CHAPTER XXV ADVENTURE IN PANTOMIME
On a river ever broadening as it made its way toward the far distant sea,rode a crude skin canoe. In the canoe rode Gordon Duncan, hisgranddaughter Faye and the two Indians. They had not left that canoesince they entered it, and that had been sixteen hours back.
To the white man and the girl this wild journey had been a constantstrain; to the Indians it was but the day's work. Many times before fortwenty, thirty hours they had ridden thus without sleeping.
To land now was impossible; to turn back was out of the question.Besides, who would turn back? Had they not, but a quarter of an hour ago,caught a glimpse of that which they sought?
They had rounded a rocky ledge where the river ran between low hills andhad come upon a long, straight stretch of water. At the end of thatstretch a dark object specked the water.
Gordon Duncan had lifted the glass once to his eyes and said:
"It's Timmie."
The raft and the man had disappeared at once beyond a bend in the river;yet there was now ground for hope. And here they were still driving theirboat forward, still hoping that before disaster befell that aged recluseand his crazy craft, they might overtake him and save him from a terribledeath. For, should they fail, disaster from crowding ice, rushing rapidsand the mad spring upheaval must surely overtake him.
"And he once saved my life," said Gordon Duncan. "We may have been hasty,followed him too far. It's too late to think of that now. We can onlyfollow on."
The journey thus far had been exciting, but quite safe. There was a wildcharm about it all, the racing water, the black, brown and green offleeting landscape, the occasional flocks of wild ducks that shot bythem, and the smell of spring everywhere charmed the young Scotch girl.
Yet it was dangerous. They might meet disaster at any turn. Hergrandfather had told Faye this, and she believed it. The water theypassed over at first had seemed white. That was because the winter icestill lay still beneath the surface water that had rushed down from hillsand mountains.
"If it should rise beneath us!" she said with a shudder.
When, after a half hour of dreamy half-sleeping, she looked at the water,it was black.
"Ice has gone out down here," her grandfather explained.
"Then we are safe?"
"Far from it. The ice before us may jam at any point. It will then pilemountain high. If there are steep banks as here, we will face disaster."
The girl did not say, "Then why not turn back?" She knew the man toowell. He had seen what seemed to him a duty. He could but go on.
"If only Johnny Longbow were here!" she thought.
* * * * * * * *
Johnny Longbow was surprised and not a little frightened on seeing thehunchback close beside him.
"What now?" he thought as his heart skipped a beat. "He was not so sleepyas I supposed. He's followed me. Did he believe me to be running away? Ifso, what then?"
Whatever might be the strange creature's feelings in the matter, the grinhe bestowed upon Johnny was friendly enough. His actions during the nextfew minutes showed plainer than words that he knew more than Johnny didabout the whole affair.
Selecting a smooth surface of snow, he scooped out a channel for adistance of twenty feet. This channel was a foot wide and two inchesdeep. Next, having searched out a bundle of brittle twigs, he beganbreaking one up and laying the pieces side by side in the bottom of thechannel. When he had constructed a rude square some eight inches across,he selected certain bent and twisted bits of wood and, with a skill thatseemed extraordinary, created a tiny image of a man with a paddle in hishand. This he placed well to the front upon the small platform. Back ofthis he built up a miniature sled and four dogs.
All this was Greek to Johnny. When, however, with a few clever twists theman had made a small boat and, after placing four figures within it, haddropped it in the shallow channel, it all came to Johnny like a flash.
"The snow channel represents the river," he told himself. "The figures inthe skin boat are my friends and the two Indians. But that before themmust be a raft. What of that?"
He studied over this for some time without reaching a conclusion. That araft was passing on before his friends, and that it carried a man, a sledand four dogs, this much was certain. But who was the man?
"Don't matter," he told himself. "Might be anyone, a trapper, aprospector, a lone Indian. But my comrades have gone ahead. How am I toovertake them?"
In his eyes as he tried in vain to catch some glimpse of those who hadglided from his field of vision was a glint of despair.
The hunchback, who during all this time had been studying his face, didnot appear satisfied.
Selecting larger sticks, he constructed on the ground a larger raft. Withinfinite pains he built up a new wooden man, four dogs and a sled.
Then, with equal care he began moulding small models from snow. One was arude cooking pot, another a flat pan, a third a prehistoric lamp. Otherfigures were added. When all these were done, he piled them on the newlymade raft, and atop them all, a disc of metal taken from a pocket of hisskin trousers.
Still Johnny did not understand. When he shook his head, the hunchbackseized the metal affair and pressed it into his hand.
"Green," he told himself as he turned it over, "Green like copper, butheavy as lead. What can it be? What--
"Green gold!" he cried excitedly. "And now I understand. It is Timmie andhis green gold they are following. He rides ahead on a raft."
Seeing that he was at last understood, the hunchback roared with hoarselaughter.
After that, having seized Johnny's hunting knife, with a few cleverstrokes he shaped a miniature canoe. In this he placed two sticks. Afterpointing to one, he struck Johnny a light blow. Then, after touching theother, he smote his own breast.
Dropping the toy canoe in the snow channel, he moved it along until itwas abreast the skin boat. Then both boats overtook the raft.
"That's plain enough," the boy told himself. "We are to get into a boatand pursue them. We will overtake my friends. Then together we willoverhaul Timmie and his raft load of dogs and green gold. Only questionis, where's our boat?"
As if understanding the question, the hunchback laid heavy hands uponhim, turned him half about and marched him down the river.