XXXIII
THE MINE
The two lads made as thorough an examination of the bare end of theisland as they could without pick or drill. A vein with side branches,which Ronald was sure was composed of pure silver, ran the length of thebarren end. Whether the vein extended under the woods the full length ofthe island, they could not tell, but as they traced it to the very edgeof the growth, its further extension seemed almost certain. Through theclear water off the outer end of the island, they could see on the rockbottom black patches with a greenish tinge, that Ronald believed markedthe course of the vein in that direction. In the canoe they followedthose patches until the water became so deep that they could trace themno longer. Both boys were sure they had found a valuable mine, and theywere nearly as excited and enthusiastic as if they had come upon theIsland of Golden Sands itself. Their failure to find the gold, and thehardships and perils of their long trip, with its heart-breaking delaysand disappointments, were almost forgotten in the joy of this sudden andunexpected discovery. Silver was not gold to be sure, but it was thenext thing to it, as Jean said. The journey had not been fruitless or invain. They had saved the life of Father Bertrand, and, as Nangotook hadsaid, "the saving of one good life was better than much gold," andthrough the priest they had found a rich silver mine. They had come offwell from the adventure, and if they could reach Grande Portage safely,they would have good cause to be well satisfied and profoundly thankful.So it was with light hearts that they launched the two canoes andprepared to put off for the shore of Minong.
The day was too far advanced and the wind too strong to make a start forGrande Portage advisable, but none of the four wanted to camp on thelittle island, where bad weather, if there should be more of it in storefor them, would leave them marooned. As Jean said, they could not eatsilver, no matter how rich the mine might be. So they paddled part wayup a deep harbor that cut into the end of Minong, and camped on itsshore. They found both the fishing and hunting good, and had nodifficulty occupying their time for the rest of the day.
The wind went down in the night, and the next day dawned calm, brightand frosty, a fine autumn morning, the best possible weather to traversethe open lake. Firm ice over the shallower water along shore, theevergreens gleaming with white frost, and the sight of a hare whose coatwas almost wholly white, were warnings to the travelers that real winterwas not far away. Indeed the snow and ice of the last northeaster hadnot melted in the shady places, and the weather was constantly growingcolder.
They started early, after a hearty but hasty breakfast. They haddiscussed taking both canoes, but had decided they could make bettertime with one. So they selected the boat they had made themselves, as itwas better built and slightly larger than the one Le Forgeron and theCree had used. Their own boat had been intended for only three peopleand was well filled with four, but their baggage took up little space.Their possessions, besides the supply of dried meat, consisted ofnothing but the caribou hide, some hare skins, their bows and arrows,and a small bundle containing the priest's vestments and the necessaryarticles for celebrating the mass. In high spirits they paddled out intothe open lake, blades keeping time to
"La fill' du roi d'Espagne, Vogue, marinier, vogue."
The fact that all went so well that day Jean laid to the rescue of thepriest and his presence in the canoe. Etienne agreed with this view, butprobably felt also, though he did not give expression to the thought,that the spirits of the lake had ceased to oppose them, now that theyhad definitely given up the search for the golden sands and had turnedtowards the shore. Apparently he did not trouble his mind with thethought that the manitos might feel any concern over the silver mine.
Whatever causes the different members of the party might assign fortheir good fortune, everything surely went successfully. The breezeremained light, the sky blue, during the whole of the trip to thenorthwest shore, and along its bays, points and islands to the GrandePortage. They reached their destination before night, and caused greatsurprise when they paddled through the bay and up to the shore in frontof the trading post of the Northwest Fur Company, the same post the twolads had left, with the fleet bound for Montreal, so many long weeksbefore.
The boys had decided before reaching the Portage just how much of theiradventures they would tell, and what they would leave untold.Accordingly they said nothing whatever of the Island of the Yellow Sandsor of the silver ore they had found. They had made the trip, theyadmitted, in search of a rich island mine they had heard of, but, notknowing its exact location, they had failed to find it. They made nomention of gold, leaving the others to infer that it was copper orsilver they had been seeking. They told of seeing Le Forgeron Tordu andhis Cree companion and of the fate of both, but did not indicate in anyway that the Frenchman had been in pursuit of them or had tried toinjure them. They left out of their narrative Etienne's captivity andthe burning of the woods on the island. As Ronald said, "The man is deadand his fate was a horrible one. Why blacken his memory now that it cando us no good? Unless we should be charged with his death, and that isnot likely, we do not need to be telling the whole of the story."
A swift Indian messenger was leaving the post early next morning withreports and letters for Montreal, and the boys seized the opportunity towrite to their relatives and tell them of their safety. For the two ladsto accompany the messenger was out of the question, for the Indians andhalf-breeds, who made the mail trips for the Company, went at such apace and with such tirelessness that no one untrained for the work couldpossibly keep up with them. Indeed no one messenger could go the wholedistance at such speed. The mail changed hands at each post, fresh mencarrying it on. Even had the lads not been tired and worn with theirlong trip, and with the starvation and exposure they had endured, theywould have found the journey with the messengers impossible. There wasnothing for them to do but to await a more favorable opportunity.
That opportunity did not come. Rain and high winds arrived before astart could be made, and the bad weather was followed by real winter,that set in early in November, "the freezing moon," as Nangotook calledit. The lads soon realized that they had made the crossing from Minongjust in time. Had they delayed longer, they could not have reachedGrande Portage until the lake froze over between Minong and the shore.Some winters solid ice did not form clear across, and even when it did,crossing on snowshoes, with the winds sweeping the ice, and a blindingstorm liable to come at any moment, was a perilous undertaking. Jean andRonald shuddered when they thought what a winter on Minong, without warmclothes, food supplies or ammunition, would mean. They were lucky indeedto have reached the trading post.
Father Bertrand was due at an Indian mission on the south shore, andinsisted on trying to reach it. He succeeded in engaging a canoe andfour Indians to make the trip, but he positively refused to take theboys with him. Even after they reached his destination, it was notlikely, he said, that they could find any one willing to go on with themto the Sault. The mission was probably not any too well supplied withfood, and he could not carry enough extra, traveling rapidly in hissmall canoe, to feed the two lads throughout the winter. The Indians whowintered near the mission might be well supplied and they might not.That depended on the fishing and the wild rice crop. Often famine cameupon them before spring. At the Portage there were ample accommodationsand supplies, and the boys would be far better off. Etienne agreed withthe missionary and urged the lads to remain. As far as he was concernedhe would be glad, he said, to accompany them back to the Sault and evento Montreal, but he counseled them not to attempt the journey, whichwould be one of extreme hardship, if they were able to get through atall. So on his advice, and that of the men at the post, the boys decidedto remain where they were until spring. At the first lull in the badweather, the brave priest bade the lads farewell, gave them his blessingand started on his dangerous journey.
A number of weeks after the departure of the priest, when winter hadsettled down in earnest, a half-breed messenger, starved, frozen, almostdead, arrived with letters f
rom Montreal and the other posts. The manhad had a terrible time getting through, and when the boys heard histale they were glad they had remained at the Portage. He brought Jeanletters from his father and mother, and Ronald one from his uncle. Sincethe necessity for strenuous action had ceased, the two boys had grownvery homesick, especially Jean, who had been tormented with the fearthat something might have gone wrong with his father, mother or sistersduring his absence. The letters, showing plainly the anxiety those athome had been enduring for months, served to deepen the two lads' senseof wrong-doing. When word had arrived of their disappearance from theSault, both Ronald's uncle and Jean's father had done everythingpossible to find them or learn their fate. They had gone to the Sault,but had found only one clue. Jean's father learned that Etienne had beenat the post the same day the lads disappeared, and felt a littlecomforted, surmising that Jean might have gone away with the Ojibwa on ahunting expedition or for some other purpose. But he was at a loss tounderstand why the lad had kept such a trip secret. Nevertheless theelder Havard asserted that he was not going to give up hope until hefound the Indian and learned definitely that the boys were not with him.His search for Nangotook was fruitless, of course, but he became moreand more convinced that they must have left the post together, for whatpurpose he could not imagine. Word was sent to all the NorthwestCompany's posts to be on the lookout for some trace of the three. Onlyone bit of information was obtained, however. An Indian, a Man of theWoods, and his family, who arrived at the trading station at the PicRiver, told of having met a canoe, going west, with three men whoanswered in a general way to the descriptions of Nangotook, Jean andRonald. Shortly after the arrival of these Gens de Terre Indians, newsreached the Pic of a deed of violence that had occurred in a small bayfarther to the west. A half-breed trapper had been attacked and his fursstolen. Two Indians entering the bay late at night had found the body ofa man lodged on a sand-bar. In spite of the fact that he had beenstabbed in several places and then thrown into the water, he was alive,though unconscious. The Indians had carried him in their canoe to thePic, where he had recovered consciousness and had told how he had beenattacked by two men, an Indian and a white man with a twisted leg. Fromthe half-breed's description, the agent at the Pic was sure the whiteman must have been Le Forgeron Tordu, who was wanted by the Company forbreaking his contract and deserting the fleet. When Ronald's uncle, whohad learned from Big Benoit of the lad's fight with Le Forgeron, heardthat the Blacksmith had deserted a few miles beyond the Sault and wasback on Superior, he wondered if there was any connection between thatfact and the disappearance of the boys, and his fears for Ronald wereincreased. When week followed week with no further news, the anxiousrelatives almost gave up hope, and Jean's mother became ill from griefand anxiety.
The wrong the boys had done in stealing away secretly on their madquest, without telling any one where they were going or leaving someword to allay the anxiety of those at home, had been strongly impressedupon them by Father Bertrand. Grateful though he was to them for hisrescue, he did not let that gratitude interfere with a severe reprimandof their wrong-doing. Because God had brought good out of evil and hadallowed them to serve Him by saving the life of one of His servants,they need not think, he reminded them sternly, that what they had donewas right or that their sin was forgiven or would be forgiven until theyhad made all the amends possible. God had been merciful to them, saidthe priest, because they were ignorant, foolish and thoughtless lads,but if they did not profit in the future by the lesson of thisexperience, it was not likely He would be so patient with them again. Soearnestly did he talk to them, that both acknowledged their wrong-doing,and admitted that they had not deserved to come through their adventureso well. The letters from home only strengthened their feelings ofregret at what they had done, and Jean especially made up his mind tomake up to his mother, for her suffering on his account, in every waythat a loving son could.
In their letters the lads had told of the discovery of the silver andRonald had sent his uncle a bit of the ore, with many injunctions to themessenger not to lose the little package. In his reply the uncle saidthat the bit of metal had proved to be high grade silver, and that fromRonald's description he thought the mine might be a rich one. He hadtalked the matter over with Monsieur Havard, and the latter had agreedto accompany him to the Grande Portage in the spring. The boys wereinstructed to wait for them. The uncle would bring with him an expert inmetals and the necessary tools for prospecting. He would obtain theNorthwest Company's permission to use one of their sailing vessels forthe short trip across to Minong, or, if he failed to get suchpermission, they would cross in canoes. They would make a thoroughexamination of the little island and its surroundings, and if theprospects looked good, they would get the necessary governmentpermission, and form a mining company in which the two Havards, Ronald,his uncle and the Indian should have the largest shares. They would alsoput aside a share of the profits for Father Bertrand, who had sogenerously waived all rights to his discovery. If he would not take themoney for his personal needs, he would at least be willing to accept itto carry on his work among the Indians.
Jean and Ronald were enthusiastic over the plan, and, in spite of thewaves of homesickness that swept over the former every time he looked athis mother's letter and thought of the many miles of wilderness betweenhim and his home, the two settled down for the winter with high hopes ofthe fortune the spring was to bring. In the meantime they were glad tobe of what help they could to the clerks at the post, while their sparetime could be passed in hunting in the snow-covered woods or fishingwith nets or lines set under the ice. In such ways the winter, though itlooked long ahead of them, would wear away at last, and spring wouldbring the returning fleet and with it the other partners in theirmining venture, the exploration of their find, the trip home again andpreparations for working the silver mine. If the winter days draggedslowly sometimes, there was, at least, much to look forward to.
THE END
The Island of Yellow Sands: An Adventure and Mystery Story for Boys Page 32