Chapter 4

"Now the little ones--quick!" cried Rob, half springing to his feet, and continuing to fire steadily. Some one's shot struck the first cub square through the spine and killed it instantly. The second cub stood but a moment longer. These boys had used rifles many times before, and although not every shot went true, perhaps half of them struck their mark; and it was as Rob had said--the rifles shot as hard for them as for a grown man.

The great she bear, possessed of enormous vitality, was not easily disposed of. The magazines of all the rifles were emptied the second time before Rob would allow them to go a foot closer, and even so, the great gray body retained life enough to roll half down the bank as they approached. This time Rob finished the old bear with a shot through the head, at a distance of not more than thirty yards.

The game was down and dead--three great bears, one of them huge beyond the wildest dreams of any of them, and unbelievably large even for the most widely experienced sportsman. Indeed, any sportsman might have been proud of this record. Rob turned to look at his friends.

Suddenly he himself sat down, and to his surprise found that he was trembling violently all over. Jesse and John were both doing the same. He saw that their faces were deathly pale.

"I'm--I'm--I'm sort of--sort of sick at my stomach!" said Jesse.

X

THE SAVAGE REFUGEE

"Well," said Rob, finally, looking around at his friends and grinning, "I don't know which of us is the worst scared; but, anyhow, we've got our game, and a lot of it. Do you suppose we can skin these big fellows?"

"We'll have to," said John. "There's meat enough to last us a year. That old bear is bigger than any horse in Valdez."

"And tough as any horse, too," said Rob. "The cubs may be better to eat. I have heard my father say that bear liver isn't bad; and certainly we can get all the fat we want to fry our fish. Lucky we've all got our hunting-knives along; so here goes!"

They now arose and began the difficult task of skinning out the great bear--slow work for even an experienced hunter. They kept at it, however, and had made a good beginning when all at once a slight sound at the edge of the creek bank attracted Rob's attention.

As he turned the others noticed him, and all three of them stood staring an instant later at the same object: a round, dark face gazing at them motionless through the grass--a face with cunning little eyes set slantwise, like those of a Japanese, and long, stringy locks of dark hair hanging down about the cheeks. Instinctively each boy reached for his rifle, which he had left leaning against the carcass of the great bear. Apparently not alarmed, the face kept its place, staring steadily at them. Rob now guessed the truth, which was that this Aleut savage had heard the shots and had entered the mouth of the creek in his boat. Not knowing whether he was friend or foe, Rob motioned the others to follow him, and approached him with his rifle at a ready.

Seeing that they were not afraid, nor disposed to be driven from their place, the Aleut savage--for such it proved to be--arose, and with what he meant to be a smile stretched out his hand as though in friendship. His gun, a rusty old affair, he left lying on the ground at his side. Rob kicked it away as he approached.

They now saw how the Aleut had reached them. His boat, a long, native bidarka, lay in the creek, up which the native had paddled silently on his own errand of discovery. This boat interested the boys very much. It was nearly twenty feet long and not more than two feet wide, covered entirely with tightly stretched skin. In the deck were two round holes, around each of which there was a mantle, or hood, of oiled hide or membrane, which could be drawn up about the waist of a man sitting in the hatch. On the narrow and sloping deck there was lashed a long spear and an extra paddle. The boys also noticed sticking to the deck a stringy-looking mass of grayish white, which at first they could not identify, though later they found it to be a collection of devil-fish, or octopi, which the native had gathered among the rocks for later use as food. Peering into the hatches they saw a copper kettle partly filled with a whitish-looking meat, which later they found to be whale flesh. There was a ragged blanket of fur thrust under the deck between the hatches.

"He's been cruising along the coast," said Rob; "but this is a two-hatch bidarka, so probably he's got a partner somewhere around."

"Maybe he's up at our house now stealing everything we left there," suggested Jesse.

"Yes, and maybe it's his house that we've moved into," added John.

Rob, the older of the boys, and the one on whose judgment they had come to rely, remained silent a moment.

"Boys," said he, at last, "this fellow looks like mischief to me. We can't let him go away, to come back after awhile and rob us. We can't leave his gun here with him and go on with our work. The only thing we can do is to take him in charge for a while."

"Let me get his gun away from him," began John.

Possibly the Aleut understood some of this, for all at once he made a sudden spring and caught at his gun.

Quick as a flash Rob covered him with his own rifle. "No, you don't," he said; "drop it! That settles it for you!"

Again the Aleut seemed to understand, for he stood up, tried to smile again, and once more held out his hand.

"Take his gun and chuck it in the boat, Jess," commanded Rob. "Now you mush on!" he ordered the Aleut, pointing to the carcass of the bear. ("Mush on," in Alaska dog-train vernacular, means "march on," being a corruption from the French word _marchons_.)

The native sullenly walked on ahead, and finally sat down by the side of the bear.

"You watch him, John," said Rob. "I've got to go on skinning this bear." So saying, he resumed his work, presently rejoined by Jesse.

The native watched them, but finally began to smile at their clumsiness.

"I'll tell you what," said Jesse; "if he's so smart about this, let's make him help skin."

"A good idea!" added Rob. He began to make signs to the Aleut. "Here, you," said he, "get up and go to work--and keep on your own side of the bear."

He pointed to the crooked knife which he saw in the native's belt. The latter, none too well pleased, sulkily arose and began to aid in skinning the bear. It was easy to see that it was not the first work of the kind he had done. He laid the hide off in folds, with long, easy strokes, doing twice as much work as all the other three. After a time the boys stopped their work entirely and stood watching him with admiration. The Aleut paid no attention to this, but went on with his work, once in awhile helping himself to a piece of raw fat. In the course of half an hour or so he had the great robe spread out on the grass, with the difficult work of skinning out the feet all done, and the ears, nose, and all parts of the head skinned out without leaving a slashed spot on the hide.

"This beats doing it ourselves!" said John, who was not especially fond of work.

"We ought to thank him some way," said Rob. "You know a little Chinook, John; why don't you talk to him?"

John grinned.

"_Kla-how-yah, tillicum!_" he began. "_Klosh-tum-tum_, eh? _Skookum! Skookum!_"

Again the Aleut smiled in his distorted way, but whether or not he understood no one could tell.

"What did you say to him, John?" asked Jesse.

"Asked him how he was; told him that we were all pretty good friends, and that he had done mighty good work," interpreted John, proudly.

"Well, it didn't seem to do much good, anyhow," said Rob. "But what shall we call him?"

"Call him Jimmy," said Jesse. "He looks as though his name might be Jimmy as much as anything else."

"All right!" agreed their leader. "Here, you, Jimmy, catch hold here! I'll show you a better way of getting this hide up to camp than carrying it there."

He motioned that they should put the hide on the deck of the bidarka, and in time this was done, although the great weight of the green hide, a load for two strong men, sunk the bidarka so deeply that half its deck was covered.

"Now get in, Jimmy," ordered Rob, pointing to the rear hatch. The native stepped in lightly, paddle in hand, and showed his ability to handle the little craft, even heavily loaded as it now was. Rob pointed up the creek, but with a sudden sweep of his paddle the Aleut turned the other way and started for the sea.

"Quick, get the guns!" cried Rob. "Head him off across the bend!"

Quick as were their movements, they were none too soon, for as they rushed across the narrow part of the creek bend they saw the Aleut almost upon them. He made no attempt to get at his gun, which was buried under the hides in the front hatch, but was paddling with all his might. Without hesitation Rob fired two shots into the water ahead of his boat, and held up his hand in command to him to stop. These things were language that even an Aleut could understand. Scowling and sullen, he slowly paddled up to the bank. He understood the fierce menace of the three rifles now pointing at him. This time he obeyed the gestures made to him, and, turning about, proceeded to paddle slowly up the creek, followed by the boys along the bank.

XI

A TROUBLESOME PRISONER

When they reached the lagoon in front of the barabbara they stood for a time closely watching the latter. No sign of any visitor appeared, however. At last Rob boldly went on, kicked open the door, and called to the others to follow. Evidently, if the Aleut had any companion, he was not in that part of the island.

"You watch me make this fellow work," said John. "I know a few words of Aleut as well as some Chinook. Here, you, Jimmy," he went on, "_sashgee augone! Skora!_"

To the surprise of all the Aleut actually smiled, as though in pleasure at hearing his own tongue.

"Got him that time!" said John, importantly. "Why, I can talk to these people all right. _Skora_, Jimmy!" he added, sternly, pointing to the fireplace.

"_Da! Da! Skora!_" said the Aleut, and began to hunt about for wood.

"What did you tell him that time?" asked Jesse.

"Told him to make a fire, and be jolly quick about it," said John. "If you want to get anything done, come to me, fellows. Look at Jimmy build that fire!"

In truth the Aleut seemed to accept the place assigned him. He not only built the fire in the middle of the hut, but picked up the skillet as a matter of course, wiped it out with some dried grass, put into it some of the bear fat, and added a part of the liver which they had brought along. He handed out the empty pail to John, grunting something which no one understood; but John, passing the pail in turn to Jesse, said he thought that what the Aleut wanted was some water to boil.

"_Chi?_" asked the Aleut, suddenly, of John.

"_Natu chi_," said John ("Haven't got any tea").

In reply to this the Aleut stooped down, went out of the door, and walked over to the bidarka, where it lay at the bank. Rob followed him to see that he attempted no treachery, but the Aleut seemed to have no intention of that. He pulled out from his boat a dried seal-skin or two, his old blanket, and his gun, which latter Rob took from him.

"He's been hunting and fishing," said Rob. "Looks like he had a bear-hide of his own underneath there. He's got two or three fresh codfish, and here's his cod-line of rawhide--with bone sinkers. And here's a bow and some bone-tipped arrows, besides his spear there on the deck. If we kept his rifle and turned him loose he could make a living all right."

"But we don't want to turn him loose," said John; "he's too useful. Look at that."

The Aleut finally produced from under the deck a dirty little bag tightly tied.

"_Chi!_" he exclaimed, holding it up in triumph.

"You see," said John, "we've got tea all right. Now it looks to me that we could get a pretty good meal."

By the time the Aleut had prepared their supper for them, and had made each a tin can of hot tea, all the boys began to feel tired and sleepy, for now the hour of night was well advanced, although the Alaskan sun stood well above the horizon.

"I'm mighty sleepy," said John, yawning.

"I should think you would be," said Jesse, "after all you ate. But if we're sleepy, why can't we go to sleep?"

"That would never do," spoke up Rob. "We don't know what this native might do while we were all asleep. I've been thinking that over. It seems to me the only way we can do is to tie his hands together, so he can't do any harm, and then take turns in standing watch."

"Have we got to do that always?" asked John, sleepily.

"We've got to do it to-night, at least," said Rob, emphatically. "Take that piece of hide rope, John, tie his wrists together, and pass it down to his ankles behind his back. He can sleep a little in that way, at least; and I'll stand the first watch."

The Aleut, not doubting at the first of these motions that they intended to kill him, fell upon his knees and began to jabber, apparently begging for mercy. At last he grinned as he looked down at his manacled hands, and presently, without much more ado, rolled himself over on his blankets and seemed to fall asleep. On the opposite side of the hut Jesse and John followed his example, and soon were fast in real sleep. Rob sat by the failing fire, his rifle across his knees. He, too, was tired with the work of the day. At times, in spite of himself, his head would drop forward and he would awake with a start.

XII

WAYS OF THE WILDERNESS

Rob awoke with a sudden jerk. A slight sound had disturbed him. He gazed steadily at the figure of the Aleut in the faint light of the embers. The latter was lying quite motionless, but something caused Rob to feel suspicious. He put out a hand and awakened his two companions, who sat up, rubbing their eyes sleepily.

"What's the matter?" asked Jesse. "Where are we, and what sort of a place is this? My! I was dreaming, and I thought I was back home in bed."

"John," said Rob, "crawl over and look at that fellow's fastenings. I thought I heard him move. Don't be afraid. I'll keep him covered with the rifle. Build up the fire a little."

John complied, presently stooping down to examine the cord with which the Aleut had been confined. He gave an exclamation. "Why, he's loose! He's gnawed the hide clean in two with his teeth. He could have got away any time he liked."

Rob admitted his fault. "The truth is," said he, "I was very sleepy, and I must have dozed off. But now, what shall we do? Here we've got this man, and he evidently doesn't intend to stay a minute longer than he can help. Whether he would hurt us or not is something we can't tell; but we don't dare take the chance."

"It'll be a great deal of trouble to watch him this way all the time," suggested John.

"True, but we must watch him. On the other hand, what right have we to take him prisoner, since we don't know that he ever meant any wrong? We're not officers of the law, and this man has not committed any crime, so far as we know. The question is, what would he do to us if he got us before a law-court and accused us with making him a prisoner for no cause?"

The three sat in the dim light of the hut for a time and pondered over these matters. At length Rob spoke again with decision.

"It's the greatest good for the greatest number," said he. "It seems to me that the best thing we can do is to treat this man well, but not let him get away. He ought to do his share of the work, and he's stronger than any of us. Then, if we should ever be rescued--"

Jesse's lips began to twitch. Evidently he was getting rather homesick. Rob noticed his face, and went on: "Of course we will get out of here before long, someway," he said. "Meanwhile, we will have to make the best living here we can. If we ever get this man to a white settlement, where we can find out who and what he is, why, then, we can pay him for his time, if it should prove that he is only an innocent native hunting away from his village. On the other hand, if he turns out to be a criminal of any kind, then we've had a right to arrest him, and can't get into any trouble over it."

"It's a pretty rough joke on him," said John, "if he hasn't done anything wrong. He acts as though he had been here before. For all we can tell, he may own this house that we've taken over for ourselves. The only thing sure is that he's a better hand in camp than we are, the way things stand now. I'm for keeping him and letting him work. My folks'll pay him whatever is right, if it comes to that; and you never saw an Aleut who wasn't glad to get hold of a little money, I'll warrant that."

"Well," said Rob, "we'll let it stand that way. And now, as the night seems to be about half done, suppose you and Jess keep watch together and let me take a little nap. If one of you gets sleepy the other can waken him. I suppose there's no use tying that man again, for he's got teeth like a beaver."

The Aleut made no further disturbance during the long hours of waiting, which seemed endless to the two young watchers. At last, however, the light grew stronger in the dark interior of the barabbara. John announced his entire willingness to eat breakfast, and, pushing open the door, motioned for the Aleut to go and get some wood. Without any resistance the man did as he was bid, shaking the remaining thong off his wrist with a grin. They finished their breakfast of bear meat and tea, the prisoner seeming immensely to enjoy the biscuits which the boys offered him as pay in return for his contribution of tea.

"Now, what's on the programme for to-day?" asked John, finally. "It certainly looks as though we ought to take care of all that meat."

"Yes," assented Rob. "We'll see if we can't dry some of it, at least. Suppose you go on down the creek, John, and keep the crows and eagles away from the meat, while the rest of us bring the boat down the beach and into the mouth of the creek. That'll give us plenty of boat room to bring up quite a cargo of meat to the camp here."

"There's another thing we ought to do," said John, "and that is to put up some kind of a signal in case a boat should come down into the bay here. Of course Uncle Dick will be looking for us, and there might be a boat in here almost any day."

"That's a capital idea!" exclaimed Rob. "Now, Jesse, if you'll get a long pole and tie this handkerchief to it, I'll meet you over at the dory with the other things which we'll need on our trip this morning."

Rob left the Aleut's gun on the deck of the bidarka, but carried along his hide fishing-line and both the bidarka paddles. His own rifle and that of Jesse he put in one end of the dory, opposite the seat where he intended the Aleut to sit. Telling Jesse to watch the latter, he once more ascended to the top of the sea-wall, and here erected his signal-flag, piling up a heap of stones at the foot of the staff. Long and anxiously he gazed out toward the mouth of the bay, but only the long green billows of the sea came rolling in, unbroken by any sail or cloud of smoke. Across the bay, a half-dozen miles or so, the great mountains stood grim and silent, the tops of many of them wreathed in fog. It was a wild and desolate scene, and one to try the courage of any young adventurer. But Rob, seeing how homesick Jesse was becoming, did his best to cheer him as he joined him at the dory.

"Plenty to do to-day!" he said. "And now for a good boat ride. It's lucky we've so good a sea-boat along as this dory--it's far safer than Jimmy's bidarka over there."

Rob seated himself at the stern and put Jesse in the bow. He motioned to the Aleut to take up the oars and row, and the latter, without objection, skilfully got the dory out through the surf, and at once proved himself master of the white man's oars as well as the native paddle. The wind was coming astern, and their run of something like a mile down to the mouth of the creek was made rapidly. Just around the point from the mouth of the stream Rob motioned to the Aleut to stop rowing.

"It looks deep here," said he to Jesse. "Maybe we could get a codfish. Here, Jimmy, take a try with your own fishing-line."

The Aleut grinned as Rob tossed him his rough-looking line of hide, and at once set to work. Nor did he prove inefficient, even with this rough tackle of hide and bone. He baited the crude hook with a piece of meat which he took from his pocket, and dropped it overboard in twenty fathoms of water. Motioning to Rob to keep the boat steady, he began to pull the line up and down in long, steady jerks. Before long he gave a short grunt and began to pull it in rapidly hand over hand. Rob and Jesse, gazing over the side, at length saw the gleam of a large fish deep down in the water. The Aleut, with another grunt, pulled the fish in, swung it over the sides, and threw it flopping at the bottom of the dory. It was a fine codfish weighing perhaps a dozen pounds.

"Well, I'll say one thing," said Jesse, finally, smiling: "since we have to make a living for ourselves, this is about as easy as any country we could have gotten into. Try it again, Jimmy."

Whether or not Jimmy understood any English they never knew, but at least he cast over his bone hook once more, and, continuing his operations as the dory slowly drifted, in less than half an hour he had eight fine fish aboard.

"That'll do, old man!" said Rob to him, and motioned to him now to row into the mouth the creek which was nearly opposite. They now could see John waiting for them on the shore. He had seen them fishing, and congratulated them on their fine catch, agreeing with Jesse that certainly they at least would not lack abundance to eat.

"I've heard you can make salt by boiling sea-water," said John, who, although a hearty eater, was sometimes rather particular about his food. "That is almost the only thing we need that we haven't got now. Our little sack won't last forever."

"Yes," said Rob, "it would be all the better for our bear meat in this moist climate. But we'll have to do the best we can by drying it with smoke."

They now pulled the dory into the mouth of the little creek, turning it at the face of the high rock wall, and noticing the thousands of salmon that swam round and round the deep pool just above the entrance of the stream. From this point up the crooked bends to the place where the dead bears lay was perhaps a quarter of a mile. But presently they all met there.

"There is pretty near a ton of meat," said Rob, looking down at the dead bears. "We ought to have skinned those young bears yesterday, but will do that now before they spoil. Then maybe we can make Jimmy understand what we want to do about saving the meat."

They all fell to work now, the boys at one of the cubs and the Aleut at the other. The latter, with a grin of triumph, held up his fresh hide entirely skinned out before the three boys together had finished theirs. In some way he seemed to understand what they wished to have done about the meat, perhaps himself being inclined to see that plenty of food was on hand, since his captors were not disposed to let him go away. The Aleuts, who never see any fresh beef, and who live in a country where not even caribou are often found, are very fond of bear meat, which the more civilized ones call "beef." The captive seemed to understand perfectly well how to take care of this "beef," and he took out the long tenderloins from the back of each cub and separated the hams. For the big bear he did not seem to care so much, and made signs to show that it was tough and hard to eat. Rob insisted, however, that he should take some of the choicer parts of the bear also, since it seemed a shame to let it waste. They loaded their dory down as heavily as they dared, and so, dragging on the painter and poling with the oars, at last they got their cargo up to camp, mooring the dory alongside the bidarka.