CAMP AT THE CAVE
Uncle Will did not return on the following afternoon or evening, and
the watchers attributed his tardiness to contrary winds. All the second
day as well they looked for him in vain. Nor could the little party at
Pyramid Harbor accomplish the work they had planned. Roly was in good
trim again, excepting a very sore chest, but the Indian canoe which had
transported their goods was now on the far side of the harbor, and no
other was to be had. Furthermore, the trail followed the beach, which
was free from snow, and unfit for sledding. There was nothing to do
but wait for Uncle Will and the boat he had hired. In the mean time,
letters were written in the hope of an opportunity of mailing them.
Early on the third morning, they saw the little white sail enter the
harbor's mouth. Breakfast was hurriedly finished, and by the time the
boat's keel grated on the stones the tents were down, dishes packed,
and everything ready for embarkation.
The sloop had a capacious cabin, which took up so much of the available
space that it was found impossible to put more than one sled on board.
She could carry the other supplies, however, and one passenger in
addition to the boatman. Uncle Will invited his brother to be the
passenger, saying that for himself he would be glad of a chance to
stretch his legs on shore.
Mr. Bradford therefore climbed into the boat and seated himself on
a sack of rice, while the others waded into the water in their high
rubber boots, and pushed the heavily laden vessel away from the beach.
Then they took up their march along the water's edge, dragging their
empty sleds after them.
In some places it was possible to take advantage of the snow where the
ground above the beach was level and clear of trees, but for the most
part it was hard travelling, the sleds apparently weighing more and
more as they proceeded. Roly found himself looking around more than
once, under the impression that some one for a joke had added a rock to
his load, but he was always mistaken.
"Whew!" he gasped, as he stopped to wipe the perspiration from his
face. "If an empty sled is so hard to pull over these stones, I don't
see how we are ever going to draw a loaded one."
"It's a good deal easier to draw a loaded sled on the snow-crust," said
Uncle Will, encouragingly, "than it is to overcome the friction of a
light weight here. To-morrow we shall be on the ice, which is even
better than the crust."
"How far are we going to-day?" asked David.
"About three miles. We shall not try to go beyond the cave."
The attention of the boys was attracted by the noise of a waterfall
which they could see imperfectly through the trees. The water dashed
over a perpendicular cliff about one hundred feet high, and was almost
enclosed by a sparkling structure of ice.
All this while the boat was in plain view, sailing on a course parallel
to theirs, at a distance of half a mile. It had now outstripped them,
and Uncle Will said it ought to turn in soon toward the shore. It
became evident before long, however, that the craft was in trouble.
She was well out from the land, but seemed to be stationary. The shore
party, slowly as they moved, now steadily gained on her, and at length
they could see the two occupants standing on the bow and thrusting oars
or poles into the water in different places.
"She's aground!" exclaimed Uncle Will, after a moment's observation;
"and the tide's going out. This is a pretty fix!"
"Can we do anything?" asked David, eager to go to the rescue.
"Oh! we might as well go on to the cave. It's not far now. We'll leave
the sleds there, and then see what can be done. I don't think we can
wade out to the boat yet, for there are two or three channels this side
of her." So on they plodded once more.
The cave was a great hole in the base of a cliff, and would comfortably
contain a score of men, being ten feet high, fifteen feet deep, and
eight feet wide. The boys wondered if it had ever been the haunt of
robbers or pirates,--a fancy which the still smouldering embers of a
camp-fire left by the Mysterious Thirty-six seemed to bear out. Indeed,
Roly examined the interior carefully, half expecting to see the glimmer
of gold coins in the darker crevices, but he found only a piece of
canvas which might have been part of a money-bag. A closer examination
showed that it was plentifully sprinkled with flour, and probably had
never been used for anything more romantic. In all directions the snow
had been trampled hard, and numerous bits of rope, and a tin can or two
which no keen-eyed Indian had yet appropriated, showed how recently the
place had been deserted.
Along the beach was a row of crotched poles, most of them still
upright, where the numerous tents had stood. David pointed these out to
Roly delightedly, observing that poles and spruce boughs in abundance
were ready cut for them.
The receding tide had now uncovered miles of mud flats, and Uncle
Will declared himself ready to try to reach the boat. Long Peter was
left at the cave to cut firewood, but the boys preferred to accompany
their uncle, and started off in high spirits. They advanced with
some difficulty, for the mud was often adhesive, clogging their
boots at every step until they came to sandier stretches. At all the
channels, most of which were easily crossed, although the water was
running swiftly seaward, Uncle Will took the lead, prodding the ground
carefully with a pole as he walked, to guard against quicksands. In
this manner they reached a deep channel a few rods from the stranded
sloop.
Mr. Bradford and the boatman had been watching their progress from the
other side of this channel, to which point they had brought bacon,
hard-tack, and some cooking utensils, in order that dinner might be
prepared as soon as they could cross. This being at last accomplished,
the supplies were distributed among the whole party, and they made
their way to camp.
It was late in the evening when the goods were all snugly stowed in the
cave, the boat having been brought up at high tide. The boatman sailed
away before the water receded, carrying with him a package of letters
which he promised to mail at Chilkat post-office. Hardly had he gone
when a damp snow began to fall, with promise of a disagreeable night.
Roly thought it would be fun to sleep under the rocky roof of the
cavern; but the smoke from the camp-fire persistently filled the place,
and he was obliged to give up the idea. How strange it seemed to the
boys to lie there so comfortably under the blankets in the tent and
hear the snowflakes tap upon the canvas! The fitful gusts that swept
past their frail dwelling threatened to overthrow it, but the anchor
logs were heavy and the tent was strong, and it offered so perfect a
shelter that, had the occupants not heard the wind, they would not have
known it was blowing. They were too wearied with the day's work to
lie long awake, even amid novel surroundings, and soon their regular
breathing gave evidence of the deep, refreshing sleep which follows
out-of-door labor.