A SERIOUS LOSS
Having brought their game around to the shed attached to the cabin, the
boys were glad enough to rest before the generous fire, while Professor
Jeffer proceeded to cut out some choice moose meat, having been
requested by Barwell Dawson to do so.
"The moose is yours," Mr. Dawson said to the boys. "But I must have at
least one steak, although it may be rather tough."
"You can have as much as you like," answered Chet. "I don't think Andy
wants it all, and I am sure I don't."
Darkness was settling down once more around the cabin, when Andy chanced
to think of the papers concerning the land claim in Michigan. He had
placed them in an inside pocket of his jacket, and now he inserted his
hand to bring them forth, to make certain that they were safe.
"Oh!" he cried, and his heart began to beat wildly.
"What's the matter?" queried Chet, who was near. "Hurt?"
"The papers!"
"What of them?"
"They are gone!"
"Gone?" repeated Chet, and now Professor Jeffer and Barwell Dawson
listened with interest.
"Yes, gone--I can't find them anywhere." Andy rapidly went through every
pocket in his clothing, and in the overcoat he had hung on a horn. "Yes,
they are gone," he groaned. "Oh, this is the worst luck yet!"
"But they must be somewhere around," said Barwell Dawson. "Have you any
idea where you dropped them?"
"No, although it might have been when I took that tumble in the snow."
"If you lost 'em there, we ought to go back for 'em right away,"
declared Chet. "The wind is rising, and that will drift the snow over
'em."
A vain search was made around the cabin and the shed, and then, tired as
he was, Andy donned his overcoat and cap to go out. Chet did the same.
"Oh, you needn't mind, Chet," said Andy.
"I just will mind, Andy. We are going to get those papers back," was the
brisk reply.
"Here, take a lantern," said Professor Jeffer, and brought forth an
acetylene lamp, similar to those used on bicycles. "That ought to help
you find the papers," he added.
In a minute more the two lads had set off through the snow. As Chet had
said, the wind was rising, and it often caught the snow up in a mad
whirl and hurled it into their faces.
"Phew! this is not so pleasant," panted Chet, when they paused to catch
their breath, having covered about a quarter of the distance to where
Andy had fallen. "Takes the wind right out of a chap. But never mind,
come on," he continued, and started on once more.
The rays of the acetylene lamp lit up the way fairly well, and here and
there they could see their former trail, although it was growing more
indistinct every moment. The wind now whistled through the pines and
spruces,--a sound as dismaying as it was lonely.
"Might have brought down some game, with the aid of this lamp," said
Chet, as they trudged forward on their snowshoes.
"I'm not looking for game just now."
At last they reached what they thought was the spot where Andy had had
the fall. So far they had seen no trace of the missing documents. Now
they gazed around, much crestfallen. The hollow was completely filled
with the drifting snow, and a ridge had formed, wiping out the trail
utterly.
"I am going to try digging," said Andy. "Wish I had brought a shovel
along."
The lamp was hung on the branch of a tree near by, and both youths set
to work, shoving and kicking the snow to one side or another. Thus they
worked, in something of a circle, for the best part of an hour. Not a
trace of the papers could be seen anywhere.
"Maybe I lost them further back--where we found the moose," said Andy.
"I'm going to look. But you needn't go with me if you don't care to,
Chet."
"I'll go where you go, Andy. I want to see you get those papers back."
Again they moved forward, the wind and snow cutting each in the face,
and sometimes almost blinding them. They had to rest twice before they
reached the spot of Chet's thrilling adventure.
Again the search began, and it was kept up until both lads were wellnigh
exhausted from stooping over and "sifting" the snow. Andy straightened
his back and gave a sigh.
"I guess it's no use," he groaned. "They are gone! I'll never see them
again! And that claim is gone, too!"
"Oh, don't give up yet!" cried Chet, trying to cheer him up. "If we
can't locate them tonight, we'll do it in the morning when the sun
shines. They must be somewhere around. They made quite a package, with a
rubber band around it, and such a package can't vanish completely."
To this Andy could only answer with a sigh. He doubted very much if the
precious documents would ever come to light again.
Utterly fagged out, the boys turned their backs on the wind and made
their way to Professor Jeffer's cabin. Here they found the others
anxiously awaiting their return.
"What luck?" sang out Barwell Dawson.
"None," answered Andy, and dropped into a chair as tired out as he was
disheartened.
"You'll have to go out in the morning."
"Just what I said," came from Chet. "Oh, we'll get those papers back,
don't worry." But although he spoke thus lightly, it was only to cheer
his chum up. He, too, was afraid the documents were gone forever.
Andy's sleep was a troubled one. He dreamed that his Uncle Si was after
him, and that both had a tussle in the snow over the papers. Then A. Q.
Hopton came up with a pitchfork, speared the papers, and bore them off
in triumph. He awoke to find Chet shaking him.
"Andy, stop your groaning!" Chet was saying. "You are going on to beat
the band!"
"I guess I had a nightmare," answered Andy, sheepishly. "What time is
it?"
"Just getting daylight."
"Then I am going to get up, eat a little breakfast, and start on another
search for those papers."
"Sure--and I'll go along."
The boys arose as quietly as possible, and dressing, went to the kitchen
and prepared their morning meal of wheat cakes and a small moose steak,
and coffee. They were just finishing the repast when Professor Jeffer
showed himself.
"Up early, I see," he said, with a smile.
"We are going to look for those papers again," explained Chet.
"To be sure. Well, I trust you find them, although I am afraid you will
have quite a search."
The sun was just peering over the trees to the eastward when the two
lads left the cabin. It promised to be a clear day. It was intensely
cold, and the wind still blew, although not so hard as during the day
and the night gone by.
Andy took the lead, and each boy strained his eyes to catch sight of
anything that might look like the documents. Once Andy saw something at
a distance, and ran to it with a rapidly beating heart. But it was
nothing but a strip of birch bark, and again his heart sank.
The noon hour found them still on the hunt. Fortunately they had brought
some lunch along in one of the game bags, and they sat down in a sunny
and sheltered nook to eat this, warming up a can of coffee over a tiny
campfire Chet kindled. Then the hunt was renewed, and kept up in various
places until the sun began to go down over the woods to the westward.
"It will be dark in an hour more, Andy," said Chet, kindly. "I guess we
had better return to the cabin. We can come out again tomorrow, if you
wish."
"I--I don't think it will be any use to come out again, Chet." Andy's
voice was very unsteady. "I am afraid the papers are gone for good!"
"Oh, I wouldn't give it up yet!"
"If I only knew where I had dropped them! But I don't know. They may be
right around here, and they may be half a mile away."
It was with a downcast heart that Andy followed his chum back to the
cabin. Somehow, he had hoped that the timber claim would prove a
valuable one, and that he would get a goodly share of it. Now that hope
was shattered.
"I won't be able to prove a thing without the documents," he told
himself. "And it would be useless to try."
That evening the matter was talked over by the men and the boys from
every point of view, but nothing came of it. Barwell Dawson agreed with
Andy that nothing could be accomplished until the missing documents were
brought to light.
"I really think your uncle is to blame for this," said the hunter. "If
he had not acted as he did, you would not have been forced to run away,
and then the papers might be safe and sound at your cabin."
"I'd like to know what became of that A. Q. Hopton," said Andy.
"Well, he didn't get the papers, and that's one comfort," said Chet,
with a sickly grin.
There was now no use in going to Lodgeport to see a lawyer, and instead,
Andy and Chet went out again for another search. But this was as useless
as the others. Not a trace of the missing documents could be found
anywhere.
"Might as well give it up," sighed Andy. "They are gone, and that is all
there is to it."
Again matters were talked over, and Barwell Dawson advised Andy to go
home and face his uncle.
"If you wish, I'll go with you," said the hunter. "Perhaps I can get him
to tell just what that A. Q. Hopton was up to."
"I'd like it first-rate, if you would go along, Mr. Dawson," answered
the boy quickly.
"Want me along?" asked Chet.
"You might as well come," answered Andy. "We can take some of the moose
meat. The horns are yours, Chet."
They set off for the Graham cabin on the following morning. Barwell
Dawson's ankle was now quite well, although he was prudently careful how
he used it. It had cleared off rather warm, so the trip was a pleasant
one. The boys had with them all the meat they could carry, and also
their guns, and wore the snow-shoes Professor Jeffer had loaned them.
On the way Chet asked Barwell Dawson how soon he expected to start for
the north.
"I hope to get the _Ice King_ ready by the middle of February or first
of March," was the hunter's reply. "You see, for such a trip we require
an immense amount of stores, and of just the proper kinds. It won't do
to take stuff that will freeze and burst open. Once I remember I was up
there, and had some bottles of catsup along. The bottles froze and
burst, and we had catsup scattered all over the camp."
"I suppose you can't get much up there?" said Chet.
"Absolutely nothing outside of game--musk oxen, polar bears and hares,
seal, walrus, and some birds. In some parts of Greenland you can get
moss that you can put in soup, but it doesn't amount to a very hearty
meal. In a cold climate like that, one needs to eat plenty of meat, and
the more fat, the better. The Esquimaux live on the fattest kind of meat
they can get, and on blubber, and they think tallow candles a real
delicacy."
"Excuse me from eating candles," said Andy.
"If you were real hungry, you'd eat anything," answered Barwell Dawson,
gravely. "I was once lost on the ice, and was glad enough to chew strips
of seal hide to ease the pangs of hunger. When I got back to camp, my
stomach was in such a condition that they fed me my first meal very
carefully, just a bit at a time. If I had eaten my fill quickly, I might
have died."