Northern Diamonds Part 27

They were entirely out of fresh meat, and had nothing whatever to give the foxes, but fortunately Mac shot three spruce grouse that evening.

They dropped the heads of the birds into the cage; the foxes devoured them with a voracity that indicated that the trappers had fed them nothing. Early the next morning Horace by a long shot killed a deer at the riverside.

It was a rough journey up the Missanabie, but not nearly so hard as the trip up the Smoke River had been. For eight days they paddled, poled, tracked, and portaged, until they came at last to the point where they had first launched the canoe.

The "long carry" over the Height of Land now confronted them. It is true that they had by no means so much outfit to carry now, but, on the other hand, they had no packers to help them. They had to make two journeys of it, and, as a further difficulty, one of the boys had to remain with the fox cage. As they reached the top of the ridge on their first journey, Macgregor turned and looked back over the wild landscape to the northwest.

"Somewhere over there," he murmured, "is the diamond country."

"Shut up!" exclaimed Horace, in exasperation.

"I never want to hear the word 'diamond' again," added Fred.

They left the foxes together with the rest of their loads at the end of the "carry," and Fred remained to guard them, while Peter and Horace went back for the remainder of the outfit. While they were gone Fred noticed that one of the cubs was not looking well. It refused to eat or drink; its fur was losing its gloss, and it lay in a sort of a doze most of the time. Plainly captivity did not agree with it.

Horace and Peter were much concerned about its condition when they came back. None of them had any idea what to do; in fact it is doubtful if the most skilled veterinary surgeon could have prescribed.

"The real trouble is their cramped quarters, of course," said Horace.

"We must get home as quickly as possible, and get them out of this and into a larger cage. Some of the others will sicken if we don't look sharp."

They made all the speed they could, and, now that they were fairly on the canoe route south of the Height of Land, they felt that they were well toward home. It was downstream now, and portages grew less and less frequent as the river grew. They did not stop to hunt or fish; the paddled till dusk, and were up at dawn. They felt that it was a race for the life of the valuable little animal, and they did not spare themselves. Two days afterward, late in the afternoon, they came to the little railway village that had been their starting-point.

The cub seemed no better--worse, if anything. There was a train for Toronto at eight o'clock that night. The boys hurried to the hotel where they had left their baggage, and changed their tattered woods garments for more civilized clothing. There was time to eat a civilized supper, with bread and vegetables and jam,--almost forgotten luxuries,--and time also to send a telegram to Maurice Stark.

They carried the cage of foxes to the hotel with them, for they were determined henceforth not to let the animals out of their sight for a moment. The unusual spectacle of the three boys with their burden attracted much attention, and when the contents of the cage became known, nearly the whole population of the village a.s.sembled to have a look.

The crowd followed them to the depot, and saw the foxes put into the baggage-car. They had secured permission for one of them to ride with the cage and stand guard, and the boys took turns at this duty. The other two tried to s.n.a.t.c.h a few hours of rest in the sleeper; but the berths seemed stifling and airless. Accustomed to the open camp, they could not sleep a wink, and were rather more fatigued the next morning than when they had started. It was still four hours to Toronto, but they reached the city at noon. Macgregor was standing the last watch in the baggage-car, and as Fred and Horace came down the steps of the Pullman they saw Maurice Stark pushing through the crowd.

"What luck?" Maurice demanded anxiously, lowering his voice as he shook hands. "Did you find the--the--?"

"Not any diamonds," replied Fred, with a laugh. "But we brought back some black gold. Come and see it."

They went forward to the platform where the baggage was being unloaded.

Macgregor was helping to hand out the willow cage. It looked strangely wild and rough among the neat suit-cases and trunks.

"What in the world have you got there?" cried Maurice, peering through the bars.

Fred and Horace were also looking anxiously to learn the condition of the sick cub.

"Why, he's dead!" exclaimed Fred, in bitter disappointment.

"Yes," said Mac; "the little fellow keeled over just after I came on guard. I didn't send word to you fellows, for I knew there was nothing to be done."

The rest of the family were alive and looked in good condition. The boys had already decided what they would do immediately, and, calling a cab, they drove with the foxes to the house of a well-known naturalist connected with the Toronto Zoological Park. He was as competent as any one could be, and he readily agreed to take care of the foxes till they should be sold.

Naturally, however, he declined to be responsible for their safety, and Horace at once attempted to insure their lives. No insurance company would accept the risk, but after much negotiation he at last managed to effect a policy of two thousand dollars for one month, on payment of an exorbitant premium. He was more successful in getting insurance against theft, and took out a policy for ten thousand dollars with a burglar insurance company, on condition of a day and night watchman being employed to guard the animals.

It was plain that the foxes were going to be a source of terrible anxiety while they remained on the boys' hands. Horace at once telegraphed to the manager of one of the largest fur-breeding ranches in Prince Edward Island, and received a reply saying that a representative of the company would call within a few days.

The man turned up three days later, and inspected the foxes in a casual and uninterested way.

"We'd hardly think of buying," he remarked. "We've got about all the stock we need. I was coming to Toronto just when I got your wire, and I thought I'd look in at them. What are you thinking of asking for them?"

"Fifty thousand dollars," said Horace.

The fur-trader laughed heartily.

"You'll be lucky if you get a quarter of that," he said. "Why, we bought a fine, full-grown black fox last year for five hundred. Your cubs are hardly worth anything, you know. They 're almost sure to die before they grow up."

"Professor Forsythe doesn't think so," replied Horace.

"Well, I'm glad I saw them," said the dealer. "If I can hear of a buyer for you I'll send him along, but you'll have to come away down on your prices. You might let me have your address, in case I hear of anything."

"It doesn't look as if we were going to sell them!" said Fred, who was not used to shrewd business dealing. "Perhaps we can't get any price at all."

Horace laughed.

"Oh, that was all bluff. I saw the fellow's eyes light up when he saw these black beauties. He'll be back to see us within a day or two."

Sure enough, the man did come back. He scarcely mentioned the foxes this time, but took the boys out motoring. As they were parting he said carelessly, "I think I might get you a buyer for your foxes, but he couldn't pay over fifteen thousand."

"No use in our talking to him then," replied Horace, with equal indifference.

That was the beginning of a series of negotiations that ran through fully a week. It was interspersed with motor rides, dinner parties, and other amus.e.m.e.nts to which the parties treated one another alternately. The Prince Edward Island man brought himself to make a proposal of twenty thousand, and Horace came down to thirty-five thousand, and there they stuck. Finally Horace came down to thirty.

"I'll give you twenty-five," said the furbreeder at last, "but I think I'll be losing money at that."

"I'll meet you halfway," replied Horace. "Split the difference. Make it twenty-seven thousand, five hundred."

Both parties were well wearied with bargaining by this time, and the buyer gave in.

"All right!" he agreed. "You'll make your fortune, young man, if you keep on, for you 're the hardest customer to deal with that I've met this year."

The dealer went back next day to the east, taking the foxes with him, and leaving with the boys a certified check for $27,500. It was not as much as they had hoped to clear, but it was a small fortune after all.

"Comes to nearly seven thousand apiece," Fred remarked.

"Not at all," remonstrated Maurice. "I don't see where I have any share in it."

"Oh, come! We're rolling in money. You must have something out of it.

Mustn't he, Horace?"

They knew that Maurice really needed the money, and it was not by his own will that he had failed to go with the expedition. In the end he was persuaded to accept the odd five hundred dollars, but he refused to take a cent more. The remainder made just nine thousand dollars apiece for each of the three other boys.

"I've lost a year's varsity work," said Peter, "but I guess it was worth it. Nine thousand is more than I ever expect to make in a year of medical practice. Besides, we know there are diamonds in that country. Horace found them. Why can't we--"

"Shut up!" cried Fred.

"Take his money away from him!" exclaimed Horace. "I don't want to hear any more of diamonds."