LOST IN THE SNOW
Once more the wind blew with hurricane force. On board the _Monarch_
Washington and Professor Henderson were tossed to the ceiling again.
Then the ship righted herself.
"De boys! De boys!" cried Washington, suddenly thinking of them. "Dey
hab falled off!"
"Great Scott! So they have!" exclaimed the inventor. "That is, unless
they grabbed something as we went over!"
"An de Sesquitomexico woman, too!" cried the colored man, meaning
Dirola.
"I guess she went with the others," said the professor. "We must take a
look as soon as it is safe."
Then came a strong gust of wind that hurled the ship forward. When it
had subsided Washington and the old inventor ventured outside. The boys
were nowhere to be seen.
"They are lost!" cried Andy, who had crawled to the bow of the ship
after the captain and Washington.
For a little while longer the airship sailed along easily, the wind no
more rushing with such force. Then, all at once the craft settled down
until, with a jerk, it came to rest on a big snow bank.
"We's landed!" exclaimed Washington. "We's hit de ole north pole at
last. Now I'll see what sort ob a stick it is!"
"We've landed sure enough," remarked the professor, "but I'm afraid we
are not at the north pole. However, in view of all that has happened, I
suppose we had better stop here for a while. Some of the machinery is
wrecked by the overturning of the ship, but I guess we can fix it. I
only wish I knew where the boys and the two men were."
"Don't forget Dirola," spoke up Andy. "We owe a good deal to her."
It stopped snowing about half an hour after the _Monarch_ had found
lodgement on the edge of a bank of ice. From the deck and windows of the
craft nothing could be seen but a big expanse of white. It was a cold,
lifeless world to which the ship had brought what remained of her crew
and owner.
The engine room of the _Monarch_ was once more a sorry sight, and
Washington and the inventor worked like a dozen men in restoring order.
They soon had things in ship-shape, but one of the motors would require
considerable repairing before it would run again. However, it was not
the most important one, and the craft could run without it, though only
at half speed.
Suddenly, there came from without a chorus of shouts.
"What's that?" cried the professor.
"Sounded like some one calling," ventured Andy.
"It am de boys and Tom and Bill come back to overjoy us," said
Washington.
The shouts grew louder. Andy glanced from a cabin window.
"The Esquimaux! The Esquimaux!" he exclaimed. "Here they are after us
again! They'll carry us back to the ice cave and eat us alive this
time!"
"These are not the same ones!" cried the professor. "We are hundreds of
miles from the ice cave."
"Then these are the ones the mysterious message was about," said Andy,
"and we had better be on our guard!"
"Perhaps these are Dirola's friends," ventured Amos Henderson. "If they
are I wish we had her here to intercede for us."
There came a rattling against the sides of the airship. It sounded like
a storm of hail.
"They are firing arrows at us!" yelled Andy. "That doesn't look very
friendly."
"Wait until I go out and speak to them," suggested the professor. "They
will respect my gray, hairs."
He went outside. The ship was surrounded by hundreds of little men, all
dressed in thick furs. At the sight of the ship's commander they gave a
loud yell.
"I wisht I'd neber done come to de north pole!" groaned Washington. He
grabbed up a rifle and followed Andy outside. At the sight of them the
Esquimaux set up louder yells, and shot another shower of arrows.
Fortunately none of the missiles struck the white men.
"Stop firing!" said the professor, raising his hand. "We mean you no
harm!"
His answer was a wilder burst of yells.
"Fire over their heads! Maybe that will teach them a little respect,"
spoke Andy.
He and Washington discharged their guns several times in rapid
succession. With frightened yells the men in furs fell flat on their
faces.
"We've scared them!" cried Andy.
But he reckoned without his host, for in an instant the Esquimaux had
leaped to their feet and were rushing toward the ship.
"Here they come!" shouted the hunter. "Shoot to kill, Washington! Look
out for yourself, Professor!"
"Don't kill them!" yelled Amos Henderson. "They are too many for us, and
our only hope is to try peaceful means!"
But Washington aimed his rifle straight in the faces of the advancing
men of the snow country and pulled the trigger rapidly. Half a dozen
sharp reports rang out, and several Esquimaux fell on the ice, which
became red with their blood. However, the negro's aim was not good, and
the wounds were only in arms or legs of the natives.
This served to check their ardor for a while, and the advance was halted
while the wounded were carried back. But the Esquimaux were only made
more angry by the resistance. They came on again with wild cries and,
though Andy, Washington and the professor fought with all their
strength, clubbing their guns and cracking several of the savages over
the head, they were finally overpowered.
From one who seemed to be a leader of the natives several sharp orders
came. The others listened and then, lifting the three prisoners, who
had been securely bound, they hurried with them from the deck of the
ship.
"We's ketched agin!" cried Washington. "They'll eat us shuah dis time!
Land ob Goshen! How I does wish I'd neber come heah!"
There was little time for protest, reflection or anything else. Once the
Esquimaux had secured their prisoners they lost no time in hastening
away. The airship did not seem to interest them. Hoisting the three men
on shoulders, the natives fairly ran along over the ice.
"I wish they'd bring up a sled," said Andy. "It would be easier than
this style. The breath is 'most jolted out of me."
As if in answer to his desire, the party of Esquimaux soon came upon a
little camp. There were several ice huts, and a number of sleds, while
the yelping of scores of dogs could be heard on every side. In a few
minutes, after a short talk among the natives, the captives were tossed,
none too gently, all on one big sled, a dog team was hitched fast, and a
driver started them off across the field of ice.
"Good-bye to de ole _Monarch_!" cried Washington. "No mo' good meals in
yo'! Landy! Landy! I wisht I had some dynamite to blow dese heathen up!"
"Hush!" cried Andy. "I've got three revolvers in my pockets. I'll slip
you one if I can get my arms free, but don't fire until I give the word.
We'll have to save our shots."
"We seem to be having nothing but bad luck," said Professor Henderson.
"I am afraid it is all up with us this time. Those poor boys, and Bill
and Tom! I wish I knew what had become of them!"
"Same here!" remarked Andy.
Then the captives became silent, filled with their sad thoughts and
worry over their predicament. On and on went the sledge over the ice,
into the unknown. Mile after mile was covered. Then the driver of the
prisoners, as well as the one in charge of three sleds that followed,
halted the dogs. All the natives talked rapidly together, pointing this
way and that.
"They've missed the path!" exclaimed Andy. "We are lost in this land of
snow!"