XX
THE NORTHEASTER
Late in the afternoon of the fourth day after the gold-seekers hadreached the long point, the wind went down, and by an hour after sunsetthe waves had subsided enough to make crossing to the island to thenortheast possible. So the three set out immediately, and made thetraverse safely. Though twilight was deepening to darkness when theydrew near the land, they had no difficulty in recognizing the place. Itwas not their Island of Golden Sands. To find that they must go farthernorth and east. It would have been useless to begin their search justthen, however, for clouds were gathering and the night promised to be ablack one. That they might camp nearer the northern end, that was to betheir starting point, they paddled along the southeast shore of theisland to the sand beach beyond the landlocked bay.
Before midnight they were awakened by a rain storm. With that stormbegan a period of almost heart-breaking waiting, that roused in theIndian the most gloomy fears, well-nigh discouraged Jean, and would havehad the same effect on Ronald had he not clung with determinedstubbornness to his purpose. There were times during the week of delay,when even he was almost ready to give up, but he kept his wavering tohimself, insisting always that they must make one more attempt to findthe golden sands. Not all of the weather that hindered them was of akind the boys would ordinarily have called unpleasant. Most of the dayswere bright, but the wind blew incessantly, now from one point, now fromanother, but always so strongly that to start off into the open lakewould have been the utmost folly. All the voyageurs' strength and skillmust have been spent in keeping the canoe from swamping, and, even ifthey had escaped drowning, they could have made almost no headwaytowards north and east.
They were anxious to save their precious caribou meat, so they madeevery effort to trap and shoot hares and squirrels, and to catch fish,but their luck was poor. Either there were very few of the littleanimals on the island or they had become exceedingly shy, for during thewhole week but one hare and three squirrels were taken. The wind blew sohard that fishing was possible only in the bay or on the lee side of theisland. From the inner bark of the cedar, softened by soaking, Etienneand the boys laboriously rolled and twisted enough tough cord for asmall net, and by setting this at night and taking it up in the morning,they managed to get a few lake herring. But the catches, even with thenet, were scanty, and the best efforts of the three were not sufficientto supply them with enough game and fish to keep them nourished. Theywere forced to eat so much of the dried caribou meat that their supplydisappeared alarmingly.
For future use in lodge building, they prepared several _apakwas_, asEtienne called them, long strips composed of squares of birch barksewed together with the cedar twine. These apakwas could be rolled andcarried in the canoe, and were all ready to be wrapped around theframework of a wigwam.
During all that week the gold-seekers found no new traces of LeForgeron, though they took advantage of an east wind one day to explorethe caves on the northwest side of the island. The withered evergreencouches and the ashes of the fire were still on the beach in the largestcave, but there was nothing to indicate that any one had been theresince Ronald's visit.
A favorable day dawned at last, with a light breeze and blue sky,although a filmy haze lay on the water in the distance. The Ojibwafeared fog, but Ronald would wait no longer.
"There will never be a morning when something may not happen," he criedimpatiently. "If we fail to take this opportunity, there may not beanother for days to come. We can be turning back any moment dangerthreatens, but we must take some chances no matter how good theconditions. Surely not one of us is fearing a risk, when there's so muchto gain, if we're successful."
Ronald had tried to speak without offense, but the Indian knew that theboy was making a direct appeal to his courage, and he was too proud tohesitate longer.
"Come then," he said, "and may the manitos,--and the good God be kind tous."
Their course of action, as soon as the weather should be favorable, hadbeen decided long before. From the northern end of the island theywould travel directly east for two hours, then turning north they wouldgo in that direction for the same length of time, when, if they had notcaught sight of the island they sought, they would turn to the eastagain for an hour's paddling, then to the north for another hour and soon. If by sunset they were not in sight of their destination, Ronaldconsented to give up the search, and make for the nearest land, or if noland was in sight, to steer straight for the north shore. Indeed itseemed likely that by that time, unless they were hindered by contrarywinds, they might be able to discern the shore and make directly towardsit. The plan was a desperate one. Their only possibility of success, oreven of reaching the north shore alive, lay in the continuance of goodweather, and all three were familiar enough with the uncertainty andfickleness of Lake Superior winds and storms to realize in some degreethe recklessness of the attempt. But the boys were young and rash. Theyhad come through many dangers without serious accident. The very factthat their canoe had outridden the fearful storm on the night when theyleft the Rock of the Beaver, encouraged them to believe that they mightget through safely even though the weather should change for the worse.Whatever the Ojibwa's feelings were, he gave no sign, taking his placein the canoe in silence, and without a trace of emotion on his impassiveface.
At first all went well, the wind was light, the waves scarcely highenough to be called waves, and the canoe made good speed to the east. Tothe north over the water they could see, among its companion islets,the rock that had sheltered them from the force of the storm. It was tothe east, however, that they gazed eagerly. They went on in thatdirection for the agreed upon two hours, estimating the time by countingtheir paddle strokes. No island came into view. So they turned to thenorth. For two hours more they traveled steadily, but, though their eyessearched the water ahead and to either side, they caught no glimpse ofland. The sun was shining and the sky blue overhead, yet a thin haze,diffused through the air, made it impossible to see any great distance.After two hours' journey to the north they turned again to the east.Before they had gone far they noticed that the weather was beginning tothicken, the blue overhead was turning to gray, the breeze that had beenso light all the morning was freshening, and becoming northeasterly. Thesigns made the boys uneasy, but Nangotook gave no indication of noticingthem.
By the time they had traveled their hour to the east and had turnednorth again, the wind had strengthened so that paddling at an angleagainst it became hard work. The sky had grown lead gray, and, withoutthe sun to guide them, the boys wondered how they were to keep theircourse. The distance was too hazy to afford any chance of discerning thenorth shore. They held on doggedly, but they had not been paddling northan hour when rain began to fall, fine and cold. It was driven from thenortheast by the wind, that grew constantly stronger, penetrating theirheavy clothes with its damp chill. All hope of finding the Island ofYellow Sands that day vanished from their hearts. Moreover the northshore must still be far away, and there seemed no chance of gaining itagainst a northeast storm that was steadily increasing in fury.
They struggled forward against wind and waves for a little while longer,but their paddles were of almost no avail to make headway. The most theycould do was to keep the canoe right side up and avoid shipping waterenough to sink it. At last the Indian did the only wise thing he coulddo under the circumstances. He gave the order to turn the boat and runwith the wind. They could no longer make way against it, but, if theycould keep the canoe from being swamped by following waves, the galemight bear them back to Minong and safety. The northwest direction ofthe storm was at least favorable to the attempt. The chief danger inrunning with the wind would be from the following waves that mighteasily overwhelm them. To increase their speed the boys tried to raise asail, but a sudden gust, accompanied by sleet, which drove down uponthem with great force, tore the blanket from their hands and blew itaway. They could ill afford to spare their blankets, and they made nofurther attempt at sailing.
All their effo
rts were now devoted to keeping the canoe from beingcaught and up-ended or deluged by the waves, and in bailing out thewater that threatened to swamp it. The wind blew a gale, lashing themwith rain and stinging sleet that would have chilled them through ifthey had not had to work so hard. As it was they were so wholly takenup with the struggle to keep from going to the bottom, that they had notime to think of bodily discomfort, even though their clothes weresoaked, their faces stinging, their hands aching with cold.
In a far shorter time than it had taken them to paddle to the north andeast, the wind bore them back to the southwest. So close to itsnorthwestern side that they could distinguish its cliffs through therain and sleet, they ran by the island they had left a few hours before.There was no possibility of making a landing, and they began to fearthat they would be borne past Minong also.
The great island extends several miles farther to the westward, however,and its outlying points and small islands lay directly in their way, toodirectly for safety. Their course was a little too westerly to take themclose to the high ridge. They were driven past the land that lay to thenorthwest of the ridge, and down among islands and reefs. At no timesince the storm broke had they been in more imminent peril. The gale wasso strong, the waves so high, they could no longer steer their littlecraft. They were carried close to reefs and islands, missing by a fewfeet or even inches being cast upon the rocks. Yet they found no placewhere, with a sudden twist of the paddle, they might shoot through intoshelter.
The thundering of breakers sounded straight ahead. Through the rain andsleet, land appeared suddenly. Powerless to escape it, they had justtime to lift their paddles from the water, when the surf caught thecanoe and flung it on the beach. Instantly they were over the side,struggling for a foothold on the slippery pebbles, as the receding wavetried to drag them back. Grasping the bars of the canoe, they managed toscramble up the narrow beach with it, but before they could bear it tosafety, another wave caught them and flung them forward on their faces.Jean lost his hold. But Etienne and Ronald clung to it, and, resistingthe pull of the water, managed to drag the boat forward into a thicketabove the reach of the waves.
The three were safe, though somewhat bruised and battered, but the canoewas split and shattered by its rough handling, and, what was worse,everything it had contained had been thrown out into the water. Scarcelywaiting to get their breaths, the castaways set about rescuing what theycould. By running down the narrow, slanting beach and plunging into thewater between waves, they managed to save the gun and one bow. In adesperate attempt to rescue the package of food, Jean was caught by awave and might have been drowned, if Ronald had not seized him in timeand dragged him back. The bark-covered package was carried out to deepwater and disappeared. One of the blankets and the roll of apakwas wereflung high on shore, and caught in a stunted bush that ordinarily wouldhave been well above water line. Fortunately the three always carriedtheir light axes, their knives, fishing tackle and other little thingson their persons, so those were saved also. Everything else, includingthe other blanket, the caribou hide, and the cedar cord net, was lost.
The Island of Yellow Sands: An Adventure and Mystery Story for Boys Page 20
