"Take the snowshoes!" advised Mr. Baxter.

The driver of Fred's sled must have understood, for he handed the boy a pair of the contrivances which enable one to walk on top of soft snow. Fred, with the Indian's aid, quickly adjusted them. By this time the moose, which had been nosing under the snow to get the mosses which grow there, and on which it feeds, lifted its immense head with the sweeping horns.

"Oh! He's a beauty!" cried Fred. "I wonder if I can get him?"

"I'll help!" cried Jerry.

"No, let Fred see if he can't get it alone," advised Mr. Baxter.

With a snort the big animal was off, but the snow was deep, and it sank down at every step. Holding his rifle in readiness, Fred glided forward on the snowshoes. They gave him a great advantage over the beast, for otherwise he would not have been able to get anywhere near it.

As it was, even with sinking to its shoulders at every plunge, the big brute was slowly distancing the boy. Fred determined on a long shot, for he was a fair marksman. Taking as good aim as he could in the excitement of the moment, he fired.

The moose plunged on.

"You've missed!" cried Jerry.

Fred fired once more. But there was no need. By great good luck his one bullet had reached a vital spot, and a moment later the big moose sank down in the snow.



CHAPTER XII

LOST IN THE SNOW

With shouts of joy at the prospect of plenty of fresh meat, the Indians leaped from the sleds, donned showshoes, and were soon at the side of the dead moose. Mr. Baxter, Jerry and the colored man followed.

"Yo' suah am a good shot, Massa Fred," complimented Johnson. "I once shot a wild turkey, an' goodness, I was so puffed up I hardly knowed mahself."

"I guess it was more due to good luck than anything else that I hit him," said Fred modestly.

"Well, it's just in time for dinner," remarked Mr. Baxter. "It will be a welcome relief from the canned stuff."

"I'se gwine t' look out fo' suthin' t' shoot after dis," announced Johnson. Absent-mindedly he had taken off his heavy mittens to feel of the antlers of the moose, and without thinking what he was doing, he took hold of his rifle barrel in his bare hand. The next instant he uttered a howl of anguish.

"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Baxter quickly.

"Mah hand! It's froze fast t' mah gun! Ah cain't git it off!"

This was true. So intense was the cold that the moment the colored man placed his warm and somewhat moist hand on the steel the flesh had frozen fast. This is a common occurrence in the far north, and travelers, knowing it, are careful never to grasp anything of metal in their bare hands. But the colored man, though he had been warned against this, had forgotten it.

"Quick! Put some snow on and then wrap his hand up in a blanket!" called Mr. Baxter. "He'll lose a finger or two if we don't."

It was the work of but an instant for Fred to scoop up some snow in his big mitten, place it over the negro's hand and part of the rifle barrel and then throw a fur robe over his whole arm, thus shutting out the terrible cold for a moment. The treatment was effective, the snow melted the ice between Johnson's hand and the metal, and in a few seconds the hand had thawed loose.

"It done feel jest laik a burn," remarked Johnson as he drew on his mitten again.

"Yes, intense cold such as we are now in does feel for a moment almost like heat to the naked flesh," said Mr. Baxter. "Let this be a lesson to all of us. We must exercise the greatest care, or some of us will have frost-bitten hands or feet, to say nothing of our noses."

By this time the Indians were skinning and cutting up the moose. It would have been hard work in a region where everything froze solid almost the minute life left it, but Holfax and his men built a big fire, and in the warmth of that they worked. Every one had a good dinner, even the dogs, who feasted to their hearts' content on moose meat. Some was left to freeze, to be packed on the sleds for future use.

Once more they started the dogs northward, the day soon coming to a close, as the short-lived sun went down, and the Northern Lights began to play.

Their camp that night was not disturbed by any wolves, and they made an early start the next day, coming a few miles nearer to the mountains which they hoped held the store of buried gold.

As they approached a region where the going would be hard, for it was mostly up hill, Mr. Baxter decided to make a camp where they could remain a day or so to give the dogs a chance to rest. Some of the animals had sore feet, where they had been cut by the sharp ice, and, as the dogs were their only means of transportation, it was necessary to take good care of them.

Accordingly they stopped that afternoon on the edge of a big wood which, Holfax said, would take them two days to get through. It was a gloomy forest, stretching for miles and miles throughout the heart of Alaska, and beyond it lay the mountain range where Stults, the German hunter, had been pursued by the fierce Indians, to escape from whom he had hidden his gold.

The tent was put up for the adventurers, and the Indians made themselves a shelter of the sleds, heaping snow up around them and spreading blankets across the top. Then, with a good fire, there was more comfort than at first would seem possible to get in a country where, at that season, it was seldom warmer than ten or fifteen degrees below zero.

They slept better that night than they had any previous one since starting on their land journey, for the terrible cold had somewhat abated. The next day the sun shone brightly, and the two boys decided to take a little trip for exercise, since sitting on a sled, weighted down by fur robes, had made their muscles stiff.

They put on their snowshoes, and with their rifles started off. They hoped they might see another moose, or a musk ox, or, at least, an Arctic fox, at which to take a shot.

"Don't go too far," cautioned Mr. Baxter. "There's no telling when a snowstorm may come up, and you can lose your way very easily up here."

They started off, and, as Holfax had said it was rather dangerous to go into the forest because of the numbers of fierce wolves that might be there, they moved southward across the plain over which they had just come.

The sun shone brightly on the snow, which was unrelieved by a single dark object. It was one vast extent of dazzling white.

At first it was beautiful, so still and quiet, and with the sun up there was some relief from the piercing cold, that even seemed to strike through their thick garments. But there was a danger they did not know about.

"See tracks of anything?" asked Fred when they had gone some distance and were out of sight of the camp, which was down in a sort of hollow.

"No. Do you?"

"Not a thing. Let's keep on a little farther."

They walked on for perhaps another mile, their snowshoes making travel easy. But there was no sight of game. Not even a wolf showed itself.

"Guess we'd better go back," remarked Fred at length. "There doesn't seem to be anything here. Say, my eyes smart something fierce. How about yours?"

"Mine do, too. I wonder what it is?"

"I don't know. Say, the sun must be going down. It's getting dark. We must have been out longer than we thought."

"That's so. Come on back. My, but it's getting dark suddenly."

"It certainly is. Why, Jerry, I can't seem to see anything! Where are you?"

"Right here, but I can't see you. I wonder what the trouble is? Do you think there's going to be a blizzard?"

Fred was waving his hand in front of his face. To his horror he could not see it. Before his eyes was nothing but blackness. Then he uttered a cry of fear.

"What is it?" asked Jerry. "What's the matter? I can't see you, Fred."

"Jerry!" cried the young treasure hunter. "We're blind!"

"Blind?"

"Yes, snow-blind. The sun shining on the snow has dazzled and blinded us, and we're lost, a long way from the camp!"



CHAPTER XIII

IN THE WILDERNESS

Blindly groping about, the two boys located each other by the sounds of their voices.

"We mustn't get separated," said Fred. "That would be terrible. Oh, how my eyes hurt!"

"So do mine. It's just like once when some pepper blew in them. What shall we do?"

"I don't know. We must think. Wait a minute. I'll take my belt and fasten it to yours. Then we can't lose each other, and we'll have our hands free," for in their despair the two lads were holding each other's hands.

Fred held his gun between his knees that it might not sink down in the snow. Then he fastened his belt to Jerry's. Neither of the boys could see a foot in advance. It was just as if there was a black veil in front of their faces, and, though the sun shone brilliantly on the white snow, they could not distinguish it.

"Now what shall we do?" asked Jerry. "Have you any idea which way the camp is?"

"I remember that as we came away from it the wind was at our backs."

"Then if we walk with the wind in our faces we ought to get somewhere near it."

"That's so. Let's try it."

Stepping out cautiously, for they could not see where they set their feet, the boys advanced. It was like walking in the darkest night.

"Do you think they'll come to look for us?" asked Jerry.

"Perhaps; but they won't think we're in this plight until quite late, if it ever does occur to them. Then it will be dark, and they can't see our tracks in the dark."

"Maybe the Indians can."

"Perhaps; but I doubt it."

"Then what shall we do? If we have to stay out in the open all night we'll freeze to death. It's getting colder. I guess the sun must be going down."

"I'm afraid so," replied Fred. He felt that, in a measure, he was responsible for Jerry's plight, as he had been instrumental in organizing the expedition. It was getting much colder, and the wind was almost as cutting as a knife blade. It whipped stinging particles of snow into their faces, but they dared not turn their heads aside, as, if they did, they feared they would never get anywhere near camp.

"I have it!" cried Fred suddenly when they had proceeded cautiously some distance. "Why didn't we think of it before?"

"What?"

"Firing our guns! They may hear them in camp and come after us."

"That's so. Here goes!"

Jerry pointed his rifle in the air and pulled the trigger. The report, coming in that great stillness, sounded like a clap of thunder.

"We'll take turns at it, firing every five minutes, as near as we can judge," said Fred. "That ought to tell them something is wrong with us."

They put this plan into operation, walking slowly on in the intervals of firing as nearly in the direction of the camp as they could judge. They could see absolutely nothing save a sort of haze in front of their eyes, and, as the cold continued to increase, they knew the sun must have gone down.

"Can you see the Northern Lights?" asked Jerry.

"No. Can you?"

"Not a thing. Go on, it's your turn to shoot."

Following the report of Fred's gun they listened intently for an answering shot. None came. For an hour longer they walked on, firing by turns.

"I have only three more cartridges left," announced Jerry at length.

"And I have only two. This is getting serious. Maybe we're wandering away from the camp instead of toward it."

"If we are, and have to stay out in the open all night, we'll have to burrow down under the snow, the way the dogs do. I guess——"

"Hark! What's that?" asked Fred quickly.

"It's a shot!"

Fred quickly fired his rifle in answer.

"There it goes again!"

It was unmistakably a shot. Then Jerry fired, and again there came a response.

"Let's yell," suggested Fred, and they united their voices in a shout.

To their great relief they heard persons calling. The voices came nearer, and then they could distinguish Mr. Baxter's cry.

"Boys! Boys! Are you all right?" he asked anxiously.

"All right except that we're snow-blind!" replied Jerry.

"Oh, I feared you had been attacked by a pack of wolves, Jerry," said his father. "And, Fred, are you all right?"

"We're both blind!"

"Well, that will pass away. I should have warned you to wear snow goggles. I did not think you were going so far from camp, and I did not realize that the sun was so strong on the snow. We began to get worried about you a while ago, so Holfax and I started out after you. We heard your shots, and traced you by them. It's a good thing you had your guns. But come on, I'll lead you back to camp."

It did not take long to reach it, for the boys had been advancing in the right direction. They were warmed with many cups of hot tea, and after bathing their eyes in warm water their sight gradually came back, but they could not see well until the next morning.

"After this you must wear goggles; we all will," said Mr. Baxter. "Holfax has some, made from wood."

The goggles were queer affairs. They were merely pieces of wood, long enough to extend across the eyes, and wide enough to completely cover the optics. There was a narrow slit through which to look, an opening so narrow that only a little light penetrated through it. The goggles were fastened on with a piece of deer thong. Regular glasses, with metal rims, could not have been worn, as the great cold would have frozen them fast to the nose and face.

"We start through the great wilderness to-morrow," said Mr. Baxter to the boys in the tent that night. "I have been studying the map," he added, after listening to see that none of the Indians were walking too close outside the shelter. "I think we are on the right trail, though, of course, we are too far off to tell exactly. I have a plan, of which I have not told you yet."

"What is it?" asked Fred.

"I am going to get rid of all the Indian guides, save one, and he is Holfax. I know I can trust him. The others, especially Zank, I believe are thieves, and very dishonest."

"But can we get along with one?" asked Fred.

"Yes. Holfax says he can take the leading dog team, and, attaching the other dogs to the head sled, he can pilot them all. In this way, when we reach the treasure, only one Indian, and, I believe, an honest one, will know about it. Thus we will not run such a chance of being robbed."

"But what will you do with the three Indians you are going to discharge?" asked Jerry.

"They will go off to join a branch of their tribe, that is encamped not far from here. I have spoken to Holfax about it, and he says they will only be too glad to go, as the remainder of the journey is very difficult. I am going to pay them off when we camp to-morrow night, and then we will shift for ourselves."

"I hope we don't get lost again," remarked Fred.

"No; after this no one must leave camp," said Mr. Baxter. "We will make that a rule."

They started through the big wilderness the next day. The dogs, well rested, pulled the sleds at a good speed, though it was, most of the way, up a hard slope.

It was still very cold, and the travelers burrowed down in the piles of robes on the rear parts of the sleds. The Indians did not seem to mind it, though they did not have on as many garments as did the adventurers. Johnson suffered more than did any of the gold-seekers, for he was of a race that loves warmth. But he did not complain, and, when he felt too cold he got off, put on his snowshoes, and ran alongside. At times he would help pull the sleds up some steep hill.

When they made camp that night Mr. Baxter, through Holfax, as an interpreter, told the other three Indians he would no longer need their services. They seemed to take it as a matter of course, and their eyes shone greedily as they saw the bag of gold coins, from which Mr. Baxter took their pay. Only gold was used as money for the Indians.

"I hope they will have no trouble finding their tribe," said the leader of the expedition to Holfax.

"They know way," was the response. "They be in dis country many year."

"Well, give them plenty to eat, some tea, meat, and some matches to build a fire," added Mr. Baxter, for each Indian carried with him a simple camping outfit, consisting, for the most part, of a pot in which to make tea, and a frying pan to warm meat in over an open fire.

"Well, good-by," said Mr. Baxter, to the three who were leaving, though they did not understand very much English.

"Goo'-by," responded Zank, with a leer that struck Fred as being rather ugly. "Me see you 'gin, maybe."

"I don't believe so," said Mr. Baxter with a smile, but Fred thought of the whispered words between the man with the glass eye and the Indian. A vague feeling of uneasiness possessed the boy.



CHAPTER XIV

THE LOST MAP

Slinging over their backs the packages of food which had been given them, the three Indians started away along the ridge of the first low range of mountains, to join their tribe. The gold-seekers thought they had seen the last of them, but they did not know what the future had in store for them, nor under what circumstances they were again to see the treacherous Alaskans.

"Now we've got to rely a good bit on ourselves," said Mr. Baxter, when Zank and his two companions were out of sight. "Each one of us will have to do more work, but I think we will be better off. We are getting near to where Stults is supposed to have hidden the gold, and the fewer natives who know about it the better it will be."

He had spoken before Holfax, and Fred's face must have shown the wonder he felt, for Jerry's father remarked:

"Oh, Holfax knows what we are after. In fact we shall have to depend on him, in a measure, for he knows this country and the locality where we are going better than I do. I have told him about the map and about the treasure."

"Me help to find it," replied the Indian with a grin. "But not good too many know. Some Indians bad. Me try be good."

"Yes, you do try, and I think we can trust you," added Mr. Baxter. "Now then, we must make camp. I think we had all better sleep in the tent," for it was not uncommon for white men and their negro, or Indian, helpers to occupy the same shelter in that cold country. The more persons in a tent the warmer it would be.

But the Indian had his own ideas about this. He did not like to change his way of life, and he had been so long used to burrowing under the snow, in a warm fur robe, that he preferred that method still. So he declined the shelter of the tent.

It was not as easy work as Mr. Baxter had thought it would be, to resume the journey the next day. The three dog teams, that were without drivers, seemed to know it, and got all tangled up in the harness, fighting among themselves, so it was some time before they could be separated, and fastened by long thongs to the sled in charge of Holfax. On this Mr. Baxter rode, in order to converse with the guide as to the best road to take.

The two boys, and Johnson, were entrusted with the long whips the Indians had formerly used. They tried to handle them as had the natives, in guiding the teams, but they did not have much success.

However, Holfax kept a watchful eye over the wolfish canines, and whenever one of the brutes was inclined to turn tail, and attempted to haul the sled backwards, the angry voice of the Alaskan would, with a sharp reminder from the whip, send the rebel back in line with its fellows.

On and on they went, making slow progress because the trail was very poor. The second day after dismissing the three Indians they were enveloped in a blinding snowstorm, and they had to halt and make camp. It was terribly cold, so cold that a hot cup of tea would have a skim of ice over it in a minute after it was poured out. It seemed as if their very bones were frozen.

But the next day the storm ceased, and they toiled on and on, the hope of the hidden gold luring them. Once a sled overturned, and the load was spilled off, necessitating an hour's halt.

Again, one of the sled runners broke, going around a dangerous curve, and only the quickness of Fred, who leaped off and held on to the load by the thongs binding it, prevented it from toppling over into a deep ravine.

It took some time to mend the sled runner, but Holfax was equal to the emergency, and, after a day's halt, they were able to proceed. But their troubles were not at an end. The dogs grew worse and worse, and were continually fighting among themselves. They did it so often that the party could only go a mile or two, before Holfax would have to stop, and run back to separate some of the savage animals, that seemed to become more and more like wolves the farther north they went.

At last the Indian solved the problem by changing all the dogs about. With new team-mates, the animals seemed to get along better.

One afternoon, just as they were about to go into camp, Johnson, who was riding on the sled containing most of the provisions, got off, intending to unharness his dogs, and tie them. No sooner was he off the sled than the beasts ran away with it.

"Stop them! Catch them!" cried Mr. Baxter. "If they run away with that load we'll starve."

Johnson needed no urging, but, as he had not put on his snowshoes, which were on the back of the sled, he plunged up to his thighs into a deep drift, and could make only slow progress, while the broad-runner sled skimmed over the frozen snow at top speed, pulled by the wild dogs.

It looked serious for a few moments, but Holfax leaped on his sled, and with a word to his trained beasts, sent them after the runaways, rounding them up before they had gone more than a mile.

"We're getting to the end of this wilderness," remarked Mr. Baxter, when the dogs had been driven back, and camp was in process of making. "By to-morrow night we ought to be through it."

"Then where will we be?" asked Fred.

"At the edge of a big plateau, according to Holfax. That plain leads to the second range of mountains, in which is located the waterfall, near the cave of which the gold is supposed to be buried."

"I hope we find it," remarked Fred.

"So do I," added Mr. Baxter. "If we don't we'll have had a lot of trouble and expense for nothing."

Fred felt the responsibility that rested on him, but he knew he was taking the same chances as the others, though he was not risking as much as was Mr. Baxter.

It was bitter cold that night. By the spirit thermometer it was nearly fifty degrees below zero, and, wrapped up as they were, in thick furs, with a great fire going outside the tent, and the alcohol stove lighted inside, the adventurers were nearly frozen. They had to get up every now and then, and stamp their feet and throw their arms about, in order to keep the blood in circulation.

"Look at that," said Fred, as, in the glow from the alcohol stove, he pointed to a mercury thermometer they had with them. The little silver column had vanished from the tube, and the quicksilver was in a little globule at the bottom.

"Yes, it's frozen solid," remarked Mr. Baxter. "You could use it for a bullet if you wanted to. Mercury freezes at forty degrees below zero."

"Does alcohol ever freeze?" asked Jerry.

"It has been frozen, with artificial cold, at two hundred and three degrees below zero, but we are not likely to reach that here. If it got much colder than this I'd want to turn back. But I guess we're about at the frostiest part of our trip."

Hot tea served to make the travelers more comfortable, but even the effects of that wore off after a while.

"I can understand now, how those Russians can drink seventeen or eighteen cups in succession," remarked Fred. "They have to do it almost constantly to keep from getting frozen stiff."

"That's about it," admitted Mr. Baxter.

They were all glad when morning came, and they had a glimpse of the sun, even if the golden ball was not so very heating. At any rate it was more cheerful than the long night, with the mysterious Aurora Borealis flashing in the sky.

To make sure of the route for that day's travel Mr. Baxter got out the map, and he and Holfax examined it, before the dogs were hitched to the sleds.

"I think we are really in the treasure district," said the old gold hunter, as he looked at the copy of the tracing made by the German. "Here is shown the end of the forest, and the great plain over which we have to go to get to the waterfall. Well, boys, we will be there in a day or two, now."

"That's good," remarked Fred. "I'll be glad to get back to warm, sunny California again, where I can wear ordinary clothes."

Mr. Baxter was returning the map to the fur case in which he carried it. On account of the heavy mittens he and all the adventurers had to wear, his hands were not very certain in their movements. When he had replaced the map in the case, he endeavored to slip the latter inside his fur coat, where he had a pocket in which it was kept.

But his hand slipped, and the fur case, map and all fell to the snow-covered ground. An instant later, one of the big hungry dogs, doubtless thinking it was something to eat, rushed up and made a grab for it, carrying it away in its strong jaws, and snapping and snarling at its fellow brutes that tried to take away what they supposed was a choice morsel of seal blubber.

"Catch him!" cried Mr. Baxter. "If he tears that case, and spoils the map, we'll never find the treasure!"

"I'll git him!" cried Johnson, gliding on his snowshoes after the dog. But the brute saw him coming, and ran farther off.

"Hold on, or I'll shoot you!" called the negro.

"No, don't shoot!" cried Mr. Baxter. "If we lose even one dog it will go hard with us."

"He's tearing the case!" yelled Fred.

"The map is lost!" exclaimed Mr. Baxter.

"Me get him!" spoke Holfax, running up. "Me show how make dog drop map."

It was a critical moment. In another instant the strong teeth of the dog would make the map undecipherable, and the trip would end disastrously.



CHAPTER XV

IN THE CAVE

With a swift motion the Indian ran to the sled containing, among other things, the food for the dogs. He burrowed beneath the fur coverings, that were firmly lashed down, to prevent the animals eating all their supplies at one meal, and brought out several frozen fish. Now the Alaskan dog loves fish above everything else, and when Holfax had tossed several on the snow, there was a mad rush of the shaggy, wolf-like creatures to secure some.

Even those dogs crowded around the one that had the map-case, ceased worrying him, and bolted to get a share of the good things so unexpectedly cast before them. The rush, and the sight of the fish, was too much for the canine thief. He dropped the map, and made a bolt for the fish.

"Now git um," said Holfax, and Johnson, who was nearest, rushed forward and secured the precious document.

"Is it injured?" asked Fred, as Mr. Baxter began to examine it.

"No, I think not. I'll have to be more careful in the future. That dog nearly ate a fortune."

Stowing the map securely away, Mr. Baxter helped the boys and Johnson strike the tent, and load the sleds for that day's trip. It was not as cold as it had been during the night, but there was a feeling of snow in the air.

"Git plenty bad storm quick soon," remarked Holfax, as he again fastened the coverings on the provision sled.

"Do you think we had better start then?" asked Mr. Baxter.

"Bad here—bad there," replied the Indian, with a sweep of his arm toward the distant mountain range. "Bad all over—plenty bad—bad go—bad stay."

"Then as long as we're going to be in for it one way or the other, we might as well start. Come, boys, are you ready?"

"All ready, dad," mumbled Jerry from the depths of his fur collar.

"How about you, Fred?"

"My sled is all ready."

"Then we'll start."

The long whips cracked, Holfax gave his Indian yell to the dogs, they settled into their harness, and once more the sleds were being pulled northward. The dogs seemed to be in better humor after their unexpected meal of frozen fish, and they hauled well together.

It was a bleak and cheerless landscape that lay before the travelers. The vast snow-covered plain stretched out before them, and, at their backs, was the desolate, black wilderness. Only the hope of gold kept their hearts stout.

Over the hard crust scurried the dogs, their toe-nails scratching the hard ice. Occasionally they yelped or barked, probably in protest at being made to haul such heavy loads. But Holfax kept them at their tasks.

As they advanced the day became dreary in the extreme. The sun was hidden by misty clouds, and the wind was cold and cutting. Then a few fine flakes of snow sifted down.

"Storm come," remarked Holfax, tightening the robes about him.

"Guess you're right," admitted Mr. Baxter. The moisture in the air, which preceded the storm, had, with his breath, condensed on his beard, and about his mouth was a ball of snow, as large as his two fists. He actually had to crush it off his beard before he could speak.

Then with a sudden fury the snow came down in a blinding cloud. Only the fact that the four dog teams were fastened together by a long piece of deer hide prevented them from becoming separated in the fog of frozen crystals.

"Can Holfax see to guide us?" shouted Fred, above the howl of the wind.

"I guess so," answered Mr. Baxter. "We'll have to trust to him, anyhow."

It was the worst weather they had yet met with, and it was all the Indian could do to induce the dogs to continue. It needed the spur of his long whip, and his angry voice, calling to them in strange words, to keep them on the trot.

At last even the hardened Indian had to give it up. It was almost certain death to face that blast from the north any longer.

"Got to camp!" shouted Holfax, above the roar of the gale, and he began to unharness the dogs.

It was desperate work to get the tent up, but they managed to do it, and also to build a roaring fire of logs which the Indian dug out from under the snow with one of the shovels that had been brought along. Then, in the combined shelter of the tent and the upturned sleds, with a big pot of hot tea and some sizzling bacon, the gold hunters tried to forget their hardships.

But it was not easy to do, and there were grave apprehensions that night whether they would not be frost-bitten before morning. The storm continued all the next day, and it was impossible to proceed. The dogs were buried from sight in big snowdrifts, and Holfax had one hand slightly frozen in digging them out to give them a feed of fish.

But troubles cannot last so very long at a time, and on the morning of the third day the sun came out once more.

"Forward!" cried Mr. Baxter. "We are nearing the place, Fred. In a couple of days we ought to be able to tell whether we are on a wild-goose chase or not."

They crossed the big plain by the next night, and camped at the foot of the mountain range where the gold was supposed to be buried. Mr. Baxter consulted the map, and thought they had come very close to the trail down which Stults had made his way to the settlement, where he had related his strange story.

By daylight Mr. Baxter's views were confirmed by Holfax, who closely examined the map. There was to be seen a tracing of a vast ravine, near which the party had made camp, and this ravine was one of the landmarks by which the place was known. Several expeditions, seeking the gold, had gotten thus far, but when they penetrated the mountains they lost all traces. Either the map was wrong, or they did not properly follow the directions. Would these fortune hunters have any better luck?

Breakfast was hurriedly eaten, the dogs harnessed, and a start made. Travel had to be very slow now, and it was necessary for the adventurers to walk beside the sleds, as the dogs could not pull the passengers and the heavy loads up the steep, snow-covered mountain.

They reached a shoulder of the incline, and stopped to rest. Here Mr. Baxter consulted the map again.

"I think we had better bear off more to the left," he said. "It looks as if there was a stream there, but it's frozen over."

Holfax agreed with him. It was now quite certain they were at least on part of the very ground mapped out by Stults. But whether they were near the hidden treasure was another question.

They followed the course of the stream as nearly as they could with the sleds, and, after a toilsome climb found themselves on a sort of level place.

"Doesn't look as though we were going to find a waterfall around here," remarked Mr. Baxter.

"It certainly does not," added Jerry.

Fred felt his heart sinking. They had come far enough, according to the map, to be at the fall, but there was no sign of It. Was the story all a myth? Was there no waterfall, no cave, no gold?

Fred went a little way ahead. As he turned a place where a big ledge of rock jutted out, hiding what was behind from view, he uttered a cry.

"What's the matter?" asked Mr. Baxter, hurrying up, thinking the lad had been hurt.

"The waterfall!" cried Fred. "There it is, frozen solid! See!"

And so it was. The great cold had solidified, into fantastic shapes, the falling water, until it looked like nothing but a vast ledge of ice, with great columns, like spears, hanging down here and there.

"Now for the cave!" cried Fred, hurrying forward. "It must be at one side of the fall."

Mr. Baxter, Fred, and Jerry hastened forward, while Holfax and Johnson remained behind to look after the dogs, that seemed to develop a sudden wild desire to run away.

It was hard climbing, over the piled-up masses of frozen water, and great icicles, but the gold-seekers managed it. Mr. Baxter was in the lead. He passed across a frozen pool, into which, during what summer there was in that cold region, the waters of the cataract fell, and then, with a loud shout, he pressed forward.

The boys, close at his heels, saw him headed toward a dark opening. They hurried to join him.

"The cave!" cried Fred. "It's the cave where Stults hid his treasure!"

Mr. Baxter was just at the entrance. As he was about to pass under the icy ledge, there was an ominous crackling overhead. Fred looked up. To his horror he saw a great icicle, that had become detached from the mass at the frozen waterfall, come toppling straight down toward where Mr. Baxter was standing, he having hesitated a moment to look into the black interior of the cavern.

"Look out!" cried Fred. "Go into the cave!" Mr. Baxter comprehended his danger. He took a step forward, but, just then, his foot slipped, and he fell.

The great mass of ice, sharp as a spear, and weighing a ton or more, was falling straight down on the prostrate man, as if to transfix him.



CHAPTER XVI

DIGGING FOR TREASURE

Fred never could distinctly recall, afterward, how he accomplished it, but he did. As he saw the mass of ice descending toward Mr. Baxter, the boy, with a swift, comprehensive look, took in the situation. A daring scheme came into his head.

From where he and Jerry stood, on a sort of little hill, the ice descended, in a slope, to the mouth of the cave. The frozen surface was almost as smooth as glass.

"My father will be killed!" cried Jerry.

Falling downward the great icicle struck with a tinkling sound against the masses of ice on either side. Down, down it came.

With a sudden motion Fred threw himself face forward on the icy slope, like a boy coasting down hill on a sled. Only Fred had no sled. But his thick fur garments protected him as much as a contrivance of wood and steel could have done.

Right down the steep, icy slope he slid, straight at the prostrate figure of Mr. Baxter. The man, hampered as he was in his heavy suit of furs, was struggling in vain to rise and get out of the way of the falling mass of ice.



But there was no need. Coasting down the declivity, Fred struck Mr. Baxter on the shoulder with his outstretched hands, and the force of the blow shoved the man ahead. Straight ahead it forced him, the weight of Fred's body, with the speed it had attained, being sufficient to send Mr. Baxter within the cave. Fred followed also, being unable to stop.

An instant later, with a terrific crash, the great icicle came down where, but a moment before, Mr. Baxter had been prostrate on the ice. His life had been saved by Fred's brave and quick act.

Mr. Baxter slowly struggled to his feet, within the cave. Fred also got up. The youth was trembling from the excitement and exertion.

"Fred," spoke up Mr. Baxter, "you saved my life!"

"I am glad I thought of sliding down to you," replied the boy modestly. "It came to me in a flash that it was the only way."

"Yes, and you came against me like a flash, only a little more solidly, or it wouldn't have done any good," went on the man.

Jerry, who had watched the rescue with awe-struck eyes, hastened into the cavern, climbing over the broken masses of the great icicle. His emotion was such that, for a moment, he could not speak. He had thought to see his father crushed to death. Then he clasped the hand of his parent in one of his, and extended the other to Fred.

"I shall never forget what you did," he said to Fred.

"Nor I," added Mr. Baxter. "If we don't get any of the hidden gold I shall feel that I owe Fred a debt I can never pay."

"Hello dar!" exclaimed a voice at this juncture. "Whar am everybody? Did anyt'ing happen?"

"It's Johnson," said Mr. Baxter. "Yes, something did happen."

"Whar am yo'?" asked the colored man. "I can hear yo', but I cain't see yo'."

The entrance to the cave, in which were the three, was partly hidden from view by the broken ice.

"We're in the cavern," replied Fred, stepping to the opening, where Johnson could see him.

"Do you think this is the place, father?" asked Jerry, gazing around curiously.

"I think so. It seems to correspond with the map. But we shall soon find out. Probably the gold is not buried very deep, as Stults did not have much time. The cave is small, and it ought not to take long to explore it thoroughly. George, tell Holfax where we are, have him make a sort of temporary camp just outside here, and bring up the tools. We'll stay in the cave, I think. It's warmer than outside."

The colored man went back to join the Indian, while Mr. Baxter and the boys looked about the cave, as well as they were able to in the darkness. The cavern was about twenty feet square, and the roof seemed to be quite high up. It was formed of rock, and here and there water had leaked through and frozen, long, sharp icicles hanging from the sloping sides and roof.

"When we get a lantern lighted we can begin to dig for the treasure," said Mr. Baxter. "I'm afraid it will be difficult work, though, for the ground is frozen as hard as a stone."

The thought of being so near the store of precious metal took their minds off of the narrow escape from death that Mr. Baxter had just had. Fred recovered his nerve, and waited with impatience the return of Johnson and Holfax with the lanterns and tools.

The latter were soon at the cave, having brought the dogs and sleds as close as possible to the entrance. After bringing in the tools, and several lanterns, fitted to burn alcohol, and arranged to give a more brilliant light than the usual little blue flame from that fluid, the colored man and the Indian, in obedience to orders from Mr. Baxter, went outside.

"I don't want them to see us when we come upon the gold," said Mr. Baxter. "There is no telling how much there is, and it would not be right to put temptation in their way. Besides, they must get the camp in shape before night."

The lanterns were lighted, and then the work of digging for the treasure was begun. It was warm enough in the cave to allow the three to lay aside their heavy outer coats, as the exercise of digging would keep their blood in circulation.

"Now we'll divide the cave floor into three parts," said Mr. Baxter, "and each one of us will take one. In this way we will be able to make sure that we have covered every foot. There is no need to go down very deep."

The work was soon under way. It certainly was difficult, for the frozen earth was like stone in hardness. But the picks were sharp, and they were wielded by sturdy arms, the owners of which were urged on by the desire to get at the buried wealth.

It was slower work than Mr. Baxter had calculated on, and when it came time to eat dinner, they had, altogether, turned up only a small part of the cave floor to a depth of about two feet.

"No sign of treasure yet," said Fred, about the middle of the afternoon. "I think I'll go outside far a breath of fresh air, and to rest myself."

"I'll go along," declared Jerry.

When the two boys reached the mouth of the cavern, they were surprised to find that it was quite dark outside. The short day was ended, and the sun, which never got far above the horizon, had set some time before. The Northern Lights were beginning to shoot across the sky.

Close to the cave, Holfax and Johnson had arranged the sleds with their loads, and had tethered the dogs, that were now howling for their supper of frozen fish.

"That reminds me I'm hungry too," said Jerry; "aren't you, Fred?"

"Not so very. I'm too anxious to find the gold. I'm going back and dig."

They used their picks on the flinty soil for an hour more, and then Mr. Baxter, with something like a sigh of disappointment, announced that they would have the night meal.

"I don't suppose any of you came across any stray gold nuggets, did you?" he asked the boys.

"No," replied Fred soberly. "Do you think the treasure is here, Mr. Baxter?"

"Well, I hope so. If it isn't we can at least prove that there is no Stults treasure, and that the story is all a myth, Fred."

"Oh, I hope such a thing as that doesn't happen."

"I hope so myself."

It got much colder after they had had their hot tea and meat, so, as they were very tired, Mr. Baxter decided they would do no more digging until the next morning.

"We ought to finish up the cave to-morrow," he said.

"Suppose we don't find the gold, dad?"

Mr. Baxter said nothing. It was a thing he did not like to contemplate. They had dug over more than half the floor of the cavern, and had seen no signs of where Stults, years before, had made an excavation to hide his gold. The cave looked as if it had not been disturbed for centuries.

"This is the right place, according to the map," said Fred, as though to assure himself and the others that they must be on the track of the hidden wealth.

"It is," admitted Mr. Baxter, "but there are so many chances for error, that we can never be sure. There are probably more caves and waterfalls than this in Alaska, and Stults was not an expert map-maker. He may have thought he was setting down very explicit directions, when, as a matter of fact, he may be miles and miles off. But we can tell better in the morning."

None of the gold-seekers rested well. Though they were more sheltered than at any time since beginning their journey,—for the cave made a fine place to camp in,—their sleep was disturbed by a haunting vision of disappointment. Suppose there should be no gold after all?

They resumed the digging soon after breakfast. By noon they had covered nearly the entire floor of the cavern. Fred was using his pick in one corner of the cave. Of the third assigned to him, not more than a square yard remained. The others had about the same still to explore, and, up to now, there had not been the slightest indication of the buried wealth. Fred's heart began to fail him.

He raised his pick high over his head, and brought it down with great force in the frozen dirt. Somehow it seemed to penetrate easier than it had before. It stuck in nearly up to the handle. The sharp point had entered something soft.

The boy's heart gave a convulsive throb. He pried up on the pick handle. Something was giving way. Had he discovered the hole in which the gold was hidden?

An instant later, as the light from one of the lanterns gleamed on the spot where he was digging, Fred uttered a joyful cry.

"What is it?" shouted Mr. Baxter, as he and Jerry threw down their picks and hastened to the lad's side.

The boy was down on his knees, scooping at something with his hands. The others looked.

Then they saw what they had come so far to seek. Fred's pick had pierced through a canvas bag, buried a short distance below the frozen surface. It was a bag of gold nuggets, and they lay scattered about in the dirt.

"The treasure!" cried Fred. "Here it is! I have found it!"

And so he had. Almost on the verge of failure he had unearthed the gold buried so long before by the old German, Max Stults!



CHAPTER XVII

THE SPYING INDIAN

The adventurers could hardly believe their good luck. Fred, still on his knees, scooped out handful after handful of the dull yellow nuggets, which meant so much to him and to them all. His thoughts went back to the humble home he had left, to his crippled father, and his toiling mother. Now they could have peace, comfort and happiness. But, better than all, his father could now be assured of a cure. No wonder it seemed too good to be true.

But it was no dream. The gold was actually there. There were two score sacks of it, as they soon discovered, for it did not take the three of them long to get it from the hiding place. Only one had been broken by Fred's pick, and the nuggets were carefully gathered up.

"Good for you, Fred!" exclaimed Jerry, as he and his father helped pile the gold carefully to one side. "You won out, but I had begun to think we were going to fail."

"So did I," added Mr. Baxter.

"I was beginning to get discouraged myself," admitted Fred. "How much do you suppose is there, Mr. Baxter?"

"There must be half a million," said Jerry.

"Nonsense," answered his father. "No such good luck as that. Still, it is a tidy little fortune. Let me see if I can calculate it."

He weighed in his hands the different bags, counted them and began to figure in his head.

"There are forty bags," he said, "and I calculate that each one weighs about eight pounds. That would give us about three hundred pounds of gold."

"Three hundred pounds of gold!" repeated Fred, in an awe-struck voice. "How much is that worth?"

"Well, if it's pure gold, such as these nuggets are, it is worth in the neighborhood of twenty dollars an ounce."

"How many ounces have we?" asked Jerry.

"Well, of course gold is weighed by Troy measure, which goes twelve ounces to the pound, but I have calculated this gold by the standard of sixteen ounces to the pound, and, in three hundred pounds there are forty-eight hundred ounces."

"And if the gold is worth twenty dollars an ounce that would be—why it would be ninety-six thousand dollars!" exclaimed Fred, who was good at arithmetic.

"Ninety-six thousand dollars!" repeated Jerry, staggered by the amount of so much wealth.

"Of course that is only a rough estimate," Mr. Baxter hastened to add.

"Well, now we've got it, how are we going to get it home?" asked Fred, when they had stood about a while, contemplating the wealth.

"That's so," agreed Jerry. "Three hundred pounds of gold is no light weight to transport over three hundred miles on dog sleds."

"I think we will distribute it on the four sleds," said Mr. Baxter. "It will be safer that way, and not such a load for the dogs. We have used up considerable of our supplies, and we have that much less in weight. But the gold will more than make up for it."

They were so excited over their good fortune that they scarcely thought of eating, and they were startled when Johnson put his head in the opening of the cave, and announced that dinner was ready.

"All right," answered Mr. Baxter. "We've found the gold, George."

"Has yo' really, Massa Baxter? Am it a million dollars?"

"Far from it, George."

The colored man seemed disappointed. Mr. Baxter did not think it wise to tell him just how much it was, nor did he want him or the Indian to catch sight of the yellow nuggets. They might not be able to stand the sight of so much wealth. So the sacks were covered with some fur robes, and, while Mr. Baxter remained on guard, Fred and Jerry went to eat. Then they relieved Mr. Baxter, and, with ready rifles, waited until he had finished his meal.

The short day was soon at an end, and Mr. Baxter, having sent the Indian away from camp, to bring in a supply of firewood, began, with the aid of the boys and Johnson, to pile the gold securely on the sleds.

"We'll start for the south in the morning," announced Mr. Baxter, "and glad I am to be able to do it, too. This cold seems to get through to my very bones."

As the last of the gold was being put on the sleds, Fred saw, peering over the edge of an ice-covered rock, the face of an Alaskan Indian.

"Hello, Holfax!" he cried. "What are you coming that way for?"

But, to his surprise, the figure vanished, and, a moment later, Holfax appeared, coming from a different direction.

"Why—why—that's funny," remarked Fred.

"What is?" asked Mr. Baxter.

"I thought I saw Holfax looking at me from up there, and here he comes down there."

No sooner had he spoken than there was a cry from the guide. The eyes of the four adventurers were drawn toward him, and, as they watched, they saw another Indian rush at Holfax, take quick aim with a rifle, and fire.

Holfax dropped the bundle of wood he was carrying, seized a long stick, and ran at the other. The latter turned and fled, easily distancing Holfax, who had no snowshoes, while his assailant had on a pair.

"Are you hurt?" asked Mr. Baxter anxiously, hurrying toward the guide, who turned back as the other passed out of sight in a hollow.

"No hurt. Him bad shot. Him miss."

"Who was it? Why did he fire at you? What did he want?"

"Him bad Indian. Him come spy on camp. Him Toldez, friend of Zank—no good. Me catch," and Holfax, who had donned his snowshoes, prepared to race after his assailant.

"No!" exclaimed Mr. Baxter quickly. "Don't go, Holfax. There is something queer about this," he added. "That Indian tried to kill you, Holfax. Why did he do it?"

"Me no know. Him bad, guess. Maybe want gold."

"That's it!" cried Mr. Baxter. "He's a spy, sent on by some others. You say he is a friend of Zank? Zank knows that one-eyed man. Do you suppose there are more Indians around here, Holfax?"

"Mebby so. Plenty Indians live over there," and the guide pointed to the west. "Toldez live there. Him come spy on camp. Me like shoot Toldez, but him no shoot me. Too much bad aim," and he chuckled over his narrow escape, as though it was a thing of no consequence.

"Boys," said Mr. Baxter solemnly, "I'm afraid we're in for trouble. The thieving Alaskans know about our finding the gold. That one may have been hiding around here for some time, and probably watched us put the sacks on the sleds."

"What can we do?" asked Fred.

"We must be on our guard. Get your rifles, and keep them loaded. We must hasten to some settlement. Here we are at the mercy of these savage and thieving Indians. Our gold is not safe yet, even though we have found it."



CHAPTER XVIII

FOLLOWED BY THE ENEMY

An uneasy feeling filled the hearts of the treasure finders. If what Mr. Baxter surmised proved true, they might have to face more perils than any they had yet encountered.

"Do you think that man with the glass eye—Callack his name is—will try to get the gold?" asked Fred.

"It looks as if he had arranged some plot," replied Mr. Baxter. "You recall how he whispered something to Zank as we started off on this expedition. I did not like that at the time, for I feared he was up to some trick. Now, it appears, this other Indian, who is acquainted with Zank, has been spying on us. Probably Zank, and the other three Indians who we dismissed, made their way to where their tribe was encamped, and Callack was there. He may have paid Zank to give information about us."

"But how did he know where we were going?"

"He may have gotten it out of Holfax in some way," said Jerry's father in a low voice. "I don't believe Holfax would betray us knowingly, but he is simple-minded, and a scoundrel like Zank may have wormed it out of him."

"Then what shall we do?"

"We can only be on the lookout. We must stand guard to-night, and to-morrow we will proceed as fast as we can to the south. Come, we will eat now. Holfax has the fire ready."

The Indian had built a roaring blaze, and was preparing a meal, while the hungry dogs, smelling it, tried in vain to break loose and reach the food.

The travelers passed an uneasy night. They took turns standing guard, at the mouth of the cave, and, though they saw no signs of any hostile Indians, there was a nervous fear in every heart. Soon after breakfast the next morning, having seen that the sleds were well loaded, with the gold and the remainder of their supplies, they started for the south.

All that day they traveled, making fairly good time, as the slopes of the hills were downward. The terrible cold did not let up, however, and Johnson's hands were slightly frost-bitten when they camped that night.

Once more they stood guard, but this time it was under trying circumstances. For they were now in the open, protected only by the tent, and the time they had spent in the cave, where it was comparatively warm, made them wish again for its shelter.

Shortly after midnight, when Fred, in accordance with the arrangements, roused Mr. Baxter to take his turn at guard duty, there sounded, off to the rear, long-drawn-out howls. At the sound the sled-dogs raised their muzzles in the air, until they were pointing at the flickering and shifting Northern Lights, and sent back an answer.

"Wolves!" exclaimed Mr. Baxter. "I hope we're not going to be surrounded by a hungry pack of the brutes. We may need all our ammunition to fight off human enemies."

"Do you think the Indians will attack us?"

"I hope not, but it is hard to say what the rascals will do, especially if they have an unscrupulous white man to urge them on."

"That sounds as if there were a large number of wolves on our trail."

"It certainly does, Fred. I think I'll rouse Johnson and Holfax."

But there was no need to awaken the Indian. The disturbance among the dogs, of which he had charge, had roused him from his slumber on the snow under a pile of fur blankets. He called some commands to the animals, and they slunk down.

"Wolves coming, Holfax?" asked Mr. Baxter. "Shall we get our guns ready?"

"No wolves," replied the Indian.

"No wolves? Why I can hear them howl."

"No wolves," repeated the Indian. "Them dogs what howl. Listen. Can tell different noise. Wolf howl long—shrill—dog he howl short an' quick."

Mr. Baxter and Fred listened intently. Now that their guide had called their attention to it, they could distinguish a difference in the howls, which did not sound at all like those of the brutes that had once attacked them.

"Then if those are dogs, there must be Indians close to us," went on Mr. Baxter.

Holfax nodded.

"What are they doing near here? Is that the camp where Zank and the others went?"

"No," replied Holfax. "Them Indians follow us."

"They are following us?"

"'Bout three miles back," added Holfax. "Can hear plain on cold night."

"Do you mean they are coming after us to get the gold?" inquired Mr. Baxter.

Once more Holfax nodded.

"Them camp now," he said. "Follow us in mornin'."

Mr. Baxter, as Fred could see in the glare of the Aurora Borealis, looked grave. Their worst fears were realized. It would have been better to have a pack of wolves after them, than to have this band of savage Alaskan Indians, led on probably by a daring and unscrupulous white man.

"Shall I stay up and keep watch with you?" asked Fred.

"No. I think, as Holfax says, that they will not attempt to creep up on us during the night. They will do nothing until morning. Then we must be on the lookout."

Holfax proved that he had guessed correctly. There was no disturbance that night, but, in the morning, after they had started, the Indian mounted a hill, near which they had encamped.

"There Zank and his men," he announced, pointing to the rear. "Can see smoke of fire."

Mr. Baxter looked. A thin thread of smoke could be observed ascending in the frigid morning air, but no camp was in sight.

They started off soon after they had made a hasty breakfast. It seemed colder than at any time yet, but a glance at the thermometer showed that it was only thirty degrees below zero. Still that was cold enough, though what made it seem more piercing was a stiff wind that sprang up.

"Hark!" exclaimed Holfax, when they had gone several miles.

He halted the dogs and listened. The others could hear nothing.

"What is it, Holfax?" asked Mr. Baxter.

"Them come," replied the Indian. "Can hear dogs howl, an' sound of sleds on ice."

This may have been so, but the hearing of the Indian was more acute than that of the travelers.

"So the enemy is after our gold?" remarked Mr. Baxter. "Well, they'll have to fight to get it."

"Suppose they outnumber us?" asked Fred.

"They probably do. Otherwise I do not believe they would dare think of attacking us. There is probably a large band of them."

"Then we can not fight them alone."

"I suppose not," admitted Mr. Baxter. "But I have a plan that may help us. Holfax, come here, I want to talk to you."



CHAPTER XIX

THE ATTACK

The Indian obeyed, having first fastened his leading team of dogs to a large ice boulder by means of a long thong, so they would not run off. As the other animals were attached to the team Holfax drove, they too, halted.

"Goin' make fight?" asked the Indian.

"That is what I want to talk to you about. Do you think we can fight them?" and he motioned back toward their pursuers.

"They plenty many," replied the Indian.

"I suppose so. What sort of weapons have they?"

"They got guns."

"What! Indians in this wild country having guns? Where did they get them?"

"White mans give, for to be showed gold," replied Holfax, "Indian not care much for gold—only for guns an' t'ings. If can find gold tell white mans an' git guns. Guns better than gold—guns shoot wolves, musk-ox, moose."

"That's so. Guns are worth more to the Indians than gold."

"Shoot mans too," added the Indian. "Zank an' his men got plenty much guns—also plenty much men. Make big fight."

"That is what I supposed," said Mr. Baxter. "Our only hope is to run away from them, and get help. We'll put the first into operation at once. Do you think our dogs are faster than theirs are, Holfax?"

"Our dogs much fastest. I pick out good dogs. No dogs so fast like dogs Holfax pick out."

"I believe you. These dogs are certainly excellent animals, and they are as strong and healthy as the day we started."

"Other dogs—no much good," went on Holfax, speaking slowly to make his imperfect English understood.

"Then we have a chance to escape them. But I am also going to try to get help. Holfax, do you think you could get some friendly natives to aid us? Can't you call on some friends of yours who will come and help us fight these scoundrels, who want to steal the gold?"

"Holfax's friends much ways off."

"I suppose so, but you can travel fast on snowshoes, and tell them to come back with you. We will pay them well."

"Pay gold?" asked the Indian.

"Some gold, yes. I'll give you and your friends a thousand dollars in gold if they succeed in protecting us."

"Gold buy plenty guns," observed the Alaskan, seeming to consider the matter.

"Will you go?"

"Me go," said the guide quickly. "Good far ways, but Holfax go quick. Tell friends come help white man, two boy-white mans an' black man like smoke," the last description referring to Johnson, whose ebony skin was a source of considerable wonder to the Indian.

"That's right," said Mr. Baxter. "Now you had better hurry, Holfax. There's no telling when those thieving Alaskans will be close after us."

"But what are we going to do?" asked Fred. "Will we stay here and defend ourselves?"

"No, my plan is to push on south as fast as possible. Every mile we get nearer our destination the better off we are, for the miners will rally to our aid when they see our plight."

"But how can we go on without Holfax to guide the dogs?"

"I have thought of that. I know something of dog teams, though I am not an expert driver. I have often handled the animals, and I think, with the aid of you boys and Johnson, and if I leave the four teams hitched together, I can get along all right. Holfax and his friends can take a short cut and catch up with us perhaps. How long before you can get help, Holfax?"

"Two sleeps," replied the Indian, meaning two nights.

"Well, we'll try to stand the enemy off until then. Now hurry, and don't waste any time."

Holfax was an experienced traveler. He fastened on his snowshoes, made himself up a package of food, tea and a pot, put some matches in a safe place, and was ready to start on his long trip to find his friends.

"Keep watch," was his parting injunction to the four treasure finders. "No let Indians come too close. Me come back soon as can."

With that he was off, setting himself a rapid pace, half walk, half trot, that enabled him to cover considerable ground in a day.

"Now to see what sort of progress we can make," remarked Mr. Baxter when Holfax was out of sight down a hollow between two ice hummocks. "Boys, help me with the dogs. Johnson, you sort of keep your eyes on the sleds so that none of them upset. We'll see if we can outdistance our pursuers."

The dogs made much trouble, leaping about here and there, and almost refusing to get properly in line with the traces so they could pull. Probably they knew that Holfax was not there to punish them. But by dint of hard work Mr. Baxter succeeded in getting them started.

He rode in the foremost sled, with Fred next, then came Jerry, while Johnson brought up the rear. The colored man had strict instructions to give the alarm the instant he saw the enemy in pursuit.

Once the dogs found out they had to do their usual work, they seemed to give up their playful spirit, and settled into the collars for a long, steady pull. They were traversing the same track they had used in going to the cave, but of course all traces of it had been blotted out by storms. Still the dogs seemed able to find their way with very little guidance.

Though anxious watch was kept, there was no sign of the enemy seen that day, and night settled down, finding the travelers in a more hopeful mood.

"Perhaps they have given up," suggested Fred.

"I'm afraid not," returned Mr. Baxter. "More likely they are up to some trick. We must be careful about standing guard to-night. Fire at the least suspicious sight or sound, boys. I'm afraid it's going to be more trouble to keep this gold than it was to find it."

They were traveling over the plain now, having emerged from the forest some time previously, and, when Mr. Baxter gave the word to halt for the night, the boys looked about for a good place to pitch the tent.

"That looks like a sheltered place over there," remarked Fred, pointing to where a big hummock of ice offered some protection from the north wind that was now sweeping over the plain with great force.

"We'll try it there," decided Mr. Baxter. "Fasten the dogs well, and give them plenty of fish. We must keep up their strength, and see that they are in good health, or we will fail, after all."

The animals were tethered, the tent put up, and supper was gotten ready. Then a big fire was built, as some protection against the bitter cold. In spite of the fact that they were getting closer to the Yukon River, where it is always warmer than inland, they felt the frost cruelly.

Jerry had the last watch that night, his hour extending to nearly sunrise, which, as winter was more and more advancing, was not of much account in the arctic regions. As the boy noted with satisfaction a reddening in the east, indicating that it would soon be time for breakfast, when he would not be so cold, he heard a noise off to his left. It was different from the crackle of the ice, and the dull boom that told of falling masses of frozen crystal, and Jerry turned quickly around.

As he did so he saw a sight that startled him. From behind great masses of ice there suddenly sprang into view the ugly faces of a score or more of Alaskans. They peered at the little camp of adventurers, and some of them uttered a cry of satisfaction.

"The Indians! The Indians! They're all around us!" cried Jerry.

Mr. Baxter, Johnson and Fred hurriedly awoke, and it was instinct with them to grab the guns lying at their sides.

"What's the matter?" cried Jerry's father, running to the flap of the tent, near which his son stood.

"The Indians! They're here!"

There was no doubt of it. Seeing that there was no need of concealment, the Alaskans boldly advanced. It was seen that nearly every one had a gun.

But stranger than all was the figure that walked at the head of the hostile Indian procession. It was the figure of a white man. A man with a glass eye—the same man who had accosted Fred on the ship.

"Well, what do you want?" asked Mr. Baxter as he saw Callack advancing. "What right have you to follow us?"

"There's no 'right' up in this land," was the sneering answer. "There's no law, neither. We do as we please here."

"What are you going to do now?"

"We're going to take that gold you unlawfully removed from the cave. Ah, you needn't deny you have it. I have proof of it. One of my men saw it."

"I suppose you mean that spy," replied Mr. Baxter. "We are not going to deny it. But let me tell you we'll never give up anything we have without a fight."

"A fight? Why, we outnumber you five to one!"

"I'm not afraid of that. We shall defend our property to the last."

"Bold words!" spoke Callack with a sneer, "but I'm going to have that gold," and he advanced toward Mr. Baxter.

The Indians, watching their white leader, began to close in on the treasure finders.

"Fred!" cried Mr. Baxter, "you look after the left side, Jerry, you the right, and I'll take the center. Stand with your backs to the tent. Johnson, get up on the ice hummock and fire at the first man who comes within a hundred feet, be he a white or an Indian."

In less time than it takes to tell it the little force had assumed a position of defense. From his elevated place the negro could command a wide range.

"Are you going to fight us?" demanded Callack.

"Certainly," replied Mr. Baxter.

"It will be useless. I have traveled too far after that gold to give it up now. You had better surrender. I'll guarantee to get you safe to the river."

"Never! We are going to keep the gold."

At that moment, whether by accident or design, one of the Indians discharged his gun at Johnson, who had not done as Mr. Baxter had thought he would, and concealed himself behind some blocks of ice. Instead he stood bolt upright.

There was a cry of pain from the colored man. An instant later he raised his rifle quickly and fired into the midst of the advancing Alaskans. One Indian fell.



CHAPTER XX

BURYING THE TREASURE

"Are you hurt?" cried Mr. Baxter anxiously.

"Jest a scratch on mah cheek," replied Johnson. "But it was so close, sah, dat it done made me mad. I hit one o' dem rascals."

"That's what you did. I hope you didn't kill him, for I don't want any bloodshed if we can avoid it. Still, they fired first."

The moment the Indian fell his companions were thrown into confusion. They had not expected such vigorous resistance. Several of them threw down their guns and rushed to their fallen comrade. A well-directed fire at that moment would probably have scattered the enemy, but Mr. Baxter did not want to shoot into the midst of the Indians, unarmed as most of them now were.

Callack was in a rage. He stormed at his allies, and made them take up their guns again. The Indian Johnson had hit was only wounded, and he was carried to the rear. But the quick response of the colored man to the attack of the Indians had a good effect. It frightened the Alaskans, and, notwithstanding the demands of the rascally white man, they would not again advance. They wanted to consider matters first, and Callack was too big a coward to proceed alone.

Sullenly he retreated with his band of Indians to a small hollow about half a mile from the Baxter camp.

"Don't think we're going to let you go," he called out angrily as he went away. "We're going to have that gold."

Mr. Baxter did not reply. He watched the withdrawal of the Indians.

"Keep a close watch," he cautioned Johnson. "Tell us as soon as you see any suspicious movement."

"Dat's what I will, an' I'll shoot, too."

"No, don't do that unless they attack us again. They may leave us alone after this."

The position of the treasure finders was perilous enough. They were in a desolate country, and, though they had plenty of provisions for the time they had calculated on, they would not have enough if they were detained by the enemy. Their only hope was that Callack's men would retreat.

"Well, they've given us a chance to get breakfast, at any rate," remarked Mr. Baxter. "Now you boys hustle around, make some tea, cook some meat, and get things ready, while I bring the dogs closer in and feed them. Then I'll lay out some more ammunition. If it comes to a fight we'll have our hands full."

"Do you think they'll go away?" asked Fred.

"No; to be frank, I don't think they will. Callack is too greedy after the gold. He knows we have it."

"Then what are we going to do? We can't fight such a big crowd."

"I don't know. Perhaps I can think up some plan. But now get busy with the breakfast."

The meal was soon ready and eaten, Fred taking the place of the colored man on the ice hill while Johnson ate. Mr. Baxter had brought the sleds closer to the big hummock, had fastened the dogs more securely, and had opened several packages of cartridges.

"Why can't we build some sort of a fort?" suggested Fred.

"A fort?" inquired Mr. Baxter.

"Yes; to protect ourselves."

"What could we make it of?"

"Blocks of ice."

"So we could. I wonder I didn't think of that. It's a good idea, Fred. We'll do it. Get the picks and shovels. We can soon throw up a breastwork that will be proof against their bullets, and, as we occupy the highest ground, they can't fire down on us."

There was plenty of material for the fort, and before night there was a good rampart of ice, built in a semicircle out from the big rock, and taking in the tent and sleds, to which the dogs were kept fastened. They were quiet now, Mr. Baxter having given them a good feeding of seal blubber.

"What are your plans?" asked Fred after an early supper. "Do you think they will attack us to-night?"

"I hope not, for I want to put into execution a scheme I have thought of."

"What is it, dad?" asked Jerry.

"I think we will bury the treasure and make a dash to escape."

"Bury the treasure? Where?"

"Right here. We can cut a deep hole down under the ice and snow, put the bags of gold in, cover them up, and then be in readiness to make a dash through their lines."

"Suppose they pursue us?"

"That is probably what they will do. But I think we can escape, as our dogs are much swifter than are theirs. Then we will proceed toward the river, get help, and return for the gold. Or, better than that, Holfax and his friends may come to our relief. They ought to be here soon."

"If he doesn't fail us," suggested Fred.

"I do not believe he will. Holfax is faithful."

Mr. Baxter's plan was soon put into operation. A great hole was dug in the ice, the enemy being unable to observe the operation because of the rampart. Then the gold, in bags, was put in, and the blocks of frozen crystal placed back again. To better cover up the place, Mr. Baxter melted some snow into water in a kettle over a fire and poured the water over the filled-up hole. It froze almost instantly, and no one would ever have suspected that beneath that ice there was a fortune in gold.

"When are you going to try to escape?" asked Fred.

"To-night, about midnight. I think they will be sleeping soundly then, and if the dogs keep quiet we can slip through their lines."

"Can't we muzzle the dogs?"

"I'm afraid not. They would probably be so frightened that they would make more fuss than ever. We can only trust to luck."

Meanwhile Johnson or one of the adventurers kept a close watch from the hummock. Though only occasional glimpses of the Indians could be seen, the number of fires that were built showed that the enemy was in a circle about the place.

"They have us fairly hemmed in," said Fred. "They evidently mean to get that gold."

"I should think you'd be afraid to leave it buried here, dad, and go off," said Jerry. "Won't they dig and find it?"

"I depend on our chance of fooling them," replied his father. "I don't believe they will suspect we would go off and leave the treasure. They will think we have it with us and will give chase."

"Then our only chance depends on keeping out of their clutches?"

"That's it."

Preparations for the escape were quietly made, so that if by chance any spying Indian looked into the little camp he would not understand what was going on. The sleds were securely loaded, rifles and ammunition placed where they could be quickly reached, and the tent struck shortly before midnight. The Northern Lights were not as brilliant as usual, for which they were thankful, as it favored their chances of not being discovered.

At last all was in readiness. For a wonder the dogs were quiet, and allowed themselves to be harnessed with little or no fuss. With a final look around the fort, which held the treasure they had braved so much for, the small party set out, each one taking his place on a sled.

Mr. Baxter called softly to the leading dogs, and swung the long whip over their furry backs. The animals straightened out, and set off at a rapid run. Mr. Baxter guided them toward the left, which seemed the more open place in the circle the enemy had drawn around the camp.

They had made a good start, but could they get far enough through the line of the Indians to make good their escape? That was the question in the hearts of the four.



CHAPTER XXI

CAPTURED

As the dogs drew the sleds down the little elevation on which the gold was buried, and where the fort was built, the treasure finders caught a glimpse of their enemies.

The Indians had established four camps, about equal distances apart, depending on members from each one to guard the spaces between. Four fires glowed on the snow, and little dark heaps here and there showed where either dogs or the Indians were huddled up in slumber.

Mr. Baxter directed the leading dog team as nearly as possible between two fires. He hoped none of the natives would awake, and certainly there seemed to be no danger of disturbing any guards, for there were none to be seen, at least none patroling the open spaces.

But his hopes were doomed to disappointment. One of the Indian dogs set up a sudden howl. Perhaps it was a challenge in the Alaskan dog language. At any rate, it was answered from several throats of the beasts pulling the sleds of our friends.

"That will bring them out!" exclaimed Mr. Baxter in dismay. "No need for silence now!"

He shouted to the dogs, calling loudly, and cracked the long whip. Barking and snarling, bidding defiance to their fellows in the camp of the enemy, the animals rushed on.

But the barking had roused the Indians and likewise their white leader. Callack's voice could be heard urging on his men. One or two rifles were fired, probably at random.

"Whip your dogs, boys," called Mr. Baxter, and Fred and Jerry let the long lashes fly.

The Indians were leaping to their feet and shouting. Several hurried to their sleds and began harnessing the animals.

Even then the fugitives might have escaped had it not been for their own dogs. A series of loud howls came from the beasts of the Indians. This was too much for the others. With wild yelps, utterly disregarding the voices and whips of Mr. Baxter, the boys and Johnson, who tried to urge them on, the brutes turned and made straight back for the camp of the Alaskans, probably intent on fighting with those who had challenged them.

"They're taking us right into the midst of the enemy!" cried Fred. "Let's jump off and run!"

He tried to do so, but he was so encumbered with robes and fur coats that he could not.

Mr. Baxter was trying his best to guide the leading team to one side, but it was useless. Lash them as he did the dogs kept on, straight for the Indian camp, beyond which they had almost passed.

"We've got 'em!" yelled Callack. Then he cried some commands in the Alaskan tongue.

"Shall we fire?" cried Fred.

"No, don't!" replied Mr. Baxter. "You can't tell where you are aiming. You might kill one of us. I guess it's all up. But I'm glad I buried the gold," he added to himself.

A moment later the adventurers were fairly in the hostile camp, and Jacob Callack and his men had surrounded them.

"Surrender! We've got you!" yelled the rascally white man.

"Yes, you've got us," admitted Mr. Baxter coolly, "but you wouldn't have if our dogs hadn't turned back."

"They're fine dogs," answered Callack with a sneer. "I think I'll take 'em for myself. Now then, get off your sleds and we'll talk business. After I have the gold I may consent to let you have your dogs back, though you don't deserve it, for you've made me a lot of trouble."

He spoke as though he had a right to steal the treasure from those who had found it, and as if they had no right to resist. Callack called something to his men, and a moment later they were pulling the treasure finders from the sleds and binding them with thongs of deer skin, having first taken their guns away.

Mr. Baxter and the two boys submitted with what grace they could to these indignities. But Johnson, the big colored man, fought with all his strength against the Indians. And, as he was very strong, and they were not very muscular, he tumbled several of them in a heap.

"There ain't no ugly ole Indian gwine t' tie up George Johnson without a fight, that's what they ain't!" he exclaimed.

"Rush at him all together!" called Callack to his men in the Alaskan tongue. Four or five of them did rush, but even they were no match for Johnson, who caught them in his long, powerful arms and tossed them over his shoulder, one by one, into a deep snow bank.

"I'll fix you!" yelled Callack, springing toward the fighting colored man, whose gun had been taken away.

The leader of the ugly Indians raised his rifle by the barrel and brought the stock down with terrific force on the head of Johnson.

Even protected as his skull was by a thick fur cap, the blow felled the negro like an ox. With a groan he sank down on the snow.

"There," said Callack, addressing Mr. Baxter. "That's the way I serve them as don't do what I say."

"You're a coward, to strike a defenseless man," said Mr. Baxter contemptuously.

"What's that! You dare call me a coward!" and the infuriated man strode over to Jerry's father with upraised rifle. But Mr. Baxter did not flinch. Looking Callack straight in the face, he never moved away from under the poised weapon. The man's bravery was too much for the coward. Muttering something below his breath Callack moved away, calling to the Indians to bring along the captives and the sleds.

"Are you going to let Johnson lie there and freeze to death?" asked Mr. Baxter.

"Let him freeze! What do I care?" was the cruel answer.

"If you do I shall charge you with deliberate murder when I reach a settlement," threatened Mr. Baxter.

"Maybe you'll never reach one."

But the threat evidently had some effect, for, at a muttered word from Callack, some of the Indians carried the unconscious colored man to one of the tents of the enemy's camp.

It was quite light, for the Aurora Borealis was streaming across the sky, giving a radiance like that of a full moon, only more beautiful. The captives could see that they were in the hands of quite a large band of Indians. More of the Alaskans had evidently arrived since the first skirmish. Among them was Zank, on whose evil face was an ugly grin at his success in betraying those who had trusted him.

"It would have been better if you'd given up the gold at first," said Callack with a sneer. "Then I'd have let you go down to the river with your sleds and dogs. Now I don't know what I'll do with you. But first I'll get the gold."

"Will you?" thought Fred, as he recalled the cunning way in which they had buried it.

Callack gave some more orders, and the Indians began taking the things off the sleds of the captives. The dogs were removed and tied at a distance from the other animals, so the different teams would not fight.

So eager was the rascally white man to get possession of the treasure that he began to aid his allies in searching for the precious metal. The robes, tools, provisions and supplies of Mr. Baxter and the boys were rudely cast to one side in the hunt for the bags of yellow nuggets.

But the search was without avail. When at last the sleds had been stripped bare and no gold was found, Callack started up in a rage.

"Where's that gold?" he cried. "You had it, I know you did!"

"Yes, we had it," admitted Mr. Baxter calmly. "One of your spies saw it."

"Then where is it now? You've got to give it up! I see! You have it concealed about you."

He strode over to Mr. Baxter and began to feel about his clothing. The impossibility of any one hiding a lot of bulky sacks about him without having them show did not occur to Callack until he had convinced himself that Mr. Baxter had no gold under his fur suit. Neither had the boys nor Johnson.

Callack was plainly puzzled. He had confidently expected to get the gold when he captured the fugitives. Now that it was neither among their baggage nor on their persons, he did not know what to do. But he was determined to have the bags of nuggets.

Approaching close to Mr. Baxter, and shaking his fist in the face of the bound man, he asked:

"Are you going to tell me where that treasure is?"

"No, I am not," was the bold reply.

"Then you'll suffer for it!"

He turned aside, called to some of the Indians, and the three captives were led into one of the tents, while a guard of several of the Alaskans was stationed outside.

"Well, they've got us," said Fred softly when they were left alone.

"Yes," admitted Mr. Baxter, "but they haven't got the gold."



CHAPTER XXII

ANXIOUS HOURS

The situation of the captives was desperate. They were in the power of a white man as savage, or more so, as any of the Indians. To add to this, he was enraged at his failure to discover the gold, to obtain which he had risked so much. What he might do to compel them to reveal the hiding place they could only guess.

For a while after being thrust into the tent there was silence among the three. They had been roughly handled, the exertion to escape had been hard, and they were utterly discouraged. It looked as though they had failed almost in the moment of success.

"Do you think Holfax will bring any aid?" asked Fred after a long pause.

"I think he will try," replied Mr. Baxter. "Whether he can bring enough of his friends to drive away this band of rascals is another matter. He ought to come along pretty soon, if he had good luck in reaching a camp and can persuade enough to come back with him."

"I wish I could loosen some of these knots," remarked Jerry. "I'm tied so tightly that I can't move, and I'm getting cold."

It was very cold, even in the shelter of the tent, and wrapped as they were in thick fur garments, for they were tied so tightly that their blood could not circulate freely.

"Let's see if we can't loosen some of our bonds," suggested Fred. "The exertion will make us warmer even if we can't. And if we get loose we may be able to escape."

"No, don't try that part of it," advised Mr. Baxter.

"Why not?"

"Because, angry as he now is over not finding the gold, Callack would probably order us shot at once. If we wish to save our lives we will have to go slow. Try to loosen the thongs, by all means. That, as Fred says, will warm us up. But even if we get loose it will be advisable to stay in the tent. For, if we should manage to get out, we could not go far without dogs and sleds, and it would be impossible to harness the animals unobserved. No, boys, we'll have to stay here awhile and take our chances."

The Indians had been in such a hurry to tie their captives so that a search might be made for the gold that the knots were not very secure. It did not take a great deal of exertion to undo them, and the three were able to stand up and stamp about, thereby warming themselves.

"I feel better," announced Fred. "Now if they'd bring us in something to eat we wouldn't be so badly off."

"I wonder how it goes with poor Johnson," said Mr. Baxter. "That was a cruel blow he received. Callack shall pay for that some day."

"He's a brute!" exclaimed Fred. "I wish I was big enough to fight him."

"I fancy if Johnson ever got at him in a fair fight Callack would wish he had never tried any of his tricks," observed Jerry.

Anxious hours passed. The captives, looking from the tent, saw Callack and several Indians grouped about the supplies they had taken from the sleds of the prisoners. They were appropriating to their own use such of the articles as they fancied, while Callack, unwilling to believe the gold was not there, was minutely examining every robe and garment, hoping to find part of the treasure concealed in the folds, or sewed up in them.

It was getting lighter with the approach of morning, though the days were successively getting shorter and shorter as the winter season advanced.

At last Callack became convinced that there was no trace of the gold to be found in the baggage of his prisoners. He gave up the search, and, calling to some of the Indians, ordered them to replenish the campfires, which had died down in the excitement over the attempted escape.

"I hope he thinks to send us some breakfast," remarked Fred, as from the tent the captives saw the Indians preparing a repast.

"He's not very likely to, unless he thinks that by getting us in good humor we will tell him where the gold is," said Mr. Baxter.

"Will you tell him?"

"Never! And I hope you boys will remain firm, no matter what he does."

"I'll not," declared Fred. The search for the gold had been too hard, and the possession of it meant too much to him to make him willing, even under stress of dire threats, to tell where it was hidden.

"He'll have to threaten me good and hard before I'll tell him where it is," said Jerry.

"Perhaps he may find it himself," suggested Fred.

"I don't think so," observed Mr. Baxter. "We hid it very carefully, and it will take some digging, even if he thinks to try that method, before he'll come upon it. By that time Holfax and his men may arrive."

That it was not Callack's plan to starve his captives was shown a little later, when a couple of Indians came in with some hot tea and some meat. There was also some cold tallow, an article of diet much esteemed by the Alaskans in the winter, and the treasure finders had learned to eat it. For fats are very heating, and some such food as that is much needed in the Arctic region.

"He's up to some move," said Fred, as, looking from the tent-flap, he saw a lot of the Indians beginning to break camp.

"Maybe they're going to leave us here and go back to the cave where we found the gold, thinking that we left it hidden there," suggested Jerry.

"No, they know we brought the gold away," said his father. "Their spy was there for that purpose."

"They certainly are moving the camp," went on Fred.

Moving it they were, but for no great distance. The tents and supplies, including those of the prisoners, their sleds and dogs, were taken toward the place where the ice fort had been built around the base of the great hummock.

"He's going back to our old camp!" exclaimed Fred.

"I thought he would," added Mr. Baxter. "He's going to have a try for the gold there. Well, I hope he doesn't find it."

A little later Callack approached the tent where the three captives were.

"We're going to shift a bit," he said gruffly. "Going to where you had your camp. I'll dig up the gold there, and then I'll see what I'll do with you."

If he hoped to provoke a response by this he was disappointed, for neither Mr. Baxter nor the boys answered. Callack did not appear surprised to see that his prisoners were no longer bound. Perhaps he thought the Indians who had brought them the breakfast had loosed the thongs.

Closely guarded on all sides by the dusky Alaskans, Mr. Baxter and the two boys were made to march back to where the ice fort was. The tent was struck, and the old camp abandoned. Johnson, who had somewhat recovered from the cruel blow, staggered along, with an Indian on either side of him.

Callack lost no time in seeking the gold once he had reached the place where the first skirmish had taken place. He ordered his men to erect the tents, and then, taking several of the Indians, including Zank, with him, each one with a pick and shovel, he began to dig around the big hummock of ice.

"He'll hunt a good while before he finds anything there," remarked Fred.

As soon as the tents were up more Indians were set at digging. They demolished the fort, but this hindered rather than helped them, for the floor inside beneath which the treasure was buried was covered deeper than ever with a layer of ice. Callack excavated a little there, but the place seemed frozen so solidly because of the water Mr. Baxter had poured over it that it did not look as if it had been disturbed in a hundred years. So he did not go deep enough.

All day long the Indians, urged on by the white man, dug and searched for the treasure, but without success. As night came on Callack seemed to give it up.

Throwing down his pick, he walked over to where Mr. Baxter and the boys were kept under guard in a tent.

"Come on out here!" he called to them. "I've got something to say to you."

He gave an order to the guards, and they stood aside. Wondering what the new move of the scoundrel might be, Mr. Baxter, followed by his son and Fred, went out. A bitter cold wind was blowing, and it looked as if there was going to be a big snowstorm.



CHAPTER XXIII

CALLACK'S CRUEL THREAT

"Well," remarked Callack as he eyed his captives, "you hid the gold pretty far down, I guess. I haven't been able to find it."

He waited, seemingly for an answer, but Mr. Baxter did not reply, nor did the boys say anything.

"Now," went on the rascally white man, "I'm going to make you tell me where you've buried it, for I know you did bury it."

"Then why don't you find it?" asked Mr. Baxter.

"You were too sharp for me. I don't mind admitting that. You are ahead of me—so far—but I've got several tricks to play yet. But first I want to give you a fair chance."

"Then if you want to do that the best thing you can do is to give us back our sleds, dogs and other possessions and let us go on our way."

"Hu! I'd be very foolish to do that, wouldn't I? As soon as you got there you'd have mounted police after me, or you'd organize a vigilance committee."

"That's what we would," admitted Mr. Baxter. "I'll pay you back for what you have done, if it takes the last dollar I have in the world."

"Well, you'll not use any of the gold," replied Callack with a sneer, "for I'm going to have that myself."

"You'll have to get it first."

"I intend to. That's why I called you out here. I have a proposition to make to you."

"You can save your breath," said Mr. Baxter quickly. "I'll never consent to compromise with you and give you part of the gold."

"And I'm not asking for a compromise. I want it all," cried Callack quickly. "What I mean is this: You can tell me where the gold is buried and help me find it, in which case I'll provide you with safe transportation to the river."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you will be starved to death!"

At this cruel threat even Mr. Baxter, hardened as he was by privation in his early mining days, could not repress a start. For of all the deaths that could be devised, that of starving in the Arctic region is probably the worst. In that terribly cold climate much food is necessary to keep up bodily warmth, and once the temperature of the blood gets too low, the end comes by freezing. So, in reality, Callack was threatening to freeze and starve his captives to death unless they revealed the hiding place of the gold.