SKATING BY COMPASS.
The next day was Sunday. Fortunately, the sacred day had found them in
such a position that they could spend it quietly. Katy persuaded Jim
and the two young men to listen while she read them some chapters from
the little Testament she had carefully packed among her "necessary
articles."
This, together with the work that _must_ be done, took up a good part
of the morning, and the afternoon was spent in making a trip to the
boat, looking the situation over carefully, and laying plans for a
very early start the next day. Supper over, they soon crawled into
bed, and woke at day break, ready for work, and all the better for
their day of rest.
After a hasty breakfast camp was broken, and work was resumed at the
hummock. All hands labored with such a will that long before noon they
had let the boat down to the smooth white plain upon the other side;
and though it got away from them at the last minute, and went spinning
off on its own account, no harm was done.
The onward march was then resumed, and splendid headway made. At noon
a short halt was called and gladly accepted, all lounging upon the
straw and boxes in the boat, munching crackers and cheese, and
drinking Katy's cold chocolate. The sun had been out all the morning,
and the ice was not only a trifle soft, but frequently rough, which
had made the skating and dragging a little harder work than before.
No land appeared ahead, but Aleck knew the name and position of a
lighthouse just visible upon an island at the mouth of a river away
off at their right. He therefore took out of his pocket a small map of
the western end of the lake, that he had copied from a big chart, and
began to study it. He found that it was about fifteen miles across the
end of the lake to a certain cape on the southern shore, which lay
beyond the great marshy bay into which emptied the river just
mentioned. He took the direction of this cape from where they were at
present, by compass, and made a note of it in his pocket-book. It was
almost exactly southeast. Aleck reckoned on reaching so near there by
sundown that the party could go ashore if very hard pushed by any
misfortune or bad turn of the weather, though it was too long a march
to make unless they were compelled.
"But supposing we find open water, and have to change our course?"
asked Katy.
"Well, we shall know, at all events, that we mustn't go east of
southeast, and must try to keep as close to that direction as
possible. I don't like this sunshine and westerly breeze. I'd much
rather the weather kept real cold."
"Why?" said Jim. "It's much nicer when it's warm."
"I'm afraid of snow and fogs, Youngster. Now let us be off."
No snow or fog came to bother them, however, and at sunset they were
out of sight of any landmark, and travelling by the compass, like a
ship at sea.
You may ask, How could they be sure they were following it truly,
since they had no object, like a long bowsprit, to guide the eye in
ranging their course into line with the needle point, as the steersman
on a ship does when he glances across his binnacle?
This is the plan they took: The compass was a small one, but it was
hung in a box so as always to stand level. It was, in fact, an old
boat compass which Mr. Kincaid had had for many years. This was set
exactly in the middle of the seat at the stern of the boat, where Katy
still skated, with her hands resting upon the stern-board. Here she
could keep her eye easily upon the face of the compass, and make a
straight line from its pointer through the middle of the boat. When
the compass point "southeast" and the stem-post of the yawl were in
line, she knew they were going on a straight course. When these were
out of line, she knew her team had swerved, and she called out
"Right!" or "Left!" to bring them back to the true course, just as a
quartermaster would order "Port!" and "Starboard!" to his helmsman.
The sun went down slowly at their right hands as they rushed along,
and as Jim saw his shadow stretching taller and taller, he found it
difficult to keep pace with the older lads. Noting this, the Captain
ordered a halt, and put Jim into the boat as a passenger, tying his
sled behind.
"Don't you want to ride also?" asked Tug of Katy, very gallantly.
Katy was tired, and one of her skate-straps chafed her instep a
little, but she didn't propose to give up.
"Oh, no," she said, cheerily. "I have so much help by resting on the
stern of the boat that I can go a long time yet before I give in.
Besides, who would steer?"
So they rushed away again, the clink-clink of their strokes keeping
perfect time on the smooth ice. All at once--it was about four o'clock
in the afternoon now--a dark line appeared ahead, and in a few moments
more they could plainly see open water across their path.
When they became sure of this they went more slowly, and in about ten
minutes had approached as close as they dared to a wide space like a
river, beyond which white ice could be seen again. Here all knew they
must spend the night, for it would be foolish to attempt to cross
before morning.
"Well," remarked Tug, as they came to a halt, "according to orders,
it's my duty to take the axe and cut fuel; so I can loaf, for there's
no wood to chop round here that I see;" and he pretended to search in
every direction.
"Loaf? Not a bit of it," shouted Aleck, with a grin. "My order to you
is, Unload that tent, and set it up on the ice! Jim will help you.
I'll help Katy make a fire."
"I wish you would," said the girl. "I'm 'fraid I shouldn't make it go
very well out here. I have never built a kitchen fire on ice."
"This is the best way."
Saying this, Aleck took two of the largest pieces of wood from Jim's
sled, and laid them down a little way apart. Then he laid across them
a platform of the next largest sticks, and on top of this arranged his
kindling, ready to touch a match to.
"We won't set the fire going till we are quite ready for it, and--"
"But I'm cold," Jim complained.
"Well, Youngster, I've heard that the Indians never let their boys
come near the lodge fire to get warm, but bid them run till they work
the chill off. You'd better move livelier if you want to get warm,
for we can't afford any more fire than is necessary for a short bit of
cooking. Katy, what do you propose to have?"
"I thought I would make tea, boil potatoes, and bake some johnny-cake
in my skillet. May I?"
"Oh, yes, but you must economize fuel."
With this warning, Aleck struck a match, and the little fire was soon
blazing merrily in the "wooden stove," as Katy called it. Only one or
two sticks had been burned clear through before the fire had done its
work, and was put out in order to save every splinter of wood
possible. They sat down in the shelter of the boat to eat their
dinner, and enjoyed it very much, in spite of the cold, their
loneliness, and the gathering darkness.
Meanwhile the tent had been set up. Over its icy floor were laid the
thwarts taken out of the boat, the rudder, and two box covers, which
nearly covered the whole space. On top of this was placed as much
straw as could be spared, and upon the straw Aleck and Tug spread
their blankets.
Dinner out of the way, the after-part of the boat was cleared out and
re-arranged, until a level space was left. Here, upon a heap of straw,
beds for the younger ones were arranged. Then the spare canvas was
spread across like an awning, and was held up on an oar laid
lengthwise. This made a snug cabin for Katy and the wearied Jim, who
were not long in creeping into it. Rex followed, and slept in the
straw at their feet, which was good for them all.
[Illustration: "THE LITTLE FIRE WAS SOON BLAZING MERRILY."]
With the coming of darkness came also a damp sort of cold, that caused
them to huddle close in their blankets; and though they presently fell
asleep, it was with a shivering sense of discomfort that spoiled the
refreshment.
Midnight passed, and Aleck, only half awake, was trying to tuck his
blankets closer about him without disturbing his bedfellow, when the
tent was suddenly struck by some large object, and considerably
shaken. Alarmed and puzzled at the same time, Aleck paused to listen
an instant before rising, when the shrieks and barking of the sleepers
in the boat came to his ears. He sprang out of his blankets only in
time to see two shadowy objects rise from the camp, and drift away
across the face of the moon, which was just rising.
"Wh-what w-was that?" came from two scared figures sitting
bolt-upright in the yawl, their tongues stuttering with terror and
cold combined.
"I don't know." Aleck was as bewildered, if not quite as much
frightened, as they.
"Humph!" cried Tug's voice, behind; "you're a pretty set to be scared
out of your wits and wake everybody up on account of two birds.
They're nothing but snow-owls. Go to bed, or we'll all freeze."
"Wh-wh-what are they?" asked Jim, his teeth playing castanets in spite
of all his efforts to control them.
"Tell you in the morning," was the reply. "Go to bed. Come in, Cap'n.
Owls are nothing. Come to bed."
This seemed good advice, however gruffly given; but you can hardly
expect a person to mince his phrases at two o'clock of a winter's
morning, on an ice-floe. Aleck was ready to comply, but he was too
cold.
"I must get warm first, and so must you, Jim." Katy had wisely
disappeared some time before, and said she was pretty comfortable.
"Come and run with me till we get our blood stirring."
Neither of the boys had dared undress at all, so it only remained for
Jim to creep out from under the canvas, and limp stiffly to his
brother's side. Then hand in hand they raced up and down the ice half
a dozen times in the pale greenish moonlight. Once or twice they
disturbed an owl perched on the ice, or heard wild hooting--a sound so
hollow and unearthly that they could not tell whether it came from
near by or far off.
This strange voice and the gray, silent half-light on the wide waste
gave them a very lonely and dismal feeling, and when they had put
themselves into a glow by exercise, they were very glad to creep back
into their beds.