The Frontier Boys in the Sierras Part 3

"No sooner was I inside than I let the heavy bar down across the door, and, when it fell into place, I drew a full breath, for I felt nervous at the action of the dog, and it was terrible lonesome, just as bad as being adrift on a raft in this ocean."

"I'd take the land every time," cut in Tom. "It's what's under you makes you so scarey on the ocean."

"I don't know but that the constant motion of the sea makes it kind of company for a man," remarked Jim.

"Don't tell me that," said the shepherd with a quizzical look in his eyes, "from my recent experience that same motion will separate you from what is nearest to you. Anyhow, after I had put on a big log of pine on the coals in the fireplace, and the flame began to blaze up, I felt more cheerful, for it seemed to make my cabin alive with a hearty glow.

"After I had toasted my blankets thoroughly, I wrapped them around me, and laid down near the fire, with my rifle near me. The big hound was just back a bit, between me and the door, and I felt quite secure and perfectly comfortable. I was tired, too, for I had been working hard all day, and I soon dropped off into a sound sleep.

"I do not know how long I had slept, when I sat up suddenly throwing the blankets off from me and grabbing my rifle. The fire had died down and there was that chill in the air that cramps a man's blood. The cabin was full of shadows, except the dying glow on the stone hearth.

The dog had risen and was growling towards the door. Then I heard the blow of a stick, I suppose it was, against the door.

"I tell you, it made me feel scared, coming in the dead of night, in such a lonesome, utterly desolate place. I was kind of superst.i.tious in those days, too, and I was afraid of what was outside there, because it didn't seem possible for anything human to have reached my isolated cabin on such a night. Again came the blow upon the door; then I crossed to the window and very cautiously looked out.

"It had evidently heard me or divined that I was at the window, for I saw pressed against the pane and almost touching my face, it seemed, the dark visage of a man with wild, black eyes. The dog saw him too, but as he did not seem to be inspired with his usual ferocity, I decided to take a chance and let him in. I would not have kept the Old Boy himself out on a night like that.

"So with my weapon ready, I unbarred the door, and the man stumbled in. I saw that he was not an American, but belonged to some dark race, probably a Spaniard. When I got a good look at his face, I saw that my unbidden guest was no other than Rodrigo Sandez, who was fabled all through that region to have found the entrance to the famous Lost Mine, whose wealth had been coupled with legends for many years.

"It seems that this mine had been known to the earliest Spanish explorers, many of whom went back to Spain fabulously rich. Then, for many years, all trace had been lost of it, and numerous miners and prospectors laughed incredulously at any mention of it. Then came Rodrigo Sandez with his friend, who likewise was Spanish, or as I think Spanish-Mexican, and rediscovered the Lost Mine, probably through some information long hidden, that had come to them in Mexico, through some unknown sources.

"The man was half frozen from exposure to the elements, and when he was thawed out physically, it did the same for his powers of speech.

I eagerly hoped that he would have something to say that would give me a clue to the whereabouts of that mine, not that I expected he would make me his heir, but I was anxious to make a stake in those days, for one reason, if not for another, so I had hopes.

"In the three weeks that he stayed in my cabin before the storm broke, not a hint could I get out of him, though he would talk volubly about other matters, telling me of his travels in Mexico and South America.

All the time he was with me I kept wondering what had become of his partner, but when I had it on the tip of my tongue to ask him, something in his manner of looking at me held me back.

"Physically he was not impressive, this man, being short and stocky.

His complexion was very dark, and his hair was short and bristly.

But there was a peculiar power in his eyes at times, and when he was disturbed about anything, instead of becoming sharp and brilliant they took on a kind of glaze, that gave you a creepy feeling when he looked at you.

"I might say right here that though Sandez and his partner had been trailed many times in the effort to find where this mine was located, they were always lost track of. Either they dropped out of sight as though the earth had swallowed them, or something happened to the party that was following them.

"When Sandez left my cabin to go on his way south, the weather having cleared, I decided to take up his back trail in hope of finding some trace of his partner, and thus getting a possible clue to the location of the mine. So I started out one clear, cold day, with my dog for guide and company.

"I knew the general direction that the two partners traveled, for their trail was not lost until they had gone some twenty miles northwest of my cabin. I made fast time over the frozen snow on my skis, until by noon I had covered nigh onto fifteen miles. The dog was trotting along ahead of me when suddenly he disappeared into a deep gulch.

"In a second or two he set up a howl long-drawn-out and I knew then that he had found the quarry. I discovered the body of the man under some thick bushes at the bottom of the gulch. He had not been frozen to death either, for there was a slit in his back, where the knife had been driven.

"No wonder that I had found it hard to ask the Senor Sandez what had become of his partner. Here was the answer. It was evident that this deed of treachery had been the end of a bitter quarrel, perhaps over the division of the wealth or some other matter of dispute. I always felt that there was more back of it than appeared on the surface. I found nothing to establish the ident.i.ty of the dead man, neither his name nor his place of residence.

"I did find, however, in an inner pocket the picture of a rather pretty Spanish woman, and on the back of it was drawn a diagram showing a certain part of the mountain. I instantly jumped to the conclusion that it was the clue to the Lost Mine. I spent several months thereafter trying to locate the place. I got most of the way by the map and then I came to a mark that fooled me completely, and I lost the trail."

"What did you do with that diagram, Jeems?" asked Jim intently.

"I kept it back of a rock in the chimney of my cabin, and it's there yet for all I know."

"Unless the mountain rats have chewed it up," remarked Tom gloomily.

"I suppose you can find that cabin of yours, can't you?" inquired Juarez.

"It's a good many years, but I reckon I could," Jeems replied.

"Well, I reckon you will have the chance," said Jim, "just as soon as we land."

"That yarn of yours was not only interesting, Jeems, but it has some practical value," remarked Jo.

"Ahoy there, Skipper," boomed out the old captain's voice from the quarter deck. "It's about time the man at the wheel was relieved." Jim sprang to his feet, and gave his head a hard thump with his fist to wake himself up.

"Right, Captain," he replied, "I've been sitting here listening to a yarn and forgetting my work. Jo, to the wheel. I'll stand watch."

Then he leaped up the steep steps leading to the quarter deck, closely followed by Jo, who took Pete's place at the wheel, while that worthy went below; and the captain turned into his cabin on the quarter deck without more ado. If anyone besides Jim had been so forgetful, there would have been a vast amount of growling on his part, but Jim was a favorite.

CHAPTER V

WORKING THE SHIP

It was now ten o'clock, and the ship steadily held her way over the plunging seas, and the wind came from out the vague s.p.a.ces of the night, not chill, but bracing. How Jim loved it! Sometimes he felt when he was pacing the deck at night on watch, that he liked the ocean even better than the mountains.

As he strode back and forth he thought and pondered over Jeems' story.

Suppose they should find this rich pocket mine of gold in the Sierras, what would they do with the money? Jim was not grasping and the mere idea of getting rich did not appeal to him. "A fool can make money,"

he had sometimes said, "but it takes a wise man to spend it." Then he brought his fist down hard upon the rail.

"I've got it, Jo," he cried, "if we find that mine, we will take a trip around the world and see if we can't discover something new.

We've got the ship already."

"What do we need of more money?" asked Jo. "Let's head her around now and strike out for the Philippines. We have got some of that treasure left that we discovered in Mexico."

"I wonder what Pap would say," replied Jim, lowering his voice, "if he found that he had been shanghied in any such fashion. I suspicion that there would be a mutiny aboard this craft."

"I forgot about him," admitted Jo.

"Another thing, you don't realize how much money it takes to keep a yacht going, even if we are under sail part of the time. This boat has got to be overhauled when we get to port. Drydocked for one thing, liable to cost $500; then the engines will have to be overhauled. Next coal and provisions----"

"I reckon we had better discover that mine," agreed Jo.

"That's where you show your good sense," concluded Jim.

So as the schooner yacht went northward following her unseen path through the darkness, the boys' minds were busy with their plans for the future. For one, I envy them their buoyant freedom, their hearty comradeship, and their chance for new and varying adventure. Yet they had earned much of the good fortune that had come to them by their pluck in danger and their cheerful endurance of hardship.

At two o'clock Tom was called on deck to take the wheel, and Jeems Howell to stand watch. Not a very strong maritime team, to be sure, but with the calm mild weather it was safe enough, and the captain was near at hand if any trouble should arise suddenly from out the darkness of the sea.

"Do you suppose you two land lubbers can manage, without running us aground?" inquired Jim.

"Aye, aye, sir!" replied Jeems cheerfully.