CHAPTER XX BLACK WATERS AND GRAY DOGS
When the airplane came roaring in from nowhere to circle for a landingclose to the lost mine, Jodie and At-a-tak were away bringing in thereindeer herd lest it stray too far. Before Florence and her grandfathercould make their way up from the mine, the plane had landed on the ice ofthe lake and had taxied to a spot quite hidden from view.
"Who can they be?" Florence asked in sudden alarm.
"Some smart fellows who've heard about our lost mine. Come to help us diggold, jump our claim, perhaps," was her grandfather's reply. "Little goodit'll do 'em. Three hours more and we'll have the place about cleanedout. They'll be welcome to the rest.
"Of course," he added, "there may be other pockets. They're welcome tothem, too. One strike's enough for us.
"Just think, girl," his voice grew mellow, "thirty-five years in theNorth and now, success at last. Ah, girl, it's good."
"Yes, grandfather, it is," Florence was scarcely listening. She wasthinking, "Suppose those men are looking for that reindeer herd? What ifthey think we stole the deer?" She was having a bad moment.
Just then four men appeared at the foot of the ridge. "One white man,three natives," was Tom Kennedy's instant announcement.
"That white man," Florence was startled. "There's something familiarabout him, the way he walks. Grandfather!" her voice rose. "He's mypilot, Dave Breen, the man who brought me to Nome!" She dashed madly downthe hill.
"Well! Well! Think of finding you here!" Dave Breen exclaimed at sight ofher. "And you a reindeer rustler! Know what they do to 'em? Shoot 'em atsunrise," he laughed a roaring laugh. "But tell me, how come you've gotthe herd of deer we've been looking for?"
"There's mulligan, reindeer mulligan on the stove," said Florence. "Andcoffee's steaming. Come on up and I'll feed you and tell you our story,or at least part of it."
"You'd better come clean," laughed Dave. "I'm sworn in as a deputy andI've been instructed to arrest any persons in possession of that herd."
Over coffee and mulligan, with her grandfather's permission, Florencetold the whole story.
"So your work here'll be done in a few hours?" said Dave Breen. "Knowwhat day tomorrow is?"
"No, I--"
"So you forgot. Well, I'll be jiggered!" Dave exclaimed. "It's the daybefore Christmas. And do you know what?" he paused for proper emphasis."Know what? We're going to leave these Eskimos in charge of the reindeer;they can bring them in O. K. We'll leave them At-a-tak to mend theirboots and her gray team to haul their supplies. They'll be more than allright.
"And as for you and Jodie and that grandfather of yours, I'm going topack you up in my plane and fly you back to Nome for the grandestChristmas you have ever known. And you can't say no!"
"Who would want to say no?" Florence was fairly overcome with joy. Butthere's many a slip between a happy girl and a glorious Christmas of aparticular sort, as you shall see.
Some hours later, in another corner of this Arctic world, the day beforeChristmas dawned bright and clear. A blue and gray plane rose gracefullyup from a frozen river to go sailing away toward the north. And littleMiss Santa Claus was still on board. Mr. Il-ay-ok was still her travelingcompanion and Speed Samson was at the controls.
Three hours they flew due north. Then they came down upon a white floorof shore-ice to rest and drink cups of steaming tea.
As Mary stepped from the plane she felt her nose pucker. It seemed toothat someone with sharp tweezers had pinched her cheek.
"Cold! Boo!" she exclaimed.
"This is the North," Speed laughed. "Just over yonder is the ArcticCircle. Should be able to see it in an hour or two." He laughed again,and Mary laughed with him. But that they were at last quite far norththey knew all too well.
Two hours later found them flying high over a vast black expanse, BeringSea. As the girl looked down she shuddered. It seemed that this sea mustbe bottomless, for not a touch of light broke its deep, purple blackness.
Across this expanse, like fairy fleets, ice floes drifted. Once she wassure she saw a group of moving objects.
"Walrus!" Mr. Il-ay-ok shouted. "How you like landing among them?"
"We would not land among them," was her answer. "Our plane can land onice--not on water. We won't land unless--" her heart skipped a beat.
A half hour later her heart stopped altogether for a second, then wentracing. Their single motor was missing and they were still over the darksea.
"There--there it is again!" she breathed.
She studied the look on Speed's face, then shuddered anew.
A glance before her showed a white line. Was it a shore line? And couldthey make it? She dared not think further.
She settled back a moment later with relief. "Motor's working better."But this relief was not for long.
Ten minutes passed. The white line grew wider. At one end was a highspot, perhaps a mountain. Then again that chilling sput-sput-sput of amissing motor.
"We'll make it!" she shouted bravely.
And in the end they did. Just as the motor stopped dead, due to a cloggedfuel pipe, they found themselves over a blanket of white.
Circle low now. No chance for climbing. Take the landing that offers.
They took it with many a shuddering bump. Mary was thrown down upon apile of Christmas toys. A talking doll cried, "Ma-ma!" and a croakingfrog went "Herouk!" Then all was still.
"Well," she said, gathering herself up, "we're here!"
They were. But where were they?
"We're lucky to be here at all," was Speed's comment. "And we're here forsome time! Require three days to smooth down these snow ridges for atake-off."
"Three--three days!" Mary cried in dismay. "Why, then we--"
At that moment there arose a prodigious noise. Dogs, dozens of them, weremaking the air hideous with their barking. A moment more, and their planewas surrounded by great gray roaring beasts--Siberian wolfhounds, thefiercest, strangest, bravest dogs in all dog-land.
"Could anything be more terrible!" Mary wailed. "We must be nearly there,and now--"
"We can't leave our plane, just now, that's certain," said Speed. "Butwait! Luck may still be with us. Those dogs belong to someone. They camefrom somewhere."
"Came from the hole in that snow-bank," said Il-ay-ok. "House there!"
That "hole in a snow-bank" was indeed the entrance to a small low cabinquite buried in snow. Then from that hole came a huge man.
"A perfect giant of a man!" Mary was all aquiver with excitement. "It'slike a fairy story."
The giant let out a great roar. The pack of wolfhounds stopped theirbarking, dropped their tails and one by one disappeared into the hole inthe snow-bank. Then the giant approached the plane.
"Hello! Who are you?" said Speed, popping his head out of the cabin door.
"I'm Bill Sparks, a gold miner," said the stranger.
"Oh! Oh! Yes, of course!" exclaimed Mr. Il-ay-ok. "Excuse, please. I donot know at first where we are. Now I know. Yes. Yes. Very good man, Mr.Bill Sparks."
"What's your business, stranger?" Bill Sparks looked at Speed.
"Well, you see," Speed explained. "This little man--" he nodded at Mr.Il-ay-ok, "claimed he needed to get back to Cape Prince of Wales to savethe Eskimos' reindeer. So--"
"Sure, I've heard about that," Bill Sparks broke in. "Hope he wins."
"Yes! Yes! We win!" Mr. Il-ay-ok waved a paper excitedly. "Here is thepaper. All my people shall know. They shall be told, keep reindeer O. K.Grand Christmas, mine."
"There's one more thing," Speed managed to break in. "Lot of Christmaspresents and little Miss Santa Claus here. I brought them along."
"Why?" Bill Sparks stared. "I been hearin' about them presents. EveryEskimo that drives by has been askin' me if I thought they'd come."
"They--they what?" Mary hopped out of the plane in her excitement.
"It's a fact," Bill Sparks insisted. "You see, Miss, this here's CapeYork. Cape Prince of
Wales is only fifteen miles away. With them big dogsof mine, 'tain't no drive at all!"
"Then you--" Mary began hopping up and down. "You--"
"Of course I'll take you all over, Miss, and all them presents. Be gladto, Miss. Nothin' I won't do for the Eskimos. One of 'em brought me inwhen I'd went snow-blind once. I'd have died if it hadn't a' been forhim! Wait--"
Putting two fingers to his lips, he blew a shrill blast and, to Mary'sterror, out from the dark hole piled the great gray pack of hounds.
"No need fer fear," Bill Sparks laughed, as she started to climb backinto the plane, "my friends are their friends."
And so it happened that, just after the short day had faded and theEskimos had gone to their little log and sod homes,--with sleighbellsmuffled--the happy flyers with Bill Sparks in the lead, his sled piledhigh with Christmas joy, stole round Cape Prince of Wales and right up tothe schoolhouse door.
They managed to get there without being seen by a single Eskimo child.
It was Margaret, child of the schoolmaster, who opened the door inresponse to their knock.
"Merry Christmas!" Mary cried as the light came flooding out. "We'rehere, and so's Christmas!"
At the first sound of her voice, Nellie and Tom came racing from the bigroom where they were still stringing colored popcorn. Then such lowexclamations of joy! Such a rush as there was as they bundled all thepackages inside, then paused to hug their benefactors, Mary, Speed, andeven the startled Bill Sparks.
"How did you get here?" Nellie cried at last. "All those presents! Howcould they?"
"Santa never fails," laughed Speed at last. "At least hardly ever, andsurely he could not fail in Eskimo-land."
It was no time at all until Mary and the three children were busytrimming a more gorgeous tree than the children of Eskimo-land had everknown.