CHAPTER XIX
THE CAVES OF ICE
"Keep on firing! Hold 'em back a few minutes and I'll soon turn myelectric rifle loose on 'em!" yelled Tom Swift as he sprintedforward. "Keep on shooting, Mr. Damon!"
"Bless my powder-horn! I will!" cried the excited man. "I'll fireall the cartridges there are in the rifle!"
Which, at the rate he was discharging the weapon, would not take along time. But it had the effect of momentarily checking the advanceof the creatures.
Not for long, however. Our friends had barely reached the airship,with Mr. Parker stumbling and slipping on the ice and snow, ere themusk oxen came on again, with loud bellows.
"They're going to charge the ship! They'll ram her!" yelled NedNewton.
"I think I can stop them!" cried Tom, who had leaped toward hisstateroom. He came out a moment later, carrying a peculiar-lookinggun, The adventurers had seen it before, but never in operation, asTom had only put some finishing touches on it since undertaking thevoyage to the caves of ice.
"What sort of a weapon is that?" cried Abe, as he helped Mr. Parkeron board.
"It's my new electric rifle," answered the young inventor. "I don'tknow how it will work, as it isn't entirely finished, but I'm goingto try it."
Putting it to his shoulder he aimed at the leading musk ox, andpulled a small lever. There was no report, no puff of smoke and nofire, yet the big creature, which had been rushing at the ship,suddenly stopped, swayed for a moment, and then fell over in thesnow, kicking in his death agony.
"One down!" yelled Tom. "My rifle works all right, even if it isn'tfinished!"
He aimed at another ox, and that creature was stopped in its tracks.Mr. Damon had exhausted his cartridges, and had ceased firing, butAbe Abercrombie was ready with his rifle, and opened up on thebeasts. Tom killed another with his electric gun, and Abe shot two.This stopped the advance, and only just in time, for the foremostanimals were already close to the ship, and had they rushed at thefrail hull they might have damaged it beyond repair.
"Here goes for the big one!" cried Tom, and, aiming at the largestox of the herd, the young inventor pulled the lever. The brute fellover dead, and the rest, terror stricken, turned and fled.
"Hurrah! That's the stuff!" cried Ned Newton, capering about ondeck. He had hurried to his stateroom and secured his rifle, and,before the musk oxen were out of sight he had killed one, which gavehim great delight.
"Mighty lucky we drove them away," declared Abe. "They are terriblesavage at times, an' I reckon we struck one of them times. But say,Tom, what sort of a gun is that you got, anyhow?"
"Oh, it fires electric bullets," explained our hero. "But I haven'ttime to tell you about it now. Let's get out and skin one of thoseoxen. The fresh meat will come in good, for we've been living oncanned stuff since we left Seattle. We've got time enough before itgets dark."
They hurried to where the shaggy creatures lay in the snow, and soonthere was enough fresh meat to last a long time, as it would keepwell in the intense cold. Tom put away his electric gun, brieflyexplaining the system of it to his companions. The time was to come,and that not very far off, when that same electric rifle was to savehis life in a remarkable manner, in the wilds of Africa where hewent to hunt elephants.
In the cozy cabin that night they sat and talked of the day'sadventures. The airship had been slightly lifted up by means of thegas bag, and now rested on a level keel, so it was more comfortablefor the gold hunters.
"I did not complete my observations about the great snow slide,"remarked Professor Parker, "I trust I will have time to go over theground again to-morrow."
"We leave early in the morning," objected Tom.
"Besides, I don't believe it would be safe to go over that groundagain," put in Mr. Damon.
"Bless my gunpowder! But when I saw those savage creatures rushingat you, I thought it was all up with us. Are you hurt, Parker, mydear fellow? I forgot to ask before."
"Not hurt in the least," answered the scientist. "My heavy and thickfur garments saved me from the beasts' horns, and I fell in somesoft snow. I was quite startled for a moment. I thought it might bethe beginning of the snow movement."
"It was an ox movement," said Ned, in a low voice to Tom.
Morning saw the travelers again under way, with the Red Cloud nowfloating high enough to avoid the lofty peaks. The weather was clearbut very cold, and Tom, who was in the pilot-house, could see a longdistance ahead, and note many towering crags, which, had the airshipbeen flying low enough, would have interfered with her progress.
"We'll have to keep the searchlight going all night, to avoid acollision," he decided.
"Are we anywhere near the place?" asked Mr. Damon.
"We're in th' right region," declared the old miner. "I think we'reon th' right track. I recognize a few more landmarks."
"There wouldn't have been any trouble if I hadn't lost the map."complained Tom, bitterly.
"Never mind about that," insisted Abe. "We'll find th' place anyhow.But look ahead there; is that another hail storm headin' this way,Tom?"
The young inventor glanced to where Abe pointed. There was a mist inthe air, and, for a time great apprehension was felt, but, in a fewminutes there was a violent flurry of snow and they all breathedeasier. For, though the flakes were so numerous as to completelyshut off the view, there was no danger to the airship from them. Tomsteered by the compass.
The storm lasted several hours, and when it was over the adventurersfound themselves several miles nearer their destination--at leastthey hoped they were nearer it, for they were going it blind.
Abe declared they were now in the region of the gold valley. Theycruised about for two days, making vain observations by means ofpowerful telescopes, but they saw no signs of any depression whichcorresponded with the place whence Abe had seen the gold taken from.At times they passed over Indian villages, and had glimpses of theskin-clad inhabitants rushing out to point to the strange sight ofthe airship overhead. Tom was beginning to reproach himself againfor his carelessness in losing the map, and it did begin to took asif they were making a fruitless search.
Still they all kept up their good spirits, and Mr. Damon concoctedsome new dishes from the meat of the musk oxen. It was about a weekafter the fight with the savage creatures when, one day, as Ned wason duty in the pilothouse, he happened to look down. What he sawcaused him to call to Tom.
"What's the matter?" demanded the young inventor, as he hurriedforward.
"Look down there," directed Ned. "It looks as if we were sailingover a lot of immense beehives of the old-fashioned kind."
Tom looked. Below were countless, rounded hummocks of snow or ice.Some were very large--as immense as a great shed in which adirigible balloon could be housed--while others were as small as theice huts in which the Eskimos live.
"That's rather strange," remarked Tom. "I wonder--"
But he did not complete his sentence, for Abe Abercrombie, who hadcome to stand beside him, suddenly yelled out:
"The caves of ice! The caves of ice! Now I know where we are! We'reclose to the valley of gold! There are the caves of ice, and justbeyond is th' place we're lookin' for! We've found it at last!"