"Hello!" shouted Cabot. "Who are you?"
"We are friends," answered a voice from the beach in English, but with
a strong German accent. "Can you show us a light?"
"Of course we can, and will in a moment," replied Cabot joyously.
"White, get a----"
But White had already darted back into the cabin for a lantern, with
which he speedily emerged, and led the way to the beach. Here our lads
found a dog sledge with its team, and an Eskimo driver, who was already
collecting wood for a fire, together with a white man, tall, straight,
middle-aged, and wearing a long beard streaked with grey.
"God be with you and keep you," he said, as he shook hands with Cabot
and White. "Where is the captain of this schooner?"
Cabot pointed to his companion.
"Where then is the crew?"
At this both lads laughed, and Cabot replied:
"I am the crew."
"You don't mean to tell me that you two boys navigated that vessel to
this place unaided."
"We certainly did, sir, though we have not done much navigating for
more than a month now. But will you please tell us who you are, where
you came from, and how you happened to discover us? Though we are not
surprised at being discovered, for we seem to be located on a highway
of travel and have visitors nearly every day."
"Indeed," replied the stranger; "and yet you are stranded in one of the
least known and most inaccessible bays of the coast.
Pages:
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167