CHAPTER XXII
JUMPING THE CLAIM
There was a sneering look on Andy's face, and Mr. Foger, too, seemeddelighted at having reached the valley of gold almost as soon as hadour friends. Tom and the others looked at the means by which thebully had arrived. There were four sleds, each one drawn by sevendogs, and in charge of a dark-skinned native. On the two foremostsleds Andy and his father had ridden, while the other two evidentlycontained their supplies.
For a moment Andy surveyed Tom's party and then, turning to one ofthe native drivers, he said:
"We'll camp here. You fellows get to work and make an ice house, andsome of you cook a meal--I'm hungry."
"No need build ice house," replied the native, who spoke Englishbrokenly.
"Why not?" demanded Andy.
"Live in ice cave-plenty much ob'em--plenty much room," went on theEskimo, indicating several of the large caverns.
"Ha! That's a good idea," agreed Mr. Foger, "Andy, my son, we havehouses already made for us, and very comfortable they seem, too.We'll take up our quarters in one, and then hunt for the gold."
Mr. Foger seemed to ignore Tom and his friends. Abe Abercrombiestrode forward.
"Look here, you Fogers!" he exclaimed without ceremony, "was youcalculatin' on stakin' any claims here?"
"If you mean are we going to dig for gold, we certainly are,"replied Andy insolently, "and you can't stop us."
"I don't know about that," went on Abe, grimly. "I ain't goin' t'say nothin' now, about th' way you stole th' map from me, an' made acopy, but I am goin t' say this, an' that is it won't be healthy ferany of you t' git in my way, or t' try t' dig on our claims!"
"We'll dig where we please!" cried Andy. "You don't own thisvalley!"
"We own as much of it as we care to stake out, by right of priordiscovery!" declared Tom, firmly.
"And I say we'll dig where we please!" insisted Andy. "Hand me apick," he went on to another of the natives.
"Wait jest a minute," spoke Abe calmly, as he put his little storeof nuggets in the pocket of his fur coat, and drew out a bigrevolver. "It ain't healthy t' talk that way, Andy Foger, an' th'sooner you find that out th' better. You ain't in Shopton now, an'th' only law here is what we make for ourselves. Tom, maybe you'dbetter get out th' rifles, an' your electric gun, after all. Itseems like we might have trouble," and Abe cooly looked to see ifhis weapon was loaded.
"Oh, of course we didn't mean to usurp any of your rights, my dearfriend!" exclaimed Mr. Foger quickly, and he seemed nervous at thesight of the big revolver, while Andy hastily moved until he wasbehind the biggest of the sledge drivers. "We don't want to violateany of your rights," went on Mr. Foger. "But this valley is large,and do I understand that you claim all of it?"
"We could if we wanted to," declared Abe stoutly; "but we'll becontent with three-quarter of it, seein' we was here fust. If youfolks want t' dig fer gold, go over there," and he pointed to a spotsome distance away.
"We'll dig where we please!" cried Andy.
"Oh, will you?" and there was an angry light in Abe's eyes. "Iguess, Tom, you'd better git--"
"No! No! My son is wrong--he is too hasty," interposed Mr. Foger."We will go away--certainly we will. The valley is large enough forboth of us--just as you say. Come, Andy!"
The bully seemed about to refuse, but a look at Abe's angry face anda sight of Mr. Damon coming from the cave where the airship was,with a rifle, for the eccentric man had hastened to get his weapon--thissight calmed Andy down. Without further words he and his fathergot back on their sleds, and were soon being driven off to where alarge ice cave loomed up, about a mile away.
"Good riddance," muttered the miner, "now we kin go on diggin'without bein' bothered by that little scamp."
"I don't know about that," spoke Tom, shaking his head dubiously."There's always trouble when Andy Foger's within a mile. I'm afraidwe haven't seen the last of him."
"He'd better not come around here ag'in," declared Abe. "Queer, howhe should turn up, jest when I made a big strike."
"They must have come on all the way from where their airship waswrecked, by means of dog sleds," observed Ned, and the others agreedwith him. Later they learned that this was so; that after theaccident to the ANTHONY, the crew had refused to proceed farthernorth, and had gone back. But Mr. Foger had hired the natives withthe dog teams, and, by means of the copy of the map and with whatknowledge his Eskimos had, had reached the valley of gold.
"We have certainly struck it rich," went on Abe, as he went back towhere he had dug the hole. "Now we'd better all begin prospectin'here, for it looks like a big deposit. We'll stake out a largeenough claim to take it all in. I guess Mr. Parker can do that,seein' as how he knows about such things."
The scientist agreed to do this part of the work, it beingunderstood that all the gold discovered would be shared equallyafter the expenses of the trip had been paid.
Feverishly Abe and the others began to dig. They did not come uponsuch a rich deposit as the miner had found, but there were enoughnuggets picked up to prove that the expedition would be verysuccessful.
No more attention was paid to the Fogers, but through the telescopeTom could see that the bully and his father had made a camp in oneof the ice caves, and that both were eagerly digging in the frozensurface of the valley.
Before night several thousand dollars' worth of gold had been takenout by our friends. It was stored in the airship, and then, aftersupper the craft's searchlight was taken off, and placed in such aposition in front of the cave of ice so that the beams wouldilluminate the claim staked out by Tom and the others.
"We'll stand watch an' watch," suggested Abe, "but I don't thinkthem Fogers will come around here ag'in."
They did not, and the night passed peacefully. The next day ourfriends were again at work digging for gold. So were the Fogers, ascould be observed through the glass, but it was impossible to seewhether they got any nuggets.
The gold seemed to be in "pockets," and that day the ones in thevicinity of the strike first made by Abe were cleaned out.
"We'll have to locate some new 'pockets,'" said the miner, and theadventurers scattered over the frozen plain to look for otherdeposits of the precious metal.
Tom and Ned were digging together not far from one another. SuddenlyNed let out a joyful cry.
"Strike anything?" asked Tom.
"Something rich," answered the bank clerk. He lifted from a hole inthe ground a handful of the golden pebbles.
"It's as good as Abe's was!" exclaimed Tom. "We must stake it out atonce, or the Fogers may jump it. Come on, we'll go back and tellAbe, and get Mr. Parker and Mr. Damon over here."
The three men were some distance away, and there was no sign of theFogers. Tom and Ned hurried back to where their friends were,leaving their picks and shovels on the frozen ground.
The good news was soon told, and, with some stakes hastily made fromsome extra wood carried on the airship, the little party hastenedback to where Tom and Ned had made their strike.
As they emerged from behind a big hummock of ice they saw, standingover the holes which the lads had dug, Andy Foger and his father!Each one had a rifle, and there was a smile of triumph on Andy'sface!
"What are you doing here?" cried Tom, the hot blood mounting to hischeeks.
"We've just staked out a claim here," answered the bully.
"And you deserted it," put in Mr. Foger smoothly. "I think yourmining friend will tell you that we have a right to take up anabandoned claim."
"But we didn't abandon it!" declared Tom. "We only went away to getthe stakes."
"The claim was abandoned, and we have 'jumped' it," went on Mr.Foger, and he cocked his rifle. "I need hardly tell you thatpossession is nine points of the law, and that we intend to remain.Andy, is your gun loaded?"
"Yes, pa."
"I--I guess they've got us--fer th' time bein'," murmured Abe, as hemotioned to Tom and the others to come away. "Besides they've gotguns, an' we haven't--but wait," added th
e miner, mysteriously. "Ihaven't played all my tricks yet."
Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice, or, the Wreck of the Airship Page 22
