"So the plucky little dogs killed a bear, eh?" went on Captain Stephens,
as he paced up and down the deck. "I'll warrant they've had a deuce of a
good time in there all by themselves, and they'll be sorry to be
disturbed. Find them! Of course we will--find them fat as seals and
happier than we are!"
In spite of all this both he and Mr. Hazlett were uneasy enough when
finally the _Bennington_ steamed majestically through the narrow mouth
of Kaludiak Bay--the first steamer ever to awaken the echoes there--and
finally swung to her anchor at a point indicated by the Aleut chief.
But to the whistle there came no answer of a rifle-shot, no signal
fluttered, and no smoke was seen. The Aleut chief now became genuinely
frightened as he pointed out the landing-place opposite to the
barabbara, which, of course, could not be seen by reason of the low
sea-wall.
The rattle of the davit blocks followed that of the anchor chains as a
bow boat was launched.
"Go aboard, Mr. Cummings!" said Captain Stephens. "Take Mr. Hazlett and
this old chief, and don't you come back without those boys! They're only
out hunting somewhere, or else they'd have a fire going."
As the bow of the boat grated on the shingle Mr. Hazlett sprang ashore,
and, under guidance of the Aleut, hastened over the sea-wall and across
the flat to the barabbara. All was deserted and silent! No smoke issued
from the roof, and not the slightest sound was to be heard. No boat
appeared at the shore of the lagoon. The Aleut chief threw himself on
the ground and began to chant.
Mr. Hazlett kicked open the door of the hut and pushed in, searching the
half-dark interior. Only the whitened ashes showed a former human
occupancy. It was not until, in his despair, he had turned to leave that
he saw, fastened by a peg to the inside of the door, a brief note on a
bit of paper.
"Mr. Richard Hazlett," it read. "All well. We sailed about July 30th.
Love to the folks." Signed to this were the names of the three boys.
"God bless them!" he muttered. "They knew I'd come! Why did I not come
soon enough! But where did they sail--which way--and what has become of
them?"
He turned to the grovelling native.
"You lying coward!" said he. "Take me to them now, or by the Lord you'll
swing for it! Do you hear?"
The old man wept bitterly. "My boys go, too," he wailed. "Bad mans go,
maybe so! Maybe so all dead now!"
In answer he was caught by the arm and hastened back to the gravely
waiting boat crew. It was a saddened party which reported the truth on
board the _Bennington_.
"Get under way, Mr. Cummings!" ordered Captain Stephens. "We've not lost
them yet. The writing is pretty fresh on that note. We haven't passed
them anywhere below, and they must be on their way back to Kadiak."
Without delay the _Bennington_ once more took up her course and,
emerging from the mouth of Kaludiak, headed northward up the east side
of the island. Within ten miles the sharp-eyed Aleut detected a flat bit
of beach, and the interpreter suggested that a boat be sent ashore to
examine it, as it was sometimes used as a camping-place. When the
lieutenant returned he reported that he had found poles cut not long
before and used as a shelter support. A fire had been built not more
than a week ago, in his belief. It might or might not be the
camping-place of the missing boys.
The face of Captain Stephens brightened. "Of course it's those boys!" he
said. "I tell you, those youngsters are _sailors_. We'll find them all
lined up on Kadiak dock waiting for us--and me obliged to report to
Washington that I've spent two months with this vessel hunting for them!
God bless my soul!" However, it was satisfaction and not anxiety which
caused his eyes to glisten.
Precautions were not ceased, and the boats continued to comb out every
open bay which could not be searched with the ship's glasses. Finally
they reached the mouth of Eagle Harbor, near the entrance to which the
boats discovered yet another camp-fire, probably marking the limits of
another day's journey of the young voyagers.
"Plucky little dogs--plucky!" grumbled the captain. "They're not old
women like you, Hazlett! They can take care of themselves all right!"
The interpreter stepped up. "The old man says there's a village at the
head of this harbor," he began. "Says there may be a few people living
there, though most of them have likely gone to the fisheries. He thinks
the village ought to be examined."
"Go in with the boat, Mr. Cummings!" ordered Captain Stephens. "It'll
keep you overnight. As for me, I don't dare risk the tide-rips between
these rocks and that big island over there--which must be Ugak Island, I
suspect. I'm going to drop back and go outside that island, and
to-morrow I'll meet you thirty miles up the coast. Comb out the bay! If
the boys have left the village they've very likely sailed for the
opposite point of this bay, and maybe you'll get word of them at one
place or the other."