"Andrew and I are on our way to the _Oklahoma_, the steamship frozen in the ice below here."
"How far?" asked the Boy.
"About seven miles below the Russian mission, and a mile or so up the Kuskoquim Slough."
"Wrecked there?"
"Oh no. Gone into winter quarters."
"In a slew?" for it was so Father Wills p.r.o.nounced s-l-o-u-g-h.
"Oh, that"s what they call a blind river up in this country. They come into the big streams every here and there, and cheechalkos are always mistaking them for the main channel. Sometimes they"re wider and deeper for a mile or so than the river proper, but before you know it they land you in a marsh. This place I"m going to, a little way up the Kuskoquim, out of danger when the ice breaks up, has been chosen for a new station by the N. A. T. and T. Company--rival, you know, to the old-established Alaska Commercial, that inherited the Russian fur monopoly and controlled the seal and salmon trade so long. Well, the younger company runs the old one hard, and they"ve sent this steamer into winter quarters loaded with provisions, ready to start for Dawson the instant the ice goes out."
"Why, then, it"s the very boat that"ll be takin" us to the Klond.y.k.e."
"You just goin" down to have a look at her?" asked Potts enviously.
"No. I go to get relief for the Pymeuts."
"What"s the matter with "em?"
"Epidemic all summer, starvation now."
"Guess you won"t find _any_body"s got such a lot he wants to give it away to the Indians."
"Our Father Superior has given much," said the priest gently; "but we are not inexhaustible at Holy Cross. And the long winter is before us.
Many of the supply steamers have failed to get in, and the country is flooded with gold-seekers. There"ll be wide-spread want this year--terrible suffering all up and down the river."
"The more reason for people to hold on to what they"ve got. A white man"s worth more "n an Indian."
The priest"s face showed no anger, not even coldness.
"White men have got a great deal out of Alaska and as yet done little but harm here. The government ought to help the natives, and we believe the Government will. All we ask of the captain of the _Oklahoma_ is to sell us, on fair terms, a certain supply, we a.s.suming part of the risk, and both of us looking to the Government to make it good."
"Reckon you"ll find that steamer-load down in the ice is worth its weight in gold," said Potts.
"One must always try," replied the Father.
He left the doorpost, straightened his bowed back, and laid a hand on the wooden latch.
"But Nicholas--when you left Pymeut was he--" began the Boy.
"Oh, he is all right," the Father smiled and nodded. "Brother Paul has been looking after Nicholas"s father. The old chief has enough food, but he has been very ill. By the way, have you any letters you want to send out?"
"Oh, if we"d only known!" was the general chorus; and Potts flew to close and stamp one he had hardly more than begun to the future Mrs.
Potts.
The Boy had thoughtlessly opened the door to have a look at the dogs.
"Shut that da--Don"t keep the door open!" howled Potts, trying to hold his precious letter down on the table while he added "only two words."
The Boy slammed the door behind him.
"With all our trouble, the cabin isn"t really warm," said the Colonel apologetically. "In a wind like this, if the door is open, we have to hold fast to things to keep them from running down the Yukon. It"s a trial to anybody"s temper."
"Why don"t you build a false wall?"
"Well, I don"t know; we hadn"t thought of it."
"You"d find it correct this draught"; and the priest explained his views on the subject while Potts"s letter was being addressed. Andrew put his head in.
"Ready, Father!"
As the priest was pocketing the letter the Boy dashed in, put on the Arctic cap he set such store by, and a fur coat and mittens.
"Do you mind if I go a little way with you?" he said.
"Of course not," answered the priest. "I will send him back in half an hour," he said low to the Colonel. "It"s a hitter day."
It was curious how already he had divined the relation of the elder man to the youngest of that odd household.
The moment they had gone Mac, with an obvious effort, pulled himself up out of his corner, and, coming towards the Colonel at the fireplace, he said thickly:
"You"ve put an insult upon me, Warren, and that"s what I stand from no man. Come outside."
The Colonel looked at him.
"All right, Mac; but we"ve just eaten a rousing big dinner. Even Sullivan wouldn"t accept that as the moment for a round. We"ll both have forty winks, hey? and Potts shall call us, and O"Flynn shall be umpire. You can have the Boy"s bunk."
Mac was in a haze again, and allowed himself to be insinuated into bed.
The others got rid of the dinner things, and "sat round" for an hour.
"Doubt if he sleeps long," says Potts a little before two; "that"s what he"s been doing all morning."
"We haven"t had any fresh meat for a week," returns the Colonel significantly. "Why don"t you and O"Flynn go down to meet the Boy, and come round by the woods? There"ll be full moon up by four o"clock; you might get a brace of grouse or a rabbit or two."
O"Flynn was not very keen about it; but the Jesuit"s visit had stirred him up, and he offered less opposition to the unusual call to activity than the Colonel expected.
When at last he was left alone with the sleeping man, the Kentuckian put on a couple more logs, and sat down to wait. At three he got up, swung the crane round so that the darting tongues of flame could lick the hot-water pot, and then he measured out some coffee. In a quarter of an hour the cabin was full of the fragrance of good Mocha.
The Colonel sat and waited. Presently he poured out a little coffee, and drank it slowly, blissfully, with half-closed eyes. But when he had set the granite cup down again, he stood up alert, like a man ready for business. Mac had been asleep nearly three hours. The others wouldn"t be long now.
Well, if they came prematurely, they must go to the Little Cabin for awhile. The Colonel shot the bar across door and jamb for the second time that day. Mac stirred and lifted himself on his elbow, but he wasn"t really awake.
"Potts," he said huskily.
The Colonel made no sound. "Potts, measure me out two fingers, will you? Cabin"s d.a.m.n cold."
No answer.