"Well, boys, where do we go from here?"
It was Frank who asked the question, and he sat on a heap of luggage on
the beach at Nome, with Jack and Bob beside him looking alternately at
the mountain beyond the Alaskan outpost and at Mr. Hampton deep in
conversation with a short sturdy figure of a man, clad in khaki
breeches, high leather boots and a flannel shirt, a short distance away.
The figure was that of Tom Farnum, scout of the independent oil
interests at Nome.
It was Summer, and Summer in Alaska as the boys were beginning to
realize meant hot weather, indeed. All had their coats off, and were
perspiring. Only an hour before they had been put ashore by the steamer
from Seattle, and Mr. Hampton had left them on the beach with their
luggage while he went in search of Tom Farnum, who had failed to meet
them at the landing as they had expected.
"Where do we go from here?" Jack repeated Frank's question. "Well, if
you ask me, almost any place would be better than Nome."
He looked with disfavor at the little town sprawling at the base of the
mountain.
"Not just what I expected," he said. "I've heard of Nome all my life, it
seems, and now, just look at it. Why, it's hardly a spot on the map."
"But what a history it has had, Jack," said Frank. "Don't judge by
appearances too much. Remember this town has seen the Gold Rush."
"I wonder what Dad is talking about," said Jack, ignoring Frank's
remark.
"Probably discussing how soon we can get away," said big Bob, speaking
for the first time. "At any rate," he added, "I see your father and his
companion pointing to that gasoline schooner off shore."
At this moment, their doubts were resolved, for Mr. Hampton and his
companion ended their conversation and approached the boys.
"Well, boys, we'll soon be under way," said Mr. Hampton. Whereupon he
introduced Farnum all around. The latter was a prepossessing man with a
weather-beaten face and a grizzled mustache, above which jutted a
promontory of a nose between deep-set, wide, blue eyes.
"That is our schooner out there," Mr. Hampton continued, indicating the
boat to which Bob earlier had drawn attention. "Mr. Farnum," he added,
"has stated casually around Nome that he is taking a party of hunters up
the MacKenzie. We'll get away at once, as nothing is to be gained by a
stay in Nome and as, furthermore, we wish to avoid inquiries into our
aims. The story Farnum has told will do well enough."
Farnum nodded.
"Just a white lie," he said, grinning. "No use letting the curious know
all your secrets."
Then followed an hour of brisk work, at the end of which period the
luggage was safely stowed aboard the gasoline schooner, and its screw
began to turn. As the little vessel began to throb and draw away from
Nome, the boys leaned overside and watched the prospect dwindle in the
distance until the houses seemed like toys and the mountainside like a
painted backdrop in the theater.
"Hurray," cried Bob, at last, "we're off for the Great Unknown."
"Yes," agreed Frank, "I really feel that way, too. All the way up from
Seattle, I felt as if I were nothing more than a tourist, traveling a
beaten route. But this, well, this is different."
After that they were silent a long time, while the schooner shook and
throbbed and steadily pushed its way up the coast, each boy busy with
his thoughts. Yet those thoughts were much the same.
Following that eventful discussion in Seattle, on their return from
South America and their adventures there in The Enchanted City of the
Incas, they had gone back to Yale and studied hard to make up for lost
time in the first half of the term. All three were clever and had the
knack of concentrating at their tasks, and all as a consequence had
succeeded in making up back work in classroom and lecture. As a result
they had entered the succeeding term, or at least were prepared to do
so, without conditions. This was a matter for congratulation, indeed,
and deserving of especial reward.
That reward had been theirs. For Mr. Hampton and Mr. Temple both decided
that their respective sons and Frank, Mr. Temple's ward, should be
permitted to accompany Mr. Hampton on his trip to attempt to find some
trace of the "Lost Expedition" and of the reputed oil field in search of
which Thorwaldsson had set out.
"Farnum is reputed a wizard in knowledge of the Northland," Mr. Hampton
had explained to Mr. Temple, "and, as a consequence, I do not consider
that we will run any danger. Our greatest danger, of course, would be to
become trapped in the Far North in the Fall and be prevented by the
rigors of Winter from regaining the outside. For I do not intend to
spend the Winter there. Instead, I hope to be back in civilization by
the early Fall.
"That," he added, "will give us plenty of opportunity to seek traces of
the 'Lost Expedition.' I have been in communication with Farnum. His
plan is for us to push up the MacKenzie to one of its tributaries, and
then strike eastward. We will leave the gasoline schooner to make its
way back to Nome, while we push on overland, lightening our journey on
rivers and lakes, in the hope of finding the River of Oil flowing north.
"If we are unsuccessful, when the seasonal warnings of approaching
Winter come, we will turn to the southeast and come out in northern
Canada.
"The boys are hard and fit, and such a trip will be of inestimable value
for them. It will make them self-reliant and teach them to depend upon
themselves. Not that they are not in a fair way to be youths of that
sort already," he added, smiling. "If you could have seen them in South
America, George, it would have done your heart good."
"I know, I know," said Mr. Temple, shaking his head slightly, and
smiling. "Several years ago, that time when you were captive in Mexico
and they set out to rescue you--"
"Yes, and did," supplied Mr. Hampton.
"And did," agreed Mr. Temple. "Well, they showed the stuff that was in
them then. And the very same Summer, when I took them to San Francisco
on what I considered was going to be a little pleasure trip combining a
bit of business with sight-seeing, and--"
"And you became involved with the Chinese smugglers, and imprisoned, and
ended up by busting up their show--"
"Yes," resumed Mr. Temple, "and ended up by bringing the whole outfit
into the hands of Uncle Sam's men. Well, I can tell you, they certainly
showed their calibre."
"So, I reckon it will be all right to take them along on this trip,"
said Mr. Hampton.
"I suppose so," agreed Mr. Temple. "But innocent as it looks now, I have
my doubts. I have my doubts. Wherever those three boys are found, there
you can look for things to move fast. Trouble courts them, it seems to
me."
Accordingly, the boys had been told they would be taken on the trip into
the Far North. And wildly excited they had gone about their
preparations. Jack, the keenest radio enthusiast, was all for packing up
radio field equipment of every sort right at home. But his father had
dissuaded him, pointing out that Seattle was a large city and there
everything necessary in the way of an outfit could be purchased, thus
saving the trouble and expense of transporting overland to the Pacific
port.
"All right, Dad," Jack had agreed. "But, remember, the selection of the
radio equipment is to be left to the fellows and me. We've had a lot of
experience with the value of radio when in a tight place, especially in
South America, and we want to put that experience to use and be prepared
for every contingency this time."
To this Mr. Hampton readily had agreed, with the result that in Seattle
the three boys had revelled in the radio equipment stores, which they
found well stocked, as the use of radio had developed greatly on the
Pacific.
In consequence, their outfit included radio field equipment of the most
powerful, yet most compact, designs. For while Mr. Hampton fully
realized the value of having the very best yet he had issued a solemn
warning that bulk must be considered.
"We will have to travel as lightly as consistent with safety and the
purpose of our expedition," he had said. "So don't pile up anything too
heavy or bulky, or it will have to be discarded."
Jack knew well that the distance which can be covered with a radiophone
transmitter is only about one-fourth as great as that of a wireless
telegraph transmitter having the same input of initial current.
Therefore, as a means of sending messages, supposedly for aid, over long
distances, the wireless telegraph would be the better, inasmuch as
equipment for it would be less bulky to transport than equipment for
transmitting the human voice. Nevertheless, he was reluctant to place
their sole dependence upon the wireless telegraph.
"You see, Dad," he had pointed out to his father, when the outfit was
being assembled, "to reach the outside we shall have to depend upon
wireless telegraph. But we will also need the radiophone for this
reason: that each one of us ought to have a means of calling the main
party in case we become separated through going on scouting or hunting
expeditions, or for any reason."
"Well, that sounds sensible," his father had agreed. "Go ahead with your
plans, but, remember, hold down the bulk."
The result was that equipment capable of telegraphing five hundred miles
was assembled, but also Jack made up five light field sets of radio, one
for each of their party and for Farnum, which the user could pack in his
clothing and which had a radius up to twenty-five miles. The instrument
was Jack's now famous ring radio, worn on the finger, with a setting
only one inch by five-eighths of an inch. Formerly an umbrella as aerial
had been employed but Jack had done entirely away with that in his
improved set.
"Well, fellows," said Jack, at last, as Nome faded entirely from view,
"I wonder what lies ahead. I wonder whether Thorwaldsson's expedition
was stricken down by a plague, which seems hardly likely, as in that
case surely somebody would have managed to get word to the outside by
wireless or airplane, or whether it fell victim to a surprise attack by
Indians at night, as I understand from Dad that Farnum believes."
"Is that so," said Frank, in surprise. "That's the first I heard of
that."
"Yes," said Jack. "Dad told me of it when we were coming aboard this
schooner. He said it was the first intimation Farnum had given him that
such might be the case, and also his first intimation that there were
hostile Indians in this country into which we are going. If it weren't
too late, he told me, he would have turned back rather than imperil us,
as it is, we shall go pretty warily and try to steer clear of the
hostile Indian country."
"Whew," said Bob, "this sounds interesting, hey, what?"
His eyes began to shine.
"Old Bob. Always ready for a fight," said Frank. "Well, let's give him
one."
And incontinently, he and Jack fell upon the big fellow and a tussle
followed that ended only when they almost fell overboard.