"Where"s the machinery?" asked Johnny.
"Up the river. Wanta see it?"
"Sure."
They hurried away up the frozen river and in fifteen minutes came upon a row of low sheds. The doors were locked, but to his great surprise Johnny discovered that his companion had the keys.
They were soon walking through dark aisles, on each side of which were piled parts of mining machines of every description, crushers, rollers, smelters and various accessories connected with quartz mining. Mingled with these were picks, pans, steam thawers, windla.s.ses, and great piles of sluice timber. All these last named were for mining placer gold.
"Quartz too?" asked Johnny.
"Plenty of quartz," grinned Iyok-ok. "Come out here, I will show you."
They stepped outside. The boy locked the door, then led his companion up a steep slope until they were on a low point commanding a view of the village below and a rocky cliff above.
"See that cliff?" asked Iyok-ok. "Plenty of gold there. Pick it out with your pen knife. Rich! Too rich."
"Then this Peninsula is as rich as Alaska?"
"Alaska?" Iyok-ok grinned. "Alaska? What shall I say? Alaska, it is a joke. Think of the great Lena River! Great as the Yukon. Who knows what gold is deposited in the beds and banks of that mighty stream? Who knows anything about this wonderful peninsula? The Czar, he has kept it locked. But now the Czar is dead. The key is lost. Who will find it?
Sometime we will see."
The boy was interrupted by wild shouts coming from the village. As their eyes turned in that direction, Johnny and Iyok-ok beheld a strange sight. The entire village had apparently turned out to give chase to one man. And, down to the last child, they were armed. But such strange implements of warfare as they carried! All were relics of by-gone days; lances, walrus harpoons, bows and arrows, axes, hammers and many more.
As Johnny watched them, he remembered having been told by an old native that during and after the great war these people had been unable to procure a sufficient supply of ammunition and had been obliged to resort to ancient methods of hunting. These were the bow and arrow, the lance and the harpoon. Powerful bows, of some native wood, shot arrows tipped with cunningly tempered bits of steel. The drawn and tempered barrel of a discarded rifle formed a point for the long-shafted lance. The harpoon, most terrible of all weapons, both for man and beast, was a long wooden shaft with a loose point attached to a long skin rope. Once five or six of these had been thrown into the body of a great white bear or some offending human he was doomed to die a death of agonizing torture; his body being literally torn to pieces by the drag upon the strong skin ropes, fastened to the steel points imbedded in his flesh.
Now it seemed evident that for some misdeed one member of the tribe had been condemned to die. As Johnny stood there staring, the whole affair seemed so much like things he had seen done on the screen, that he found it difficult to realize that this was an actual tragedy, being enacted before his very eyes.
"They do it in the movies," he said.
"Yes," his companion agreed, "but here they will kill him. We must hurry to help him."
"Who is he?"
"Don"t you see? The Russian."
"Oh!" sighed Johnny. "Let "em have him. He deserves as much from me, probably deserves more from them."
"No! No! No!" Iyok-ok protested, now very much excited. "That will never do. We must save him. They think he"s from the Russian Government. Think he will demand their furs and carry them away. They mistake. They will kill him. Your automatic! We must hurry. Come."
Johnny found himself being dragged down the hill. As he looked below, he realized that his companion was right. The man was doomed unless they interfered. Already skillful archers were pausing to shoot and their arrows fell dangerously near the fugitive.
"Now, from here," panted Iyok-ok. "Your automatic. Shoot over their heads. They will stop. I will tell them. They will not kill him."
Johnny"s hand went to his automatic, but there it rested. These natives?
What did he have against them that he should interrupt them in the chase? And this Russian, what claim did he have on him that he should save his life? None, the answer was plain. And yet, here was this boy, to whom he had grown strangely attached, begging him to help save the Russian. A strange state of affairs, for sure.
Toward them, as he ran, the Russian turned a white, appealing face. To them came ever louder and more appalling the cry of the excited natives.
Now an arrow fell three feet short of its mark. And now, a stronger arm sent one three yards beyond the man, but a foot to one side. The whole scene, set as it was in the purple shadows and yellow lights of the north-land, was fascinating.
But the time had come to act.
"Well, then," Johnny grunted, whipping out his automatic, "for your sake I"ll do it."
Three times the automatic barked its vicious challenge. The mob paused and waited silently.
Out of this silence there came a voice. It was the voice of Iyok-ok by Johnny"s side. Through cupped hands, he was speaking calmly to the natives. His words were a jumble of Eskimo, Chukche and pidgen-English, but Johnny knew they understood, for, as the speech went on, he saw them drop their weapons, then one by one pick them up again to go shuffling away.
Johnny looked about for the Russian. He had disappeared.
"Now what did you do that for?" he asked his companion.
"Can"t tell now," Iyok-ok answered slowly. "Sometime, mebbe. Not now.
Azeezruk nucky, that"s all."
He paused and looked away at the hills; then turning, extended his hand.
"Anyway, I thank you very, very much I thank you."
With that they made their way toward the village and the sea, which, packed and glistening with ice, reflected all the glories of the gorgeous Arctic sunset.
Three hours later Iyok-ok put his head in at Johnny"s igloo and said:
"One hour go."
"North?" asked Johnny.
"North."
"You go?"
"Eh-eh."
"j.a.p girl go?"
"Eh-eh."
"East Cape? Behring Strait?"
"Mebbe." With a smile, the boy was gone.
"Evidently the Russian is on the move again," Johnny observed to himself. "Wonder what he intends to do about his diamonds? Well, anyway, that proves that the gold mines are not his goal."
As Johnny dug into his pack for a dry pair of deer skin stocks, he discovered that his belongings had been tampered with.
"The Russian," he decided, "evidently hasn"t forgotten his diamonds."