CHAPTER VI
THE CASTAWAYS ABANDONED
"Glad to see you! Glad to see you! What luck?" greeted Captain Bluntt as the boat with the returned caribou hunters pulled alongside the _North Star_, shortly after two o"clock.
"h.e.l.lo, Captain!" Remington and Ainsworth called out in unison. "Got three," said Remington in response to the Captain"s question. "What do you think of those heads?" straightening up three pairs of antlers for inspection.
"Fine! Fine! Where"d you get "em? Have to go far? Get "em far up country?"
"No, tramped over a lot of country but never got a shot till this morning, half a mile in," explained Remington, mounting the ladder to the deck. "Came on a bunch of four just above here, and got three of them."
"Good! Good! And you brought all the meat! Great treat! Caribou meat"s fine venison."
"Yes, we had plenty of time to pack it down before the boat came.
Where"s Paul?"
"Ash.o.r.e. Went ash.o.r.e with Dan Rudd the day you leaves. Told "em to be back at two o"clock today. Two o"clock. No later! The rascals! It"s two-thirty an" a fog"s settlin"! The rascals!"
"Why what can be keeping them? I hope they won"t get caught ash.o.r.e in the fog."
"Went up the river. Must have camped along the river. Didn"t you see "em? Couldn"t have missed "em if you came down the river."
"We didn"t come down the river. We made a circuit and came down from the north. But that fog is settling fast! It looks bad!"
"Looks bad! Looks bad!" agreed Captain Bluntt. "Nasty weather ahead.
Ice working up too. Lot of ice worked up from the north since you left. Want to get out of here. Told those rascals to be prompt. Never can depend on youngsters. Can"t depend on "em."
"They won"t miss the ship in the fog, will they, Captain?"
"No, no, they won"t miss us. Dan"ll find us. Yes, Dan"ll find us.
Shoot to signal us. Can"t miss us."
Before three o"clock the fog had settled into a heavy black pall, so intense that, standing at the companionway aft, Remington could scarcely make out the foremast. A strong breeze had also sprung up from the north, portending increased drift of ice southward.
"I wonder if Paul will ever learn to keep his appointments and be on time," Remington remarked to Ainsworth.
"He seems to have no sense of responsibility," said Ainsworth.
"I wish he were aboard. I"m worried at this delay. I hope nothing has happened to the boys."
"Oh, I think there"s no cause to worry. Dan will take care that nothing goes wrong. Paul wasn"t ready to return when he was told, and thought an hour or two wouldn"t matter. It"s characteristic of him.
They"ll be along pretty soon."
Captain Bluntt was growing impatient and ill-humored. He had ordered steam up, and prepared for instant departure to the open sea the moment Paul and Dan came aboard. They were now an hour past due, an unheard of delinquency on Dan"s part.
"By the imps of the sea! I"ll wring those youngsters" necks when I gets hold of "em!" he exclaimed. "By the imps of the sea I will!"
"Could anything have happened to them?" asked Remington anxiously.
"No, just taking their time. Just taking their time, th" rascals! Dan Rudd can take care of himself. Take care of the other youngster too.
Yes, yes, they"re all right. Dan Rudd"ll see to that!"
Nevertheless Remington"s anxiety grew, and at the end of another half hour, when he approached Captain Bluntt again, he found the Captain"s face serious.
"Can"t fathom this! Can"t fathom it!" the Captain exclaimed. "Dan Rudd always sharp to the minute before! Never behind! Thought first the other youngster delayed him. Couldn"t delay him like this. Dan Rudd wouldn"t let him, with a fog settlin", an" a norther threatenin". No, sir! No! Somethin" "s wrong. Somethin" "s gone wrong."
"Do you think----"
"Listen! What"s that?" Captain Bluntt held up his hand.
Faintly they heard a rifle shot in the fog, and in a moment another, fainter and hardly distinguishable.
"Tom Hand! Jake Griggs! Here, you fellows! Man a boat! Be smart now!"
With quick, gruff commands Captain Bluntt had a boat in the water, with four seamen at the oars and another at the tiller, as quickly as man could do it.
"Pull for your lives now! Pull for your lives! Save those lads! Pull, pull, you men!"
"Get your gun, sir! Get your gun, and shoot signals!" he commanded Remington, and in a moment Remington had his rifle on deck, shooting at regular intervals.
Two or three shots were heard far away, and very faint, and then came silence. Remington, Ainsworth and Captain Bluntt, in a state of intense suspense, listened between the shots that Remington fired, and waited.
An hour pa.s.sed, and another hour before they heard the clank of oarlocks, and presently the boat loomed up in the fog and gathering dusk.
"Did you find them? Did you find them, Tom Hand?" shouted Captain Bluntt.
"No, sir, they"s no findin" un," reported Tom. "They"s lost, sir. We picks up an oar an" a sleepin" bag, but we"s not seein" th" boat, sir."
"Lost! Lost!" exclaimed Remington in consternation.
Captain Bluntt stood speechless and overcome. When Tom Hand reached deck, with the sleeping bag and oar, he examined the things critically, and asked:
"Where did you find these? Where"d you find "em?"
"Full two miles t" th" s"uthard, sir. We hears shots an" pulls for un, and then th" shots stop. We keep pullin" t" the" s"uthard till we most loses th" sound o" your shootin", an" here we picks up th" oar, an" a bit farther th" sleepin" bag. We hollers an" hollers, but gets no answer, an" we pulls around through th" fog, but finds no more, an" we comes back. "Twere growin" dusk, sir, an" no use lookin" farther sir."
"No, "twere no use lookin" further. No use." Turning to Remington, "They"s lost, sir. They"s lost," and Captain Bluntt blew his nose on his handkerchief and gave an order to Tom Hand in as gruff a voice as he could a.s.sume, that he might hide his emotion.
"My G.o.d! Is it possible!" said Remington, quite stunned.
"This is awful! Awful!" Ainsworth exclaimed.
"I can never go back home without Paul--never! Never! How could I face his father?" Remington half moaned.
Ainsworth could offer no consolation. There was nothing to be done. No tragedy ever came more unexpectedly, and the young men were made sick with the realization of it.
"There"s nasty weather comin", an" we"ll move out into the open and lay to for th" fog to clear," explained Captain Bluntt a little later, to the two sportsmen whom he found sitting dejectedly in the cabin. "Barometer falling. Blow comin". Hard blow comin", I fears.