swept towards the wharf. She -gleamed like ivory from the purple shimmering in her shadow that was -streaked by froth about her water-line to the yacht-like lift of her -bows and long sweep of rail, and above it her tiers of houses and rows -of boats shone dazzlingly in the sunlight. In every line and flowing -curve there was a suggestion of speed and beauty, and Niven was silent -as he watched her come on, remembering how the command of such a vessel -had once been his most cherished dream. Then as the other steamer -splashed away and the liner swung in towards the wharf he saw that one -of the officers high up on the bridge was staring at him. Niven knew -the brown face under the white cap, and waved his hat, but the officer -only raised his hand for a second and then looked straight ahead again. -Niven laughed softly as he turned to his companion. - -"There's very little difference in Tom Appleby," he said. "It's four -years since I've seen him, but if it had been forty I wouldn't have -expected him to spare more than a moment from his duties to nod to me." - -"That," said Mr. Holway, "is probably the reason he has got on so -rapidly, and I know the Company's people here have a high opinion of -him. Now sit down. He's not going to thank you for worrying him while -he's busy." - -It was half-an-hour later when they went on board the great steamer and -asked for the second officer. The two young men looked at each other as -they shook hands, and each saw a difference in his comrade, for bronzed -mate and keen-eyed merchant had both grown used to the yoke of -responsibility. They were quieter than they had been, and their faces -were graver, while though it was long since they had met, they were not -effusive when they spoke. - -"Glad to see you, Tom," said Niven. - -Appleby nodded. "Of course I needn't tell you the same thing. How did -you get here?" - -"Allan boat and Canadian Pacific sleeper," said Niven. "I told you I'd -been made a partner, and fancied I'd run over to look up some of our -customers in Vancouver when I was in Canada. At least, that's one -reason. You can guess the other. Now, what's wrong with this Company -that you're not commander?" - -Appleby laughed. "I've got on so fast already that I can't help -fancying friends of mine who put business in the Company's way have as -much to do with it as my merits. Now, I'm not quite sure that's good -for me." - -"Tom," said Niven with apparent severity, though his eyes twinkled, "are -you so foolish as to fancy that the men who run a line like this would -take a hint from anybody? You climbed up yourself, but if ever I do -have any influence I'll know how to use it. Still, we're not going to -argue already. Come out. I've got a buggy waiting, and we're going to -drive and talk in the woods all afternoon, and then have another dinner -at the Hotel. To make it all complete Jordan's coming." - -"I'm half afraid I couldn't stay that long," said Appleby, and Niven -turned to Holway, who had joined them. - -"You're coming right along. Holway has seen the skipper, and he knows -better than refuse--him--anything." - -They drove through the dusky shadows of the pines all the afternoon, and -when evening came they and Jordan sat down to a very choice dinner in -the room where they last met. Jordan, however, seemed leaner and -grimmer than he had done that night, and his hair was grey, but there -was no mistaking the pleasure in his face when he greeted them. Niven -made him sit down at the head of a little table by an open window. - -"That's your place, sir," he said. "I don't quite know what they're -bringing us to eat, but it's not going to be as good as the canned beef -you gave us the night you came across us in the _Champlain_." - -He smiled curiously as, glancing round at the glittering glass and -silver and the sumptuous decorations of the great dining-room, he -remembered the little, stuffy cabin of the schooner that swung with the -seas. All this was very pleasant, but he felt he had lost something -that could never be regained since then. Appleby seemed to understand, -for he nodded. - -"There's a difference, Chriss," he said. "We shall never be quite the -same again." - -"A man can't have quite everything--and you've got the dollars now," -said Jordan with a little twinkle in his eyes. "Well, I've made my -blunders, like most other folks, but the one I made that night was my -biggest one. Still, it was a kind of curious story you told me." - -Niven laughed. "I've no doubt I did it badly--but there are times when -I wish I was only a lad sailing north again sealing, and I fancy I -shouldn't be a partner in a good business now if it hadn't been for a -few things that voyage taught me." - -While he spoke the dinner was brought in, and for a while they postponed -their questions. Then as they sat by the open window looking out across -the blue inlet towards the climbing pines and the distant snow Jordan -glanced at his cigar. - -"I've only had a dinner of this kind once before in my life, and you -know who it was gave it me then," he said. "Now, I've a notion Donegal -believed you all along." - -"I wonder where he is now," said Niven. "I should like to have seen -him." - -Jordan's face grew grave, and he stretched out one hand pointing towards -the north. "He's sleeping sound up there," he said. - -Appleby bent his head. "I have not often met his equal--and we both owe -him a good deal. How did it happen?" - -"Stowing jibs," said Jordan quietly. "Wind turned loose on us sudden -one night we were carrying everything, and she lay down with her lee -rail in. Outer jib wouldn't run down, downhaul jammed, and Charley was -clawing out on the bowsprit when the sail whipped over him. None of us -saw what came next but Donegal, and when I had a glimpse of him he was -hanging out from the foot-rope grabbing at Charley. Then she put her -nose into a sea, and when she swung out of it there was nobody under the -bowsprit. We'd gone straight over them." - -Jordan stopped a moment, and his voice was a trifle hoarse when he went -on again. "It was quite ten minutes before we could get the mainsail -off her to wear her round, and a boat over, and an hour anyway before we -hove her in again. They'd found nothing, and Charley couldn't swim, but -Donegal wouldn't never have let go of his partner. He was that kind of -a man." - -Appleby nodded gravely, but nobody said anything further for several -minutes, and then Niven asked, "Where's Stickine?" - -"Coast trading. He was kind of saving. Put the dollars he'd scraped up -into a little schooner, and it would astonish me if he wasn't making -more of them. Montreal and his brother doing quite well too. Gone back -to the carpentering and taking contracts for putting up mining flumes." - -"Then there's only yourself, and the _Champlain_," said Niven. - -Jordan sighed a little. "We had to part with her. Sealing's not what it -used to be--too many gun-boats and too much government fussing--and the -holluschackie are getting scarcer too. They'll have to try round the -South Pole for them presently. Still, a man has got to live, and I'm -figuring on a halibut-catching scheme. There's going to be dollars in it -if we can raise enough of them to start us off with the proper outfit." - -"Tell me all about it. I'm a business man," said Niven. - -Jordan did so, but his face was a trifle anxious as he concluded. "I'm -not quite sure if I can put it through. We've got to have a schooner, -and it's where to get the last two or three thousand dollars that's -worrying me. The banks don't seem to care about backing me." - -Niven sat silent a moment or two. Then he said quietly, "Now, I've -about that many dollars I'm getting very little for in the old country, -and I would be glad to put them in your venture as a partner." - -"And I've five or six hundred," said Appleby. - -Jordan's face brightened, but he did not answer for a minute. "Well, -I've no use for pretending I wouldn't be glad to have the dollars--but -one has to do the square thing," he said. "The risks are going to be -heavy, because until we get it all quite straight we may lose the catch -quite often before we can put it on the market, and there's always -chances of losing the schooner, while you'd have to take too much on -trust. You don't know the ins and outs of this contract, and I couldn't -figure them all out to you." - -Niven laughed a little, and laid his hand on Jordan's shoulder. "I know -the man who's going to put it through, and I could trust him with a good -deal more than the dollars. We'll go round to Holway's, and fix it all -up to-morrow." - -It was late before Jordan left them, and Niven and Appleby, who walked -with him a little way, stopped a moment as they went back to the hotel. -On the one hand, sprinkled with big electric lights, the city climbed -the rise, and they could see its maze of roofs and towering telegraph -poles. On the other the inlet shone like silver under the moon, with -the ivory shape of the liner in the foreground and three great ships -riding to their anchors farther out. Niven smiled a little as he turned -to his companion. - -"One is your home, the other mine," he said. "Tom, you haven't told me -whether you are still quite contented with the life you have chosen." - -Appleby's face was grave, but his eyes shone a little. "It is a grim -life--especially in the sailing ships--Chriss, though they are not all -like the _Aldebaran_, but I still fancy it is the one that is best for -me. After all, are there any things your money can buy you better than -those which are given for nothing to every man at sea?" - - - - THE END - - - - _Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay._ - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE MISTY SEAS *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47992 - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so -the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. -Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this -license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) -electronic works to protect the Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and -trademark. 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