THE EARTHQUAKE
The long twilight which preceded full day had now grown so strong as
to reveal matters more plainly about the spot where Mark and Andy Sudds
had disembarked from the flying machine. They soon saw several objects
running through the grove toward them, and these objects proved to be
the returning Indians.
There were half a dozen of them, and they were all armed with rifles.
The moment they beheld the old hunter and the youth, with Phineas
Roebach, they gave every indication of shooting, for they stopped and
raised their rifles, pointing them at Mark and Andy.
Mr. Roebach sprang between his Aleuts and his visitors and began to
harangue them angrily in their own harsh dialect. However, his huge
body so entirely sheltered Mark and Andy that neither was much terrified
by the Indians. Besides, the Maine hunter advanced his own rifle and
calculated he could do considerable execution with it while the red
men were hesitating.
"They believed you all spirits of the air," said the oil man, turning
finally to speak to his new friends. "They were much frightened."
"Ask them for news of Professor Henderson and the others," begged the
anxious Mark.
"They chased the crippled flying machine for some distance, but did
not find it. My horn bade them return," replied Mr. Roebach.
Even as they started to walk with the oil man and his sullen Indians
toward various shacks which they saw through the trees, and lower on
the mountain side, they heard a hail and looked up to see Professor
Henderson, Jack Darrow, and the negro, Washington White, descending
the mountain in their rear.
"This is your party; is it?" demanded Mr. Roebach.
"Yes, sir," said Mark.
"Bring them directly to my cabin. The Aleuts will not hurt you, now
that they know we are friends."
He hurried away, but Andy handled his rifle very suggestively and kept
both eyes on the red men. The latter, however, kept to themselves and
only stared at the crew of the _Snowbird_ with great curiosity.
"Hurrah!" quoth Jack, when in earshot. "Here they are, safe and sound,
Professor!"
"We have been just as afraid that something bad was happening to you,"
Mark said, quickly. "Where's the machine?" "Your beautiful 'plane is
badly wrecked, Mark, my boy," said Professor Henderson. "But I believe
we shall be able to repair it in time. We are not, however, I feel
sure, far from Aleukan. Do those men speak English?"
"Not much of it, I reckon, Professor," said Andy Sudds. "But they have
got mighty nasty dispositions. If it wasn't for the fat man I reckon
they would jump on us."
"He told us to follow along to his cabin," Mark proposed. "I do not
think these Indians will touch us."
"They'd better think twice about it," said the belligerent Andy, pushing
in between the professor and the Aleuts, as the whole party descended
the mountain side toward the place where the oil man had pitched his
camp.
As they proceeded the light grew and the newcomers to Alaska identified
objects about them more clearly. Near at hand was the framework of a
boring machine, or derrick. The professor began to notice a deposit
of ash that lay thickly on the ground in sheltered places.
"How remarkable--how very remarkable!" he ejaculated. "One would think
there was a volcano in action very near here."
Mark repeated what Phineas Roebach had said about the 'quake and the
storm of ashes. The professor began to rub his hands together and his
eyes twinkled. "I declare! I declare!" he repeated. "A seismic
disturbance in this locality? Ah! our visit to Alaska for Dr. Todd may
repay us nobly indeed."
Washington White's eyes opened very wide and he demanded:
"What's disher t'ing yo' calls 'sezmik', Professor Henderson? I suah
don't understand no sech langwidge."
"He means an earthquake, Wash," said Jack, as the professor paid no
attention to the darkey's question.
"Gollyation! is we goin' ter collek a _nearthquake_ along wid dat
chrisomela-bypunktater plant? And what good's a nearthquake w'en you
got him?"
This unanswerable question of the darkey's fell flat, for the party
just then reached the huge, two-roomed log cabin in which Phineas
Roebach made his headquarters. The "oil hunter," as he called himself,
appeared in a costume more fitted to the rigor of the weather.
"Come right in, gentlemen," was his cordial cry. "I have an Indian
woman here who can cook almost as well as white folks. At any rate,
she can make coffee and fry bacon. This is Professor Henderson? Glad
to meet you, sir," and so went on, being introduced to the whole party.
The professor immediately began to question the oil hunter regarding
the exact situation of his camp and learned that they were but a hundred
and fifty miles from Aleukan. Phineas Roebach had a plentiful supply
of dogs and sleds, too, with a goodly store of provisions. If worse
came to worst and the flying machine could not be at once prepared,
Mr. Roebach could supply the party with transportation to the Indian
settlement where Professor Henderson would meet his own supplies from
Coldfoot and there could obtain other dogs and sleds to go on to the
valley where the _Chrysothele-Byzantium_ was supposed to flourish.
"And the road from here to Aleukan is a good one at this season of the
year. More than half the way you travel over a glacier, and as the
icefield has not been in motion for ages, it makes a fine highroad,"
the oil hunter declared.
They were discussing these matters during breakfast, and everybody was
feeling particularly thankful over the safe descent of the aeroplane,
when they were startled by a sudden, jarring shock. The cabin rocked
and the boys, at least, felt a qualmishness in the pit of the stomach
that forbade further eating.
"What's that?" demanded Andy Sudds.
Washington White dropped the plate he was carrying to the table and
ran to the door. Before he could open it, the door was broken in by
the Indians, who came pouring in, loudly jabbering in their native
tongue.
"A 'quake, sure enough!" ejaculated Phineas Roebach, getting quickly on
his feet.
As he spoke, there was a repetition of the shock, only greatly
increased. The oil hunter was thrown to the floor, as was everybody
else in the house who was not seated. The roof of the cabin creaked
and threatened to descend upon their heads.
The Indians, uttering cries of alarm, scrambled out of the cabin faster
than they came in. But they had nothing on Washington White _there_. He
was the first person to get through the door.
The white people followed the others in quick time. Jack and Mark felt
that if the cabin was going to fall, the open air was the safer place.
Here, however, it seemed that they could not keep their feet. They
reeled about like drunken men, and the forest trees bent and writhed
as though an invisible wind tore at them, whereas the fact was that
the wind had fallen and it was a dead calm.
The air about them seemed to rock with the shock, there was a dull
roaring sound which hummed continually in their ears, and the vibrations
of the earth continued. They were indeed experiencing a most serious
earthquake.