"Well," said Rob, "we'll let it stand that way. And now, as the night
seems to be about half done, suppose you and Jess keep watch together
and let me take a little nap. If one of you gets sleepy the other can
waken him. I suppose there's no use tying that man again, for he's got
teeth like a beaver."
The Aleut made no further disturbance during the long hours of waiting,
which seemed endless to the two young watchers. At last, however, the
light grew stronger in the dark interior of the barabbara. John
announced his entire willingness to eat breakfast, and, pushing open the
door, motioned for the Aleut to go and get some wood. Without any
resistance the man did as he was bid, shaking the remaining thong off
his wrist with a grin. They finished their breakfast of bear meat and
tea, the prisoner seeming immensely to enjoy the biscuits which the boys
offered him as pay in return for his contribution of tea.
"Now, what's on the programme for to-day?" asked John, finally. "It
certainly looks as though we ought to take care of all that meat."
"Yes," assented Rob. "We'll see if we can't dry some of it, at least.
Suppose you go on down the creek, John, and keep the crows and eagles
away from the meat, while the rest of us bring the boat down the beach
and into the mouth of the creek. That'll give us plenty of boat room to
bring up quite a cargo of meat to the camp here."
"There's another thing we ought to do," said John, "and that is to put
up some kind of a signal in case a boat should come down into the bay
here. Of course Uncle Dick will be looking for us, and there might be a
boat in here almost any day."
"That's a capital idea!" exclaimed Rob. "Now, Jesse, if you'll get a
long pole and tie this handkerchief to it, I'll meet you over at the
dory with the other things which we'll need on our trip this morning."
Rob left the Aleut's gun on the deck of the bidarka, but carried along
his hide fishing-line and both the bidarka paddles. His own rifle and
that of Jesse he put in one end of the dory, opposite the seat where he
intended the Aleut to sit. Telling Jesse to watch the latter, he once
more ascended to the top of the sea-wall, and here erected his
signal-flag, piling up a heap of stones at the foot of the staff. Long
and anxiously he gazed out toward the mouth of the bay, but only the
long green billows of the sea came rolling in, unbroken by any sail or
cloud of smoke. Across the bay, a half-dozen miles or so, the great
mountains stood grim and silent, the tops of many of them wreathed in
fog. It was a wild and desolate scene, and one to try the courage of any
young adventurer. But Rob, seeing how homesick Jesse was becoming, did
his best to cheer him as he joined him at the dory.
"Plenty to do to-day!" he said. "And now for a good boat ride. It's
lucky we've so good a sea-boat along as this dory--it's far safer than
Jimmy's bidarka over there."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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