Beadle's Boy's Library of Sport, Story, and Adventure, No. 37 — page 13: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

re o Old Tar Knuckle and His Boy Chums. He did not stop to reload, but dashed down the sloping path to the assistance of the youth. Nye at once leaping over the breastwork, followed, lance in hand. Tom was now screened by the rocks. He hurried on, though with great difficulty. The | foremost of the pursuing savages was about fifteen feet ahead of the others. slackened his pace, dragging his wounded limb after him, the head savage gained a position | close to him, and evidently bent on taking him alive, was about to seize him, when the youth turning, thrust his lance toward his body. The savage avoided the stroke by a limber twist, and pulled the weapon from his adver- sary. The next moment his hand was upon the boy’s collar, and he would have hurled him down the slippery descent into the midst of the other Indians, had not Tom clung firmly with both hands to the rock. Perceiving he could not accomplish his pur- pose in time, as Nye and Knuckle were now only a few paces off, the native drew back the lance he had seized, and was about to pin the lad with it to the snow, when Knuckle flung his gun, stock foremost, at the man’s head, The thick skin cap of the savage having drop- ped off, the iron-bound stock of the piece struck the top of his skull with a force, which sent him sliding senseless down the frozen snow. His body in the narrow path impeded the progress of the Indians below, and ere they could advance another step, the fourth mate had Tom by the hand. The youth picked up the gun with the other, and gave it to the old tar. An instant later Nye also arrived, and tak- ing his friend’s other hand, the two helped him swiftly along. Meanwhile the savages continued the pur- suit, but the profecting rocks screened the trio from the arrows which were discharged. Leav- ing Nye to keep on with Hasler, Knuckle re- loaded his gun, but the savages did not wait to see the result. They retreated down the path, and soon screened themselves behind a ledge of rocks near the base of the elevation. A few minutes later the three were safely ensconced behind the barricade, where Tom’s wound was examined by his two companions. It was found to be “gry s a flesh wound, the arrow heving pierced it slantingly; neverthe- less it was painful, and caused the youth much inconvenience. Knuckle bandaged it with some canvas, and Hasler said he felt much relieved. CHAPTER XIII. THE LAST SHOT. THE short winter day passed in a couple of hours, and night again closed darkly around the three sailors. Greatly did they regret that they had not been able to obtain the seal after it was killed. Cold and hungry, they huddled behind the barricade, while Knuckle divided their last biscuit into three parts. The old tar did not let them see his share un- til after they had eaten theirs, when they per- ceived that he had reserved for himself a smaller portion than he had given to either of them. ‘Never mind,” he said, ‘‘ when they spoke of this. “I’ve an old stomach, do you see, which doesn’t need as much as younger ones. Why bless my eyes! T’ve seen the time when I’ve been without food for three days, and felt as lively as a cricket arterwards!” ‘‘Come, Knuckle, that’s a yarn. You don’t expect us to swallow that,” said Hasler, smiling to hide the pain of bis wounded leg. “T said arterwards,” paws, the old tar, ‘‘ meaning arter I got something to eat!” Hours later the fourth mate got upon the rock, and again looked seaward. Suddenly he started. There was a light not two miles off! He could see it plainly, His heart gavea bound. He felt sure that what he saw was a vessel’s lantern. The light remained in sight, apparently ap- | Hasler. proaching land! ; ; Nevertheless there was something about it that puzzled the old sailor. As Hasler | began to ae to and fro in response to the supposed signal. | tradually the light out at sea disappeared. Knuckle divined the cause, for a thick fog had settled upon the water. The old sailor resolved to say nothing to either of the buys, both of whom were now asleep, about what he had seen until the follow- ing morning, when the surprise would be all the pleasanter. Soon after his discovery, he awoke Nye to take his turn on the look-out. The lad was cold, hungry and miserable, but not a word of complaint escaped him. The long night passed away at last. The fog lifted; the tardy sun would soon rise, to remain only a few hours a short dis- tance above the horizon. Knuckle climbed to the top of the rock, and eagerly scanned the sea, A cry of surprise and disappointment es- caped him, for he saw no sign of any vessel— saw nothing but the water and masses of drift- ing ice! Nye and Hasler had also mounted the rock, The three exchanged mournful glances, ‘Things sartinly look bad for us,” remarked the old sailor. ‘* Here it is, past the middle of October, and no sign of our craft yet.” ‘*The ice will soon become so thickly packed about the coast that our ship cannot reach us,” said Nye, ** Ay, lad, she could hardly git within four miles of this part of the coast, now,” answered Kouuckle; “ and—” ““Halloa! look there!” interrupted Hasler, joyfully. He pointed toward a cove, among some rocks by the sea, where, sure enough, the three be- held what had at first escaped their attention— a whale-boat, in the stern of which was seated a sailor, wearing blue pants, a thick pea-jacket, and a round fur cap! For some moments Knuckle said not a word, A broad smile, which seemed to expand his enormous mouth from ear to ear, lighted bis visage. Then he took a bite from his plug of tobacco, and commenced to perform a sort of hornpipe on top of the rock. At last he stopped, and laid a hand on the shoulder of each of the lads. “Well now, bless my eyes! I knowed that light I saw last night wasn’t to go for nothing. Hooray! lads, hooray! [ sartinly see heaps of rtaters, salt junk and hot coffee in prospect or us all!” The man in the boat was seated with his back toward the spectators. Evidently he had been left in charge of the craft, while the crew went to search for Knuckle and his companions, Suddenly Hasler looked serious. ‘““What if the rest of the crew bave been mas- sacred by the Indians!” he said. ** No, no! not a bit of it, lad!” cried Knuckle. ‘Tf sich was the case, don’t you see, that man wouldn’t be left there. Depend upon it, there's more boats somewhere along-shore, where we can’t see ’em for the rocks. Captain Stone wouldn’t have sent only one boat. You can feel sartin on that p’int!” Then, clapping a hand to his mouth, the fourth mate shouted with all his might: ‘Below, there! Ahoy! aboy, there! Where are the rest of em? Bring ’em all here! Here we are!” The man turned quickly, and rose—the la- pels of his fur cap nearly hiding his face, | He waved his arms as if for joy, pointed up | the coast, and then beckoned to the party! | .‘* Ay, ay,” cried Knuckle to the lads. ‘Tl | wager you that chap is Joe, the Portuguese! | There’s always something the matter with his | voice so that he can’t sing out.” | “ Yes, if looks like Joe,” said Nye. | “Ay, and we'd better go down,” continued | the fourth mate. ‘I see how it is. The crews _ of the boats have chased the Indians away, and are somewhere along-shore. That’s what Joe means by them motions of his!” “Shall we take our arms along?” inquired ‘‘Ay, we may as well, Then there'll be all the less to fetch from the cave.” ‘*But where is the ship?’ said Nye, as the It seemed to him that it oscillated rather | three started down the elevatio more than was natural in so light a breeze and | so small a swell as there must now be on the’ bly,” said Knuckle. ocean. Perhaps some person aboard the ship was waving it. Yes, such, he thought, must be the case; it was being waved as a signal to him and his young friends that their vessel was coming! H= sprung down and seized the boat-lantern, which he carried to the top of the rock, an behind some headlands, proba- ‘‘Captain Stone didn’t like to come where there was so much ice,” The three soon reached the base of the hight, and hurried toward the boat, which was about twenty yards off. The ground here was free from rocks, so that it would not take but a minute in the boat. When -way there, it chanced that ‘“‘ Away off 13 Knuckle directed a glance behind him at the hight they had left. 5 e said not a werd, but over his face there came a singular expression. It was one lool of despair—a hopeless sort of look, which, how- ever, passed away in aninstant! His gaze was again fixed upon the boat, and he steadily ad- vanced. Hasler limping, on account of bis wounded leg, was on one side of him—Nye was on the other. ‘Ts that you, Joe?” called Nye to the man in. the boat. ‘‘ Joe! Joe! Where are the others?’ cried Hasler. The man did not answer: he was stooping as if busy about something in the boat. Knuckle did not speak. He rolled his quid rapidly, bis eyes glittered in his little bullet head. ‘“* He turned to Nye, and without a word, took the boy’s lance from his band, giving him his gun in exchange! ‘ Both boys looked up at the old tar in sur- prise. The three were now within six fathoms of the boat, its occupant still bending low, apparently busy arranging the whaling-line in the bottom. gin gd Knuckle paused, as quick as a flash he raised his lance, and sent it whizzing clean through the body of the person in the boat. The man gave a yell, and rolled headlong over the gunwale of the craft into the water. At the same moment a hideous cry broke upon the air, and from a ledge of rocks, a few yards: to the left of the boat, up rose half a dozen painted Dog-ribs, rushing toward the whites, “To the boat, lads!” roared Knuckle, as he oe his gun from Nye, “ Lively, boys, ively! Nye and Hasler scrambled to the boat, and: jumped into it; the old tar followed. Both the boys now comprehended the truth— understood the snare that had been set for them: by their wily foes. The man whom Knuckle had'speared lay with: upturned face in the shallow water, The streaks of paint on his visage were plainly re-~ vealed; he was one of the Dog-ribs, and the garb he wore was that of the murderéd Esquimaux sailor, Yonkitt! Itis needless to add that the whale-boat was the one which bed been stolen from the perty by the savages. In it was the lantern—the same which Knuckle now compre- hended had been waved on the night before, out at sea, by the Indians, in order to deceive him into the belief that a sail was coming! While the party were Spproactiin the boat, it was the glance Knuckle cast behind him that had first warned him of a snare, but be had seen dusky forms of Indians stealing up the rent to get possession of the cave and barr cade! A keen inspection there had shown him that the trowsers worn by the man in the boat were turned inside out; he could also detect a streak of paint on one of his cheeks—facts which assured him that this person was one of his In- dian foes, ‘Down, lads, down!” shouted the fourth, mate, as, with one blow of his knife, he severed the warp holding the boat to a rock. The lads crouched in time to escape a shower: Se: net which flew whizzing over their. eads. Knuckle had pushed the craft away from the. shore. Lying on his belly in the bow, he now: pointed his gun toward the advancing savages, , who at once threw themselves flat on the snow’ to avoid the expected shot. ‘* Paddle ahead!” ordered Knuckle. , ea had oe three rounds of ammunition left . n the wallet swung over his shoulder ; could not afford to want it. ab _ The boys, ap paddles, sent the boat glid- ing swiftly away from the shore. creened by rocks, the Indians sent showers of arrows after them, but not one took effect, owing to the awkward positions of:those who | discharged them. fog soon hid land and water from sight. . The party in the boat strove to avoid the ice but their exertions were in vain The light craft, caught in a floe, was carried landward with the drifting mass. Ft up, peering keenly around : m. A lofty projecting point of land, extending» se ae water, was faintly seen looming up. ahead. ** Ay, ay, there's the p’int, about half a mile below thie Lacie Rock,” said the fourth mate. . “We are driftin’ down upon it with the tide.” “I hope there are no Indians.there,” said: Nye. »comigbooks (E(0)