CHAPTER XVII
HITTING THE ICE MOUNTAIN
Onward sped the RED CLOUD. For a moment after the accident to Andy'sship, Tom had slowed up his craft, but he soon went on again, afterhe had satisfied himself that his enemies were in no danger.
"Don't you think--that is to say--I know they can't expect anythingfrom us," spoke Mr. Damon, "but for humanity's sake, hadn't webetter stop and help them, Tom?"
"I hardly think so," replied the young inventor. "In the first placethey would hardly thank us for doing so, and, in the second, I don'tbelieve they need help. They are almost safely down now."
"I don't just mean that," went on the odd man. "But they may starveto death. This is a very desolate country over which we aresailing."
"They must have a supply of food in their ship," declared Tom, "andthey have brought their plight on themselves."
"They're in no great danger," put in Abe.
"There are plenty of natives around here, an' if the Fogers needfood or aid they can git it by payin' for it. Why, for the sake ofth' parts of their damaged airship, th' Eskimos would take th' wholeparty back t' Sitka and feed 'em well on th' trip. Oh, they're allright."
"Very well, if you say so," assented Mr. Damon. He looked back towatch the ANTHONY slowly settling to earth. It came gently down,proving that Tom knew whereof he spoke, when he had said they couldvol-plane down. Before the RED CLOUD was out of sight Tom and hiscompanions saw Andy and his father leave their wrecked craft andventure out on the snow-covered ground. The Fogers gazed enviouslyafter the airship of our hero as they saw him still forging towardthe goal.
"I guess Andy's stolen map won't be of much use to him," mused Tom."Now we can put on all the speed we like," and with that he shiftedthe gears and levers until the airship was making exceedingly goodtime toward the valley of gold.
The remainder of that day saw our adventurers pursuing their wayeagerly. At times they were flying high, and again, when Abesuggested that they go down to observe the character of the countryover which they were passing, they skimmed along, just above the bigmountains, which seemed almost like icebergs, so covered were theywith frost and snow.
They were indeed in a wild and desolate country. Below themstretched a seemingly endless waste of snow and ice--great forestsinterspersed with treeless patches, while now and then they sailedover a frozen lake.
Once in a while they had glimpses of bands of Indians, dressed infurs, hunting. At such times the natives would look up, on hearingthe noise made by the motor of the airship, and catching a glimpseof what must have seemed to them like some supernatural object, theywould fall down prostrate in amazement and fear.
"Airships are pretty much of a novelty up here," remarked Abe with agrim smile.
The weather was now very cold, and the gold-seekers had to get outtheir heavy fur garments, of which they had brought along a goodlysupply. True, it was warm in the cabin of the airship, but at times,they wanted to venture out on the deck to get fresh air, or to makesome adjustments to the wing planes, and, on such occasions thekeen, frosty air, as it was driven past them by the motion of thecraft, made even the thickest garments seem none too warm. Then,too, it was colder at the elevation at which they flew than down onthe ground.
Another day found them in a still wilder and more desolate part ofAlaska. There were scarcely any signs of habitation now, and thesnow and ice seemed so thick that even a long summer of sunshinecould hardly have melted it. The hours of daylight, too, weregrowing less and less the farther north they went.
"Do you think you can pilot us right to the Snow Mountains, Abe?"asked Tom, on the third day after the accident to Andy's airship."Let's get out the map, and have another look at it. We must begetting near the place now. We'll look at the map."
The young inventor went to his stateroom where he kept the importantdocument in a small desk, and the others heard him rummaging around.He muttered impatiently, and Ned heard his chum say: "I thought sureI put it in here." Then ensued a further search, and presently Tomcame out, his face wearing rather a puzzled and worried look, and heasked: "Say, Abe, I didn't give that map back to you; did I?"
"Nope," answered the miner. "I ain't seen it since just before th'hail storm. We was lookin' at it then."
"That's when I remember it," went on Tom, "and I thought I put it inmy desk. I didn't, by any possible chance give it to you; did I,Ned?"
"Me? No, I haven't seen it."
"That's funny," went on Tom. "I'll look once more. Maybe it gotunder some papers."
They heard him rummaging again in his desk.
"Bless my bank-book!" cried Mr. Damon. "I hope nothing has happenedto that map. We can't find the valley of gold without it."
Tom came back again.
"I can't find it." he said, hopelessly.
Then ensued a frantic search. Every possible place in the airshipwas looked into, but the precious map did not turn up.
"Perhaps the Fogers took it," suggested Mr. Parker, who had helpedin the hunt, in a dreamy sort of fashion.
"That's not possible," said Tom. "They haven't been near enough tous since I saw the map last. No, the last time I had it was justbefore the hail storm, and, in the excitement of repairing the ship,I have mislaid it."
"Maybe it's back there in the big cave," suggested Ned.
"It's possible," admitted the young inventor. "Pshaw! It's verycareless of me!"
"If you think it's in the cave, we'd better go back there and have ahunt for it," suggested Mr. Damon. "Otherwise we are on a wild-goosechase."
"Don't go back!" exclaimed old Abe. "I think we can find th' valleyof gold without th' map, now that we have come this far. I sort ofremember th' marks on that parchment, an' we are in the rightneighborhood now, for I kin see some of th' landmarks my partner andI saw. I say, let's keep on! We can cruise around a bit until westrike th' right place. That won't take us so long as it would to goback to the cave. Besides, if we go back, the Fogers may get aheadof us!"
"With their broken airship?" asked Ned.
"Can't they repair it?" demanded Abe.
"Hardly--up in this wild country," was Tom's opinion. "But perhapsit WILL be just as well to keep on. I have a hazy remembrance of thedistances and directions on the map, and, though it will take longerto hunt out the valley this way, I think we can do it. I can'tforgive myself for my carelessness! I should have kept a copy of themap, or given one of you folks one."
But they would not hear of him blaming himself, and said it mighthave happened to any one. It was decided that the map must be lostin the big cave, and if it was there it was not likely to be foundby their enemies.
"We'll jest have t' prospect about a bit," declared Abe, "only we'lldo it in th' air instead of on th' ground."
It was dusk when the fruitless search for the map was over, and theysat in the cabin discussing matters. The lights had not yet beenswitched on, and the RED CLOUD was skimming along under theinfluence of the automatic rudders and the propellers.
"Well, suppose we have supper," proposed Mr. Damon, who seemed tothink eating a remedy for many ills, mental and bodily. "Bless mydesert-spoon, but I'm hungry!"
He started toward the galley, while Tom went forward to thepilothouse. Hardly had he reached it than there came a terrificcrash, and the airship seemed tossed back by some giant hand. Everyone was thrown off his feet, and the lights which had been turned onsuddenly went out.
"What's the matter?" cried Ned.
"Have we hit anything?" demanded Mr. Damon.
"Hit anything! I should say we had!" yelled Tom. "We've knocked apiece off a big mountain of ice!"
As he spoke the airship began slowly settling toward the earth, forher machinery had been stopped by the terrific impact.