The Island of Yellow Sands: An Adventure and Mystery Story for Boys

by Ethel C. Brill

  X

  THE ISLAND TO THE SOUTHWEST

  The breeze still blew from the north the next morning, but the waveswere not high enough to forbid crossing the three or four miles of openwater that separated the adventurers from the land to the southwest.Before starting out, Nangotook, to gain the good favor of the manito,threw into the lake another offering of tobacco, though he had littleleft. The two paddles, that had remained in the canoe when it sank, hadevidently been washed out of the cove, so the trip had to be made withone blade, the Indian wielding it.

  The boys' minds were full of the land they were approaching, and theydiscussed its possibilities earnestly, but the Ojibwa was silent,apparently devoting his whole attention to his paddling. As they drewnear the unknown island, the lads searched it eagerly with their eyes,but they could discover no indication of a sand beach. A rocky point,spotted with the white bodies of the gulls resting upon it, ran out intothe water. Back from the point rose high ground covered with trees.

  Clouds had begun to fleck the blue sky, and the breeze had gained inforce. The rocks, exposed to the wind and dashed with spray, afforded nogood landing place. So the three went on between the point and the smallrock islands and reefs that lay out from it, the boys on the watch forthe gleam of golden sands. Nangotook, heedful of hidden points andreefs, kept his eyes on the water most of the time.

  No yellow sands came into view. There was one stretch of beach, but itshowed no gleam of gold. Apparently it was just ordinary sand, andNangotook did not think landing worth while, but paddled by. Beyondanother stretch of broken and tumbled rocks, a small opening, cuttinginto the island between high portals, came into view. The Indian'scuriosity must have been aroused, for he headed the canoe into thenarrow channel.

  Then an unexpected and beautiful sight met the eyes of the wanderers.They found themselves in a peaceful harbor, almost round, and woodedwith evergreens to the water line. Directly in front of them, as theyentered, the ground was low, but to right and left it rose high, sprucesand balsam firs standing in thick ranks to the summit. The gap throughwhich they had come was a mere cut in a tree-clothed ridge, whichstretched away on either side. Ronald confided to Jean that it looked asif some giant manito had taken a bite out of the ridge, but he wascareful not to let Nangotook overhear the remark. There was no sand ofany kind to be seen, but, in spite of their disappointment, the boysvoiced their admiration of this beautiful, landlocked harbor. TheOjibwa's usually impassive face wore a look in which relief seemedmingled with surprise, and he spoke a few words in his own language, andquickly cast a pinch of tobacco into the water. It was no wonder that hefelt such an attractive place must be the dwelling of some spirit.

  By that time the sky had become thickly overcast, and, as thegold-seekers circled the wooded shore, rain began to fall. They made alanding on the trunk of a cedar, that had tilted over until it layalmost flat on the water, and lifting out the canoe, hid it in the thickgrowth. In spite of the rain, the boys were eager to explore. They hadseen nothing very encouraging so far, but they were by no meansconvinced that this was not the mysterious island they sought. How couldthey be sure the golden sands did not lie just over there beyond theforest?

  Curiously enough it was the Indian who hung back and wanted to delayexploration until the weather cleared. He did not give any good reasonfor waiting, but his disinclination to begin the search was so plain,that the boys grew impatient and told him if he did not want to go hecould stay behind. They were going to see what was on the other side ofthe woods. When he found they were determined, he joined them, but,contrary to his usual custom, he did not lead the way. It was the Scotchboy who took the lead.

  Striking through the woods where they had landed, they went up theridge. As they climbed, the way became steep and rocky. The spruces andbalsams stood less thickly on the summit, and, if the weather had beenclear, the adventurers might have obtained a good view of theirsurroundings, but the rain was falling so thick and fine, more like adense mist than rain, that they could see only a few feet beyond wherethey stood. It was quite impossible to tell what sort of shore laybeyond and below the woods.

  "It is scarcely worth while to seek for golden sands or anything else inthis thick weather," Jean remarked. "We must wait until it passes."

  "Go back to bay, make camp, catch some fish," said Etienne, in hisbrief, abrupt way.

  Ronald was reluctant to give up, but there seemed nothing else to do,and the mention of fish reminded him he was very hungry, so he yielded,not very good-naturedly. It was the Ojibwa that led the way this time,and a steep, dripping, slippery way it was, down through the woods tothe bay.

  Probably that bay had never been fished by any creature but the gullsthat swooped down on the small fishes that swam too near the surface.The water abounded in little fish, but they were lake herring, which arereally not herring at all, and will not take a hook. The lads had nonet, and failing to catch anything in the bay, were obliged to go outthrough the channel. There, above a sunken reef, they secured three goodsized lake trout.

  In the meantime Etienne had found and made ready a camping place, andhad built a small bark lodge. The rain continued steadily, and the threespent the rest of the day under shelter.

  Rain was still coming down the next morning, and the weather had turnedso cold that the boys would not have been surprised if snow had fallen,though it was still early in September. By the time another supply offish had been caught and fire-wood cut, they were glad to seek thewigwam. There they remained most of the day, resting on couches ofbalsam and spruce, covered with blankets, and passing the time talking,mending their moccasins and dozing. In the center of the wigwam theykept a small fire going, the smoke finding its way out through a hole inthe roof. The lads tried to persuade Nangotook to tell of his adventuresand exploits, but he seemed disinclined to talk, and passed the day inmorose and sullen silence. Jean could not imagine what had come over theusually good-natured Ojibwa.

  Late in the afternoon the rain ceased, and Jean and Ronald climbed upover their trail of the day before. Nangotook only grunted when theyproposed the trip, and did not accompany them. The sky was stillovercast and the distance hazy, but from the top of the ridge, a hundredfeet or more above the lake, the two lads could look down upon a rockyshore to their left and across a stretch of lower land to the right.What the shore was like beyond that low land they could not tell. Theremight be, indeed it seemed probable from the lay of the land that therewas, a beach on that side of the island. Ahead of them the treesobstructed the view.

  They made their way along the ridge, a rough way, over slippery rocks,along the verge of steep declivities, among spruce and balsam trees,until they came out from woods on almost bare rocks. They had reachedthe southern end of the island, where rock walls and slopes descended tothe water, vertically in some places, more gently in others. Everywherethere was rock, no beaches, no sand.

  The sun had set behind heavy clouds, and the gray sky shed little light.No land was visible across the water, in the growing darkness and hazeof the gloomy, sullen evening. Depressed and silent, the two ladsstumbled back along their trail, finding it with difficulty in theblackness of the woods. Their confidence was dwindling, though theytried to comfort themselves with the thought that they had not exploredall of the island yet. The shore beyond the lower land to the west ofthe ridge was their only real hope.

  That night Jean dreamed that he went to that shore by night, and foundthe golden sands gleaming in the moonlight. Then, just as he stooped togather up a handful, there came a strange, rustling sound over his head.He looked up, and an enormous bird with open beak and fiery eyes wasswooping down on him. He tried to run, to wave his arms, to shout, butnot a muscle could he move, not a sound could he make. The bird's greatwing brushed his head. He made a tremendous effort and broke the spellthat bound him. With a little cry he sprang out of his blanket and on tohis feet, just as some heavy, furry, spitting object grazed his shoulderand landed in the bed he had left.

  The animal wa
s as badly frightened as the boy. It uttered a shrillscreech, and sprang for the patch of dim light that marked the entranceto the shelter. Unfortunately Ronald was lying directly across its path.Aroused by the screech, he raised himself up. The heavy ball of furstruck him full in the body, knocking him flat again. The impact brokethe beast's leap, and it fell sprawling across the lad's breast. Itsvicious, cat-like snarl was close to his ear, he felt its hot breath onhis face. Too terrified to cry out, he upheaved his body in an effort tothrow off the creature. Its sharp claws tore through his blanket coat,and he tried to get a hold on its throat.

  Just at that moment, Jean precipitated himself full upon both Ronald andthe animal. The attack was too much for the fierce cat. It slipped outfrom between the two and sprang clear of the entrance, before Jean'sknife could find it.

  The boys disentangled themselves from the blankets and balsam branches,each assuring the other that he was not seriously hurt. Although dawnhad come, darkness still lingered in the heavily shaded shelter. Thefire was out, but, with sparks from his flint and steel, Jean lighted aroll of dry birch bark. As it flared up, they could see the hole in theroof of branches where the animal had fallen through.

  "It was attracted by the fish," said Ronald. "A lynx----"

  With a startled exclamation, Jean interrupted him. "Where is Nangotook?"

  Nangotook had disappeared. His blanket lay on his balsam couch, his gunbeside it, but he was gone. In the light of their flickering birchtorch, the two lads stared at one another. The Ojibwa had not run awayfrom the cat, of course. He had left his blanket before the beast camethrough the roof, and had stepped over Ronald without waking him. Whatcould have moved him to steal away without arousing them?

  "Do you think he has deserted us?" Ronald asked.

  "That is impossible," Jean replied emphatically. "Nangotook is loyal. Hewould not desert us, whatever might befall us."

  "I should have been saying the same two days ago," agreed his companion,"but now I'm not so sure. He was acting strangely all day yesterday. Ithink he begins to regret this voyage and to dread what lies before us."

  "He has not been like himself since we landed in this place," Jeanadmitted. "I know not what has come over him, unless it is fear of themanitos of the lake and the islands. He thinks perhaps that the spiritssend storm and disaster to keep us from the golden sands. Either heloses faith in his charm, or fears it will protect him only, not you andme."

  "What is his charm? Do you know? Have you ever seen it?"

  "I think I saw it yesterday. Once when I came into the lodge, he wassitting by the fire looking at something he held in his hand. In thefirelight it looked like a nugget of copper. It was a queer shape,something like a fish, but one end was like a beaver's tail, and it wasrubbed bright. As I moved nearer for a better look, he heard me, closedhis hand over the piece of copper, and glanced around. Then he slippedit into a little deerskin bag, his medicine bag, I suppose, withoutgiving me another glimpse of it. You know the beaver is his totem. Buteven if he fears his charm will fail him, I am sure he would not desertus."

  "I scarcely believe myself that he would," Ronald returned. "Where wouldhe go? He would not be starting across the water on such a threateningnight."

  "He will return before long. I am sure of it," was Jean's confidentassertion.