Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice, or, the Wreck of the Airship
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CHAPTER XX
IN THE GOLD VALLEY
The excited cries of the old miner brought Mr. Damon and Mr. Parkerto the pilothouse on the run.
"Bless my refrigerator!" exclaimed Mr. Damon. "Are there more ofthose savage, shaggy creatures down there?"
"No, but we are over th' caves of ice," explained Abe. "That meanswe are near th' gold."
"You don't say so!" burst out the scientist. "The caves of ice! NowI can begin my real observations! I have a theory that the caves areon top of a strata of ice that is slowly moving down, and willeventually bury the whole of the North American continent. Let meonce get down there, and I can prove what I say."
"I'd a good deal rather you wouldn't prove it, if it's going to beanything like it was on Earthquake Island, or out among the diamondmakers." said Tom Swift. "But we will go down there, to see whatthey are like. Perhaps there is a trail from among the ice caves tothe valley of gold."
"I don't think so," said Abe, shaking his head.
"I think th' gold valley lies over that high ridge," and he pointedto one. "That's where me an' my partner was," he went on. "Irecognize th' place now."
"Well, we'll go down here, anyhow," decided Tom, and he pulled thelever to let some gas out of the bag, and tilted the deflectionrudder to send the airship toward the odd caves.
And, curious enough did our friends find them when they had made alanding and got out to walk about them. It was very cold, for onevery side was solid ice. They walked on ice, which was like a floorbeneath their feet, level save where the ice caves rearedthemselves. As for the caverns, they, too, were hollowed out of thesolid ice. It was exactly as though there had once been a levelsurface of some liquid. Then by some upheaval of nature, the surfacewas blown into bubbles, some large and some small. Then the wholething had frozen solid, and the bubbles became hollow caves. In timepart of the sides fell in and made an opening, so that nearly allthe caves were capable of being entered.
This method of their formation was advanced as a theory by Mr.Parker, and no one cared to dispute him. The gold-seekers walkedabout, gazing on the ice caves with wonder showing on their faces.
It was almost like being in some fantastic scene from fairyland, thebig ice bubbles representing the houses, the roofs being roundedlike the igloos of the Eskimos. Some had no means of entrance, theouter surface showing no break. Others had small openings, like alittle doorway, while of still others there remained but a smallpart of the original cave, some force of nature having crumbled andcrushed it.
"Wonderful! Wonderful!" exclaimed Mr. Parker. "It bears out mytheory exactly! Now to see how fast the ice is moving."
"How are you going to tell?" asked Tom.
"By taking some mark on this field of ice, and observing a distantpeak. Then I will set up a stake, and by noting their relativepositions, I can tell just how fast the ice field is movingsouthward." The scientist hurried into the ship to get a sharpenedstake he had prepared for this purpose.
"How fast do you think the ice is moving?" asked Ned.
"Oh, perhaps two or three feet a year." "Two or three feet a year?"gasped Mr. Damon. "Why, Parker, my dear fellow, at that rate it willbe some time before the ice gets to New York."
"Oh, yes. I hardly expect it will reach there within two thousandyears, but my theory will be proved, just the same!"
"Humph!" exclaimed Abe Abercrombie, "I ain't goin' to worry anymore, if it's goin' t' take all that while. I reckoned, to hear himtalk, that it was goin' t' happen next summer."
"So did I," agreed Tom, but their remarks were lost on Mr. Parkerwho was busy making observations. The young inventor and the otherswalked about among the ice caves.
"Some of these caverns would be big enough to house the RED CLOUD incase of another hail storm," observed Tom. "That one over therewould hold two craft the size of mine," and, in fact, probably threecould have gotten in if the opening had been somewhat enlarged, forthe ice cave to which our hero pointed was an immense one.
As the adventurers were walking about they were startled by aterrific crashing sound. They started in alarm, for, off to theirleft, the top of one of the ice caverns had crashed inward, theblocks of frozen water crushing and grinding against one another.
"It's a good thing we weren't in there," remarked Tom, and he couldnot repress a shudder, "There wouldn't have been much left of theRED CLOUD if she had been inside."
It was a desolate place, in spite of the wild beauty of it, andbeautiful it was when the sun shone on the ice caves, making themsparkle as if they were studded with diamonds. But it was cold andcheerless, and there were no signs that human beings had ever beenthere. Mr. Parker had completed the setting of his stake, and pickedout his landmarks, and was gravely making his "observations," andjotting down some figures in a notebook.
"How fast is it moving, Parker?" called Mr. Damon.
"I can't tell yet," was the response. "It will require observationsextending over several days before I will know the rate."
"Then we might as well go on," suggested Tom. "There is nothing tobe gained from staying here, and I would like to get to the goldvalley. Abe says we are near it."
"Right over that ridge, I take it to be," replied the miner. "An' wecan't get there any too soon for me. Those Fogers may git their shipfixed up, an' arrive before we do if we wait much longer."
"Not much danger, I guess," declared Ned.
"Well, we'll go up in the air, and see what we can find," decidedTom, as he turned back toward the ship.
They found the "ridge" as Abe designated it, to be a great plateau,over a hundred miles in extent, and they were the better part ofthat day crossing it, for they went slowly, so as not to miss thevalley which the miner was positive was close at hand. Mr. Parkerdisliked leaving the ice caves, but Abe said there were more in thevalley where they were going, and the scientist could renew hisobservations.
It was getting dusk when Tom, who was peering through a powerfulglass, called out:
"Well, we're at the end of the plateau, and it seems to dip downinto a valley just beyond here."
"Then that's the place!" cried Abe, excitedly. "Go slow, Tom."
Our hero needed no such caution. Carefully he sent the airshipforward. A few minutes later they were passing over a large Eskimovillage, the fur-clad inhabitants of which rushed about wildlyexcited at the sight of the airship.
"There they are! Them's th' beggars!" cried the old miner. "Them'sth' fellows who drove me an' my partner away. But there's th' valleyof gold! I know it now! Now t' fill our pockets with nuggets!"
"Are you sure this is the place?" asked Mr. Damon.
"Sartin sure of it!" declared Abe. "Put her down, Tom! Put herdown!"
"All right," agreed the young inventor, as he shifted the deflectionrudder. The airship began her descent into the valley. The edge ofthe plateau, leading down into the great depression was now blackwith the Eskimos and Indians, who were capering about, gesticulatingwildly.
"It's quite a surprise party to 'em," observed Ned Newton.
"Yes, I hope they don't spring one on us," added Tom.
Down and down went the RED CLOUD lower and lower into the valley.
"There are ice caves there!" cried Mr. Parker, pointing to thecuriously rounded and hollow hummocks. "Lots of them!"
"And larger than the others!" added Mr. Damon.
The airship was now moving slowly, for Tom wanted to pick out a goodlanding place. He saw a smooth stretch of the ice just ahead of him,in front of an immense ice cave.
"I'll make for that," he told Ned.
A few minutes later the craft had come to rest. Tom shut off thepower and hurried from the pilothouse, donning his fur coat as herushed out. A blast of frigid air met him as he opened the outerdoor of the cabin. Back on the ridge of the plateau he could see thefringe of Indians.
"Well, we're here in the valley," he said, as his friends gatheredabout him on the icy ground.
"An' now for th' gold!" cried Abe, "for it's here that th
' nuggetsare--enough for all of us! Come on an' have a hunt for 'em!"