On the Edge of the Arctic Part 20

In the morning, however, Colonel Howell and Paul with Ewen and Miller were up and at work before Norman and Roy were astir. The weather had not moderated but Colonel Howell was anxious to bring the work on the gusher to a close. Ewen and Miller attacked the frost hardened ground before breakfast and this work had now reached the point where Paul could help in removing the heavy clods.

When the young aviators joined their friends at breakfast, Ewen and Miller were present again and the letter was not exhibited. Then all hurried out to complete the work of attempting to control the gusher. The regulator and the ordinary apparatus to connect it with the mouth of the pipe, together with the smaller tubes and their valves that were to be attached above the regulator, were all in place. In the end, Colonel Howell proposed, with still smaller pipes, to lead part of the gas into the fireplace and the bunk house stove.

At eleven o'clock the perspiring men in the trench announced this part of the work completed. Then it required only a few minutes to brace a narrow platform about five feet above the bottom of the trench, next to the tube, and all paused for a short rest before making the final experiment.

At last the men took their places near the roaring gusher and, at Paul's request, he was given the opportunity to use his well-muscled arms in swinging the sledge, Colonel Howell taking his place on the platform in charge of a long-handled chisel.

The duties of Norman and Roy were to a.s.sist the two workmen in manipulating the chain pulley, by which the first tap was to be forced on the open end of the pipe. This of course was pierced with holes, so that the pressure beneath it might not be altogether shut off. This was to be forced down upon the steel drill tube, after which the regulator was to be similarly attached to the threads of the preliminary cap. The situation was hazardous for all. There was danger that the out-rus.h.i.+ng gas in the trench below might explode when it rose and came in contact with the roaring blaze above. But it was hoped that the work might be done so quickly that this would not result.

When Ewen had laid out his apparatus about the mouth of the tube with all the care of a surgeon preparing for a hasty operation, and Paul and Colonel Howell had taken their position on the scaffold far below, Ewen suddenly shouted:

"Ready!"

A heavy blow resounded in the narrow pit. Then another, and another, and a new roar broke out below. Dropping their tools, Colonel Howell and Paul fled up their improvised ladder and when they reached the surface they saw the workmen and Norman and Roy, their faces distorted with effort and their clothes almost scorching, bend to the task before them. The escaping gas was still roaring and the flames were leaping sideways.

Norman and Roy were almost flat on the ground, hanging on to the pulley chain. The first cap was in place and, with a long wrench, Ewen was twisting it onto the thread. A new volume of gas was already rolling from the pit, while from the incline opposite the mouth of the new opening, gravel and clods of earth were shooting riverward like the sparks of a Bessemer furnace. Paul threw himself on the ground with the other boys and added his strength to theirs in holding the cap in place. All seemed to forget the possibility of a new explosion.

There was a hoa.r.s.e shout from Ewen and the boys released the pulley chain while Miller slapped the regulator between the guide rods. As the three young men again threw themselves upon the chain and forced the regulator into place, the crucial moment had arrived. The controlling valve of the regulator was open, of course, and as the rus.h.i.+ng gas was again concentrated into one stream, a new fiery jet shot upward. But the lateral streams had been controlled and again Ewen applied the wrench to thread the regulator to the first cap. Once he failed and then the threads caught. With a yell of victory the veteran gas man threw himself against the long wrench again.

"You've got 'er!" exclaimed Colonel Howell as he sprang to Ewen's side and joined him in s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g the regulator into place. Even before he spoke there was a renewed roar in the trench beneath and a new volume of gas poured upward.

"Fill 'er in!" shouted Paul. "The big rocks first." And then, while the newly confined gas still shot upward through the regulator in a screaming stream of fire, six pairs of hands, including those of the energetic Philip, hurled a collected heap of rocks to the bottom of the trench and around the new opening.

"This ain't goin' to stop the flow," explained Colonel Howell to Norman and Roy, as all panted in their work, "but it's Paul's idea, and I think he's put it over."

"Now for the dirt!" shouted Paul, who was leading in the work. With shovels and pieces of board, the excavated material was rapidly dumped into the trench. With each new shovelful of material, the escape of gas from the trench became less and the roar from the open regulator became more deafening. When at last only an odor of gas escaped from the newly packed trench, Paul exclaimed:

"Plenty of water dumped in here ought to make a solid cake of ice around the opening and that ought to fix us till spring anyway."

"The cleverest idea you've yet given us!" exclaimed Colonel Howell, as all paused for breath. "Now, go over and finish your job. Turn off the regulator."

Proudly enough, Paul sprang to the roaring gusher and gave the protected valve wheel a few quick turns. Instantly the flow was shut off and silence followed. The young Austrian had made good.

Many other mechanical details had to be seen to but the great problem had been solved and all were elated. The main work accomplished, Colonel Howell and the young men retired to the cabin, where, as soon as the excitement over Paul's victory had somewhat subsided, Roy produced the letter he had found in the cabin of the paralyzed Indian. Colonel Howell, having heard the explanation of the finding of the letter, without any hesitation and evidently without any qualms of conscience, drew out the enclosure. The letter was an illiterate scrawl.

"Mr. Chandler," it began, "we have decided our answer is this. Mebbe you are right and we three have done all the work here, but Colonel Howell has always been on the square. If you think you are int.i.tled to go to Edmonton and make a claim for this property, we don't. It's been a perty hard job, but we been paid for it and don't think we have no claim fur a t.i.tle to this claim. Besides, this ain't no time to try to go to Edmonton and get out papers. If we was goin, we'd wait till the river froze and take a dogsled. When you get your money you can go if you like. Like we promised you, we wont say nothin. So long as Colonel Howell treats us square we're goin to stick. So no more at present.

Ewen and Miller."

The message was dated August 10th and was evidently a reply to some proposition made by Chandler after he was kicked out of the camp. While Colonel Howell read it, his face was very sober. Then he read it aloud to the boys and tossed it on the table while he lit a new cigar. All sat in silence for some time and then Norman said:

"I guess Chandler must have changed his mind too. He was here yesterday morning."

"But the river's frozen now," suggested Roy quickly. "What does this mean, Colonel Howell?" went on Roy, his curiosity overcoming him.

The colonel took a long draw on his cigar and at last found his old-time smile.

CHAPTER XVI

ROY CONDUCTS A HUNT

"At first," he said, "it looked simple enough. So far as this letter is concerned, I'm not bothered. That is, I'm not afraid of Ewen and Miller.

But Chandler's proposition is another matter. It's plain enough that he wanted our men to join him and go to Edmonton and file papers on this claim. But that isn't as ridiculous as it appears. You know," he said, "Mr. Zept asked me if I hadn't grubstaked these fellows. If they could make it appear that I had, then part of this claim would belong to them.

And if they all got together and swore that I had, I don't know how I could prove that they were working for me on wages. Even if our own men would testify for me that this was my claim, if Chandler should happen to file his papers, this would cloud my t.i.tle. Besides," went on the colonel, "Chandler is a naturalized Canadian and you know the mining laws up here are not made to favor the outsider. A foreigner such as I am, when he's working in these unsurveyed districts, can only stake out his claim, wait for the survey and then buy the property. Chandler would have it all over me if he set up the claim of a native, especially ahead of me."

"I don't think he's gone," suggested Paul, "for he ate breakfast here yesterday morning."

"And it's somewhere between two hundred and fifty and three hundred miles between here and the land office," exclaimed Norman.

"It would be interesting to know whether he has gone," answered Colonel Howell.

"Why not ask Miller or Ewen?" broke in Roy. "They might know something about him."

Colonel Howell shook his head: "They'd better know nothing about the letter," he answered at last. "It was written a long time ago."

"You mean they may have changed their minds?" asked Norman.

"I don't mean that," answered Colonel Howell, his face again sober, "but they had the matter under consideration once. I don't suspect them. I'll just keep my eyes open and say nothing. If they are all right they might get sore and leave me."

"Do you mind," asked Roy, "if I go out and do a little investigating?

Chandler may be over to Fort McMurray."

The colonel thought a moment and then answered:

"That won't do any harm. All of you might go hunting this afternoon over in that direction--if it isn't too cold."

Eagerly enough the boys accepted the suggestion. Protected by their heavy clothing and carrying the camera and their skin-protected rifles, they found the trip to the settlement only exhilarating. At Fort McMurray the temperature, which was twenty-two below zero, did not give much trouble so long as the wind did not blow. To those whom they met, the boys talked of being on their way to the hills for moose. But later they determined not to venture upon the highlands, deciding to make a detour in the timber on their way back for a possible deer.

They had no trouble in getting trace of Chandler. In the cabin of a white prospector, where Chandler was well known, they picked up the latest town gossip. This was that Chandler, who yet seemed to have plenty of money, had hired Pete Fosseneuve, a half-breed, only two days before to take him back to his trapping camp at Pointe aux Tremble.

"He's been working there all fall," explained their informant, "and Fosseneuve has a team of six fine dogs. He paid Pete a lot of money to take him back to his camp night before last. They ought to be there to-morrow some time."

This statement allayed the suspicion directed against the dissolute Englishman and the young men made an early return to the camp.

"I'm glad I didn't say anything to Ewen and Miller," commented Colonel Howell, when he learned that Chandler had gone still further into the woods. "Now we'll get to work on our prospecting in earnest."

When the controlled gas had been piped into the cabin, in spite of the cold weather, Ewen and Miller at once went to work building a new derrick near the best prospect and sledging the boiler and engine to that location. In this work nearly a week went by, the boys finding little to do. The weather seemed settled into a cold spell in which the thermometer ranged at noonday about twenty below.

It was at this time that a long suppressed ambition of Norman and Roy came to the surface. They wanted a real hunting trip. The three young men were natural lovers of the open and curious about animal life in the wilderness. But, so far, none of the younger members of the camp had really had an opportunity to test himself amid the rigors of a northern winter.

Colonel Howell finally consented to their leaving on a hunting expedition that would give them at least one over-night camp in the snow. This was on the condition that Philip should accompany the shooting party and that it should not proceed over a day's march from camp.

The plan of the hunt was really Roy's. He prepared the provisions and was accepted as leader of the party.

"It wouldn't be any trouble to equip ourselves like tenderfeet," he explained to Colonel Howell, "and to make a featherbed trip of this. But we're going to travel like trappers."