CHAPTER XIII
THE SCHOONER REAPPEARS
It was early in the evening when after a toilsome march Mr. Barclay andthe boys reached a Siwash rancherie built just above high-water mark onthe pebbly beach of a sheltered inlet. Frank had already discovered thatthe northern part of the Pacific Slope is a land of majestic beauty, buthe had so far seen nothing quite so wild and rugged as the surroundingsof the Indian dwelling. Behind it, a great rock fell almost sheer,leaving only room for a breadth of shingle between its feet and thestrip of clear green water. On the opposite side mighty firs climbed theface of a towering hill so steep that Frank wondered how they clung toit, and at the head of the tremendous chasm a crystal stream camesplashing out of eternal shadow. Seaward a wet reef guarded the inlet'smouth, with its outer edge hidden by spouts of snowy foam, upon whichthe big Pacific rollers broke continually, ranging up in tall greenwalls and crumbling upon the stony barrier with a deep vibratory roarwhich rang in long pulsations across the stately pines.
The rancherie was a long and rather ramshackle, single-storied, woodenbuilding not unlike a frame barn, only lower, and Frank discovered thatalthough it was inhabited by the whole Siwash colony there were nodivisions in it, but each inmate or family claimed its allotted spaceupon the floor. A tall pole rudely carved with grotesque figures stoodin front of it, and it occurred to Frank as he inspected them that hewas face to face with the rudiments of heraldry. The nobles of ancientEurope, he remembered, blazoned devices of this kind upon their shields,and their descendants still painted their lions and griffins and eaglesupon their carriages and stamped them upon their note paper. He wasprobably right in his surmises, though there are different views uponthe subject of totem poles, and the Siwash, who ought to know most aboutthem, seem singularly unwilling to supply inquirers with any reliableinformation.
A group of brown-faced, black-haired men and women dressed much as whitefolks stood about the rancherie, and near them were ranged rows ofshallow trays of bark containing drying berries. Frank noticed that thewoods were full of the latter--hat berries, salmon berries, and splendidblack and yellow raspberries. Several big sea canoes were drawn up atthe edge of the water, and Mr. Oliver sat near one of them with anothercluster of Siwash gathered about him. They had spread a number ofpeltries out upon the stones, which Mr. Oliver explained were sealskins. Frank examined one, and found it difficult to believe that thiscoarse, greasy, and nastily smelling hair was the material out of whichthe beautiful glossy furs were made. He confided his views to Harry.
"Yes," said the latter, "they're not much to look at now. They have togo through quite a lot of dressing, and I've heard that in the firstplace all the long outside hair is plucked out. There's an inner coat."He looked at the men. "It's done in England, isn't it?"
Mr. Barclay smiled. "A good deal of it is, anyway." Then he addressedMr. Oliver. "You're buying some of these peltries?"
"One or two," was the answer. "We want an excuse for this visit."
Mr. Barclay made a sign of assent, and after chaffering with the Indiansfor a few moments Mr. Oliver broke in again: "They're cheap, that'ssure. I suppose these fellows would rather sell them on the spot fordollars down than pack them along down to Alberni or some other placewhere they'd probably have to take grocery stores in payment. If you'reopen to make a deal we'll take two or three between us. We ought to getour money back with something over in Victoria."
Mr. Oliver kept up the bargaining for a while, and then explained thathe and his companion did not care for the rest of the skins, which wereinferior to those they had chosen. One of the Siwash thereupon informedhim that more canoes were expected in a day or two, adding that he wouldprobably be able to show them further peltries if they could wait theirarrival.
"Tell him we'll stay," said Mr. Barclay. "At the same time you hadbetter ask him if there's any likelihood of our getting down to Victoriaby water. You can say we've had about enough crawling through thebush--it's a fact that _I_ have--and lead up to the question naturally."
Frank, observing a twinkle in Harry's eyes, watched the Indians' faceswhen Mr. Oliver addressed them, but they remained perfectlyexpressionless.
"I can't get anything out of them about the schooner," Mr. Oliverreported at length. "This fellow says the easiest way would be to sendour Indians back for the canoe, which I'll do. It's possible that we maychance upon a little more information later on."
"Where do they get the skins?" Frank asked presently, when the Indianshad left them.
"That's a point they don't seem much inclined to talk about," Mr.Barclay answered. "They probably follow them in their canoes as theywork up north, though it's only odd seals they pick up in that way. Theprincipal supply comes from the Pribyloff Islands up in the Bering Sea.It's supposed that with the exception of a few which frequent some reefslying nearer Russian Asia practically all the seals in the NorthPacific haul out there for two or three months every year. The Americanlessees club them on the land, but the crews of the Canadian schoonerskill a number in open water outside our limit. They claim that althoughthe seals are born on American beaches we don't own them when they're inthe sea, but, as it's suggested that they're not always very particularabout their exact distance from the islands, their proceedings maketrouble every now and then. I'm talking about the fur seals; there areseveral other kinds which are more or less common everywhere."
He broke off and sat smoking silently for a while, looking at the skins.
"They seem to have taken your fancy," Mr. Oliver observed presently.
"It's a fact," Mr. Barclay assented. "I was just thinking I'd like totake that big one and the other yonder home with me. My daughter Minnievisits East in the winter now and then, and she's fond of furs, thoughso far I haven't been able to buy her any particularly smart ones.There's a man I know in Portland who can fix up a skin as well as anyone in London. He was a good many years in Alaska trading furs for theA. C. C., and some of the Russians who stayed behind there taught him todress them."
Mr. Oliver laughed. "I suppose the thing is quite out of the question?"
"It is," said Mr. Barclay dryly. "You ought to know that the UnitedStates charges a big duty on foreign furs."
"On foreign ones!" broke in Harry, nudging Frank. "A seal born on anAmerican beach could certainly be considered an American seal."
"When you import goods into the United States you require a certificateof origin, young man."
"That fixes the thing," said Harry. "On your own showing, those sealsoriginated on the Pribyloffs. They're American."
"Ingenious!" exclaimed Mr. Barclay, with a longing glance at the skins."There's some reason in that contention, but won't you go on? You don'tseem to have got through yet."
"In case you felt justified in taking a skin or two," continued Harrythoughtfully, "I'd like to point out that, as a rule, the Customsfellows don't trouble about a sloop the size of ours. We just run up toour moorings when we come back from a yachting trip, and there's a nicelittle nook forward which would just hold a bundle of those peltries.It's hidden beneath the second cable."
Mr. Barclay picked up a piece of shingle and flung it at him.
"You can stop right now before you get yourself into difficulties. Whatdo you mean by proposing a smuggling deal to a man connected with theUnited States revenue?"
"I'm sorry," Harry answered with a chuckle. "I should have waited untilthe rest had gone."
Mr. Barclay regarded him severely, though his eyes twinkled.
"Your smartness is going to make trouble for you by and by," he said."Go and see what that Siwash is doing about our supper."
Harry moved away, but presently came back to announce that the meal wasready. When it was over the boys strolled off toward the reef, leavingthe men sitting smoking on the beach.
"That boy of yours told me what seemed a rather curious thing lastnight," said Mr. Barclay, and he briefly ran over what Harry had relatedabout the man with the peculiar shoulder.
Mr. Oliver listened in evid
ent astonishment.
"It's the first time I've heard of the matter," he exclaimed. "What doyou make of it?"
"In the meanwhile I don't quite know what to think. If that man is bossof the gang it explains a good deal that has been puzzling me, but Imust own it's considerably more than I expected. The general idea wasthat he'd cleared out of the country, which would have been a verynatural course in view of the fact that he'd probably have beensandbagged if he'd show himself after dark on any wharf of two of thecoast states. Anyway, your son's description was quite straight. Heseemed sure of him."
"Harry's eyes are as good as yours or mine," said Mr. Oliver with asmile. Mr. Barclay wrinkled his brow.
"There's a point that struck me--though I can't say if it explains thething. The boy's only young yet, he has imagination and, it's possible,a fondness for detective literature, like the rest of them. Now we'llassume that he had heard of a certain sensational case--a particularlygrewsome crime on board an American ship--and the arrest of the rascalaccused of it. I needn't point out that the fellow only escaped on atechnical point of law and that his picture figured in some of thepapers. Isn't that the kind of thing that's likely to make a markedimpression on the youthful mind?"
"I can see two objections," responded Mr. Oliver. "In the first place,Harry was away in Idaho while the case was going on. The second one'smore important. Harry might try to put the laugh on you, as he did notlong ago, but when he makes a concise statement it's to be relied upon.In such a case I've never known him to let his imagination run away withhim."
Mr. Barclay spread his hands out in a deprecatory manner.
"Then we'll take the thing for granted, and it certainly simplifies theaffair. I'd no trouble in finding the Chinese colony, and though I've noidea how they get the dope, that doesn't matter. The point is that it'svery seldom anybody is likely to disturb them in this part of the bush,and there are two inlets handy. A schooner could slip in here a dozentimes without being noticed by anybody except the Siwash. Then we havethe fact that a notorious rascal who has evidently a hand in the thingwas seen heading for the Chinese colony. It seems to me decisive."
"What are you going to do about it?" Mr. Oliver asked.
"Wait and keep my eyes open. If it appears advisable I may communicatewith the Canadian authorities later on, though, of course, we mustcontrive to get our hands on the fellows in American waters. I've anidea it can be done."
Mr. Oliver said nothing further, and by and by, when a thin haze rolleddown from the hillside and night closed in, they strolled toward therancherie, where they were given a strip of floor space not far from theentrance. The boys came in a little later and lay down apart from themand nearer the door, but Frank did not go to sleep. The rancherie washot and the dull roar of the combers on the reef came throbbing in andmade him restless. He lay still for what seemed a considerable time, andat last there was a low sound which might have been made by somebodyrising stealthily, after which a dim black object flitted out of thedoor. Then Harry, who lay close to him, touched his arm.
"Are you asleep?" he asked very softly.
"No," answered Frank. "Where's that fellow going?"
"Get out as quietly as you can," was Harry's reply.
Frank had kept his shirt and trousers on, and after feeling for hisboots he arose cautiously, holding them in his hand. In another momentor two he had slipped out into the cool night air and was crossing theshingle in his stockinged feet. Once or twice a stone rattled, but hesupposed the sound was lost in the clamor of the reef, for nobody seemedto hear it. When they had left the rancherie some distance behind theysat down.
"Now," said Harry, "I'll tell you my idea. They're expecting theschooner and don't want her to run in while we're about. They'veprobably had a man on the lookout down by the entrance, and I expect thefellow who went out has been sent by the boss or Tyee to learn if theother one has seen her."
"It's curious some of them didn't hear us," Frank observed thoughtfully.
"I'm not sure that they didn't," Harry admitted. "Anyway, they couldn'tstop us without some excuse, and, if I'm right, they certainly wouldn'twant to tell us why they wished us to stay in. Of course," he added, "itmight make them suspicious, but I don't know any reason why we shouldpoint that out to Barclay. The great thing is to keep out of sight incase they follow us."
They put on their boots and crept along in the gloom beneath the rock,heading toward the reefs. A little breeze blew down the hollow, settingthe dark firs to sighing, and part of the inlet lay black in theirshadow. The rest sparkled in the light of a half-moon which had justrisen above the crest of the hill. They could hear the soft splash andtinkle of water rippling among the stones, but now and then this soundwas drowned as the roar of the reef grew louder and deeper. Presently adim, filmy whiteness in front of them resolved itself into a glimmeringspray cloud and fountains of spouting foam, and when at length theystopped among a cluster of wet boulders they could see a black ridge ofrock thrusting itself out, half buried, into a mad turmoil of frothingwater. It lay in the shadow of the rock, and there was no moonlight onthe ghostly combers which came seething down upon it. A little outshore,however, the sea sparkled with a silvery radiance except where theshadow of a black head fell upon it. There was not more than a moderatebreeze, but the Pacific surge breaks upon and roars about those reefscontinually.
A little thrill ran through Frank as he leaned upon one of the wetboulders. It was the first time he had trodden a Pacific beach, and herealized that he had now reached the outermost verge of the West. Hecould go no farther. The ocean barred his progress, and beyond it laydifferent lands, whose dark-skinned peoples spoke in other tongues. Thewhite man's civilization stopped short where he stood. Then as hewatched the ceaseless shoreward rush of the big combers and looked up atblack rock and climbing pines, a strange delight in the new life he ledcrept into his heart. Dusky shadow and silvery moonlight seemed filledwith glamour, and he was learning to love the wilderness as he couldnever have loved the cities. Besides, he was there to watch for themysterious schooner, and that alone was sufficient to stir him and put atension on his nerves. It was more than possible that there were otherwatchers hidden somewhere in the gloom.
He did not know how long they waited, with the salt spray stinging theirfaces and the diapason of the surf in their ears, but at last she came,breaking upon his sight suddenly and strangely, as he felt it was mostfitting that she should do. Her black headsails swept out of the shadowof the neighboring head, the tall boom-foresail followed, and a secondlater he saw the greater spread of her after canvas. She drove on,growing larger, into a strip of moonlight, when, for the wind was offthe shore, he saw her hull hove up on the side toward him, with thewater flashing beneath it and frothing white at her bows.
"She's close-hauled," said Harry. "They'll stretch across to the otherside and then put the helm down and let her reach in. It's a mightyawkward place to make when the wind's blowing out."
She plunged once more into the shadow, but Frank could still see hermore or less plainly--a tall, slanted mass of canvas flitting swiftlythrough the dusky blueness of the night. She edged close in with thereef, still carrying everything except her main gaff-topsail, and thenas her headsails swept across the entrance the splash of a paddlereached the boys faintly through the clamor of the surf and they heard ahoarse shout.
"There's a canoe yonder," announced Harry. "The Siwash in her is hailingthem. They've heard him. Her peak's coming down."
A clatter of blocks broke out and the upper half of the tall mainsailsuddenly collapsed. Then the schooner's bows swung around a little untilthey pointed to the seething froth upon the opposite beach.
"What are they doing?" Frank asked. "She's going straight ashore."
Harry laughed excitedly. "No," he said, "that Siwash has told them toclear out again, and it will want smart work to get her round in thisnarrow water. They've dropped the mainsail peak because she wouldn'tfall off fast enough."
Frank watched her eagerly for
the next moment or two. Her bows wereswinging around, but they were swinging slowly, and the beach with thewhite surf upon it seemed ominously close ahead. He saw two blackfigures go scrambling forward and haul the staysail to windward, but shewas still forging across the inlet. Then her bows fell off a littlefarther, the trailing gaff swung out with a bang, and Frank saw themasts fall into line with him and a bent figure behind the deckhousestruggling with the wheel. In another moment her mainsail came over witha crash and she was flitting out to sea again.
"Now," cried Harry, "back up the beach for your life! We're going inswimming!"
"You can do what you like," grunted Frank. "I'm heading straight for therancherie."
"After the swim," urged Harry. "Get a move on and loose your things asyou run. I'll explain later."
He ran on, flinging off his clothes, and plunged into the water whenthey drew near the rancherie. In another moment or two Frank waded inafter him and was glad he had done so when he heard the soft splash of acanoe paddle somewhere in the gloom. He fancied that the Siwash wouldsee them, which, as he realized, was what Harry had desired. They weresome distance from the mouth of the inlet and he did not think theschooner would have been visible from the spot, which led him to believethat if the Indians had noticed their absence their present occupationmight serve as an excuse for it.
He did not see the canoe reach the beach, but in two or three minutesHarry suggested that they might as well go out, and putting on some oftheir clothes they made for the rancherie. Creeping into it softly, theylay down and soon afterward went to sleep.