Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
To Win or to Die, A Tale of the Klondike Gold Craze, by George Manville
Fenn.
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This is a tough tale about tough men. Right from the first chapter we
are living with men who are fighting for survival, the enemy being as
often as not other men who would rob them. Chapter after chapter leaves
the heroes in some new desperate plight, which, when overcome, is almost
at once replaced by yet another one.
It is not a very long book, and it is very well illustrated, but it is a
breathless race from one peril to the next.
I cannot say that you should enjoy or be entertained by reading of other
peoples' misfortunes, but the author intended that you should be so
entertained, and you will be.
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TO WIN OR TO DIE, A TALE OF THE KLONDIKE GOLD CRAZE, BY GEORGE MANVILLE
FENN.
CHAPTER ONE.
A BREAK-DOWN.
"It's a lie! I don't and I won't believe it."
The speaker half whispered that, and then he shouted, "Do you hear?"
There was a pause, and then from the face of a huge white snow-cliff
there came back the word "hear."
"Well done, echo!" cried the speaker.
"Echo," came back.
"Thankye; that's quite cheering; anything's better than that horrible
silence. What do they say? When a man gets in the habit of talking to
himself it's a sign that he is going mad? Once more, it's a lie! A man
would go mad in this awful solitude if he didn't hear some one speaking.
Snow, snow, snow, and rock and mountain; and ugh! how cold! Pull up,
donkey! jackass! idiot! or you'll freeze to death."
The speaker was harnessed by a looped rope to a small, well-packed
sledge, after the fashion of one who tracks about along the Thames; but
how different here! No sunny river, no verdant flowing mead or hanging
summer wood, but winter, stern winter in its wildest, and the heavy
sledge, in answer to the tugging at the rope, now sticking fast amongst
the heaped-up stones frozen together in a mass, now suddenly gliding
down sharp slopes and tripping its owner up, so that again and again,
during an awful day's tramp, he had fallen heavily. But only to
struggle up, shake the snow from his fur-lined coat, and continue his
journey onward towards the golden land where the nuggets lay in wondrous
profusion waiting the bold adventurer's coming--heaped-up, almost
fabulous riches that had lain undiscovered since the beginning of the
world.
He, the toiler, dragging that sledge, in which were carefully packed his
gun, ammunition, spare clothes, blankets, stores, and sleeping-bag of
fur, had started at daylight that morning from the last outpost of
civilisation--a miserable shanty at the top of the tremendous pass he
had surmounted with the help of the men who occupied the shanty and
called themselves guides; and then, after repacking his sledge and
trusting to the landmarks ahead and a pocket compass, he had boldly set
off, ready to dare every peril, for he was young, sanguine, well-armed,
strong, and nerved by hope and the determination to succeed.
It was only a brave struggle over the mountains, and then down into the
river valley beyond, to leave the winter behind with its pain and
misery, and meet the welcome of the summer sunshine and--the gold.
That morning it was winter indeed; but the adventurer's heart was warm,
and the way through the mountains was plain, while the exertion sent the
blood tingling through his veins till he glowed as the rugged miles were
mastered.
Then there was the halt and a seat on the sledge for a hasty meal upon
the tough provisions; but how delicious every mouthful was!
Then forward again, refreshed for the journey onward, to some snugly
sheltered spot where he could camp for the night and sleep in his fur
bag, regardless of any number of degrees of frost.
But as the afternoon wore on, the sledge seemed to grow more heavy, the
way wilder and more stern, and the stoppages frequent.
He unpacked and rested and refreshed himself. Then he grew cheery once
more.
"Lightens the load and me too," he said with a laugh, as he thrust his
head through the loop and tugged at the sledge; but it did not seem
lighter. It grew more heavy, and the obstacles were terrible to
surmount.
But he knew he was in the right track through the pathless waste of
heaped-up snow. There was no mistaking that awful gorge, with the rocks
piled up like Titanic walls on either side. He knew that he could not
go wrong. All he had to do was to persevere, and he plodded on.
"Never mind if it's only yards instead of miles surmounted," he
muttered. "They are so many yards nearer the winning post."
At last, as he fought his way on, with his unwonted exertions beginning
to tell mentally and bodily, he broke out talking wildly to fight back
the horrible sensation of depression, and was brought to a standstill,
the sledge having jammed between two blocks of ice-covered rock; and he
stood for some minutes gazing round hopelessly at the fast-dimming
scene, which had looked picturesque in the morning, but appeared awful
now.
"I ought to have had a companion," he muttered, "if it had only been a
dog."
He stood still, staring at the precipices on either side, whose chasms
were beginning to look black; then at his jammed-in sledge; and he felt
that he must drag it out and go on again, for night was coming on, and
he could not camp where he was.
Then as he was wearily and slowly stooping down to drag the sledge back,
he made a sudden bound as if electrified, tried to run, tripped, and
fell heavily.
For all at once there was a roar like thunder, a terrible rushing sound,
the echoes of the mountains seemed to have been let loose, and his hair
began to bristle, while a cold perspiration gathered on his face as he
listened to the sounds dying away in rumbling whispers.
"Away up to the right," he said to himself as he gazed in that
direction, realising that it was a snow-fall. Thousands of tons had
gone down somewhere out of sight; but he was safe, and giving the sledge
a jerk, he set it free, guided it over the snow, and prepared for
another start.
But that avalanche had somewhat unnerved him, for he had been looking
out for a place to camp, and it now seemed madness to think of coming to
a halt there.
"Must find a safer place," he thought; and now fresh dangers began to
suggest themselves. Would there be wolves in these mountains?
Certainly there must be bears; and dragging off one of his big fur
gloves, he took out and examined his revolver, before replacing it in
its leather holster. He glanced, too, at his rifle in its woollen case,
bound on the top of the loaded sledge.
"Bah! how cowardly one can turn!" he muttered. "Of course, there will
be all those troubles to face. I'm fagged--that's what it is. Now,
then, old fellow, gee up! I'll camp in the first sheltered nook I see;
I'm sure to find one soon. Then supper in the warm bag and a good
night's rest. Sleep? I could lie down and sleep here in the snow.
Pull up! That's the way. I wonder how much gold I could drag on a
sledge like this?"
For quite another hour he toiled on, and perhaps got over a quarter of a
mile, always gazing anxiously ahead for a suitable shelter, but looking
in vain.
Then he utterly broke down, catching his foot against a block which the
darkness hid from his fast-dimming eyes; and with a sob of misery as he
saved himself from striking his face, at the expense of a heavy wrench
to one wrist, he lay perfectly still, feeling a strange drowsy sensation
creeping over him.
"This will not do," he cried aloud in alarm, for he knew that giving way
to such a feeling in the snow meant resigning himself to death; and he
painfully rose to his knees, and then remained, staring wildly before
him, wondering whether he was already dreaming. For not far away,
flashing and quivering in reflections from the precipice wall on his
left, there was a light which kept rising and falling.
No dream, but the reflected light of a camp fire. Others, bound upon
the same mission as himself, must be close at hand; and staggering now
to his feet, he placed his gloved hands to his lips and gave forth a
loud echoing "Ahoy!"
The next moment his heart beat high with joy, and the horrible perils of
frost and darkness in that unsheltered place faded away into
nothingness, for his hail was answered from close at hand.
"Ahoy! Who is it?" came echoing back.
"Help!" shouted the adventurer; and then he sank upon his sledge with
heart throbbing and a strange giddiness attacking him.
CHAPTER TWO.
FALLEN AMONG THIEVES.
"Hullo, there!" cried a rough voice. "Why don't you come on?" and the
next minute a couple of figures seemed to start out of the darkness.
"I'm fagged out. Can you lend me a hand?"
"Lend you a hand? Yes," said another voice. "Where's your mate?"
"I'm alone."
"Alone? No pal with you?"
"No, and my sledge has stuck fast. Will you help me as far as your
fire?"
"Got a sled, hev you? All right, mate. Where's the line? Lay hold,
Leggy, while I give it a hyste. That's your sort. Come on." It seemed
like a dream, and as if all the peril and horror had passed away, as the
two men dragged the sledge along and the adventurer staggered on beside
them, till they halted in the ruddy light of a great fire, lit at the
foot of a stupendous wall of glistening ice-covered rock. The fire of
pine-boughs crackled and flashed, and lit up the face of a third man, a
big red-bearded fellow, who was kneeling down tending the embers and
watching a camp kettle slung from three sticks, the contents of which
were beginning to steam.
"Here we are, Beardy," said one of the rescue party. "Comp'ny gent on
his travels."
The kneeling man scowled at the speaker, and then put his hand behind
him as if from instinct, but dropped it as the other said:
"It's all right, Beardy. Number four's empty, isn't it? Because if it
aren't, you'll have to give up your room."
The big red-bearded man showed some prominent yellow teeth in a grin,
nodded, and pushed a blazing brand under the kettle.
"Sit down, youngster," said the first speaker. "Maybe you'll jyne us at
supper?"
"I shall be very glad."
"Right you are, and welcome! 'Aven't brought anything with you, I
suppose?"
"Yes, I have some cake and bacon."
"Well done, young un. Get it out," said the red-bearded man, and,
recovered somewhat by his warm reception, the young adventurer began to
unlash the load upon the sledge, the two men who had come to his aid
eagerly joining in, their eyes glistening as they examined the various
objects that were set free.
"Going yonder after the yaller stuff?" said the owner of the red beard,
as they squatted round the fire.
"Yes."
"And all alone, too?"
The traveller nodded, and held his half-numbed hands in the warm glow,
as he furtively glanced round at his companions, whose aspect was by no
means reassuring.
"Well," continued the last speaker, "I dunno what Yankee Leggat thinks,
and I dunno what Joey Bredge has got to say, but what I says is this.
You're a-going to do what's about as silly a thing as a young man can
do."
"Why?"
"Why?" said the man fiercely; "because you're going to try and do what
no chap can do all alone. You've got a good kit and some money, I
s'pose; but you don't think you're going to get to the gold stuff, do
you?"
"Of course I do."
The man showed his yellow teeth in an unpleasant grin, and winked at his
companions.
"And all alone, eh? 'Tain't to be done, lad. You'll be stuck up before
you yet half-way there by Injuns, or some o' they Yankee shacks yonder,
stripped o' everything you've got, and set adrift, eh, Joey?"
The man addressed nodded and grunted.
"What should you say he ought to do, Leggy?"
"Make his hay while the sun shines," said the other. "He's tumbled into
a bit o' luck, and if he knows what he's about he'll just stop along
with us. We don't want him, seeing as our party's made up, but we don't
want to be hard on a lad as is a bit hign'rant o' what he's got to go
through."
"That's so," put in the man addressed as Joey. "You can't do it, mate.
Why, if it hadn't been for us you'd ha' been a hicicle afore morning, if
the bears and wolves hadn't tucked you up warm inside. You've got to
take a good offer. Now, Beardy, bring out the tins; that soup's done by
this time."
The traveller made no reply, but leaned a little more over the fire,
wishing that he had braved the dangers of the bitter frost and snow, and
feeling that he had been too ready to break down at the first encounter
with trouble. For the more he saw of his new companions the less he,
liked them, and he was not long in making up his mind what to do.
By this time three big tin cups, which fitted one into the other, had
been produced, and filled from the steaming contents of the kettle.
"We didn't expect company," said the cook, "so two of us'll have to do
with one tin, and have it filled twice. You and me'll join, Joey, and
let squire have my tin."
"No, thank you," was the reply, made quietly and firmly. "I will not
intrude on your good nature farther. I was a bit done up, but the fire
has set me right again, and I'm quite ready to take the risks of the
journey alone."
"Oh, that's it, is it?" said the man gruffly.
"I'll get you to let me rest here by the fire for an hour to eat my bit
of bread and meat, and then I'll camp near you and go on again as I
came. I shall manage, I daresay."
"Are we going to stand this, mates?" cried the red-bearded man fiercely.
"No!" came in answer, as all sprang up as if by a preconcerted signal.
"You misunderstand me, gentlemen," said the adventurer quietly, though
his heart beat fast with the knowledge that the suspicions which had
haunted him were correct. "I am much obliged for your kindness, and I
want to save you trouble, that is all."
"Hear that, lads? We aren't good enough for the likes of him. All
right, then, off he goes."
"Our company aren't good enough, eh? Then off you goes."
"Very well," said the young man, rising quickly; "but there is no need
for a quarrel. I will go at once, and I thank you for what you have
done."
"But we haven't done yet," cried the man addressed as Leggy. "Now,
boys."
There was a sudden rush, and in an instant the young fellow was seized
and thrown upon his face; then, in spite of his desperate struggles, he
was turned over, his weapon seized, and everything of value dragged from
his pockets.
"Quiet!" snarled the leader in the attack, "or I'll soon quiet you."
"You dogs! You scoundrels! Help! Thieves!"
"Louder, my lad, louder. Call police: there's some over yonder in
Canady. Haul off that fur coat, lads. It'll just fit me, and I'll have
his cap and gloves. That's right. Now then, my whippersnapper, off you
go!"
Set free, the young man, in spite of his bubbling rage, felt the madness
of further resistance, and the uselessness of wasting breath; so he
sprang to his sledge, to begin lashing it fast with the rope.
"Hands off there!" roared the chief scoundrel, taking aim at him. "Now
then, run for it, and get yourself warm before we begin to shoot."
"I'm going," panted the victim, "but I must fasten up my traps."
"You ain't got no traps. They're ourn," cried the man. "We give you a
chance for your life, so cut at once."
"What! Send me away like this?" cried the young man, aghast. "It's
murder! Let me have my blankets, man."
"Run!" shouted the scoundrel, and he shook his pistol.
"You coward!" cried the victim.
"Run!" was roared again.
Feeling that the gang into whose hands he had fallen probably meant to
hide their crime by silencing him for ever, the victim turned and ran
for his life, and as he ran he felt a sharp pang in the arm.
A heavy fall checked the victim's panic flight, and as he lay panting
and wet with the perspiration which had started from every pore, he
realised that one of the bullets had taken effect, ploughing his left
arm, which throbbed as if being seared with a red-hot iron.
But the bodily agony was as nothing to the mental anguish which he
suffered. Death was before him if he lay there--death in a painless,
insidious form, no doubt; but still, death in all its horror to one so
young and strong.
He knew that he must rise and keep moving if he wished to prolong his
existence, and he rose to his feet, raging now against the cowardly
gang, and more against himself.
"I was a fool and a coward," he groaned. "Why didn't I fight for my
life? Great heaven! What shall I do?"
He paused for a moment, meaning to turn back and make an attack upon his
enemies.
But, unarmed as he was, he knew it was madness, and he tramped on
through the darkness in the faint hope of finding help, but with his
heart sinking as he grasped the fact that fate or the management of the
gang had driven him onward farther into the defile, and away from the
aid he might have found if he had made his way back to his morning's
starting-place.
Fully satisfied that death would be his portion, he struggled on
aimlessly till utterly exhausted; and then he paused, breathless, to go
over once more the scene by the glowing fire, and ask himself whether he
had not been to blame for displaying his distrust after the way in which
he had been rescued. But he could only come back to his old way of
thinking--that he had fallen among thieves of the worst type, and that
he owed his life to the prompt way in which he had escaped.
Recovering his breath somewhat, he stood listening as he gazed back
through the darkness; but all was still. There were no signs of
pursuit, so, taking out his handkerchief, he folded it into a bandage,
and with one hand and his teeth contrived to bind and tie it tightly
round his wound so as to stop the bleeding, which was beginning to cause
a strange sensation of faintness.
He had been hot with exertion when he stopped, but now the feeling of
exhilaration caused by his escape died out as rapidly as the heat. A
deadly chill attacked mind and body, for his position seemed crushing.
It was horrible beyond bearing, and for the moment he was ready to throw
himself down in his despair. The intense cold would, he knew, soon
bring on a sensation of drowsiness, which would result in sleep, and
there would be no pain--nothing but rest from which there would be no
awakening; and then--
Then the coward feeling was driven back in a brave effort--a last
struggle for life.
The cold was intense, the darkness thicker than ever, for the sides of
the ravine had been closing in till only a narrow strip of faintly
marked sky was visible, while at every few steps taken slowly the poor
fellow stumbled over some inequality and nearly fell.
At times he struck himself heavily, but he was beyond feeling pain, and
in his desperation these hindrances acted merely as spurs to fresh
effort, for he was on the way to safety. At any minute he felt that he
might catch sight of another gleam of light, the camp fire of some other
adventurer, and he knew that some of those on the way to the great
Eldorado must be men who would help and even protect a fellow-creature
in his dire state of peril.
But he knew that this intense feeling of energy could not last, that he
was rapidly growing weaker, and that ere many minutes had elapsed he
would once more stumble and fall, and this time the power to rise again
would have passed away.
Was it too late to return to his enemies and make an appeal for his
life? he asked himself at last. They might show him mercy, and life was
so sweet.
But as these thoughts flickered through his brain in the half delirium
fast deadening his power of thinking coherently, he once more saw the
scene by the fire, and the faces of the three scoundrels stood out
clearly with that relentless look, that cruel bestial glare of the eye,
which told him that an appeal would but hasten his end.
"Better fall into the hands of God than men like them," he groaned, and
setting his teeth hard he tottered on a few yards farther, with the snow
growing less deep, the ground more stony.
Then the end came sooner than he expected, for his feet caught against
something stretched across his way, and he fell heavily, uttering a cry
of horror as he struggled to his knees.
For it was no block of stone, no tree-trunk torn from some shelf in the
precipice above; he grasped the fact in an instant that he had tripped
over a sledge similar to his own, to fall headlong upon the ghastly
evidence of what was to be his own fate; for stiff and cold in the
shallow snow, his fingers had come upon the body of some unfortunate
treasure-seeker, and as, half-wild with horror, he forced himself to
search with his hands to discover whether some spark of life might yet
be burning, it was to find that whoever it was must have laid calmly
down in his exhaustion, clasping his companion to his breast to give and
receive the warmth that might save both their lives.
Vain effort. The man's breast was still for ever, and the faithful dog
that had nestled closely with his muzzle in his master's neck was stiff
and stark.
"God help me!" groaned the adventurer, clasping his hands and letting
them fall softly on the dead; "is this the ending of my golden dream?"
CHAPTER THREE.
IN THE DARK.
The horrible chill of impending death, the bright light of reason, and
the intense desire to live, roused the half-stunned adventurer to
action.
Die? Like that? No!--when salvation was offered to him in this way.
It was horrible, but it was for life. There, close by him, slightly
powdered with snow, was the unfortunate's sledge, and in an instant he
was tearing at the rope which bound its load to the framework.
He could hardly believe his good fortune, for as the rope fell from the
packages the first thing he set free was a fur-lined coat, possibly one
which the dead man was too much exhausted to assume.
Suffering keenly from the cold, this was put on at once; and then,
continuing the search, it was to find that a rifle was bound along one
side, balanced by tools on the other. Then there were blankets and
stores similar, as far as he could judge, to those with which his own
sledge had been laden.
The warmth afforded by the thick garment and the exertion increased the
thrill of returning energy. For he was no longer helpless to continue
his journey. It could be no act of injustice to the dead to take
possession of the means of saving his own life; and now all thought of
giving up without making a desperate struggle was completely gone.
Soon after a fresh thrill of returning energy swept through him, and,
turning quickly back to where the dead were lying, he knelt there,
hesitating for a few moments before, with his determination increasing,
he softly thrust the dog aside, and felt about the dead man's waist.
He shuddered as his hands came in contact with the icy feeling of cold,
but it was for life, and a feeling of joy shot through him, for it was
as he had hoped. In a few minutes he had unfastened a buckle, turned
the body over slightly, and that which he sought to obtain yielded to
the steady pull he gave.
He had drawn free the dead man's belt, bringing with it his revolver in
its little holster and the pouchful of cartridges.
That seemed to give new life to him as he buckled the belt about his
waist. Then, taking out the pistol, he felt it in the dark, to find
that it was loaded in every chamber, and that the lock worked easily and
well.
The pistol replaced in the belt, the young man remained thinking, with
all his energy seeming to have returned. What was he to do next? There
was food of some kind on the sledge, and he must eat. There were
blankets, and with them and the sledge for shelter he must rest and
sleep.
There was the dead man and his faithful dog, but their near presence
brought no feeling of horror. He felt that he could kneel down by the
poor fellow and offer up a prayer for His mercies, and then lie down to
sleep in perfect trust of awakening at daybreak, for he was no longer
suffering from exhaustion, and hardly felt the cold.
"But not yet--not yet," he muttered, and a faint sound broke the silence
as he stood there, his teeth grinding softly together, while his next
words, uttered half aloud, told the direction his thoughts had taken.
"The cowardly dogs!" he exclaimed. "Three to one, and him unarmed. But
not now--not now."
A brief search brought his hands in contact with a canvas satchel-bag,
in which were ship's biscuits, and one of these he took. It would
suffice.
Breaking it and beginning to eat, he set off at once on the back track
to execute his daring project, one which made him glow to his
finger-tips.
"Better go on," he said with a mocking laugh. "Yes, but not yet.
They're cowards--such scoundrels always are--and the darkness will
magnify the number of the attack.
"Bah! talking to myself again; but I'm not going mad. I can't go on
without letting them taste something of what they have given me."
He tramped on slowly, but the return journey seemed less difficult, and
he wondered now that he should feel so fresh and glowing with a
spreading warmth. It was as dark as ever, but he had no fear of not
finding his way; and sooner than he expected, and just as he was
finishing the last scrap of hard biscuit, he caught sight of the faint
light of the fire from which he had been driven.
The sight of it sent fresh vigour through his limbs, and his plan was
soon made. He would keep on till there was the risk of being heard, and
then creep closer till well within shot, and his sleeping enemies thrown
up by the fire, which they had evidently made up well before settling
themselves down for the night.
He felt sure that at the first report they would spring up and run for
their lives, and he meant to fire at each if he had time, and scare
them, for he felt disposed to show as much mercy as he would to a pack
of savage wolves.
But matters were not to fall out exactly as he had calculated. He
tramped steadily on, with the fire growing brighter, and at last he took
out the revolver to examine it by touch once more, as he walked on more
swiftly now, meaning to go forward a hundred yards or so and then
proceed more cautiously, so as to make sure the enemy was asleep.
All at once he stopped short, startled.
The enemy was not asleep, for he saw a dark shadow pass before the
glowing light.
The adventurer stopped short for a few moments, but not in hesitation.
It was merely to alter his plan of attack; but the next minute all
planning was cast to the winds, for there rang out on the night air a
wild cry for help--such an appeal as he had himself uttered so short a
time before.
The cry was repeated, sending a thrill of excitement through the
listener, and telling its own tale. To the hearer it was as plain as if
he had been told that the gang of ruffians had waylaid another
unfortunate, who was about to share his own fate.
He rushed forward at once, and as he ran and stumbled he could see that
a desperate struggle was going on, figures in fierce contention passing
in front of and once trampling through the fire, whose embers were
kicked and scattered in all directions.
Suddenly two figures stepped aside into the full light, leaving two
others wrestling together; and this was the opportunity needed. Their
first victim could see plainly that the former were enemies, and
stopping short when about twenty yards away, he fired. Both turned to
gaze in the direction from which the flash and report had come.
They were in time to see another flash. Another report raised the
echoes, and they turned and fled.
Then the struggle ceased, and the adventurer saw another figure
disappearing into the darkness after his two companions.
As he dashed off the young fellow rushed up in time to seize the victim,
who staggered helplessly, trampling among the burning embers, among
which he would have fallen but for the willing hands which dragged him
aside, and lowered him down, before their owner began to kick about and
scatter the fire, which hissed and smoked and steamed, as snow was
heaped over, and raised a veil to hide the pair from their enemies while
the bright light was dying out.
The next act was to find out whether the enemy were yet in the vicinity.
The adventurer advanced for some distance into the darkness, but all
was still.
Satisfied that he could not be seen, the young man went on for some
little distance; but it was evident that the sudden attack had done its
work, and the party had fled for their lives.
"The question is, will they recover themselves and come back?" he
muttered. "Well, we must be on our guard. Two in the right against
three in the wrong. Those are fair odds. _Two_ in the right! Suppose
it is only one."
He hurried back towards the scene of the encounter, guided by the
faintly glowing embers lying here and there, and the dark, blinding
wood-smoke which was borne towards him by the light icy wind which came
down the defile.
"Suppose they have killed him!"
"Who are you? But whoever you are," came in a hoarse whisper, "if it
hadn't been for you those ruffians would have settled me."
"Thank heaven, then, I was in time. Can you help me trample out the
rest or this fire?"
"Hadn't we better escape? You might help me drag my sled into a place
of safety."
"There is no place of safety near," was the reply; "and it's cold enough
to freeze us to death. We had better stay here."
"But we dare not light a fire; they would see us, and come and pick us
off."
"I don't think the cowardly hounds will dare to come back."
"But they might, and I dare not risk it."
"Are you hurt?"
"Not seriously, but wrenched and strained in the struggle. Can you
understand what I say? I don't know my own voice."
"Yes, I can hear you. What is it--a cold?"
"No; I was right enough an hour ago. That red-bearded dog caught me by
the throat. He was trying to strangle me. I fired at random, and then
my senses were going, but I heard your shots. He has quite taken away
my voice. Where is your hand, sir?"
"Here: what do you want?"
"Just to make mine speak to it in a friendly grip. God bless you, sir!
you've saved my life. I can't say more now."
"Don't. There: we have no light to betray us now."
CHAPTER FOUR.
NATURE'S MISTAKE.
"But hadn't we better go on?"
"No: warmth is everything here. The ground is hot where the fire was,
and we'll camp there till morning. I saw you had a sledge. We'll drag
that to one side for shelter."
"And there is theirs, too," was said huskily.
"Mine!" was the reply. "The scoundrels inveigled me into staying with
them, and I had a narrow escape."
"Hah! Just as they served me. I saw their light and came up, and they
professed to be friends. I didn't like the look of them, but one can't
pick one's company out here, and a good fire was very tempting."
"Hist!"
The warning was followed by the clicking of pistol locks, after which
the pair listened patiently for some minutes.
"Nothing. Here, let's get the two sledges one on either side of the hot
ground. One will be a shelter, the other a breastwork to fire over if
the scoundrels come back. Besides, the breastwork will keep in the
heat. We are bound to protect ourselves."
"All right," was the reply, in an answering whisper, and the pair
dragged the two sledges into position, and then, allowing for the dank
odour of the quenched wood, found that they had provided themselves with
a snugly warm shelter, adding to their comfort by means of blankets and
a waterproof sheet, which they spread beneath them.
This took time, for every now and then they paused to listen or make a
reconnaissance in search of danger; but at last all was done, and the
question was who should keep the first watch.
"I'll do that," said the last comer. "I couldn't lie down to sleep if I
tried; my throat gives me so much pain. It feels swollen right up.
I'll take the first watch--listen, one ought to say. Why, I can't even
see my hand."
"It is terribly dark here in this gulch," was the whispered reply. "The
mountains run up perpendicularly on either side. But I couldn't sleep
after all I've gone through to-night. My nerves are all on the jar.
I'll watch with you."
"Listen."
"Well, listen, then. Watch with our ears. Can you hear me when I
whisper?"
"Oh, yes."
"But they will not come back, I'm sure."
"So much the better for them; but I hope that the miserable, treacherous
hounds will meet their reward. So they attacked you just in the same
way?"
"Not till I told them I would not stay; and I was sorry afterwards,
feeling that perhaps I had insulted them by my suspicions. Of course, I
did not know their character then."
"No. Well, we know it now. It is a specimen, I suppose, of the scum we
shall find yonder."
"I am afraid so."
"You are going after gold, of course?"
"Who would be here if he were not?"
"Exactly. I hope the game is going to be worth the candle. Suppose we
two stick together. You won't try to choke me the first time you see me
nodding off to sleep for the sake of my sledge and stores?"
"Oh, I'll promise you that."
"It was a startler. I was dog tired."
"Eh?"
"I was dog tired, and dropping off in the warmth of the fire into a
golden dream of being where the nuggets were piled up all around me; and
I was just going to pick up one, when a great snake darted at me and
coiled itself round my throat. Then I was awake, to find it was a real
devil snake in the shape of that red-bearded ruffian."
"That was the one the others called Beardy. But don't you talk so much:
your voice is growing worse."
"Can't help it, old fellow. I must talk. I'm so excited. Feel the
cold?"
"Oh, no. I'm quite warm with the glow which comes up through the sheet.
A good idea, that was, of bringing it on your sledge."
"Yes, but it's heavy. I say, though, what an experience this is, here
in the pitchy darkness. Ah! Look out!"
The pistols clicked again, for from somewhere close at hand there was a
faint rustling sound, followed by a heavy thud, as if some one had
stumbled and fallen in the snow.
The pair listened breathlessly in the black darkness, straining their
eyes in the direction from whence the sound had come; but all was
perfectly still.
They listened again minute after minute, and there was a dull throbbing
sound which vibrated through them; but it was only the heavy beating of
their own hearts.
Then they both started violently, for there was another dull heavy thud,
and some one hissed as if drawing in his breath to suppress the strong
desire to utter a cry of pain.
It was horrible in that intense blackness to crouch there with pistols
held ready directed towards the spot where whoever it was had fallen,
for there could be no doubt whatever. There had been the fall, not many
yards from where they knelt, and they listened vainly for the rustling
that must accompany the attempt to get up again.
At last the faint rustling came, and the temptation to fire was almost
too strong to be resisted. But they mastered it, and waited, both
determined and strung up with the desire to mete out punishment to the
cowardly miscreants who sought for their own gain to destroy their
fellow-creatures.
"Don't fire till you are sure it is they," each of the two young men
thought. "It is impossible to take aim in this darkness."
And they waited till the rustling ended in a sort of whisper.
Once more all was silent, and the suspense grew maddening, as they
waited minutes which seemed like hours.
But the enemy was evidently astir, for there was another whisper, and
another--strange warning secretive whispers--and a sigh as of one in
pain.
At this one of the listeners thrust out a hand, and the other joined in
an earnest grip, which told of mutual trust and determination to stand
by each other to the death, making them feel that the terrible emergency
had made them, not acquaintances of an hour's length, but staunch
friends, both strong and tried. Then they loosened the warm, manly
grip, and were ready for the worst.
For there was no longer any doubt: the enemy was close at hand, waiting
the moment for the deadly rush. The only question was whether they
should fire at once--not with the thought of hitting, but to teach the
scoundrels how thoroughly they were on the alert, and in the hope of
driving them into taking to flight once more.
But they doubted. A few shots had done this once, but now that the
miscreants had had time to recover from their panic, would it answer
again?
Thud! thud! in front, and then a far heavier one behind them. They
could not hold out much longer. The enemy was creeping towards them.
At this moment there was a tremendous crack, a hissing roar, and a
terrific concussion, the defenders of the tiny fort being struck down
behind their little breastwork.
But this onslaught was not from the enemy they awaited. The
ever-gathering snow from far above, loosened by the hot current of air
ascending from the fire, had come down in one awful charge, and the
marauders' camp was buried in an instant beneath thousands of tons of
snow.
CHAPTER FIVE.
HAND IN HAND.
There was the sense of a terrible weight pressing the sufferers down,
with their chests against the soft load bound upon the sledge in front;
and utterly stunned, they lay for a time motionless, and almost
breathless.
Then one began to struggle violently, striving to draw himself back, and
after a tremendous effort succeeding, to find that beneath him the snow
was loose, there being a narrow space along by the side of the sledge,
and that though his breath came short he could still breathe.
He had hardly grasped this fact when the movement on his right told of a
similar action going on, and he began to help his companion in
misfortune, who directly after crouched down beside him, panting
heavily, in the narrow space, which their efforts had, however, made
wider.
"Horrible!" panted the second at last. "An avalanche. Surely this does
not mean death."
There was no reply, and in the awful darkness a hand was stretched out
and an arm grasped.
"Why don't you say something?" whispered the speaker hoarsely.
"What can I say, man? God only knows."
"But it is only snow. We must burrow our way out. Wait a moment. This
way is towards the open valley."
"No, no; this. Beyond you is the wall of rock. Let me try."
For the next ten minutes there was the sound of one struggling to get
through the snow, and then it ended with the hoarse panting of a man
lying exhausted with his efforts.
"Let me come and try now," came in smothered accents.
"It is of no use. The snow was loose at first, but farther on it is
pressed together hard like ice. Try your way."
The scuffling and tearing commenced now to the right.
"Yes; it's quite loose now, and falls down. Ah! _no good_; here is the
solid rock running up as far as I can reach."
"I can hardly breathe. It is growing hotter every moment."
"No; it is cooler here. I can reach right up and stand against the
rock."
The speaker's companion in the terrible peril crept over the snow to his
side and rose to his feet, to find the air purer; and, like a drowning
man who had raised his head for the moment above water, he drank in deep
draughts of the cold, sweet air.
"Hah!" he gasped at last hoarsely, after reaching up as high as he
could, "the rock has saved us for the moment. The snow slopes away from
it like the roof of a shed."
"Yes; if we had been a few feet farther from it we should have been
crushed to death. Let's try and tear a way along by the foot of the
rock."
They tried hard in turn till they were utterly exhausted and lay
panting; but the only result was that the loose snow beneath them became
trampled down. No, not the only result; they increased the space within
what was fast becoming a snow cavern, one of whose walls was the solid
rocky side of the ravine.
"Are we to die like this?"
"Is this to be the end of all our golden hopes? Oh, heaven help us!
What shall we do? The air is growing hotter; we have nearly exhausted
it all, and suffocation is coming on fast. I can't, I won't die yet.
Help! help! help!"
Those three last words came in a hoarse faint wail that sounded
smothered and strange.
"Hush!" cried the other; "be a man. You are killing yourself. The air
is not worse. I can breathe freely still."
There was a horrible pause, and then, in pitiful tones: "I am fighting
down this fearful feeling of cowardice, but it is so hard--so hard to
die so soon. Not twenty yet, and the bright world and all its hopeful
promise before one. How can you keep like that? Are you not afraid to
die?"
"Yes," came in a low, sad whisper; "but we must not die like this. Tell
me you can breathe yet?"
"Yes," came in the husky, grating tones; "better and better now I am
still."
"Then there is hope. We are on the track; others will come after a
time, and we may be dug out."
"Hah! I dare not think it. I say."
"Yes?"
"Do you think those wretches have been caught by the fall as well?"
"If they were near they must have been."
"Yes, and we heard them."
"No, no," sighed the other; "those were patches of snow falling that we
heard."
There was silence then, save that twice over a soft whisper was heard,
and then a low, deep sigh.
"I say."
"Yes?"
"I feel sure that air must come to us. I can breathe quite easily
still."
"Yes."
"Then we must try and bear it for a time. I'm going to believe that we
may be dug out. Shall we try to sleep, and forget our horrible
position?"
"Impossible, my lad. For me, that is. You try."
"No; you are right. I couldn't sleep. But, yes, I can breathe better
still. There must be air coming in from up above. Well, why don't you
speak? Say something, man."
"I cannot talk."
"You must--you shall, so as to keep from thinking of our being--oh,
help! help! help!"
"Man, man! don't cry out in that horrible way;" and one shook the other
fiercely, till he sobbed out, "Yes; go on. I am a coward; but the
thought came upon me, and seemed to crush me."
"What thought? That we must die?"
"No, no," groaned the other in his husky voice; "that we are buried
alive."
Once more there was silence, during which the elder and firmer grasped
the hand of his brother in adversity. "Yes, yes," he whispered, "it is
horrible to think of; but for our manhood's sake keep up, lad. We are
not children, to be frightened of being in the dark."
"No; you are right."
"Here, help me sweep away the snow from under us. No, no. Here is the
waterproof sheet. We can drag it out--yes, I can feel the sledges.
Let's drag out those blankets."
"No, no, don't stir; you may bring down the snow roof upon our heads. I
mean, yes. I'll try and help you."
They worked busily for a few minutes, and then knelt together upon what
felt like a soft couch.
"There's food, and the snow for water; it would be long before we should
starve. Why are you so silent now? Come, we must rest, and then try to
cut our way out when the daylight comes."
"The daylight!" said the other, with a mocking laugh.
"Yes; we may see a dim dawn to show us which way to tunnel."
"Ah, of course!"
"Could you sleep now?"
"No, no; we must talk, or I shall go off my head. That brute hurt me
so, it has made me rather strange. Yes, I must talk. I say: God bless
you, old fellow! You saved my life from those wretches, and now you're
keeping me from going mad. I say! The air is all right."
"Yes; I can breathe freely, and I am not cold."
"I am hot. I say, let's talk. Tell me how you came to be here."
"Afterwards; the words would not come now. You tell me how you came."
"Yes; it will keep off the horrors; it's like a romance, and now it does
not seem to be true. And yet it is, and it happened just as if it were
only yesterday. I never thought of coming out here. I was going to be
a soldier."
He spoke in a hurried, excited way, and the listener heard him draw his
breath sharply through his teeth from time to time, as if he shivered
from nervous dread.
"I was not fit for a soldier. Fate knows best. See what a coward I
am."
"I thought you brave."
"What!"
"For the way in which you have fought and mastered the natural dread;
but go on."
"Oh, no; it seems nonsense to talk about my troubles at a time like
this."
"It is not. Go on, if you can without hurting yourself more."
"I'll go on because it will hurt me more. It will give me something
else to think of. Can you understand my croaking whisper?"
"Oh, yes."
"An uncle of mine brought me up after father and mother died."
"Indeed?"
"Dear old fellow! He and aunt quite took my old people's place; and
their boy, my cousin, always seemed like my brother."
The listener made a quick movement.
"What is it? Hear anything?"
"No; go on."
"They were such happy times. I never knew what trouble was, till one
day poor uncle was brought home on a gate. His horse had thrown him."
There was a pause, and then the speaker continued in an almost inaudible
whisper:
"He was dead."
The listener uttered a strange ejaculation.
"Yes, it was horrible, wasn't it? And there was worse to come. It
nearly killed poor dear old aunt, and when she recovered a bit it was to
hear the news from the lawyers. I don't quite understand how it was
even now--something about a great commercial smash--but all uncle's
money was gone, and aunt was left penniless."
"Great heavens!" came in a strange whisper.
"You may well say that. Bless her! She had been accustomed to every
luxury, and we boys had had everything we wished. My word! it was a
knockdown for poor old Dal."
"Who was poor old Dal?" said the listener, almost inaudibly.
"Cousin Dallas--Dallas Adams. I thought the poor chap would have gone
mad. He was just getting ready for Cambridge. But after a bit he
pulled himself together, and `Never mind, Bel,' he said--I'm Bel, you
know; Abel Wray--`Never mind,' he said, `now's the time for a couple of
strong fellows like we are to show that we've got some stuff in us.
Bel,' he said, `the dear old mother must never know what it is to
want.'"
It was the other's turn to draw in his breath with a low hissing sound,
and the narrator's voice sounded still more husky and strange, as if he
were touched by the sympathy of his companion, as he went on:
"I said nothing to Dal, but I thought a deal about how easy it was to
talk, but how hard for fellows like us to get suitable and paying work.
But if I said nothing, I lay awake at nights trying to hit on some plan,
till the idea came--ah! is that the snow coming down?"
"No, no! It was only I who moved."
"But what--what are you doing? Why, you've turned over on your face."
"Yes, yes; to rest a bit."
"I'm trying you with all this rigmarole about a poor, unfortunate
beggar."
"No, no!" cried the other fiercely. "Go on--go on."
The narrator paused for a few moments.
"Thank you, old fellow," he whispered softly, and he felt for and
grasped the listener's hand, to press it hard. "I misjudged you. It's
pleasant to find a bit of sympathy like this. I've often read how
fellows in shipwrecks, and wounded men after battles, are drawn together
and get to be like brothers, and it makes one feel how much good there
is in the world, after all. I expect you and I will manage to keep
alive for a few days, old chap, and then we shall have to make up our
minds to die--like men. I won't be so cowardly any more. I feel
stronger, and till we do go to sleep once and for all we'll make the
best of it, like men."
"Yes, yes, yes! Go on--go on!"
CHAPTER SIX.
A STRANGE MADNESS.
It was some time, though, before the narrative was continued, and then
it was with this preface.
"Don't laugh at me, old chap. The shock of all this has made me as weak
and hysterical as a girl. I say, I'm jolly glad it's so dark."
"Laugh at you!"
"I say, if you speak in that way I shall break down altogether. That
fellow choked a lot of the man out of me, and then the excitement, and
on the top of it this horrible burying alive--it has all been too much
for me."
"Go on--go on."
"Yes, yes, I will. I told you the idea came, but I didn't say a word to
my cousin for fear he should think it mad; and as to hinting at such a
thing to the dear old aunt, I felt that it would half kill her. I made
up my mind that she should not know till I was gone.
"Well, I went straight to the `Hard Nut'--that's Uncle Morgan. We
always called him the nut that couldn't be cracked--the roughest,
gruffest old fellow that ever breathed, and he looked so hard and sour
at me that I wished I hadn't gone, and was silent. `Well,' he said, `I
suppose you two boys mean to think about something besides cricket and
football now. You've got to work, sir, work!'"
"Hah!" sighed the listener.
"`Yes, uncle,' I said, `and I want to begin at once.'
"`Humph!' he said. `Well, that's right. But what do you want with me?'
"`I want you to write me a cheque for a hundred pounds.'
"`Oh,' he said, in the harsh, sneering way in which he always spoke to
us boys; for he didn't approve of us being educated so long. He began
work early, and made quite a fortune. `Oh,' he said, `do you? Hadn't I
better make it five?'
"`No,' I said. `I've thought it all out. One hundred will do exactly.'
"`What for?' he said with a snap.
"`I'm off to Klondike.'
"`Off to Jericho!' he snarled.
"`No, to Klondike, to make a fortune for the poor old aunt.'
"`Humph!' he grunted, `and is Dallas going with you to make the second
fool in the pair?'