by Roy J. Snell
CHAPTER X A STARTLING DISCOVERY
To Attatak, whose mind was filled with the weird tales of the spiritworld, to enter a cave away on this unknown mountain side was a fargreater trial than it was to Marian. Cold, blizzards, the wild beasts oftimberlands--these she could face; but the possible dwelling place of thespirits of dead polar bears and walruses, to say nothing of old women whohad died because they had disregarded the incantations of witch doctors,"Ugh!"--this was very bad indeed.
Marian felt the native girl tremble as she took her arm and led hergently forward into the dark depths of the cave.
The entrance was not wide, perhaps twelve feet across, but it was fullyas high as it was broad.
"Our deer can come in, too," whispered Marian, "if it goes back farenough."
"If there are no wolves," said Attatak with a shudder.
"Wolves?" Marian had not thought of that. "You wait here," she whispered."I'll go for the rifle."
"No! No!" Attatak gripped her arm until it hurt. "I will go, too."
So back out of the cave they felt their way, now tripping over rocks thatrolled away with a hollow sound like distant thunder, now brushing thewall, till they came at last to the open air.
Marian hated all this delay. Famished with hunger, chilled to the verymarrow, and weary enough to drop, she longed for the warmth of the fireshe hoped they might light, for the food they would warm over it, and thecomforting rest that would follow. Yet she realized that the utmostcaution must be taken. Wolves, once driven from a cave, might stampedetheir reindeer and lose them forever in the mountains. Without reindeerthey should have great trouble in getting back to camp; the Agent wouldgo on his way ignorant of their dilemma; their pasture land would belost, and perhaps their herd with it.
The rifle securely gripped in the hands of Attatak, who was the surershot of the two, they again started into the cave. Strange to say, oncethe rifle was in her grasp, Attatak became the bravest of the brave.
Marian carried a candle in one hand, and in the other a block of safetymatches. The candle was not lighted. So drafty was the entrance that nocandle would stay lighted. Each step she hoped would bring them to aplace where the draft would not extinguish her candle. But in this shewas disappointed.
"It's a windy cavern," she said. "Must be an entrance at each end."
Calling on Attatak to pause, Marian struck a match. It flared up, thenwent out. A second one did the same. The third lighted the candle. Therewas just time for a hasty glance about. Gloomy brown walls lay to rightand left of them, and the awful gloom of the cave was most alarming.
Glancing down at her feet, Marian uttered a low exclamation of surprise.Then, with such a definite and direct puff of wind as might come fromhuman lips, the candle was snuffed out.
"Wha--what was it?" Attatak whispered. She was shaking so that Marianfeared she would let the rifle go clattering to the rocky floor.
"Nothing," Marian answered. "Really nothing at all. The ashes of acamp-fire, and I thought--thought," she gulped, "thought I saw bones inthe ashes!"
"Bones?" This time the rifle did clatter to the floor.
"Attatak," Marian scolded; "Attatak. This is absurd!"
Groping in the dark for the rifle, she grasped a handful of ashes, thensomething hard and cold that was not the rifle.
"Ugh!" she groaned, struggling with all her might to keep from runningaway.
Again she tried for the rifle, this time successfully. She gave it toAttatak, with the admonition:
"_Ca-ca!_" (Do take care!)
"_Eh-eh_," Attatak whispered.
Stepping gingerly out of the ashes of the mysterious camp-fire, theyagain started forward.
The current of air now became less and less strong, and finally whenMarian again tried the candle it burned with a flickering blaze.
A glance about told them they were now between narrow dark walls, thatthe ceiling was very high, and there was nothing beneath their feet butrock.
The yellow glow of light cheered them. If there were wolves they had madeno sound; the gleam of their eyes had not been seen. If the spirits ofthe men who had built that long extinguished fire still haunted theplace, the light would drive them away. Attatak assured Marian of that.
With one candle securely set in a rocky recess, and with another close athand, Attatak was even willing to remain in the cave while Marian broughtthe reindeer in a little way and carried the articles necessary for ameal to the back of the cave.
"There is no moss on this barren mountain," Marian sighed. "Our reindeermust go hungry to-night, but once we are off the mountain they shall havea grand feast."
By the time they had made a small fire on the floor of the cave and hadfinished their supper, night had closed in upon their mountain world.Darkness came quickly, deepened tenfold by the wild storm that appearedto redouble its fury at every fresh blast. The darkness without vied withthe bleakness of the cave until both were one. Such a storm as it was!Born and reared on the coast of Alaska, Marian had never beforeexperienced anything that approached it in its shrieking violence. Shedid not wonder now that the mountains appeared to smoke with sweepingsnow. She shivered as she thought what it would have meant had they notfound the cave.
"Why," she said to Attatak, "we should have been caught up by the windlike two bits of snow and hurled over the mountain peak."
The two girls walked to the mouth of the cave and for a moment stoodpeering into the night. The whistle and howl of the wind was deafening."Whew--whoo--whoo--whe-w--w-o--," how it did howl! The very rock ribbedmountain seemed to shake from the violence of it.
"_Eleet-pon-a-muck_," (too bad), said Attatak as she turned her back tothe storm.
For Marian, however, the spectacle held a strange fascination. Had thething been possible, she should have liked nothing better than leapingout into it. To battle with it; to answer its roar with a wild scream ofher own; to whirl away with it; to become a part of it; to revel in itsmadness--this, it seemed to her, would be the height of ecstatic joy.Such was the call of unbridled nature to her joyous, triumphant youth.
It was with reluctance that she at last turned back into the depths ofthe cave and helped Attatak unroll the bedding roll and prepare for thenight.
"To-morrow," she whispered to Attatak before she closed her eyes insleep, "if the storm has not passed, and we dare not venture out, we willexplore the cave."
"_Eh-eh_," Attatak answered drowsily.
The next moment the roaring storm had no auditors. The girls were fastasleep.
