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 rrata 
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 leiure, 
 Id 
 
 J 
 
 32X 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
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 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
niK ►ik-skal's tooth!' hk tuiKU 
 
■p 
 
 i^ 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL'S TOOTH 
 
 / 
 
 B Stovs ot aiasftan B^penture 
 
 BY 
 
 KIUK M UN ROE 
 
 AUTIIMK UP 
 "OORYMATKS" " CASirMATKS" " CANOKMATES " 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YOKK 
 HARPER k BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 
 
 1894 
 
 t*^T*^< 
 
Bv KIRK MUNROE. 
 
 RAFTMATES. A Story of the Great Rivvr. 
 
 CA NOEM ATES. A Story of tlitt Florlrfs Rw>f and EverKUdn. 
 
 CAMPMATES. A Story at the Plaint. 
 
 DORYMATES. A T«l« of the Fiiliiug Bank*. 
 
 £aeh inu rotumt. IllHtrattd. lUl »vo, Cloth, |l J5. 
 nt Ht in a bot, $h OU. 
 
 WAKULLA. A Story of Adventure in Florida. 
 THE FLAMINUO FEATHER. 
 DERRICK Sl'ERLINU. A Story of the Mioei. 
 CIIRYSTAL, JACK A CO., and DELTA UIXBY. TwoStorloa. 
 Each one vutamt. Illtiitrattd. Squart Idmo, Cloth, |l 00. 
 
 Pi;b:.i«hri> bv HARPER It BROTHERS, Niw York. 
 
 tW for tatt bj/ all huokttlltn, or «m7/ bt teiU bf tht publiihtr$ 
 
 to any part of the Vnittd Stalt$, Canada, or 
 
 Mttieo, on rtttifl <^ pritt. 
 
 Copyright, 1891, by Hari-kr & Brotobrs. 
 
 AH rightt ut*n*d. 
 
ALASKA 
 
 A land of rwk, dipped in the brine 
 
 Like a brown finyer pointing toward tlie wc»t 
 
 * • « * • 
 
 77ie little craft Jlies font to the fair bay 
 Whotc waters kiss the feet of Sitka toton 
 
 u. E. n. 
 
 i V 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 ntlAPTRIt 
 
 I. 
 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 V. 
 VI. 
 VII. 
 VIII. 
 IX. 
 X. 
 XI. 
 XII. 
 XIII. 
 XIV. 
 XV. 
 XVI. 
 XVII. 
 XVIII. 
 XIX. 
 XX 
 XXI. 
 XXII. 
 XXIII. 
 XXIV. 
 XXV. 
 
 PAIIK 
 
 PniL AND Seuoe 1 
 
 Winning tiik Piuzk g 
 
 An Undesikaiu.e Acquaintanck .... 16 
 
 Acitoss THE Continent 23 
 
 Five Bull's eyes in Six Shots ..... 28 
 
 Phil's Sad Predicament 36 
 
 The \ ALUE OK a Tiiue Fiiiend 43 
 
 One Result ok Good Shooting .... 49 
 Introducin(» "Old Kite Roiiekson". . . 56 
 Phil Discoveuh What He Is ..... 02 
 
 Seals and Seal skins 68 
 
 Captain Duff's Shuewdnkss 75 
 
 The Fin.sT Seal hunt si 
 
 Overboaud in the North Pacific ... 88 
 Phil Becomes "IIioh Line". .... 94 
 
 A Venture into Forbidden Waters . . lOl 
 Cruel Killing of Mother seals .... 107 
 
 Cii.\sED BY A Revenue cutter ii;{ 
 
 Castaways on Oonimak ny 
 
 Hri.mstone and Feathers 
 
 Luxury on a Desolate Aleutian Isl.x.vd 
 How Jalap Coombs Got His Name 
 K«kmja the Alei t. and His P.idarkik 
 A Double Wahii for Schooners 
 Hunting the Sea otter . 
 
 1 *>•■; 
 
 i.'jy 
 ur, 
 IQI 
 158 
 
vl 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 flUAPTBR PAOR 
 
 XXVI. Sekue Kills a Beau, and Jalap Coomuh 
 
 I)I8A1M>EAU8 165 
 
 XXVII. Phil Sees Himself as Otiieus See Him . 171 
 XXVIII. Phil and Serge as Puisoneks of Wau. . 178 
 XXIX. A CiiuisE on a Beuino Sea Cutteb . . . 185 
 XXX. The TiiinD Lieutenant's IIumiliatino Po- 
 sition 102 
 
 XXXI. Whbke is the Centre of the United 
 
 States? 100 
 
 XXXII. Why the Cutteu Departed without Her 
 
 Passengers 200 
 
 XXXIII. In Hot Pursuit 213 
 
 XXXIV. Mr. John Rvders Story 220 
 
 XXXV. Jalap Coombs's Philobopiiy 227 
 
 XXXVI. Lost and Drifting in Bering Sea . . . 284 
 
 XXXVII. Saved ijy a Miracle 241 
 
 XXXVIII. Japonski's Tempt.vtion and the Fur- 
 
 tradkr's Offer 248 
 
 XXXIX. Serge Ukcovers a Bit of Lost Property . 255 
 XL. A Prospeci' of Snow-shoes and Sledges . 203 
 
ILLUSTKATIONS 
 
 "•TIIKrUR-SEAL's TOOTll!' IIK CRIED" Fr<mtUpitc» 
 
 •*IN FACT, TFIK MOUNTAINS HACK OK TIIK CITV WKRK 
 
 racitiff page 
 
 "it was TIIK IVORY TOOTH OF A FlU-SEAL " ... •' «' g 
 "*I SAII) IF voir srOKK TO MK AOAIN I WOiri,n KNOCK 
 
 YOU down'" i( «» 2tt 
 
 "VKS! IT WAS— A (IKNUINE IIAIDA DUGOUT" ... •« " ;{() 
 
 A STRKET IN VICTORIA •• "34 
 
 '•'IS IT PHILIP RYDER OR HIS GHOST !'" " '« 40 
 
 "TIIK COVK IN WHICH TIIK SAUCV-LOOKI.NO SEAMEfV I.AY 
 
 AT anchor" «. 44 f., 
 
 PHIL SIGNED THE ARTICLE WITHOUT READING IT . . '• " 54 
 
 "'YOU don't dare do IT. YOU AliE A COWARD* " . •' " f,8 
 
 ALASKAN HALUiUT HOOK u »» ft7 
 
 THE FUR-SKALS AT HOME , ^ n "70 
 
 THE BERING SEA PATROL FLEET »4 «' 743 
 
 " HE FOUND A BAILER, WITH WHICH HE SET VIGOROUS 
 
 LY TO work" .1 <• ^8 
 
 "the eyes of ALL THKEK SEARCHED THE WATERS IN- 
 CESSANTLY" 4« 4. u,. 
 
 n(» 
 
 CARRYING THE SEAL-SKINS FROM THE SCHOONER ... "44 |,^2 
 "just then a SECOND OUN WAS FIIIED BY THE PUR- 
 SUER ,1 '« 1 10 
 
 "MILLIONS ARE CAUGHT FOR CANNERIES Ei CII YEAR" " " " l^y 
 " WITHIN THREE MINUTES THE MATE HAD SECURED TWO 
 
 FINK FLSH" ., u j.j^, 
 
 " A SECOND SHOT STRETCHED HIM DEAD AT THEIR FEET " " " 142 
 
 "the LIGHT CRAW SHOT AWAY UP THE STRAIT" . . » "148 
 "after LONG AND PAINFUL STALKIiSQ PHIL SHOT TWO 
 
 SEA-LIONS " . 44 44 jg2 
 
Viii ILLUHTRATIONH 
 
 "'l TOOK I1KR INTO flITKA HAItnOR, WIIKRR RIIK MRR 
 
 NOW '" Fan 
 
 '" DAt'OIITRR, ALLOW MK TO PRE8KNT MY rRIKND MR. 
 
 PHILIP RTDKIl'" 
 
 A 8RAL IMLANI) VU.LAfiK 
 
 "RVRRY TIMR UK aTTKMPTKD TO RI8R TIIRT PROMPTLY 
 
 KNOCKRD IIIM IM)WN '* 
 
 " ' VKUY WKLL, MR. IIKL(;OKSKY ; DO AS YOU PLKA8K ' " 
 " ' WAL, MARM — AS OLD KITK R0BKR80N U8TKR SAY ' " 
 OltKEK CIIUKCII AND CIJSTOMIIOL'SR AT OONALA8KA . . 
 JALAP AND PIIIL'H rATIIER IIKAR HAD NRW8 FROM TIIK 
 
 nOY8 
 
 NOONIVAK ISLAND AND TIIR WALRUSHITNTERS' HUTS 
 '"WHITE MKN, AS I SAID; AND AMKRICANS, TlL RE 
 
 bound!'" 
 
 OLD BLOCK- IIOUBIS AT ST. MICIIAKLS 
 
 "TOWINQ a DOZEN HATIVX BOATS BEHIND HEB" . . 
 
 ngpagt 176 
 
 178 
 1U4 
 
 ion 
 
 210 
 210 
 224 
 
 228 
 2.'{0 
 
 24A 
 
 250 
 2bU 
 
 ■ 
 
 j 
 
"gpatu 
 
 ! no 
 
 1 i< 
 
 178 
 
 1 t( 
 
 1U4 
 
 li 
 
 10(1 
 
 tt 
 
 210 
 
 11 
 
 210 
 
 tl 
 
 224 
 
 u 
 
 228 
 
 tt 
 
 230 
 
 i< 
 
 240 
 
 ti 
 
 250 
 
 l« 
 
 2m 
 
V 
 
 
 •X 
 
r. 
 
 2 
 
 ■J. 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL'S TOOTH 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PHIL AXD SERGE 
 
 Although the sun was shining brightly over the 
 pleasant little Bvitish Columbian city of Victoria, and 
 the air was filled with the flower scents and bird notes 
 of late spring-time, at least one of the strollers along 
 its busy streets was so decidedly unhappy that he paid 
 no attention to sunshine, birds, or flowers. Life just 
 then seemed a very serious and perplexing affair to 
 Phil Ryder, and, to quote an expression that he himself 
 had often used in regard to others, he looked as though 
 he had lost his last triend. If any one in all that strange 
 foreign city had been intimate enough with him to sug- 
 gest this to Phil, he would have replied, "And so I 
 have, for I have lost my last dollar, and in a strange 
 country I don't know of any better friend than the 
 good old Yankee dollar." 
 
 How it all happened was this way: Phil was a Now 
 England lad, and hailed from the quaint old Connecti- 
 cut town of New London. He was freckle-faced and 
 curly -headed, not very tall, but so bro.ad- shouldered 
 that no one ever thought of asking him if he was trav- 
 elling for his health. What with rowing, paddling, 
 and sailing, skating and coasting, playing football until 
 
 K* 
 
2 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL'S TOOTH 
 
 he became centre rush and captain of his school team, 
 going on long, delightful outing trips to the Maine 
 woods with his father, who had been the most pains- 
 taking of teachers in the useful arts of shooting, fish- 
 ing, and camping out, this boy had early developed 
 into an all-round athlete of more than ordinary at- 
 tainments. With additional strength had come an 
 increase of self-reliance, until at the age of seventeen 
 he was about as independent and manly a young fel- 
 low as one would be apt to discover in a long day's 
 journey. 
 
 But this very indei^endence often led Iiim into trouble. 
 Like most self-reliant boys, he was inclined to place an 
 undue value upon his own knowledge and acquirements, 
 and to make light of those of his elders. All except his 
 own father, whom Phil regarded as the very wisest and 
 best of men, and whose example in all things he was 
 most anxious to copy. 
 
 And yet from this very father the boy inherited 'lis 
 worst fault, which was that of carelessness. Although 
 his aunt Ruth, who had brought him up from the ba- 
 byhood in which he lost his mother, made a point of 
 providing him with a place for everything, and had 
 almost hourly, during his whole life, impressed upon 
 him the importance of keeping things in their places, 
 he never yet had learned the lesson she strove so ear- 
 nestly to impart. He would say, " Yes, Aunt Rue, I'll 
 remember," give her a hearty kiss, and rush away with 
 an instant forgetfulness of all she had just said. He 
 lost and mislaid not only his own things, but those of 
 other people, until at length no one who knew him 
 would lend him anything of value. He forgot mes- 
 sages, and could not be trusted to go on errands. He 
 was forever in hot water on account of broken engage- 
 ments, and though naturally a bright student, was al- 
 ways in trouble over his lessons on account of having 
 
PHIL AND SERGE' 
 
 8 
 
 to spend mopt of his study hours in searching for mis- 
 laid books. Generally they were found flung into a 
 corner of the stone wall bounding the football field, 
 tucked carefully under the steps of the boat-house, or 
 hidden away in some other unlikely place that no one 
 but he would have thought of, and any one but he 
 would have remembered. 
 
 His son's heedlessness was Mr. Ryder's greatest 
 trial. 
 
 " Philip ! Philip ! why won't you overcome it for my 
 sake, if not for your own ?" he would cry ; and the boy 
 would answer: 
 
 " I do try, Pop ; indeed I do, but it's no use. I was 
 born that way, and I expect I shall be that way so 
 long as I live. After all, I am the one who suffers 
 most from it." 
 
 " Hold hard, Phil ! There's where you are wrong. 
 No one can truly say that, for no one can ever know 
 how far-reaching may be the consequences of his own 
 actions. With every single act of carelessness you 
 cause more or less anxiety and inconvenience to those 
 about you. Sooner or later, just so sure as you fail to 
 conquer this wretched habit, it will lead you, and prob- 
 ably others with you, into some unhappy predicament, 
 from which I pray you may escape without the accom- 
 paniment of a life-long sorrow." 
 
 After a talk like this Phil would reform for a day or 
 two. He would present himself to his astonished school- 
 mates as a model of punctuality, and would show an 
 attention to trifles that was painful in its minuteness. 
 These efforts at reform were always accompanied by 
 such an unnatural restraint of manner, so severe an ex- 
 pression of countenance, and so stern a refusal to en- 
 gage in any of the frivolities of life, such as football 
 or even the minor sports of the season, that there was 
 always a general rejoicing when in some sudden excite- 
 
THE FUK-SKALS TOOTH 
 
 ment the young penitent forgot his vows, and relapsed 
 into his old jolly, heedless self. 
 
 Even to Aunt Ruth the^ie brief seasons of austere 
 reform were periods of trial and anxiety lest by some 
 unguarded act or word she should fail to set her neph- 
 ew a proper example. So she, too, secretly breathed a 
 sigh of relief when the day of penance was ended, and 
 she could resume her accustomed way of quietly pick- 
 ing up and putting things to rights, after one of Phil's 
 sudden inroads through the house in search of some- 
 thing that must be found at once, because all the fel- 
 lows were waiting. lie knew he left it right here ! 
 and what could have become of it ? 
 
 Phil's father, Mr. John Ryder, was a mining expert, 
 whose business of examining into the condition of 
 mines, and re{)orting upon their value for the informa- 
 tion of capitalists or stockholders, kept him travelling 
 prolty constantly to all sorts of out-of-the-way nooks 
 and corners of the world. Phil considered it the most 
 delightful business in which one could engage, and 
 longed for the time to come when he might follow 
 in his father's footsteps. He even thought it a little 
 hard that the latter would never allow him to go as 
 his companion upon any of his distant journeyings, 
 but insisted on his attending strictly to school and his 
 studies. 
 
 Mr. Ryder always so arranged his affairs as to spend 
 a part at least of every vacation with his boy, and i u^.: 
 they took those long trips into the woods that, up to 
 this time, had formed the most delightful episodes of 
 Phil's life. At other times, when he was at home, Mr. 
 Ryder devoted himself so entirely to his son, and en- 
 tered so heartily into his pursuits and plans, that a 
 very strong bond of sympathy existed between them, 
 and the boy was never so happy as when in his father's 
 company. 
 
PHIL AND SERGE 
 
 Now it happened that the very year in which Phil 
 was to graduate from the New London High School 
 found his father engaged on an important and pro- 
 longed survey of mining property in the distant and 
 little-known land of Alaska. It was a great disappoint- 
 ment to both father and son that the former could not 
 be present at the latter's graduation. At the same 
 time there were compensations in a promise of glitter- 
 ing possibilities held out by Mr. Ryder. 
 
 " If you will only graduate within five of the head 
 of your class, Phil, you shall come out and spend the 
 summer with me in Alaska," he had said, and the boy 
 knew that he meant it. 
 
 What a prospect was thus held forth ! and what boy 
 in his senses would refuse to work hard for such a re- 
 ward as that ? A whole summer in the distant wonder- 
 land of the far north, amid Eskimos and Indians, vol- 
 canoes and glaciers, wolves and bears, seals and salmon ! 
 Every fellow in the school, and nearly every boy in 
 town, for that matter, knew of the splendid prize for 
 which Phil was striving, and they watched him either 
 with feelings of mean envy that secretly hoped he 
 might lose it, or with an honestly outspoken hope that 
 he might win it, according to their dispositions. 
 
 These New London lads knew, or thought they knew, 
 a great deal about Alaska ; for had not Serge Belcof- 
 sky, a young Russo- American from Sitka, attended one 
 of their schools for a whole year? lie had come on an 
 Arctic whaler that had touched at Sitka on her home- 
 ward voyage. With an uncommon perseverance, and 
 a longing for a better education than ho could obtain 
 at home, the lad had worked his way to New Lon- 
 don on this whaler, had with infinite j)atience and self- 
 denial worked his way through a whole year of school- 
 ing, and was now working his way back towards his 
 distant home on a fishiug-schooner that had been pur- 
 
T 
 
 ssv 
 
 h 
 
 TUB fub-seal's tootu 
 
 chased in New London by parties in Victoria, British 
 Columbia, for use on the Pacific coast. 
 
 During his whole year of schooling Serge Belcofsky 
 had been terribly homesick, and his intense longing 
 for his far-away northern home had made it seem to 
 him a veritable paradise. Thus from the outpourings 
 of his full heart the other boys had learned that, while 
 in certain portions of Alaska there were such things 
 as cold weather, ice, snow, fogs, and in summer-time 
 incredible swarms of the most blood-thirsty mosquitoes, 
 and other unpleasant features, these were almost un- 
 known in Sitka, which was by far the loveliest spot 
 on the face of the earth. 
 
 There, according to Serge, for some reason not made 
 quite clear, though probably on account of the heat 
 from surrounding but perfectly harmless volcanoes, 
 perpetual summer reigned, flowers bloomed incessant- 
 ly, and the woods, always green, were filled with the 
 most beautiful birds. Sitka itself was a great and 
 wonderful city, containing a castle, a cathedral, a fort, 
 a parade-ground for the troops always stationed 
 there, a battery of heavy guns, a governor's re.udence, 
 stately men-of-war in its harbor, Indians in its suburbs, 
 and a thousand other attractive features. Besides all 
 this, there were gold mines of fabulous richness on 
 every side ; in fact, the lofty mountains rising just 
 back of the city were full of gold. 
 
 This last was the statement that the boys most 
 doubted until it was confirmed by Phil Ryder, who 
 happened to overhear both it and their incredulous ex- 
 clamations. He knew, of course ; for was not his fa- 
 ther acquainted with all the gold mines in the world ? 
 and had he not even now gone out to set the seal of 
 his approval on those of Alaska ? 
 
 Phil did not know Serge Belcofsky very well ; for 
 though the latter was of about his own age, he was so 
 
just 
 
 M 
 
 PI 
 
PHIL AND SBBGE 
 
 far behind in his studies as to be in a lower class, and 
 80 infinitely removed from a fellow of the former's 
 high attainments. At the same time, as the young 
 Ru 880- American did not understand any of the games, 
 played by the Yankee boys in whose company he found 
 himself, and was far too busy earning his daily bread 
 to learn them, the leading athlete and ball -player of 
 the school regarded him with a sort of pitying indiffer- 
 ence. Ho did not altogether ignore him, and even on 
 occasions listened with the smiling indulgence of a su- 
 perior to the young Sitkan's marvellous tales of his 
 native place. 
 
 For this. Serge, who regarded Phil with an admira- 
 tion that almost amounted to reverence, was deeply 
 grateful, and when the young hero of the ball - field 
 went so far as to back up his most doubtful assertions, 
 and so establish them as truth beyond further ques- 
 tion, his gratitude knew no bounds. In a vague effort 
 to express it, he ventured to present Phil with his most 
 valued possession — it was the ivory tooth of a fur-seal 
 exquisitely carved, that had been given to his father 
 many years before, as a token of highest esteem, by a 
 chief of Chilkat Indians — one of the most powerful 
 and warlike of Alaskan tribes. 
 
 Phil deigned to accept this gift, and even went so 
 far as to wear it attached to his watch-chain, to the un- 
 feigned gratification of his sincere admirer and would- 
 be friend. Although Phil's watch was but an inexpen- 
 sive one in a nickel case, and its chain was of steel, this 
 new ornament attracted so much attention from all 
 who happened to note it, that the lad at length began 
 to value it rather highly himself, and to study with in- 
 terest the curious devices with which it was so beau- 
 tifully carved. 
 

 CHAPTER ir 
 
 WINNING THE PRIZE 
 
 ^ P 
 
 Serge Belcofsky had dejjarted early in the year, 
 and Alaska was lost sight of by most of the New Lon- 
 don boys amid the throng of more immediate, and to 
 them important, interests that crowded thick and fast 
 into their lives. These were Billy Bow's birthday 
 party, the opening of the gymnasium, tlio launch of 
 the new yacht, theatricals for the library fund, the 
 last skating-match of the season, and a score of other 
 things demanding their undivided attention. Phil Ry- 
 der managed to take some part in all of these, though 
 he was by no means so active nor so much of a lead- 
 er as formerly. That Alaska trip was to him a living 
 reality, and ho was striving for it with all his might. 
 Some of the other fellows were provoked that he 
 should neglect sports, in which he had so excelled, for 
 the mere purpose of studying, while there was still so 
 much time left in which to attend to that. 
 
 " There are two whole months yet before gradua- 
 tion," argued Al Snyder one day, when he was vainly 
 endeavoring to persuade Phil to undertake the coach- 
 ing of the nine. "Two whole months ! And yet here 
 you are grinding away as though examinations were to 
 begin to-morrow. Catch me working like that !" 
 
 " Oh yes, you would," laughed Phil, " if you had 
 the prize held out to you that I have." 
 
 "Pshaw!" ejaculated Al. "You know you can go 
 on that trip no matter where you stand. Your gov- 
 ernor only put it that way to try and make you work 
 
 t 
 
so 
 
 
 H 
 
 C 
 
 c 
 
 ■ 
 
 V. 
 
; : 
 
 ' 
 
WINNING TUB PRIZE 
 
 a little harder. It*s just one of bis tricks. They're all 
 up to thera." 
 
 ** It is nothing of the kind !" retorted Phil, hotly. 
 "And you don't know what you are talking about 
 when you speak in that way of my father. He never 
 said anything in his life that he didn't mean. If I am 
 inside of number five I'll go to Alaska, and if I'm not, 
 I won't. That's all there is about it. But I mean to 
 be inside, and as I can't make sure of that and watch 
 the nine at the same time, you see it is impossible for 
 me to do what you want." 
 
 So Phil stuck to his books, and all of a sudden there 
 camo a letter from Mr. Rydei' stating that, as his work 
 was drawing to a close sooner than he had L>xpcctcd, and 
 ac ho was more desire s than ever of having his son 
 visit the wonderful country in which he was located, 
 Phil might come out to him at once, without waiting 
 to graduate, provided he stood better than number 
 five in all his classes. 
 
 Here was a startling proposition! Did he stand bet- 
 ter than five everywhere ? The boy rapidly ran over 
 his position in ^ms several classes. He was within the 
 magic numb.; everywhere except in mathematics, and 
 there he stood at exactly five. 
 
 " I could have stood better than five there too, if I 
 had not given my chance to huinp-backcd Jimmy, the 
 other day," he reflected, though he was too honorable 
 a fellow to even have hinted at such a thing aloud. 
 Ho knew it, and he thought Jimmy himself knew it, 
 for he had seen a quick flush rise to the cripple's pale 
 cheek when it happened ; but he didn't believe any 
 one else did, nor did he intend they should. Still, 
 what could he do under the circumstances ? He was 
 not inside of number five in all of his classes. 
 
 Thi struggle was too hard a one for the boy to make 
 alone and he carried his perplexities to Mr. Blake, the 
 
^m 
 
 10 
 
 THE FUB-k£AL's TOOTH 
 
 head-master of his sclvool. After the latter had read 
 Mr. Ryder's letter, and listened attentively to Phil's 
 presentation cf the facts, he laid his hand on the lad's 
 shoulder, and said, 
 
 "Phil, do you remember the sentiment with which 
 you headed your final composition of last year ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir,' answered the boy ; "of course I do. My 
 father gave it to me, and I shall never forget it," 
 
 " What was its exact wording ?" 
 
 " * Regard honor as more precious than life itself ; 
 for without the former the latter is valueless,' " re- 
 peated Phil, in a low tone. 
 
 "You would hardly care to sacrifice your life for 
 the sake of this trip ?" 
 
 " No, sir, nor ray honor either !" cried the lad, with 
 a brave tremble in his voice. " So, as I cannot say with 
 perfect truth that I am inside of number five in all 
 my studies, I will write to father to-night, and tell him 
 the proposed trip must be given up." 
 
 " Spoken like the honest, true - hearted Yankee lad 
 that you are, Phil Ryder !" exclaimed Mr. Blake, 
 grasping the boy's hand, and holding it tightly clasped. 
 " Stick to that principle through life, and you will 
 have mastered the secret of all true success. But let 
 us look into this matter a little further. I happen 
 to have noticed a private trancaction between you and 
 lame Jimmy the other day. If you had not, as I be- 
 lieve purposely, made the same mistake that he did 
 you would have gone above him, ?nd would now stand 
 number four instead of number five in geometry. 
 Now, on account of that I have a proposition to make. 
 While I am sorry not to have you graduate with your 
 class, I know that your father has good reasons for 
 wishing you to visit Alaska this summer, while with 
 you the desire to join him there is very great." 
 
 " Indeed it is, sir I" 
 
 
WINNING THE PRIZE 
 
 11 
 
 " Well, then, if you will give me your word of hon- 
 or not to divulge a word of their contents, I will place 
 the forthcoming examination papers of your class in 
 your hands. If you can satisfactorily answer ninety 
 per cent, of their questions, you will stand safely Avith- 
 in the number named by your father, and I will give 
 you a certificate to that effect." 
 
 " Oh, thank you, sir !" cried Phil, with such a re- 
 vulsion of feeling from deepest disappointment to 
 brightest hope, that even the sunset seemed suddenly 
 to hava taken on a new and more radiant splendor. 
 " Of course I promise ! and, of course, I shall be only 
 too glad to try the examinations !" 
 
 " Very well," said Mr. Blake. " Come to my study 
 to - morrow evening directly after tea, and we will 
 make a beginning wit'i English literature and Latin. 
 In the mean time don't mention to any one, except- 
 ing your aunt, what you are doing." 
 
 How thankful Phil was that he had so used his time 
 as to be able to approach this trial with confidence, 
 and how hard he did work during the next three days 
 in revising his studies of the previous year ! What 
 anxious minutes he spent at the conclusion of the 
 third evening of examination, while Mr. Blake looked 
 over and marked the last paper, the one in mathemat- 
 ics, that he had just handed in. 
 
 " It's all right, Philip !" the head-master finally an- 
 nounced, " and I do most heartily congratulate you on 
 your success. This last paper brings your average up 
 to ninety-three per cent., which, as compared with the 
 class standings of the past ten years, lands you well 
 within the limit named by your father. I therefore 
 feel no hesitation in giving you that rank, and you 
 may, with a clear conscience, start on your journey 
 just as soon as your preparations can be made. Good- 
 bye ! God bless you ! I trust you will have the glo- 
 
12 
 
 THB pur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 rious time you expect, and which you have so honestly 
 earned. I also hope that in the autumn you will re- 
 turn to us with a richly increased knowledge of our 
 great country, and particularly of that vast Northern 
 territory concerning which there is still so little gen- 
 eral information." 
 
 If the last three days had been busy ones for Phil, 
 they had been equally so for his aunt Ruth, for in that 
 short time she had been compelled to do all the mak- 
 ing ready and packing, for which she had expected to 
 have as many weeks. In these few days, during the 
 infrequent intervals that her nephew spared from his 
 studies, she felt it her duty to stock his mind with 
 stores of good advice and oft-repeated warnings against 
 his besetting fault. He listened with what patience 
 he could command, but finally laughingly declared that 
 it would be necessary for him to live at least a hun- 
 dred years to put all her precepts into practice. 
 
 " Oh, but Phil !" she exclaimed, pausing in the pack- 
 ing of his trunk to emphasize her remarks, " you are so 
 young and so careless, and the journey before you is 
 so filled with terrible possibilities ! I declare I don't 
 know but that I ought to go along to take care of 
 you." 
 
 " Nonsense, Aunt Rue !" retorted the young athlete, 
 at the same time picking up the slight figure of his 
 anxious relative and swinging her, ruffled and indig- 
 nant, into his father's great leathern arm - chair ; " if 
 I'm not old enough and big enough now to take care 
 of myself, I never shall be. Of course I know that I 
 have been careless at times, and heedless, and all that. 
 I can assure you, though, that my careless days are 
 things of the past, and that hereafter no graybeard of 
 your acquaintance will afford a more perfect model of 
 prudence than your humble nephew. As for you ! 
 well, the mere idea of a dear little thing like you wan- 
 
 ■f 
 
WINNING THE PRIZE 
 
 13 
 
 lig- 
 if 
 
 (< 
 
 are 
 
 at I 
 
 hat. 
 
 are 
 
 of 
 
 of 
 
 oil ! 
 
 an- 
 
 dering away out there among the Siwasbes to protect 
 a fellow of my size is prodigiously absurd. It sure- 
 ly is." 
 
 " Absurd or not, Master Impudence, you'll see the 
 day more than once, before this trip is ended, that 
 you'll wish your old aunty was at hand with a little of 
 her common - sense to help you out of some reckless 
 scrape or other. Mark ray words, you will." 
 
 " All right. Aunt Rue, I'll mark down your words 
 as you suggest; mark 'em down to half-price. I'll 
 also make a note in my log-book of every time I get 
 stranded for want of your counsel. Then when the 
 cruise is over I promise to make a full confession, and 
 humbly beg for those chunks of wisdom that shall en- 
 able me to steer clear of all such rocks in the future." 
 
 " Get away with your foolishness, you yonng scape- 
 grace !" cried Aunt Ruth, jumping down from the 
 arm-chair and attempting a box on Phil's ear, which ^ 
 the boy skilfully dodged, as a preliminary to resuming ' 
 her packing. 
 
 At length all was in readiness, the last lingering 
 good-byes were spoken, and the boy was fairly launched 
 on his travels. All his young friends, and apparently 
 half the town besides, were assembled at the station to 
 see him set forth. His trunk was checked, he carried 
 an overcoat on his arm, in his hands were a stout trav- 
 elling-bag, and in a canvas case the beautiful Winches- 
 ter that had been his father's last birthday gift. 
 
 There was a grand shout of farewell from the fel- 
 lows as the train finally moved out from the station, 
 and Phil answered it with a wave of his hat from the 
 rear platform of the last car. Then, going inside, he 
 sat down to reflect upon his glorious prospects, that 
 seemed to stretch away in a limitless haze of exciting 
 adventure and daring exploit. If he could have had 
 but one real glimpse of the varied hardships and bitter 
 

 14 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL'S TOOTH 
 
 experiences held by the immediate future, I am afraid 
 he would have shrunk from them as did the poor little 
 bear who found himself alone in the world with all his 
 troubles before him. Fortunately for our hero's peace 
 of mind, his vision was just as limited as is that of 
 every one of us, who can have no possible inkling of 
 what each coming day may bring forth. 
 
 
 
 I ' 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 AN UNDESIRABLE ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 According to the plan laid out by Mr. Ryder, Phil 
 was to make his long journey across the continent 
 by the Canadian Pacific Railway, which not only offers 
 the most direct route to Victoria and a connection with 
 the Alaska steamers, but passes through some of the 
 grandest and most interesting scenery in America. Mr. 
 Ryder's letter contained explicit instructions concern- 
 ing each step of the journey, and Phil had read these 
 over so often that he knew them by heart. It had also 
 contained a bank check for $200, v^hich formed an 
 ample allowance for the proposed trip. In regard to 
 this Mr. Ryder had written : " Above all, my boy, 
 take care of your money, and never display it before 
 strangers. You know we are not wealthy people, and 
 though the sum enclosed is not a large one, its loss and 
 replacement would cause me a real inconvenience." 
 
 " Of course I will take care of it," said Phil, when 
 he and his aunt Ruth read this paragraph over to- 
 gether, and she added her caution to that of his father. 
 " I may lose some other and less-important things now 
 and then, but money is something I'm likely to keep 
 a pretty solid grip on, and I'd like to meet the man 
 who'd dare try and take it from me." 
 
 Here the sturdy young fellow glared about him as 
 fiercely as though the room were filled with robbers, 
 with whom he should take the greatest pleasure in 
 trying conclusions. 
 
 In New London, Phil's ticket could only be pro- 
 
w 
 
 I 
 
 » ! 
 
 16 
 
 TUB fur-seal's tooth 
 
 cured as far as Montreal, at which place ho was to 
 purchase another that would take him to Victoria, check 
 his trunk to the same destination, and engage his sleep- 
 ing-car berth as far as Vancouver. This latter city is 
 the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific, is situ- 
 ated on the mainland bordering Puget Sound, and is 
 seventy miles by water from Victoria, which is on the 
 island of Vancouver. 
 
 Before leaving home, Phil's money, in the shape of 
 bank-bills, was placed in the new alligator-skin pocket- 
 book which was Aunt Ruth's parting gift, and thrust 
 carefully into the young traveller's inside vest pocket. 
 There, in spite of his remonstrances, his aunt fastened 
 it securely with two stout safety-pins. 
 
 Phil had taken the journey to Montreal so often with 
 his father that he felt entirely at home in the Canadian 
 metropolis, and knew just what to do when he reached 
 there early on the following morning after leaving 
 New London. With quite the air of an old traveller, 
 and a slight feeling of contempt for the fluttering anx- 
 iety of those who were about to undergo their first 
 experience with customs officers, he handed both his 
 check and the key of his trunk to the Windsor Hotel 
 porter, requested him to send the trunk to the Cana- 
 dian Pacific station after it should have been exam- 
 ined, and stepped into the waiting hotel 'bus, with his 
 mind relieved of all further anxiety concerning that 
 portion of the business. As the overland train would 
 not leave until evening, he now had the whole day be- 
 fore him, and was consequently free from hurry or 
 worry of any kind. 
 
 After a capital breakfast, to which he devoted an 
 hour of his ample leisure, he strolled into the girat 
 rotunda. Here he wrote a note to his aunt Ruth on 
 the hotel paper, and felt imposed upon by being obliged 
 to pay three cents for a Canadian stamp with which 
 
 4. 
 
AN UNDESIRABLE ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 17 
 
 to scnfl a letter out of the country, into which a two- 
 cent American stamp would bring it. This was so 
 clearly an extravagance that Phil decided to deny him- 
 self the luxury of letter-writing until he should come 
 once more within the lines of the United States mail- 
 service. Having settled upon tLis plan for saving 
 money, he purchased a silver souvenir spoon, the handle 
 of which was surmounted by the Canadian beaver, and 
 mailed it, together with his letter, to his aunt Ruth. 
 
 Phil argued that though this might a)>pear extrava- 
 gant, it really was not ; for in return for all her kind- 
 ness he owc^ something to his dear aunt, whose hobby 
 was the coi.ccting of souvenir spoons. Besides, if he 
 neglected this opportunity for the securing of one of 
 those beaver spoons, he probably would not meet with 
 another. 
 
 This transaction had hardly been finished when the 
 hotel porter, with a touch of the hat that drew a quar- 
 ter from Phil's pocket, handed him the key of his trunk, 
 and announced that it awaited him in the Canadian 
 Pacific station. So Phil strolled down to the superb 
 building that rears its massive granite front like that 
 of a mediaeval castle a short distance below the AVind- 
 sor, bought his ticket, and checked his trunk to Vic- 
 toria. Then, for twenty dollars more, he engaged a 
 lower berth in a sleeping-car that would run to Van- 
 couver without change. 
 
 These expenditures reduced his available cash to a 
 one-hundred-dollar bill and a twenty. As the latter 
 would be needed for meals, etc., en routes he tucked it 
 into a vest pocket, but the larger bill he restored to his 
 pocket-book, which now looked so flat it was hard to 
 realize it was not empty. 
 
 While he was struggling to recommit this to the 
 security of its safety-pins, and the sleeping-car clerk 
 was watching him with a slight smile that caused the 
 
18 
 
 TUB fur-seal's tooth 
 
 i> 
 
 r 
 
 lad's face to flush, he became conscious that a young 
 fellow, apparently a few years older than himself, was 
 standing near, and regarding his precautions for se- 
 curing his money with something very like a sneer. 
 
 Instantly Phil was seized with a hot indignation, 
 under the impulse of which he blurted out, " Well, 
 sir ! I trust that I afford you sufficient amusement to 
 excuse your rudeness." 
 
 " Excuse me," said the young man. " Were you ad- 
 dressing me ? I am glad you spoke, for I see by your 
 ticket that we are to be travelling companions together 
 across the continent. My name is Goldollar — Simon 
 Goldollar — and I am from New York. I presume you 
 also are from the States ?" 
 
 Completely disarmed by this polite speech, and feel- 
 ing heartily ashamed of his own, Phil accepted the 
 stranger's advances, and allowed himself to be drawn 
 into a conversation. At the same time he was not at 
 all prepossessed by the other's appearance or manner. 
 Still, he reflected that if they were to be shut up in the 
 same car together for the next five or six days, it would 
 be much pleasanter that they should be on friendly 
 terms than otherwise. So he told Mr. Simon Goldol- 
 lar his own name, confided to him that he was on his 
 way to Alaska, and they walked out of the station to- 
 gether. 
 
 " Going to Alaska, are you ?" asked the stranger. 
 " Taking the regular tourist trip, I suppose ?" 
 
 " I don't know what the regular trip is," answered 
 Phil. " I am going as far as Sitka." 
 
 "Oh yes, just to the edge of Alaska, and then you'll 
 come away thinking that you know it all, like the, rest 
 of the tourists. If you'd studied the country as I have, 
 you'd realize that Alaska is a mighty big place, and 
 that you must spend months and thousands of dollars 
 111 travelling over it before you know much about it." 
 
 M"ll 
 
AN UNDESIRABLE ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 19 
 
 " Have you done that ?" asked Phil, simply. 
 
 " Well, no, not exactly ; but I'm expecting to in the 
 near future — that is," he added, with a slight air of 
 confusion, "I have particular reasons for wishing to 
 take the trip, and if things work out all right I hope 
 to be able to do it. By-the-way, I suppose you've laid 
 in your supply of hardware ?" 
 
 " Hardware ?" repeated Phil, in a puzzled tone. 
 
 " Yes ; wet goods, you know. Montreal's the very 
 best place for providing the stock." 
 
 " I can't imagine what you mean." 
 
 Again a slight sneer flitted across Mr. Simon Goldol- 
 lar's face as he explained that "hardware" and "wet 
 goods" were but polite terms for liquor, with a flask 
 of which every "travelling gent" should provide him- 
 self before going aboard a train. 
 
 " I don't see why liquor should be more necessary on 
 board a train than anywhere else," said Phil. 
 
 " Nor I," replied Simon Goldollar ; " for to me it's 
 just as necessary in one place as another." 
 
 "And as I am not a travelling gent,'" continued 
 Phil, " and have never touched liquor in my life, and 
 don't ever intend to, I can't see why I should provide 
 myself with a flask of it." 
 
 " How about being ready for your friends ?" 
 
 " I am always ready for my friends, and glad to see 
 them, and willing to treat them to the best of every- 
 thing I may happen to have ; but none of my friends 
 have any more use for liquor than I have." 
 
 " You and your friends must be a precious spooney 
 lot," muttered Simon Goldollar to himself ; but aloud 
 he said : " Oh, well, you are young yet, and not rid of 
 your Yankee notions. Wait till you've been out on 
 the coast a few months, and you'll sing a different 
 
 tune. 
 
 (( 
 
 I guess not," replied Phil, stoutly. " For I'm sing- 
 
— T 
 
 i 
 
 20 
 
 TUB fuk-seal's tooth 
 
 ing the same tune now tli .t my fatlier sings, and he 
 has been out on the * coast,' as you call it, for a good 
 many years, off and on." 
 
 " Well, you must admit that it's a mighty good 
 medicine to have along, and a fine thing for sickness." 
 
 " Yes," replied the lad, dryly ; " I have often heard 
 my father say that liquor was one of the best things 
 in the world for sickness ; but that he would rather 
 not be made sick in that way." 
 
 "I suppose your father doesn't smoke either?" 
 
 " Oh yes he does ; he smckes a cigar every evening 
 after dinner." 
 
 " Then of course you follow his example, and do the 
 same thing ?" 
 
 " Then of course I do nothing of the kind. I don't 
 know what I may do when I become twenty-one years 
 of age ; but I gave him my promise long ago never to 
 smoke even a cigarette until that time. Besides, I'm 
 on a football team, and a fellow who smoked would be 
 fired out of that quick enough, I can tell you. Now, as 
 we are at my hotel, I think I will go in and write some 
 letters." 
 
 Phil said this with the hope of shaking off the com- 
 panion whose presence was anything but agreeable to 
 him ; but the other remarked : 
 
 " Oh ! you put up at the swell hotel, do you ? Well, 
 I guess I'll go in and write a letter too." 
 
 " I didn't know you were stopping here. I didn't 
 see you at breakfast," said Phil. 
 
 " No, nor you won't see me at dinner, either, unless 
 some of my friends happen to give me an invite. All 
 the same, I write my letters to the firm from here, and 
 send in my expense bills from here. That's the only 
 way to make money on the road nowadays. Charge 
 up first-class hotel prices, live at restaurants, and pocket 
 the difference. Sec? That is the reason I'm going 
 
 t- 
 
AN UNDESIRABLE ACQUAINTANCE 
 
 91 
 
 West by this route, too," continued Simon Goldollar, 
 who seemed anxious to show off his smartness heforo 
 this new and evidently very verdant acquaintance. 
 " The scheme is to charge up tlie highest possible rail- 
 road fares, and travel on scalped tickets. Oh, it's a 
 great racket ! and the sooner you get onto it the better 
 for your pocket-book." 
 
 " Thank you," answered Phil, in a tone that ex- 
 pressed as much of disgust as he could throw into it. 
 " Whenever I find it necessary to make my living by 
 turning 'road -agent,' which is what I suppose you 
 mean by ' going on the road,' I will remember your 
 advice ; but now you really must excuse me if I leave 
 you for a while." 
 
 With this, and without giving the other a chance to 
 reply, the lad turned and left the hotel. He took a 
 long walk through the city, and when he returned for 
 dinner was thankful to find no trace of his late com- 
 panion. "I've almost a mind to stop over and take to- 
 morrow's train in order to avoid him," he said to him- 
 self ; but reflecting that this would be cowardly as well 
 as extravagant, he decided to adhere to his original 
 plan. 
 
hi: 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 ACROSS THE CONTINENT 
 
 I 
 
 In his journeyings thus far it may have been re- 
 marked that our careless hero had been a model of 
 prudence and forethought. About this time, how- 
 ever, his old habits began to assert themselves. Thus, 
 before the end of the first day out from Montreal his 
 belongings were so scattered from one end of the 
 sleeping-car to the other, that its good-natured black 
 porter was kept constantly on the alert gathering 
 them up and restoring them to their owner. At the 
 same time, by his cheerful disposition and obliging 
 manners the young fellow made himself a universal 
 favorite. Especially was this the case with the weary 
 mothers, whose restless children he was always ready 
 to amuse and entertain. 
 
 To these children the quaintly carved tooth that 
 dangled from his watch-chain was a source of never- 
 failing delight. It was also considered a great curiosity, 
 and examined with interest by the older passengers, 
 while Simon Goldollar, who managed to maintain an 
 appearance of intimacy with its owner, asked many 
 questions concerning it. "Was it not a witch charm ? 
 Did its engraved figures represent totems ?" etc., to all 
 of which Phil had to plead ignorance. 
 
 One day he detached it from its chain to give it to 
 a fretful baby as a plaything. At the same time he 
 gave his watch to another child. Then, attracted by 
 a bit of scenery that was best visible from the smoking- 
 
ACUOSS THE CONTINENT 
 
 93 
 
 room at Iho rear end of the car, he wont off and forgot 
 all about them. 
 
 A few hours later one mother returned his watch to 
 him ; while the other said that, after her infant had 
 nearly choked himself in trying to swallow the fur- 
 seal's tooth, she had taken it from him and laid it on 
 the window-sill of Phil's seat. In the mean time the 
 berths had been made up for the night, and it was 
 nowhere to be seen. Its owner good-naturedly said, 
 "No matter, it will turn up again somewhere," and 
 thought no more about it until the next day. Then a 
 vigorous search was instituted for the missing trinket, 
 but with no avail. It was not to be found, nor was it 
 again seen during the remainder of the journey. 
 
 Phil felt badly over the loss of the fur-seal's tooth, 
 beoause the universal interest it had excited led him 
 to believe it more valuable than he had at first sup- 
 posed. Also because of Serge Belcofsky, of whom it 
 had been a constant reminder, and whose good ouali- 
 ties grew more and more apparent to our hero with the 
 lapse of time and distance. He wondered if any one 
 could have stolen the bit of carved ivory ; but being 
 of a singularly honest and unsuspicious nature, he dis- 
 missed this thought almost before it was formed. 
 
 So the eventful journey wore on, with each day more 
 full of strange and wonderful interest than its pred- 
 ecessor. The scenery of the first day was an almost 
 unbroken forest with queer settlements at wide inter- 
 vals. It was rather monotonous, and to bejruilo the 
 time Simon Goldollar induced Phil to join him and 
 two others in a game of cards. The lad did not care 
 much for the game, and only entered it rather than 
 appear ill-natured or disobliging. When at the end of 
 an hour he expressed a wish to withdraw, Simon Gol- 
 dollar informed him that he could do so upon payment 
 of the two dollars he had lost, as they had been play- 
 
24 
 
 THE FUR-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 I i 
 
 ■( ^ 
 
 ing for a shilling a point. At this Phil sprang from 
 his seat in a sudden fury. 
 
 " So you are a gambler, are you ! And I have been 
 led blindfolded into your trap !" he csricd. " Veiy 
 well, sir ; there is your wretched money ; and now, if 
 you ever mention cards to me again, or in fact if you 
 dare speak to me on any subject, I will knock you 
 down." With this the lad flung two silver dollars 
 upon the table and left the room, almost choked with 
 the tumult of his feelings. 
 
 He heard Goldollar's sneering laugh and his remark 
 of " Pretty loud crowing for a bantam, eh ?" and he 
 heard one of the other men say something about its 
 being too bad; but he did not wait for anything more. 
 
 Afterwards both the strangers apologized to him for 
 their apparent share in the deception, saying that Gol- 
 dollar had told them before the game began that it 
 was \inderstood by all they were to play for money. 
 The author of this unpleasant scene dH not, however, 
 see- fit to offer any apology for his share in it, nor did 
 he and Phil exchange aught save black looks for sev- 
 eral days. 
 
 Our lad was too manly a fellow to allow an incident 
 of this kind to affect h'.m for long, and he was soon en- 
 joying the irip as keenly as ever. 
 
 The second day was passed amid the rugged sce- 
 nery of Thunder Bay and the northern shores of Lake 
 Superior, greatest of fresh -water seas. It was fol- 
 lowed by their arrival in the early morning of the 
 third day at Winnipeg, the old Fort Garry of fur- 
 trading times. This fort had played so conspicuous a 
 part in the stories of Phil's boyhood that he gazed 
 about him on all sides with an eager interest, and was 
 disappointed to find the Hudson Bay Company's post 
 of romance grown into a fair and wide-spread city. 
 
 Here, with the crossing of the Red River, thp forest 
 
ACROSS THE CONTINENT 
 
 25 
 
 8 remark 
 
 ' and lie 
 
 ibout its 
 
 ng more. 
 
 ► him for 
 
 hat Gol- 
 
 1 that it 
 
 money. 
 
 lowever, 
 
 nor did 
 
 or sev- 
 
 incident 
 oon en- 
 
 ed sce- 
 )f Lake 
 as fol- 
 of the 
 of fur- 
 uous a 
 gazed 
 nd was 
 's post 
 
 ty. 
 
 forest 
 
 country ended, and the treeless plains of Manitoba, 
 once the range of countless buffalo, but now one of 
 the greatest wheat regions of the world, began. As 
 the train rushed across the vast breezy levels at an 
 accel !rated speed the far-reaching view with its myriad 
 objects of interest was exhilarating in the extreme, and 
 Phil gazed upon it for the greater part of two days 
 without a trace of weariness. Here were old buffalo 
 trails and wallows ; there a fleeing band of antelope 
 or a skulking coyote. Now a party of mounted Black- 
 feet in all the bravery of savage decoration would 
 dash up to some little station at which the train was 
 stopping. A few minutes later it would whirl past a 
 cluster of their tepees looking exactly like the pict- 
 ures of Indian camps he had pored over so often in 
 his books. He saw cowboys, too, and great herds of 
 cattle. He saw a vast wheat ranch, containing one 
 hundred square miles of land, divided into fields of 
 such size that in them the ploughing of a single furrow 
 was a day's work for a man and team. 
 
 At length, during the morning of the fourth day, 
 soon after leaving the brisk little city of Calgary, Phil 
 caught a glimpse, far ahead, of something that caused 
 him to rub his eyes and look again. It was high up 
 and of dazzling whiteness. It could not be a cloi;d. 
 No, it must be snow. Yes, it actually was a snow- 
 capped peak of the Rocky Mountains. As the dis- 
 covery burst upon him in all its magnitude Phil 
 uttf^ied a shout of delighted wonder that attracted 
 cUe attention of every one in the car, and all the pas- 
 sengers crowded to the windows to look. 
 
 From this on all was excitement, which, as the won- 
 drous panorama of glistening peaks was unfolded and 
 uplifted, until finally the train plunged into their very 
 midst, increased with each moment. Now an o])en 
 observation-car was attached to the train, and as it 
 
I ^ 
 
 h 
 h 
 
 ■:.U 
 
 26 
 
 THE PUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 sped up the narrow valley of the crystal Bow, the; 
 ever-changing and ever- fascinating view was unob- 
 structed. On they hurried, past Banff, with its sky- 
 piercing peaks, its boiling springs, and its stately hotel; 
 and past Laggan, the point of departure on horseback 
 for the marvellously beautiful lakes of the clouds. 
 Ten miles further on the Great Divide was crossed, 
 and with a thrill our young traveller realized that the 
 rivulet flowing beside the track was the head-waters 
 of the Kicking Horse, a tributary of the mighty Co- 
 lumbia, and the first Pacific waters he hvd "^ver seen. 
 
 From here, for a hundred miles doi"r. - ( western 
 slope of the Rockies, and over the ii.ajestic Selkirk 
 Range, the scenery was so indescribably grand, so 
 ^Ued with lofty mountain peaks, fathomless gorges, 
 gleaming glaciers, and foaming cataracts, that no 
 words can tell of it, and even the enthusiasts of the 
 observation-car were awed into silence. As for Phil 
 Ryder, who had never even imagined anything so 
 marvellous, he sat and gazed alone, and with swelling 
 heart, at the wonders unfolded by each succeeding 
 moment. The majesty of that day's scenery was so 
 overpowering that he was actually glad when rs'pjh*. 
 came and hid it from his wearied eyes. 
 
 On the following day, which was to be his a ' -'-n 
 the train, the strange grandeur of the mighty i"ic r 
 Canon was almost as bewildering as that of the raoui.- 
 tains already left behind, and the lad drew a long sigh 
 of relief when the train finally emerged from it, and 
 entered the comparatively level country that stretched 
 away to the western ocean. 
 
 At one pretty littL station where the train stopped 
 for dinner, Phil, having exhausted his chni-rij. wh^ 
 obliged to take the one-hundred-dollar bill f- : . .'jii 
 securely hidden pocket-book. Simon Goldoliar watohed 
 him, and when, in the haste of departure, the lad thrust 
 
 I 
 
Bow, tho 
 vas unob- 
 li its sky- 
 telv hotel; 
 horseback 
 le clouds. 
 s crossed, 
 d that the 
 jad-waters 
 ighty Co- 
 , or seen. 
 * western 
 ic Selkirk 
 grand, so 
 ss gorges, 
 y that no 
 sts of the 
 i for Phil 
 ything so 
 1 swelling 
 ucceeding 
 ry was so 
 
 men ri'^^ 
 
 ■.J4l 
 
 lis a-'"- i.i\ 
 ty 1^1.: r 
 the raouu- 
 ong sigh 
 m it, and 
 stretched 
 
 ^>Sr'^ 
 
 "'J SAll> \V you SluivK TO MK A(i.\lN I WOILI) KNOCK VOi: I>U\VN 
 
 n stopped 
 
 ':_••. w.'>.3 
 
 i'- :■■; /iii; 
 
 watohed 
 ad thrust 
 
ACROSS THE CONTINENT 
 
 27 
 
 both fiis wallet and the wad of bills he had just re- 
 ceived in change into one of the pockets of his over- 
 coat, instead cf putting it into the place where his 
 treasure had been kept, the former noted this action 
 also. A minute later the overcoat was carelessly flung 
 into a seat of the sleeper, while its young owner joined 
 a group of passengers who had called to him from one 
 end of the car. 
 
 At the last stop before reaching Vancouver, Simon 
 Goldollar approached Phil, who was walking beyond 
 the end of the platform. "Let's make up and be 
 friends," he said, extending his hand. « I don't bear 
 no hard feelings, and to prove it I'll put you onto a 
 big scheme by which you can double your money in 
 no time. Buy opium in Victoria, run it, into Alaska 
 and — " ' 
 
 ^'Mr. Simon Goldollar," interrupted Phil, regarding 
 the other with blazing eyes, « I once said that if you 
 ever spoke to me again I would knock you down and 
 I never go back on my word." * 
 
 With this the young athlete stepped forward with so 
 threatening and determined an aspect, that Mr. Simon 
 Goldollar, with one terrified glance, sought safety in 
 precipitate flight, nor did he pause until he had gained 
 the shelter of the train. 
 
[ \ 
 
 •i i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 FIVE bull's-eyes IN SIX SHOTS 
 
 "It doesn't seem exactly the thing to frighten a fellow 
 half to death just when he is making friendly advances 
 to you," reflected Phil, as he watched the fly ing figure 
 of Mr. Goldollar, " but what else could I do ? I had 
 to try and keep my promise. Besides, how dared be 
 to insult me with such a proposal ? The idea of sug- 
 gesting that I should turn smuggler !" At this thought 
 the lad's blood boiled with such indignation that he 
 felt inclined to follow Mr. Goldollar, and still further 
 impress upon him the lesson he had just received. Be- 
 fore he could carry out this intention, however, the 
 train started, and he was obliged to let well enough 
 alone, at least for the present. 
 
 As for Mr. Simon Goldollar, his feelings had received 
 a much greater hurt than that with which his body 
 had been threatened, and as he slipped into a seat in the 
 smoking-car, as far as possible from the one occupied 
 by Phil, his dark features were distorted with rage. 
 
 "I'll pay you for this outrage, very suddenly and 
 with compound interest, you canting young hypocrite 
 you !" he muttered, at the same time shaking his fist 
 vaguely in the direction of the sturdy lad, against 
 whom in a fair fight he would have stood no better 
 chance than an infant. He did not re-enter the sleeper 
 until after the train reached Vancouver, so that Phil 
 did not see him again, and wondered without much 
 caring whether he had not been left behind. 
 
 During the last few miles of that eventful overland 
 
 \ 
 
FIVE bull's-eyes IN SIX SHOTS 
 
 29 
 
 journey Phil was so busy gathering up his belongings, 
 repacking his bug, and bidding farewell to those of his 
 fellow-passengers who we'*o to stop in Vancouver, that 
 he forgot all about the scenery. Consequently when 
 the train stopped for the last time, and the porter 
 called out: "Vancouver! Change here for Victoria, 
 Japan, and China !" it seemed incredible that the 
 sparkling waters visible through the car window could 
 be those of the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 They were, though, or rather they were the waters 
 of Burrard Inlet, an arm of Puget Sound, on which 
 the new but rapidly growing city of Vancouver is 
 located. Just across the wharf, at one side of which 
 the train had stopped^ lay a great white clipper-bowed 
 steamship, bearing the name in letters of gold Em- 
 press of India. She was one of the fleet of superb 
 ocean flyers that form the Canadian Pacific's connect- 
 ing link betweci America and Asia. The mere sight 
 of this beautiful ship, and of the Japanese stewards 
 and cabin-boys clustered on her snowy decks, made 
 Phil feel as though he had indeed joined the great 
 army of " globe-trotters." 
 
 Tliere was but scant time, though, for romantic 
 reveries concerning the Orient, for near the Empress 
 lay the Premier, another though much smaller white 
 steamer, waiting to convey to Victoria such passengers 
 and mail as the train had brought. 
 
 This boat had hardly left the wharf, with Phil com- 
 fortably seated on deck, his bag and gun beside him, 
 and his overcoat lying across his knees, before the ex- 
 citable lad sprang to his feet and ran to the opposite 
 side. He had caught a glimpse as the steamer swung 
 of what he believed to be a canoe. Yes ! it was — a 
 genuine Ilaida dugout with projecting beaklike prow, 
 and an Indian crew who were wielding queer-looking 
 sharp-pointed paddles. It was precisely like the pict- 
 
30 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 i 
 
 ures in books of British Columbian travel, and Phil re- 
 called at once that it was fashioned out of one of the 
 huge straight-grained logs of yellow cedar that are 
 only found on that coast. He remembered, too, that 
 after it had been laboriously hollowed out, and shaped 
 
 "yes! it was — A GENUINE HAIDA DUGOUT" 
 
 i| 
 
 with fire, adze, and hatchet, it was steamed by means 
 of hot stones and boiling water, until its sides could 
 be flared out so as to give it beam and stability. They 
 are held in this position by means of crossbars ; but 
 the process renders the wood so liable to split if ex- 
 posed for any length of time to a hot sun, that when 
 hauled up on a beach the canoe must be entirely cov- 
 ered with mats or blankets, and while in use water 
 must every now and then be dashed over its sides to 
 keep them damp. 
 
FIVE BULL'S-EYES IN SIX SHOTS 
 
 81 
 
 While Phil was watching this canoe, and wishing 
 he were in it instead of on board a prosaic every-day 
 steamer, a gentleman approached him holding some- 
 thing in his hand, and saying, " I believe this is yours ?" 
 
 It was a pocket-book. 
 
 "I don't think it can be mine, sir," began Phil, 
 politely, at the same time clapping a hand to the 
 side where he was accustomed to feel every now and 
 then for his precious money. An expression of com- 
 ical dismay overspread his face. " Good gracious I 
 yes it is, too!" he cried, extending his hand for his 
 property. 
 
 " I thought it must be," replied the gentleman, with 
 a smile, " for I saw it drop from your overcoat as you 
 left your seat to come to this side of the boat. It 
 seems to me, though, that an overcoat is hardly the 
 proper place for carrying a pocket-book. One is so apt 
 to leave it lying round." 
 
 " That is just what I think, sir," answered Phil, with 
 a laughably rueful expression of countenance. "I 
 didn't mean to leave it there, I can assure you, and 
 didn't know that I had. The sleeping-car porter picked 
 it up from the floor while I was doing up my things, 
 and as I had my overcoat on I just stuck it into one of 
 the pockets for a second, meaning to place it where it 
 belonged directly afterwards. Then we got in, and 
 with the confusion I forgot all about it. But I will 
 put it away safe enough now, and I am awfully obliged 
 to you, sir, for I couldn't well afford to lose what it 
 contains." 
 
 Thus saying, Phil restored the wallet that his care- 
 lessness had so nearly lost to his inner vest pocket, and 
 after a prolonged struggle succeeded in securing it 
 there with his aunt Ruth's trusty safety-pins. 
 
 The gentleman watched this proceeding with an 
 amused smile, but with words of commendation for 
 
T 
 
 ' 
 
 i«w\V. 
 
 I' 
 
 
 ■ \- 
 
 ■ i 
 
 32 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL 8 TOOTH 
 
 the safety-pin plan. "I am glad to see," ho said, 
 " that you are, after all, an unusually prudent and care- 
 ful lad, for I feared you might be one of the heedless 
 tribe, and might thereby get into trouble. May I in- 
 quire if you are going to stop in Victoria?" 
 
 " Only until the Alaska steamer comes along," an- 
 swered Phil. " I am on my way to Sitka, where I am 
 to join my father." 
 
 "Indeed!" exclaimed the stranger. "Then we shall 
 see a great deal of each other, for I, too, am on my 
 way to Sitka. In fact, that is my home. If you will 
 allow me, I will hand you my card." 
 
 On ihe card which Phil thu? received and then 
 
 
 hrust mib a pocket of his own card-case was engraved 
 fiimply " Mr. Arthur Ames," and of course the lad had 
 no me^ns of knowing that his new acquaintance was 
 one of t!ii5«agst eminent and best-known men in the 
 wbol«',North^ost. As he handed out his own card in 
 return, Mr. Ames said: "I wondered if I should not 
 know your father, and now I see that I do. That is, 
 if he is Mr. John Ryder, the mining expert." 
 
 " Yes, sir, that is his name," replied Phil, delighted 
 at this recognition. 
 
 "Then I am doubly glad to make your acquaintance, 
 Mr. Ryder, and am obliged to the fortunate incident 
 of the pocket-book that led to it." 
 
 Phil was greatly pleased with this new friend, who 
 was able to point out everything of interest, and M'as 
 possessed of such stores of information concerning 
 Alaska, that the lad looked forward with pleasing an- 
 ticipations to travelling in his company. 
 
 It was long after dark before the electric lights of 
 Victoria were sighted, and Phil expressed disappoint- 
 ment that he could see nothing of the city. 
 
 "You will have plenty of time to-morrow," sug- 
 gested Mr. Ames, "for our steamer is not due to ar- 
 
FIVE BULL 8-EYE8 IN SIX SHOTS 
 
 33 
 
 I in- 
 
 my 
 will 
 
 rive here from Port Townsend until about this time 
 to-morrow evening, and she will remain here an hour 
 or so after getting in. So you will have an opportu- 
 nity to visit Beacon Hill Park, Dunsmuir Castle, the 
 museum, and go out to 'Squimault as well. I wish I 
 might act as your guide to the city^ but I cannot, .ind 
 shall not even see you at your hotel, as I must stay at 
 the house of a friend, with whom I have an amount of 
 important business to transact that will occupy every 
 moment until the steamer leaves. After that we shall 
 see a great deal of each other, I trust." 
 
 " Indeed I hope we shall, sir," replied Phil, heartily, 
 as he mentally contrasted this new travelling acquaint- 
 ance with the one made in Montreal. 
 
 " By-the-way," continued Mr. Ames, " if you have a 
 trunk, and care to intrust your check to me, I will have 
 it put aboard the Alaska steamer with mine, and will 
 guarantee its safe delivery in Sitka. By that means 
 you will be saved a tedious trip down to the outer 
 wharf to-morrow, and will gain at least two hours 
 of extra time for sight-seeing." 
 
 The stranger had already inspired our hero with 
 such perfect confidence that he handed him his trunk 
 check without the slightest hesitation, at the same time 
 expressing his gratitude for the kindness thus shown 
 him. 
 
 A few minutes later the Premier was made fast to 
 her wharf at the inner end of a tiny but perfectly pro- 
 tected harbor, at the head of whi*?!'. -tands the capital 
 of British Columbia. Here the ncsviy made acquaint- 
 ances parted, with promises of again meeting on the 
 following evening. Mr. Ames was driven away to the 
 house of his friend, while Phil took a carriage for the 
 Driard, the hotel at which his father had instructed 
 him to stop so long as he remained in Victoria. Here 
 he found a letter from Sitka, that had been brought 
 
34 
 
 THE PUB-SEAL*8 TOOTH 
 
 'I 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 down by the last steamer. It was such a loving epis- 
 tle, and was so filled with the joyful anticipations of a 
 speedy meeting, that Phil was moved to sit down and 
 ^nswer it at once, regardless of the fact that his reply 
 could only reach its destination by the same steamer 
 on which he expected to travel. 
 
 Having thus got himself into the mood for writing, 
 Phil also indited a long letter, descriptive of his journey 
 thus far, to his aunt Ruth. In this he made the trium- 
 phant assertion that his pocket-book was still securely 
 fastened in its proper place by the safety-pins to whose 
 sturdy clasp she had intrusted it, and that up to date 
 he had not lost a single thing. In making this as- 
 sertion the boastful lad entirely forgot the fur-seal's 
 tooth, though he was soon to have ample cause to re- 
 member it. 
 
 Both these letters being mailed in the ^el box be- 
 fore he went to bed, Phil slept the s!et^ * him who 
 has a clear conscience, and awoke the next morning as 
 light-hearted and happy a lad as could be found in all 
 British Columbia. After break5?st he took a stroll 
 down Government Street and into the Chinese quarter, 
 with the queer sights of which he was intensely amused 
 and interested. 
 
 On his way back he stopped for a few minutes in a 
 rifle gallery that presented an open front to the street. 
 Here he was tempted by the bad marksmanship dis- 
 played by a group of sailors to show them a bit of 
 Yankee shooting, and was lucky enough to make five 
 bull's-eyes in succession out of six shots. This per- 
 formance was greeted by a round of hearty cheers 
 from the sailors, and these were repeated when Phil 
 distributed among them the prize of cigars by which 
 his skill was rewarded. 
 
 In the afternoon he rode by electric car out to Esqui- 
 mault, or *JSquim2ku\t, as the splendidly fortified harbor 
 
 ! 
 
03 
 
 H 
 
 H 
 
 C 
 7: 
 
■"i;: 
 
 jl i 
 
 
FIVE bull's-eyes IN SIX SHOTS 
 
 36 
 
 and British naval station of the Pacific coast is called. 
 Here he went on board the Royal Arthur, one of the 
 finest cruisers in her Majesty's navy, and was shown 
 all over the ship by a marine especially detailed for 
 that purpose. Then he made the acquaintance of a 
 middy, who invited him to dine with the steerage 
 mess, and he had altogether such a fine t'me that the 
 sun set long before he thought it ought to, and it was 
 dark before he finally returned to his hotel. 
 
 Learning, by inquiry, that the Alaskan steamer was 
 in, and that he had barely time to catch her, he or-, 
 dered a cab to be in readiness, rushed up-stairs for his 
 things, and then back again to the oflSce, where it only 
 remained for him to pay his bill and be off. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 PHIL'S SAD PREDICAMENT 
 
 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 As Phil stood in front of the hotel desk striving to 
 unclasp the bewildering safety-pins that held his pock- 
 • et-book so firmly a heavy hand was laid or. his shoul- 
 der, and a stern voice asked if he was Philip Ryder. 
 
 "Yes, that is my name," replied Phil, looking around 
 inquiringly. 
 
 " Very well," said the owner of the voice ; " then I 
 shall have to ask you to come with me." 
 
 " I haven't time," replied the lad, " and, besides, I 
 wouldn't go anywhere in a strange city at this hour of 
 night with a person whom I do not know." 
 
 "I guess you'll come," retorted the man, with a grim 
 smile, " when I inform you that I am an officer with a 
 warrant for your arrest, and that you are wanted at the 
 central police station." 
 
 " Nonsense !" cried Phil, stoutly ; " you've made 
 some mistake and got hold of the wrong party. I 
 haven't done anything to be arrested for. Pm an 
 American citizen on my way to Alaska, and I've only 
 barely time to catch the steamer now. So I must re- 
 quest you not to detain me any longer with this fool- 
 ishness, or you may have cause to regret having done 
 so." 
 
 " ril risk it," was the self-contained reply, " and I 
 doubt very much if you will start for Alaska to-night, 
 or for some nights to come. You know me," he added, 
 turning to the hotel clerk, who was regarding this 
 scene as coolly as though it were nothing unusual to 
 
 .1' 
 
 # 
 
PHIL S SAD PREDICAMENT 
 
 37 
 
 J 
 
 him, and as though the heart of the lad who a minute 
 before had been so buoyant with hope and happiness 
 were not near to breakivig with an undefined agony of 
 apprehension. 
 
 " Yes, I know you," answered the clerk, " and what- 
 ever you do is all right. You'd better go with him 
 quietly," he added, turning to Phil, " for it won't do 
 you any good to make a kick." 
 
 " But what am I arrested for ?" cried Phil, with one 
 more despairing effort to solve this horrible mystery. 
 " Of what crime am I accused, and who is my ac- 
 cuser?" 
 
 " It is not my business to say," replied the officer, 
 " but under the circumstances I don't mind telling 
 you that the charge is an attempt at felonious assault, 
 and that the complainant's name is Goldollar." 
 
 " Oh !" gasped Phil, as this light was thrown upon 
 the situation. And then, eagerly, " But I can explain 
 all that in a minute." 
 
 "Not here," said *he officer; "this is neither the 
 time nor the place. . i must come with me, and at 
 once too," he added, sternly, as lie glanced at the little 
 group of curious spectators gviihering in the hotel of- 
 fice. " Now don't try to resist oi make a h(.*ene, for it 
 won't do the slightest good, and will only get you into 
 further trouble." 
 
 So Phil Ryder went out into the niiht a friendless 
 prisoner in a strange city, leaving his travelling-bag, 
 rifle, and overcoat behind him, the clerk ^marking 
 significantly that he would take good < o of them 
 until they should be called for. 
 
 No word was spoken between the officer and his 
 prisoner as they passed through the brilliantly lighted 
 streets until they finally reached the police station, and 
 the latter stood before the sergeant's desk, behind 
 which that functionary was prepared, pen in hand, to 
 
 
 b 
 
38 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 enter a record of this case in his blotter. Then a tor- 
 rent of words sprang to Phil's lips. He told his story 
 '.vith such evident honesty and pleading anguish of soul 
 that even the grizzled sergeant, accustomed as he was 
 to scenes of this kind, was moved by it. " It does seem 
 hard," he said, when Phil paused, more for want of 
 breath than anything else, "that a young gent like you 
 should be compelled to pass a night in the cooler. If 
 you had any one to go on your bail now, we might 
 get the justice to give you a private examinatio»^ late 
 as it is, and perhaps he'd accept a bond tor the night." 
 
 " But I haven't. I don't know a soul in the city," 
 answered Phil, despondently. " How much do you 
 think the bail would be ?" he asked, with a sudden in- 
 spiration. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know. Maybe not more than a hun- 
 dred or so." 
 
 " I have that much right here with me !" cried Phil, 
 eagerly, " and I'd gladly give every cent of it rather 
 than pass a night in a cell. That wc:ald be too awful, 
 and it doesn't seem as though I could bear it." 
 
 " Let us see your money," said the sergeant, with a 
 caution bred of long experience. 
 
 With eager but trembling fingers Phil fumbled at 
 the hateful safety-pins that seemed determined never 
 to relax their hold of his pocket-book. At length he 
 drew it forth, and opened it with an air of anxious tri- 
 umph. At least one of his assertions was about to be 
 proved true. 
 
 Suddenly his face turned to a deathly pallor. The 
 empty wallet, in which no bill remained, dropped from 
 his nerveless grasp, and he clutched wildly at the rail 
 of the sergeant's desk for support. 
 
 "I have been robbed!" lie gasped. "Robbed of 
 every cent I had in the world. What shall I do? 
 What shall I do V" 
 
PHIL'S SAD PREDICAMENT 
 
 39 
 
 . 
 
 The sergeant and officer exchanged significant 
 glances, and for a few minutes only the ticking of a 
 big clock and the boy's panting breathing that closely 
 resembled sobbing broke the painful stillness. 
 
 "You certainly seem to be playing to hard luck, 
 young fellow," remarked the sergeant at length, " and I 
 don't mind saying that I'm sorry for you. You appear 
 to be an honest, well-meaning sort of a chap, too. Now, 
 I'll tell you what I'll do. Though appearances are often 
 deceitful and I've been misled by them a many times, 
 I'm going to trust 'em once more. So, if you'll give 
 me your word not to make any disturbance, nor the 
 slig! test effort to escape, I'll let you occupy my room, 
 where you'll find a bed that is fairly comfortable. Yofi 
 can spend the night there, and it will be better than 
 being locked up in a cell, anyway. Maybe in the 
 morning something will turn up that will straighten 
 matters out for you." 
 
 Phil's gratitude for this favor was expressed more 
 by looks than by words, though he did manage to give 
 the required promise. 
 
 Then he was shown into a small bare room, where, 
 flinging himself face downward on a little iron bed- 
 stead that stood in one corner, he lay for a long time 
 motionless and apparently unconscious. At length he 
 began once more to think, but his thoughts were of the 
 most gloomy and d- -^pairing nature. Was ever a fel- 
 low in such a scrape ? What should he do ? Was there 
 any way in which he could get out of it ? He could 
 not communicate with his father, for the steamer must 
 already have left. He had no friends in Victoria. He 
 had no money. No money ! For the first time in his 
 life Phil realized the full horror of being absolutely 
 penniless. He had not even money to buy breakfast 
 with in case he should be set free on the following day. 
 Perhaps ;« prison would prove his only refuge after all. 
 
 ;;!i 
 
40 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 - >• I 
 
 Where could that money have gone to, though ? 
 Some one must have taken it ; but who, and when ? 
 It wouldn't have been Mr. Ames, of course ; nor the 
 porter of the sleeping-car. No ; his very face was a 
 guarantee of honesty. Could it have been Simon Gol- 
 doliar ? It must have been; he was just the mean, low- 
 down fellow who would do such a thing ; still, what 
 chance had he had ? Phil couldn't remember that he 
 had had any. Still, the money must have been taken 
 by some one, and while the pocket-book was in some 
 other place than the one provided for it by his aunt 
 Ruth, too. Oh, why had he forgotten her warnings 
 and neglected her advice ! Dear Aunt Ruth ! How 
 much better she knew him than he knew himself. 
 Well, this was a lesson that should last him his life 
 time. Never again would he get into such a scrape 
 through carelessness. Never ! 
 
 *At length the unhappy boy fell asleep, and when he 
 awoke it was daylight. An officer brought him a bowl 
 of strong black coffee and a plain but plentiful break- 
 fast of porridge. Phil drank the coffee, but could not 
 eat. Then he waited, pale with anxiety, for the un- 
 known fate in store for him. After a while he was 
 summoned outside and conducted to a court -room. 
 There he was placed in the prisoners' dock, together 
 with the previous night's occupants of the station- 
 house cells, men and women. He shrank as far as 
 possible from contact with them, and they jeered at 
 him. His case was one of the first called, but as no 
 one appeared against him he was ordered to step aside 
 and wait awhile longer. 
 
 Finally, last of all, Phil's turn came again. 
 
 " What is the charge against this prisoner ?" de- 
 manded the judge. 
 
 " It is a case of assault, your Honor," answered the 
 officer who had made the arrest. 
 
 i 
 
on- 
 as 
 at 
 no 
 
 
 " ' IS IT PHILIP UVDKR Oil HIS GHOST !' " 
 
 'i (I 
 
r 
 
 I ?'' 
 
 i 
 
 
 if 
 
Phil's sad predicament 
 
 41 
 
 " Let me look at the warrant. H'm, yes. Well, is 
 the complainant Goldollar here in person, or represent- 
 ed by counsel ?" 
 
 To this no one made reply, but another officer whis- 
 pered something to the judge. 
 
 " H'm ! Left the city, has he, without making ar- 
 rangements to press the charge ? Very well, then, the 
 case is dismissed. You may go, young man, but I warn 
 you that you have had a narrow escape, a very narrow 
 escape, and you had better never let me sec you here 
 again." 
 
 A minute later poor bewildered Phil found himself 
 out in the sunlight, once more free to go where he 
 pleased and do what he liked. For a few blocks he 
 walked mechanically, without taking note of where he 
 was going. Then, with a forlorn hope that the steam- 
 er might still be waiting, he directed his steps towards 
 the outer wharf. The walk was a long one, and at its end 
 his worst fears were confirmed. The Alaskan steamer 
 had indeed come in, and gone out again during the 
 night. There would not be another for at least ten days. 
 His trunk had gone, too, as he discovered by finding a 
 porter who distinctly remembered seeing one marked 
 " Philip Ryder, Sitka, Alaska," put aboard the ship. 
 Mr. Ames — Judge Am.es, they called him — had also 
 departed for his northern home, as several persons 
 could testify. 
 
 Now not a shred of hope was left. What would Mr. 
 Ryder think, and what would he do when the steamer 
 arrived in Sitka without the son for whom he was so 
 anxiously watching? He was certain to meet Judge 
 Ames and to see the trunk. How terrible would be 
 his anxiety ! Would he come to Victoria by return 
 steamer in search of his boy, or would he wait for 
 news of him by the next boat ? In the former case 
 he could not possibly get hero in less than two weeks, 
 
 
 I 
 
\ 
 
 p 
 
 1 ' 
 
 
 42 
 
 THE PUR-8KAL S TOOTH 
 
 and perhaps not so soon. At any rate Phil was thrown 
 upon his own resources for many days to come, and 
 during that time how should he obtain for I and lodg- 
 ing? 
 
 While vaguely trying to form some plan, he walked 
 slowly back into the city, blind to the beauty of the 
 day, deaf to the singing of birds, and careless of the 
 scent of myriads of flowers which form so beautiful 
 and striking a feature of this far western city. Here 
 was the situation with which this story opens and to 
 which we have been so long in coming. 
 
 Hardly noticing the direction of his footsteps, Phil 
 reached Government Street, and walked slowly down 
 that busy thoroughfare. Suddenly there came a quick 
 footfall behind him, a hand was clapped on his shoul- 
 der, and a hearty friendly voice exclaimed, " Is it Phil- 
 ip Ryder or his ghost? Why, old fellow! what on 
 earth are you doing here?" 
 
 The poor lad's heart gave a great throb of gratitude 
 as he turned and found himself face to face with Serge 
 Belcofsky. 
 
 I 
 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE VALUE OF A TRUE FRIEND 
 
 \ 
 
 The meeting of Phil Ryder and Serge Belcofsky, 
 who had parted months before in far-away New Lon- 
 don, and who now so unexpectedly rau across each 
 other in the busiest street of the westernmost city of 
 the continent, was one of the happiest that ever took 
 place in Victoria. Phil was so overcome by it that for 
 a moment his voice failed him, and he could only hold 
 his friend's hand in both of his, and gaze at him as 
 though fearful that he might vanish as suddenly as he 
 had appeared. 
 
 " Serge, old man," he said at length, " you have come 
 to me like an angel from heaven, for never in my life 
 have I needed a friend as at this very minute. I never 
 half appreciated you before, but you may be certain 
 that I do now. Oh, my dear fellow I if you could only 
 know one part of how glad I am to see you !" 
 
 " Why, what is the matter ?" inquired Serge, anx- 
 iously. "Are you in trouble? Is there anything I 
 can do to help you ? How do you happen to be here 
 of all places ? The Seameio got in two days ago ; but 
 I didn't find a single letter from New London, and I 
 haven't heard a word of news from there since we 
 started for the coast." 
 
 " Am I in trouble !" exclairaed Phil. " Well, I should 
 say I am. I am in one of the very worst scrapes that 
 ever a fellow got into. Can you help me ? I rather 
 think you can. I hope so, at any rate. You have 
 helped me already more thau I can tell. The mere 
 
44 
 
 TUB FUK-SBAL S TOOTH 
 
 sight of your face, the sound of your voice, and tlie 
 clasp of your hand have banished half ray troubles, 
 and given mo new courage to face the rest. Why, old 
 man, a friend was. what I needed more than anything 
 in the world, and now that I have found one, every- 
 thing seems possible." 
 
 "You in trouble !" cried Serge, in amazement. It 
 was hard to realize that this young hero of his admira- 
 tion, the one who above all others had seemed so strong 
 and self-reliant and free from care of any kind, co ild 
 be in a position in which his humble aid could be of 
 value. 
 
 " Indeed I am," replied Phil ; " and to begin with I 
 haven't a cent in the world, nor have I eaten a mouth- 
 ful of food to-day. So if you have any money in your 
 pockets, you will at once invite me to breakfast. Af- 
 ter that I will tell you the whole story." 
 
 " You poor old chap !" exclaimed Serge, to wh oir! 
 hunger was of all things the most unpleasant. "Of 
 course I've got money " — he had just one dollar, which 
 represented his entire stock of wealth — "and the 
 * Poodle Dog' is just around the corner." 
 
 In another minute the lads were seated at a table in 
 the best restaurant of Victoria, and Phil was giving 
 the waiter a breakfast order that confirmed that in- 
 dividual in his previously formed opinion that Ameri- 
 cans were not only the wealthiest people in the world, 
 but were possessed of the most extraordinary appetites. 
 
 Although Serge, whose own breakfast had been eaten 
 hours before, would willingly have shared another with 
 his friend, a prudent regard for his finances compelled 
 him to resist the temptation, and declare that he was 
 not the least bit hungry. So he merely sat and watched 
 with real pleasure Phil's demolition of the very hearti- 
 est and most thoroughly enjoyable meal of his life. 
 As he ate, his courage and natural buoyancy of spirits 
 
THE VALUE OP A TRUE • FRIEND 
 
 45 
 
 It 
 
 returned to him so fully, that when at length he pushed 
 away his plute, declaring himself unable to eat another 
 mouthful, he was again the self - reliant, independent, 
 happy-go-lucky Phil llydcr whom Serge had known 
 and admired in New London. 
 
 The bill for that breakfast amounted to exactly one 
 dollar, and as Serge paid it, Phil ^vondered why he did 
 not also tip the waiter, who had bren unusually atten- 
 tive. He was too polite to mentioa the matter, and 
 concluded that his friend's oversight must be the result 
 of his early training. 
 
 Serge knew well enough what was expected of him, 
 however, and felt uncomfortable until the restaurant 
 was left behind and he was beyond reach of the wait- 
 er's reproachful glance. " Now," said he, as they gained 
 the street, " let's have your story. You haven't told 
 me one word of yourself and your troubles yet." 
 
 "Troubles?" repeated Phil, inquiringly, as though 
 such things and he were but the most distant of ac- 
 quaintances. "Yes, of course, I have had some trou- 
 bles ; but they don't bother me now half so much as 
 they did. Pll tell you all about them, though ; but 
 this is a poor place for talking. If you don't mind 
 we'll go up to my room. It is close at hand, and wo 
 can be there in a minute. Then we can relate our 
 several adventures, and discuss plans without fear of 
 interruption." 
 
 Why Phil had not returned to his hotel for break- 
 fast the very first thing after being set at liberty he 
 could not have explained ; but hungry, friendless, and 
 penniless as he was thn.t morning, he could no more 
 have entered the Driard dining -room, than he could 
 have begged for a meal at a private house. Now, how- 
 ever, the situation seemed to him so entirely different 
 that he walked into the hotel office as coolly as a young 
 millionaire, and with quite the air of one demanded the 
 
rrr 
 
 46 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 
 i :1 ! 
 
 m m 
 
 key of his room, ordered his bag sent up to it, and led 
 the way to the elevator. 
 
 The clerk on duty, who happened to be the same 
 who had witnessed his unpleasant encounter with an 
 officer the evening before, regarded the young fellow 
 with a mild surprise, but made no commc-it. He con- 
 cluded that there must have been some mistake after 
 all, bu^ was too well trained in the hotel business to 
 ask unpleasant questions of a guest. He did eye Serge 
 a little curiously, for though the lad had on his best 
 suit it was unmistakably the garb of a sailor. 
 
 As for the young Russo-American, he followed his 
 friend into this swell hotel, listened to the orders that 
 he issued, and which were so promptly obeyed, and 
 finally accompanied him to his room with so comical 
 an expression of bewilderment on his face that Phil 
 noticed, and laughed at it. 
 
 "You are evidently thinking that my plea of pov- 
 erty and these surroundings do not exactly match 
 each other," he said. 
 
 " Well, yes, I must confess — " 
 
 "That I appear very much like an impostor. But 
 reallv I am not one, old man. I was in such a des- 
 perate fix when you turned up, like a blessed angel to 
 help me out of it, that in an hour moie, if left to my 
 own devices, I believe 1 should have jumped overboard." 
 
 " You would have done nothing of the kind," cried 
 Serge, indignantly. " You are no such coward as that, 
 and I know it." 
 
 " Weil, perhaps not," replied Phil. " But it seems 
 to me that hunger with no prospect of its relief can 
 make cowards of the bravest fellows. And I was 
 hungry, awfully hungry." 
 
 "I can well believe that," laughed Serge, "after 
 seeing vou eat. But tell me, why do you stay in this 
 hotef?"' 
 
 i I 
 
THE VALUE OF A TRUE FRIEND 
 
 47 
 
 "Because I have no other place to go to, and have 
 no money with which to settle my bill in case I wish 
 to leave." 
 
 " But isn't it awfully expensive ?" 
 
 " Oh, I don't know. I suppose they charge three or 
 four dollars a day ; but if it were only fifty cents a 
 day I couldn't pay it, and so would have to stay on all 
 the same. I think it's very lucky that I am stranded 
 in so comfortable a place. But let me tell you the 
 whole story from the beginning, and then you will see 
 just what sort of a position I am in." 
 
 So Phil related his recent experiences, and when he 
 had finished Serge only asked, 
 
 "What has become of the fur-seal's tooth I gave 
 you, and which you used to wear on your watch-chain?" 
 
 " Lost it." 
 
 " Then that accounts for everything." 
 
 " What do you mean ?" 
 
 " I mean that, according to what the old chief who 
 gave that tooth to ray father told him, it is a most 
 powerful charm for good or evil. He said that who- 
 ever gave it away gave good-luck with it. Whoever 
 received it as a gift received good-luck. Whoever lost 
 it lost his luck, and whoever stole it stole bad-luck that 
 would follow him so long as he retained it in his pos- 
 session. According to this you who have lost it are 
 suffering the consequences." 
 
 " Nonsense !" cried Phil " I hope you don't believe 
 iu any such foolish superstition, or that a bit of carved 
 ivory can po tsess the powers you claim for the fur- 
 seal's tooth?' 
 
 "I don't claim it," protested Serge. "I only repeat 
 what the Indian said. At the same time, almost every 
 one in Alaska, or, at any rate, overy one whom I know, 
 believes in such things, and can tell you lots of stories 
 about them." 
 
 nil 
 
 ^ Is 
 
48 
 
 THE FUJR-SKAL S TOOTH 
 
 "Yes. I've no doubt they can tell lots of stories, 
 but the thing is to prove them. Now, I don't believe 
 in superstitions of any kind, and am very sorry for 
 those who do. As for my present bad-luck, it is en- 
 tirely owing to my own carelessness and hot-headed- 
 ness, but for which I should be comfortably on my 
 way to Sitka at this very minute. As it is, here I am 
 up such a very tall stump that, as far as I can see, 
 there isn't the slightest chance of getting down from 
 it inside of several weeks. My chance of visiting 
 Alaska is knocked higher than a kite, too, for the 
 money that would have taken me there will now have 
 to bo devoted to paying my hotel bill here." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ONE RESULT OF GOOD SHOOTING 
 
 " Why not go with me ?" suggested Serge, at the 
 end of his meditation on Phil's situation. " The Sea- 
 meuo sails for Alaska this very evening." 
 
 " For what part of Alaska — for Sitka ?" demanded 
 Phil, eagerly. 
 
 " Not exactly," admitted Serge ; " but in that direc- 
 tion. She is bound on a fishing cruise to the cod and 
 halibut banks off the Shumagin Islands; but there are 
 always vessels running from there into Sitka, and Cap- 
 tain Duff has promised to set me on board the very 
 first one of these he runs across." 
 
 "My! but that is a scheme!" exclaimed Phil, who, 
 having no conception of Alaskan distances nor the 
 slightest idea of where the Shumagin Islands might 
 be, imagined that, once in those waters, it would be 
 an easy matter to reach Sitka. In fact, to him Sitka 
 meant Alaska, and Alaska was the same as Sitka, for 
 he could not remember ever having heard the one 
 spoken of except in connection with the other. 
 
 " That would suit me to a T," he continued, " for I 
 have hated the thought of giving up my Alaska trip, 
 and I have hated worse the idea of spending two or 
 three weeks in this place with nothing to do. Do you 
 suppose that your captain would make the same ar- 
 rangement with me that he has with you ? My father 
 would be glad enough to pay him my passage - money 
 if he would only drop me at Sitka." 
 
 " I don't believe the Seamew is allowed to take pas- 
 
60 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 ill 
 
 sengers," answered Serge, doubtfully. "I am one of 
 her crew, you know, only I am working without wages 
 for the sake of getting home." 
 
 " No wages ! Don't you get anything at all ?" 
 
 " Oh yes ! I get my passage and food, and I got an 
 outfit of clothing to start with." 
 
 " Well, I should be glad enough to get a passage to 
 Alaska on the same terms, and if your captain will 
 only take me, I'll ship with him in a minute. But look 
 here, old man, if you don't get any wages, how do you 
 happen to have money to spend on breakfasts at ex- 
 pensive restaurants for your pauper friends ?" 
 
 " I haven't," laughed Serge. 
 
 " Do you mean to tell me that you squandered your 
 last cent on me this morning ?" 
 
 " I don't mean to tell you anything about it." 
 
 "Well, if that doesn't make me feel meaner than 
 dirt ! If I had known you were spending your only 
 dollar for my breakfast I wouldn't have eaten a mouth- 
 ful." 
 
 "And so you would have made me very unhappy, 
 instead of giving me one of the greatest pleasures of 
 my life," returned Serge, reproachfully. 
 
 "All I can say, then, is that you are easily pleased. 
 And that wa^ the reason why you wouldn't eat any- 
 thing, was it? Why, you must be almost as starved 
 by this time as I was then, for even I am hungry 
 again. Now, you just come down-stairs and take lunch 
 with me in the hotel dining-room. After that we will 
 visit the Seamew^ and offer my valuable services to 
 your Captain Duff." 
 
 Never in all his life had Serge Belcofsky eaten so 
 sumptuous a meal as that set before him by the young 
 pauper, who, with the air of a prince, played the host 
 on this memorable occasion. Knowing the pecuniary 
 circumstances of his entertainer as he did, Serge could 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 
 
ONE RESULT OF GOOD SHOOTING 
 
 51 
 
 of 
 
 not but admire, while be marvelled at, the nonchalant 
 air with which course after course was ordered, while 
 he was urged to partake of this thing and that, until 
 the resources of the Driard's larder were well-nigh ex- 
 hausted. 
 
 After thus fortifying themselves for their anticipat- 
 ed interview with Captain DufF, whom Serge had not 
 described as being a particularly affable man, nor one 
 whom it was a joy to meet, the lads strolled down to 
 the cove in which the saucy-looking schooner Seamew 
 lay at anchor. When they finally got on board. Serge 
 left Phil on deck, while he ventured alone into the 
 cabin to make an application on his beiialf. 
 
 For the space of a minute Phil heard through the 
 open cabin skylight only the tones of an ordinary con- 
 versation, the words of which were undistinguishable. 
 Then, all at once, came a thunderous roar of : " No, I 
 tell ye ! No ! I'll have no more landlubbers aboard 
 this craft at any price. So clear out and let me hear 
 no more of it." 
 
 The next instant Serge, cap in hand, appeared ab- 
 ruptly at the opening of the companion-way almost as 
 though he had been fired from it. He was closely fol- 
 lowed by a big red-faced man with a, stubby beard, 
 who, the moment he set foot on deck, gave utterance 
 to a snarl like that of a wild beast. Suddenly, as his 
 eye lighted on Phil, he stood for a moment like one 
 petrified. Then in*a tone so soft and bland that Phil 
 instinctively glanced around to see who was speaking, 
 he addressed Serge and asked, 
 
 " Is this young sport the friend you was speaking of 
 what 'ud like to ship for a cruise to the nor'ard?" 
 
 "Yes, sir," answered Serge; "this is my friend Phil 
 Ryder, who is so anxious to get to Sitka that he is 
 willing to ship for a voyage to the Shumagins without 
 wages if you will furnish him with an outfit, and agree 
 
 I 
 n 
 
 if 
 
52 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 to set him aboard the same vessel bound for Sitka that 
 you do me." 
 
 " Will he sign to them terms on a shipping-paper ?" 
 
 « I think so, sir. Won't you, Phil ?" 
 
 " Certainly. I will sign any paper that is required." 
 
 Looking this new candidate over from head to foot, 
 and still speaking in the blandest of tones, Captain 
 Duff propounded the following questions: 
 
 *' Be you a sailor?" 
 
 " I can handle a small boat." 
 
 " Humph! Do you know the dog-star from the cat- 
 star?" 
 
 « No, sir." 
 
 " Nuther do I. Do you know a bull's-eye when you 
 see one ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 "Didn't ye plunk one yesterday five times out of six 
 shots ?" 
 
 " I believe I did, sir," replied Phil, greatly surprised 
 at this turn in his examination. 
 
 " Could ye do it again ?" 
 
 "I generally make six bull's-eyes in six shots at that 
 distance with my own rifle," was the reply, not de- 
 livered at all boastingly, but as a simple statement of 
 facts. 
 - " So you've got a rifle of your own, eh ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Ever get seasick ?" 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 " Can ye be ready to start in an hour's time ?" 
 
 "I shall be ready as soon as I get an outfit," an- 
 swered Phil. 
 
 "Very good; let's go ashore and get it at once. 
 Hold hard, though ! There's the paper to be signed 
 first." 
 
 So Captain Duff re-entered the cabin, where with 
 
an- 
 
 te 
 
 o 
 
 2 
 
 Co 
 
 

 
ONE RESULT OP GOOD SHOOTING 
 
 53 
 
 labored penmanship he added an article to one of the 
 ship's papers, which Phil signed without reading it. 
 His signature was witnessed by Jalap Coombs, mate 
 of the Seamew, and by Serge Belcofsky. 
 
 " You understand that this is a fishing v*y*ge ?" de- 
 manded Captain Duff, at the conclusion of this cere- 
 mony. 
 
 "I understand very little about it, sir," responded 
 Phil. " I only understand that for me it will end at 
 Sitka, and I am willing to undertake whatever may be 
 necessary in order to reach that place." 
 
 " Humph !" growled Captain Duff. Then in a voice 
 that sounded like the roar of a bull he bellowed out: 
 " On deck there ! Lively, now, and have a boat along- 
 side !" 
 
 So promptly was he obeyed that by the time the oc- 
 cupants of the cabin regained the deck a light whale- 
 boat, sharp-pointed at both ends, and containing three 
 oarsmen, of whom Serge was one, awaited them. 
 
 Motioning Phil to enter this craft. Captain Duff 
 ponderously followed, and standing in the stern, with 
 one brawny hand grasping a long steering oar, he 
 ordered the crew to give way. 
 
 A few sturdy strokes shot the boat across to the 
 landing, where the captain ordered two of the men to 
 await his return, and gave the lads to understand that 
 they were to follow him. 
 
 He led them to a sailors' slop-shop, w^here in a very 
 few minutes he had provided the latest addition to his 
 crew with a heavy suit §f duffle cloth, a pea-jacket, 
 two flannel shirts, a pair of rubber hip-boots, another 
 pair of stout cow-hide, a woollen toque, or sailor's night- 
 cap, a long oil-skin coat, and a hat of similar material. 
 
 " There!" growled Captain Duff, viewing these things 
 as they lay piled on the counter. " I call that an out- 
 fit such as mighty few shipmasters would pervide for 
 
 il 
 
54 
 
 THE FUU-8KAL'8 tootu 
 
 ' • 
 
 
 a landlubber. But when I undertakes to do a thing, I 
 does it. D' ye hear ?" 
 
 Both lads agreed that they did hear. In fact, they 
 would have been very deaf indeed not to have heard. 
 Phil expressed himself as gratified for so complete a 
 supply of everything that seemed needful. 
 
 " So ye should be, ye young vil — I mean so ye should 
 be!" roared Captain Duff. "Now give us a bag, ye 
 swab, and make out your thundering bill, for I*m in a 
 hurry. D' ye hear ?" 
 
 This last was addressed to the shopman, who there- 
 upon produced a heavy canvas bag of the kind known 
 as a "sea-trunk," into which the two lads stowed all 
 the recent purchases. 
 
 When the bill for these was presented, Captain Duff 
 growled over each separate item, and after he had 
 paid it, he said to Phil: "There, young fellow, I've in- 
 vested fifty dollars in you, and you're bound to work 
 it out afore your account is all squared. D' ye 
 hear?" 
 
 " You are very good, I am sure," murmured the lad, 
 not knowing what else to say. 
 
 " What! Me good! Who dares say I'm not good?" 
 roared the captain, glaring about him with a ferocious 
 expression. 
 
 As no one replied to this outburst, he ordered the 
 lads to carry the recent purchases down to the boat, 
 and get back to the schooner with all speed. 
 
 " I must go to ray hotel first to transact some busi- 
 ness," suggested Phil. , 
 
 "Go to a hotel? What business have you with a 
 hotel ? I thought you said you'd be ready as soon as 
 ye had an outfit ?" 
 
 " I have some things there which I desire to see to," 
 began Phil. 
 
 " Yes, I know. Rifles and things. Well, hurry up; 
 
3 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 ?» 
 
 .1 
 
 

 
 i< 'l 
 
 ! 
 
T 
 
 ONB RESULT OP GOOD SHOOTING 
 
 55 
 
 and mind ye, if you're not back inside of an hour, I'll 
 have ye arrested as a desarter." 
 
 '* I shall evidently get pretty well used to being ar- 
 rested if I stay in this town long," thought Phil, as he 
 hurried away. 
 
 In his room at the hotel ho wrote three notes, two of 
 which were to his father. They were both the same, 
 and in them he stated that he was about to start for 
 Sitka in the fishing schooner Seamew, and hoped to 
 reach there before his father received this letter. In 
 case he should be unexpectedly delayed for a few days, 
 his father need feel no anxiety on his account, for he 
 would surely turn up sooner or later. One of these he 
 put in his pocket to mail for Sitka, while, with a fore- 
 thought unusual in one generally so careless, the other 
 was to be left at the hotel in case his father should 
 come to Victoria in search of him. 
 
 The third note was addressed to the proprietor of 
 the hotel. In it Phil regretted his inability to pay his 
 bill for two days' board and lodging, but stated that it 
 would be settled as soon as he could rejoin his father, 
 whom he expected to see in a very short time. In the 
 mean time he left a rifle, an overcoat, and a bag worth 
 many times its amount as security. This note, to- 
 gether with one of those to his father, he left on the 
 table. Then taking a few small articles from his bag, 
 he left the hotel and hastened to the landing-place. 
 There he found a boat awaiting him. A few minutes 
 later he had bidden farewell to the city in which his short 
 stay had proved so fruitful in strange experiences, and 
 again stood on the deck of the craft in which the sec- 
 ond portion of his eventful journey was to be under- 
 taken. 
 
r 
 
 11 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 INTRODUCING " OLD KITE ROBERSON " 
 
 Captain Duff was not visible when Phil reached the 
 Secmiew ; but the mate received liira, and in answer to 
 his inquiry as to the whereabouts of his friend, pointed 
 to the forecastle. There our lad found Serge, from 
 whom lie was desirous of obtaining some information 
 concerning the schooner's master, in whose power he 
 had so deliberately placed himself. Having had no 
 experience in shipping as one of the crew of a vessel, 
 Phil did not realize how fully he had done this ; but 
 he had seen enough of Captain Duff's peculiar manner 
 to render him rather nervous now that the irrevocable 
 step was taken. 
 
 Serge could only say that while the subject of their 
 conversation w^as almost as much of a mystery to him 
 as to Phi!, he had at least proved himself a capital sea- 
 man. Also that while his frequent outbursts of temper 
 were frightful to witness, no serious consequences had 
 thus far resulted from them. No one had, however, 
 ventured to thwait his will in the slightest, and all 
 hands regarded him wi more or less of fear. 
 
 While the two lads were thus talking there came a 
 sudden call for all hands to up anchor and make sail, 
 whereupon they tumbled up on deck and turned to 
 with a will, Phil working with the rest to the best of 
 his limited knowledge concerning what was to be done. 
 
 Before a liglit off-shore breeze *he trim schooner 
 slipped out of the cove, and, as the sun was sinking 
 behind the snow-capped Olympic mountains, gained 
 
INTRODUCING " OLD KITE ROBKESON " 
 
 57 
 
 a 
 
 ., 
 
 the waters of the Strait of Fiica, through which she 
 would reach the oj^en sea. 
 
 While Phil stood gazing at the fast- fading land, 
 feeling a little homesick and lonely, Jalap Coombs 
 informed him that the captain wished him to bring 
 his things aft into the cabin. 
 
 As the lad had not seen his recently acquired outfit 
 since coming Z'}j< ard, he had nothing to carry, and so 
 entered the cabin with empty hands. 
 
 " Where is your rifle ?" demanded the captain, as 
 soon as he appeared. 
 
 "Ileftit behind, sir." 
 
 " What !" roared the other, springing to his feet with 
 every appearance of violent rage. " Left it behind ? 
 Cheated me out of a first-class rifle ? Never mind ; it 
 shall be charged to your account." Then, working 
 himself into an increase of passion, he bellowed : " You 
 young villain ! I've a mind to brain you for this," and 
 seizing a stool from the floor, he lifted it threateningly, 
 at the same time taking a step forward. 
 
 Phil's first impulse was to fly from the presence of 
 one whom he had every reason to believe a mad- 
 man. On second thoughts he turned, and, with a very 
 pale face but a steady voice, said : " You don't dare 
 do it. You are a coward, and you know it as well as 
 1 do." 
 
 For the first time in all his sea-going life big, red- 
 faced, bullying Captain Duff was bearded in his own 
 den, and that by a mere slip of a boy, as he regarded 
 the lad now so boldly confronting him. lie was a cow- 
 ard at heart, and he knew it. His very air of bluster 
 and bravado, assumed so long ago that it had become 
 a second nature, was worn solely for the purpose of 
 misleading his associates, nnd hiding from them his 
 true character. TIiIh manner was so well borne out by 
 his size and his ferocious expression that until this time 
 
Bl^^^^ 
 
 68 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 1 '. , "! 
 
 
 
 i\ 
 
 /if! 
 
 1 1 "^ 
 
 I f 
 
 I 
 
 lie liad succeeded in inspiring awe merely by noise and 
 aspect. Now his true character was known, the fraud 
 he had perpetrated so successfully and so long was dis- 
 covered, and like a great gorgeous soap - bubble his 
 inflated wind - bag of bravery had been pricked and 
 dissipated. 
 
 The collapse of this roaring pretence was so sudden 
 and complete as to be staggering. For a moment the 
 man stood motionless, with the stool still ui)lifted, but 
 with every vestige of color fled from his ordinarily 
 crimson face. Then the stool dropped to the floor 
 with a crash, and he tottered limply backward into 
 the huge arm-chair that he had occupied when Phil 
 entered the cabin. His eyes rolled, his breath came 
 in gasps, and a hoarse rattling issued from 1'^ . ^hroat. 
 
 During this extraordinary scene Phil si »d his 
 ground, outwardly calm and resolute, but wondering 
 whether he was to be eaten or skinned alive for his 
 audacity. At length, realizing that the enemy was 
 powerless for the time being, he left the cabin, and 
 reported to the mate on deck that he believed Captain 
 Duff was having a fit, and needed attention. 
 
 Upon this Jalap Coombs cautiously approached the 
 sky-light, and peered down into the cabin. Then he 
 as cautiously tiptoed back to where Phil was standing. 
 "I ruther guess we'd best leave him alone to fight it 
 out," he said. " He's a born fighter, Cap'n Duff is, 
 an' he's had 'em afore. As my friend old Kite Rober- 
 son uster say consarning fits: 'When a ordinary sea- 
 man takes a notion to indulge in 'em, roll him on deck, 
 douse him with buckets of salt-water, and otherwise 
 wrastle 'em out of him, fer he 'ain't no business with 
 any such luxuries. With a cap'n, though, it's diffrunt. 
 He's a priverleged character, and when he feels inclined 
 fer a tit, he wants to enjoy it, and have it out without 
 interference, same as ef it war a glass o' grog. So 
 
■ vol 1»(»N r DAM: IMI IT. VdC AUK A COWaUK 
 

 M 
 
 Ml 
 
INTRODUCING " OLD KITE ROBERSON" 
 
 69 
 
 never interrupt a cap'n's fits ef you want to l)avc peace 
 and quietness aboard ship.' That's what ohl Kite uster 
 say, and he must er knowed, 'cause he'd had more mill- 
 ions of experience than most." 
 
 " Who was this Mr. Robinson ?" asked Phil. 
 
 " Who ! Kite— old Kite Roberson ? 'Tain't likely 
 now that ye never heerd of him? Whj^ he was one 
 of the best-known men. By his own 'count he'd been 
 'round the world more times than there is parallels of 
 latitood, and some of his charts looked like spider-webs, 
 they war kivered so thick with his tracks. Why, he 
 come from the same place as me, old Kite did, and 
 sometimes it makes me feel prouder 'n a mere mortal 
 man orter feel to think that him and me was fashioned 
 outer the same clay, as it war, and brung up on the 
 same air." 
 
 "It must be a great satisfaction," remarked Phil, 
 politely. Then, to show his interest in the subject, he 
 asked: "Btit where is your native place, Mr. Coombs? 
 You are a down-Easter, are you not?" 
 
 "Sartain I am," replied the mate. "A genuine 
 down-Easter is the one thing on this watery earth I can 
 surely claim to be. Bul whether Pm a Britisher or a 
 Yankee is the problem I'm wearing my life out trvuig 
 to solve." 
 
 "That seems queer," said Phil, reflectively. 
 
 " Queer ain't no name fer it. It's simply redickerh>us. 
 Ye see, when thev >i'ttled the boundary 'twixt Maine 
 and the Provinces, they run it plumb through my fa- 
 ther's house, and as nigh as I can figge' I was born 
 straddle of the line. After that I was hi smg up fuht 
 on one side, and then on t'<cher : »«. rhat ef one m.an 
 says I'm a Britisher and an'<«i>«^r >ays Pm a Yank, tl^ey 
 ain't nutlier of 'em lying, n*^* they ain't telling the 
 truth. Sometimes I feel as ef i war a Britisli subjeck, 
 and again like a full-blown American ciUau^D. It de- 
 
60 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 mi 
 
 pends mostly on the weather. When it's damp a7id 
 foggy, like it is now, I ginerally feels like a subjeck. 
 Old Kite Roberson he uster say — " 
 
 Just then came the note of a siren fog-horn over the 
 waters from dead ahead. A dense mist had rolled in 
 from the sea, obscuring the light on Race Island, the 
 most southerly of the few light-stations maintained on 
 the coast of British Columbia. All the time that he 
 was talking with Phil, Jalap Coombs had also been 
 keeping a sharp lookout for this light. Now, at the 
 first note of its siren, he sprang up, transformed in an 
 instant from a shambling, garrulous " subjeck," as he 
 called himself, into an alert and thoroughly capable 
 Yankee sailor. 
 
 " Ready about !" he shouted, in clear, crisp tones. 
 " Hard a-lee !" And a minute later, as the lively craft 
 spun round to a deafening accompaniment of rattling 
 blocks and slatting canvas, " Draw away !" With this 
 the schooner settled comfortably down on her new 
 course, and bending gracefully over before a damp 
 sea-breeze, sped swiftly away from the threatened 
 dangers of Race Island rocks. 
 
 About this time Ebenezer, the black cook, announced 
 that supper was ready in the cabin, and the mate, after 
 a long careful look both to windward and leeward, sug- 
 gested to Phil that they might as well go below and 
 "stow a cargo of chuck." 
 
 In the cabin, which was fairly roomy and well venti- 
 lated, stood a table on which supper was spread, a small 
 stove for heating purposes only, the captain's big arm- 
 chair, several stools, and a short bench. On two sides 
 were single tiers of comfortable-looking bunks, five in 
 all. On the starboard side was a closed door that evi- 
 dently opened into a small state-room, and on the port 
 side was a narrow passage leading to the galley, an 
 unusual luxury of appointment in schooners of the Sea- 
 
 1 
 
INTRODUCING " OLD KITE ROBERSON " 
 
 61 
 
 mcirPs class, and one that assured the safe and speedy 
 transmission of food from the stove on which it was 
 cooked. 
 
 Captain Duff was nowhere to be seen when Phil and 
 the mate entered the cabin, and in answer to Phil's 
 inquiring glance, the latter pointed significantly with 
 his thumb towards the closed state-room door. There 
 were, however, two other occupants of the cabin, both 
 young men. They were already seated at the table, 
 and eating with silence and despatch. They did not 
 speak to Phil nor he to them, and as the mate also ate 
 in silence the meal was uninterrupted save by the steady 
 clatter of knives, forks, and spoons against that pecul- 
 iarly thick and indestructible form of china known as 
 stone-ware. 
 
 The two young men finished first, pushed back from 
 the table, lighted their pipes, and left the cabin. 
 
 "Who are they?" asked Phil, after they had disap- 
 peared. 
 
 " Hunters," was Mr. Coombs's laconic answer. 
 
 Then he too pushed back from the table, and Phil 
 hastened to ask him before he could leave the cabin 
 where he should find his bag, as he wished to get a 
 pea-jacket from it. 
 
 The mate merely pointed to an end berth on the port 
 side, in which, sure enough, Phil «pied a new canvas 
 bag that he now recognized as his own. 
 
 " Am I to bunk in here ?" he asked, in some surprise. 
 
 " Sartain," replied Mr. Coombs, and then he too van- 
 ished up the companion-way. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 PHIL DISCOVERS -VVIIAT HE IS 
 
 1.4; ■ 
 
 ■i 1 
 
 " Well, this is a queer go !" thought Phil, as he ex- 
 tricated the heavy pea-jacket from his " sea-trunk," and 
 put it on. " I never heard of a green hand before the 
 mast being fed and lodged in the cabin. I must find 
 Serge, and ask him about it." 
 
 The night seemed intensely dark as he gained the 
 deck, and for a few minutes he stood still to accustom 
 his senses to it. He had found the slide drawn over 
 the companion-way, and, as on emerging he shoved it 
 back, he was gruffly requested by the helmsman to 
 " shut it, quick !" Phil was enough of a sailor to know 
 that this was so the glare of the cabin lamp might not 
 blind the man and render it impossible for him to steer. 
 So he immediately pulled the slide to, and then stood 
 leaning against it. 
 
 He could feel the chill dampness of the mist on his 
 cheek, and could see it driving by in the red and green 
 blurs from the side-lights in the forward rigging. 
 From the binnacle near at hand also came a faint 
 glow of reflected light that vaguely outlined the man 
 at the wheel. All else was a gray blackness, upon 
 which the lofty masts and flattened sails were traced 
 in deeper shadows, like Indian - ink against crayon. 
 Two or three glowing sparks from lighted pipes 
 showed where the watch on deck were gathered in 
 the lee of the weather bulwarks. Phil started tow- 
 ards these, but ere he had taken half a dozen steps he 
 
PHIL DISCOVERS WHAT HE IS 
 
 G3 
 
 ran plump into tlie mate, who was st.anding facing liiin 
 on tlie weather side of the deck. 
 
 " Hello, young feller !" cried that worthy, as soon 
 as he recovered the breath of which Phil's sudden onset 
 had deprived him ; "ye seem to be blundering ahead 
 like a June-bug in an electric flare. Aren't ye afraid 
 ye'U walk overboard next, and step on the tail of a 
 merrymaid ?" 
 
 " No, sir," laughed the lad ; " and I'm awfully sorry 
 I ran into you. But I didn't sec you, indeed I 
 didn't." 
 
 " No wonder," replied the mate, good - naturedly, 
 " for I'm too thin to make a respecterble shadder, much 
 less to cast one. Ef it had been the cap'n now, ye 
 couldn't have missed seeing him any more than ye 
 could the broadside of a ship. By-the-way, had the 
 old man turned out when ye left ?" 
 
 " No, sir. I didn't see him." 
 
 *' Waal, ye'd not only seen him, but heerd him fast 
 enough ef he had. He gets so cramped up in that 
 cubby-hole of his'n that when he comes out he has to 
 roar to get his lungs in working order again. It's a 
 marciful dispensation of Proverdence I'm not a cap'n, 
 for I never could abide to sleep in one of them chicken- 
 coops." 
 
 " He doesn't have to, does he ?" inquired Phil. 
 
 " Sartain he does, to maintain his nautical dignity. 
 All cap'ns has to occupy state-rooms, pervided their 
 vessels has 'em, no matter whether they fit or not. 
 Why, there was my friend old Kite Roberson, longer 
 than I be by half, so that when he was only a mate he 
 had to have two end-to-end bunks cut into one to give 
 hira stretching - room. When he come to be cap'n 
 he had to take a state-room that had been built fer 
 a short man, and couldn't in no way be lengthened. 
 Poor old Kite naturally hated it, but for the sake of 
 
WT 
 
 mmfm 
 
 wmm 
 
 si 
 
 64 
 
 THE PUB-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 his pcrfessional dig he uster crawl in there and double 
 himself up like a shut jackknife. Bimeby it got so 
 that in the morning they had to pull him out in sec- 
 tions, like a spy-glass, and rig preventer back-stays on 
 his legs to keep him from getting sprung in the knees. 
 As it was, he got so bent over that finally his head 
 got under his left arm, and he uster turn round back- 
 ward to see for'ard, but he never gave up his dig, which 
 he alius said it war his proudest boast." 
 
 After Phil had politely allowed such time to elapse 
 that the mate might think he was laughing over this 
 yarn, he said : 
 
 " By-the-way, Mr. Coombs, when do I go on watch ?" 
 
 "You?" replied the other. *'You don't have to 
 stand no watch. Hunters never does." 
 
 "Am I a — "began Phil; but his question was 
 forced to remain unasked, for at that moment some 
 subtle sense informed the mate that it was again time 
 to change the schooner's course, and he bawled out, 
 " Ready about !" In the confusion that followed he 
 disappeared, and Phil stumbled forward, more anxious 
 than ever to meet with Serge, and beg him to throw 
 the light of his superior knowledge on the situation. 
 
 He discovered his friend snugly stowed away in a 
 forecastle berth. Here, as half a dozen men constitut- 
 ing the watch below occupied other berths in the ex- 
 tremely narrow quarters allotted to the crew, the lads 
 were obliged to converse in whispers to avoid being 
 overheard, as well as not to disturb those who slept. 
 
 " Why haven't you been to supper, old man ?" began 
 Phil. 
 
 " I have, long ago," replied Serge ; " but where have 
 you been all this time? I was beginning to worry 
 about you." 
 
 " Been in the cabin eating supper, mostly ; but I 
 didn't see you there." 
 
 
rillL DISCOVERS WHAT HE IS 
 
 60 
 
 " Eating in the cabin !" exclaimed Serge, springing 
 up so carelessly in his excitement that he bumped his 
 head against the bottom of the berth above him. 
 " You don't mean it ! Are you going to bunjc there, 
 too ?" 
 
 "I'm afraid so. You see, I don't exactly like to ask 
 a favor of Captain DufT, or I'd try for permission to 
 sleep in here with you." 
 
 " Oh, pshaw !" ejaculated Serge. " You don't mean 
 that. You know you don't. Why, man, the mere fact 
 that you are billeted in the cabin instead of in the 
 forecastle shows that you must be rated .as a hunter." 
 
 " Why must I ?" inquired Phil, in a puzzled tone. 
 " And pray what is a hunter ?" 
 
 " One who hunts, of course. He lives aft, and don't 
 have to stand watch — " 
 
 " So jVIr. Coombs said," interrupted Phil. 
 
 *' Nor do any of the ship's work," continued Serge. 
 
 " Am I to be allowed to do anything at all except 
 suck my thumbs and maintain my ' dig,' like old Kite 
 Robinson ?" asked the young hunter. 
 
 " Oh ! you've heard of him, have you ? Of course 
 you will be allowed to do something. You will be 
 allowed to shoot, and not only that, but you will bo 
 expected to shoot all day, and every day from sunrise 
 to sunset ; and mighty hard work you will find it, too, 
 before you get through with it." 
 
 " Shoot !" cried Phil, forgetting all about the neces- 
 sity for whispering. "Shoot what? Fish?" 
 
 " Shoot up, and stow yer jaw tackle," growled the 
 sleepy voice of the forecastle wit from an upper 
 berth. 
 
 " Shoot fish ! of course not," whispered Serge. " You 
 will shoot seals and sea-otter, if we have the good-luck 
 to run across any. Oh ! I am so glad you have got 
 that berth, for I've been wondering and fretting over 
 
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 66 
 
 THE rUB-SEAL'S TOOTH 
 
 how you'd get along as a foremast hanrl ; but now it 
 will bo all smooth sailing." 
 
 "But I don't understand yet," protested Phil. 
 " This is the first mention I have heard of seals or sea- 
 otter. I thought this was a fishing schooner." 
 
 " So she is," replied Serge, a little impatiently ; " but 
 on this coast all fishermen are pelagic sealers as well 
 whenever they get a chance, and they generally try to 
 ship two or three good shots among the crew to act 
 as hunters. The regular sealers, who go over on the 
 Japan coast, fix for the business, and carry six or seven 
 hunters. On this side, though, and especially if there 
 is a chance of going into the sea, they generally clear 
 as fishermen. It makes it easier to explain, you under- 
 stand, if they happen to get nabbed by the cutters. 
 We gathered in two or three hundred skins coming up 
 the coast, and I heard Captain Duff say that if he 
 could get hold of a first-class hunter he'd like to ship 
 him. Strange that I never thought of you for that 
 position, when I knew what a good shot you are, too. 
 Tliat must be why he changed his mind so suddenly 
 about taking you along, for at first he declared he 
 couldn't think of such a thing. I do wonder, though, 
 how he happened to know that you could shoot." 
 
 Phil thought he knew, for he remembered the crowd 
 of sailormen who were gathered about the shooting- 
 gallery in Victoria the day before, and who had ap- 
 plauded his score ; but he was too full of questions 
 just now to waste time on explanations. 
 
 Where did people shoot seals and how ? Out at sea 
 or on land? With rifles or shot-guns? What did 
 Serge mean by '" pelagic sealers " ? What did he mean 
 by going into the sea ? What did he mean by getting 
 "nabbed"? 
 
 As our young traveller, to whom a new world of 
 strange men, strange animals, and strange scenes was 
 
■^ 
 
 PHIL DISCOV£RS WHAT HE IS 
 
 67 
 
 about to be opened, poured forth these questions con- 
 cerning it, Serge, to whom the whole business of seal- 
 ing was an old story, laughed. 
 
 " It would take several hours to tell you the whole 
 thing," he said, " and I've only two left in which to sleep 
 before going on watch at midnight. So if, like a good 
 fellow, you will turn in now, and restrain your curiosi- 
 ty till morning, I will then do my best to answer all 
 your questions." 
 
 Apologizing for his thoughtlessness, Phil accepted 
 his friend's suggestion ; and making his way back to 
 the cabin, took possession of the bunk Jalap Coombs 
 had said was to be his. As he lay there listening to 
 the gurgle of waters on the other side of the thin 
 plank separating him from them, he could not help 
 contrasting his present position with that of only 
 twenty-four hours before, and marvelling at the won- 
 derful changes that may be made in one's surround- 
 ings, circumstances, and whole plan of life in the brief 
 space of a single day. 
 
 ALASKAN HALIBUT HOOK 
 
H 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 SEALS AND SEAL-SKINS 
 
 As it is as essential for those who wish to follow 
 this story understandingly to know something of the 
 fur-seal — its haunts, habits, and the methods of its 
 capture — as it was to Phil Ryder, let us anticipate by 
 a few hours the mforraation that Serge is to give hira, 
 and learn a few of these things for ourselves. 
 
 Most of us have seen seals either in salt-water har- 
 bors or coast inlets, or at least in the tanks of zoologi- 
 cal gardens ', but the animals we have thus seen are 
 hair-seals, which are so common as to be found in all 
 the salt-waters of the world from poles to tropics. 
 They are, however, most plentiful on the coasts of the 
 north Atlantic, where they form an important food- 
 supply for the Eskimos of Greenland and the natives 
 of Labrador. Although the skin of the hair-seal is of 
 little value, the oil extracted from its blubber forms so 
 important an article of commerce that a large fleet of 
 steam and sailing vessels leaves St. Johns, Newfound- 
 land every year, for the sole purpose of capturing hair- 
 seals, and the annual catch amounts to several hun- 
 dreds of thousands of these animals. 
 
 The fur-seal is as different from its cousin the hair- 
 seal as a sheep is from a goat. The most important 
 point of difference between them is that while both 
 are furnis'iied with outer coats of stiff grayish hair, 
 the former wears an under covering of soft velvetlike 
 down or fur which the hair-seal is obliged to go with- 
 out. It is this under-garment of the fur-seal that is so 
 
SEALS AND SEAL-SKINS 
 
 69 
 
 highly prized, and from which arc made the sealskin 
 jackets, cloaks, muffs, and other articles that arc so ex- 
 pensive and valuable. 
 
 An immense amount of the most skilled and careful 
 labor is devoted to preparing these seal-skins, besidi's 
 that required in procuring them in distant seas and 
 shipping them to London, where it can be had most 
 cheaply. When removed from the animal the skin is 
 salted, bundled, and shipped. Arrived at its destina- 
 tion it must be repeatedly wet, dried, and heated, 
 scraped, shaved down to a uniform thickness, and 
 softened. Then its outer coating of coarse, unsightly 
 hairs must be plucked out by the roots, and the yellow- 
 ish-gray inner coat of soft fur must be given eight to 
 twelve coatings of dye, applied by hand with a brush, 
 in order to produce the rich " seal-brown " color that 
 fashion demands. The amount of labor thus expended 
 on a single skin is enormous, and as several of them 
 are required for a garment, while a heavy duty must 
 be paid before they can re-enter this country, it is no 
 wonder that seal-skin jackets are expensive luxuries. 
 
 One hundred years or so ago vast rookeries of fur- 
 seals existed in the far southern waters of the Antarc- 
 tic Ocean. During a period of eighty years these were 
 so ruthlessly destroyed by the sealing-fleets of all mar- 
 itime nations that in those waters the fur-seal became 
 practically extinct. 
 
 About 1768 the Russian sea-otter hunters, who had 
 discovered the Aleutian Islands, that wonderful chain 
 of volcanic rocks that divides Bering Sea from the 
 North Pacific, first noticed the annual migration < 
 countless millions of fur-seals northward throuffh the 
 passes between the islands in the early summer, and 
 southward in the autumn. For eighteen years they 
 sought in vain to discover where these seals went to, 
 and at length a Muscovite fur-trader named Gerassin 
 
 ^^j^i 
 
T 
 
 1 
 
 70 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 Pribyloff solved the mystery. For tliree years he had 
 braved the terrors of Bering Sea, cruising over its 
 length and breadtii in a little old sloop named aS'^ 
 George. At length on a certain July day, when the 
 fog was so dense that it hid one end of his vessel from 
 the other, he heard the roar of a vast concourse of seals, 
 and at the same time there was wafted to him through 
 the sodden air the unmistakable odor of their rookeries. 
 
 With the lifting of the fog Pribyloff discovered the 
 group of rocky islets that bears his name to this day. 
 The nearest or most southerly of these he named St. 
 George, after his vessel, while a much larger one some 
 thirty miles to the north he called St. Paul. Two 
 other insignificant islets named Otter and Walrus 
 complete the group. 
 
 From these islands, which are enveloped in fog for 
 half the year, and lashed by winter storms during the 
 remainder, comes to-day the bulk of the world's supply 
 of seal-skin. While they were owned by the Russians, 
 the annual slaughter of seals upon them was something 
 incredible, amounting to many hundreds of thousands. 
 It sometimes happened that a hundred thousand skins 
 would be cast into the sea and destroyed, in order to 
 keep up the market price, and the utter extermination 
 of the fur-seal appeared inevitable. Since 1867, how- 
 ever, when the Pribyloffs, together with the rest of 
 Alaska, became the property of the United States, 
 wise laws have so restricted the killing that the pres- 
 ervation of the seal herds is assured just so long as 
 the laws can be enforced. Under these laws only one 
 company, which pays handsomely for the privilege, may 
 kill seals on these islands, and even it may only kill 
 a specified number of young males between one and 
 six years of age. Thus the old bulls, the females, and 
 the pups are never molested. 
 
 On this little group of fog-enshrouded islands does 
 
 X 
 
THE FUK-SEALS AT HOME 
 
i! 
 
 V 
 
8BALS AND SEAL-8KINS 
 
 71 
 
 tho fur-seal breed, and to them the vast herds return 
 year after year with the recjularity of the seasons 
 themselves. They arrive in June and depari in Oc- 
 tober, when they move southward into the Pacific, 
 spreading themselves over all its limitless area, be- 
 tween the coasts of North America and Japan, but 
 never landing or leaving the water until they again 
 return to their chosen home in Bering Sea. 
 
 In their annual northward journey the seals divide 
 into two great herds, one of which follows the North 
 American coast-line, and the other that of Japan, keep- 
 ing as close to shore as do the schools of fish on which 
 they feed, which is anywhere from one to two hun- 
 dred miles. During this journey they arc harassed 
 and pursued by what is termed "pelagic" or open- 
 water sealers, both American, who outfit at San Fran- 
 cisco or Seattle, and British, who sail from Victoria. 
 He/Dtofore these pelagic sealers, who are said to kill 
 and lose from five to ten seals for every one that they 
 obtain, and who annually bring in several hundreds 
 of thousands of skins, have been unrestrained by law. 
 For some years they hunted in the waters of Bering 
 Sea, as well as in the open ocean. Finally the Amer- 
 icans claimed the exclusive control of the sea, and the 
 British denied that they possessed the right to <lo so. 
 While the question was in dispute, both parties agreed 
 that Bering Sea should be closed to all pelagic sealers, 
 and both nations maintained war vessels in those 
 waters to capture or drive away any sealers violating 
 this agreement. In 1893 the vexed question was set- 
 tled by arbitration, that gave to the Americans ex- 
 clusive control of Bering Sea waters within a radiuti 
 of sixty miles of the PribylofT Islands, forbade the 
 killing of fur-seals in any waters between the first of 
 May and the last of July, and prohibited the use of 
 rifles in seal-hunting at any time. 
 
\ 
 
 I ■ 
 
 i 
 
 12 
 
 THE FUB*SEAL*S TOOTH 
 
 As the year of our story was before that of this 
 settlement by arbitration, Bering Sea was closed by 
 law to all sealers, though certain of them still dared the 
 risk of entering it for the sake of the rich prizes they 
 might bring out if undetected by any of the patrol- 
 ling war-shipa. At the same time pelagic sealing was 
 briskly carried on outside of the protected waters, and 
 the north-bound herds were harassed on all sides by 
 swift sailing-vessels and even steamers fitted out for 
 their destruction. Some of these attempted to pass 
 themselves off as fishermen, and as such ventured in- 
 side the forbidden limits, trusting to their disguise to 
 protect them. 
 
 It was on board one of these pelagic scalers, owned 
 in Victoria and clearing as a fisherman from that port, 
 that Phil Ryder now found himself shipped as a 
 hunter. In this position he hoped and expected to 
 make a speedy voyage to Sitka, in Alaska, which was 
 at the same time one of the very last ports in which 
 Captain Duff would have cared to find himself under 
 the circumstances. 
 
 Most of the foregoing information concerning fur- 
 seals was imparted to Phil by Serge on the morning of 
 the first day out, and before the lesson was concluded 
 the former's eyes were opened to many things. IIo 
 had been awakened very early that morning by a start- 
 ling crash, which for a moment caused him to imag- 
 ine that the Seamew had struck a rock. At the same 
 time the cabin was filled with the roar of Captain 
 Duff's fierce voice. Reassured as to the safety of the 
 schooner, Phil smiled as he recalled Jalap Coombs's 
 theory of the necessary lung exercise indicated by the 
 latter sound. The burlv master of the Seamew seemed 
 to have been entirely restored to his wonted state of 
 mind by his night of seclusion, and to have decided to 
 continue his practice of loud-mouthed bullying in spite 
 
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SEALS AND SEAL-SKINS 
 
 78 
 
 of the surprising setback it Iiad received the evening 
 before. Consequently the moment ho emerged from 
 his state-room ho glanced about him to see whom 
 ho might first devour. Just then the form of the 
 schooner's black cook, Ebenezer by name, who was 
 called " Ebb " for short, and sometimes *' Slack Ebb " 
 or " Low Ebb," as the nautical fancy of the crew sug- 
 gested, appeared at the entrance of the narrow passage 
 leading from the galley. 
 
 Snatching a plate from the tab!<^, and flinging it at 
 the cook's head to emphasize his remarks, the captain 
 roared out a query as to why breakfast was not ready. 
 
 Adroitly ducking like one well accustomed to such 
 greetings, and thereby allowing the flying missile to 
 crash against the side of Phil's bunk, Ebenezer grinned 
 to show his appreciation of the captain's playfulness, 
 and answered : " Yes, sah. Dreckly, in free minute, 
 sah." 
 
 " Three minutes, ye black swab ! See that it's on 
 the table inside of one minute, or I'll have ye cut into 
 fish-chum, and make halibut bait of your heart." 
 
 " Berry good, sah," responded Ebenezer, still grin- 
 ning, though his eyes rolled wildly at this horrible 
 threat, as he hastily shuflled from the cabin backward 
 like a crab. Not until he gained the shelter of the 
 passage did he cease to watch the captain's every 
 movement. Then he turned and fled precipitately to 
 the galley. Here he felt as safe as tliough in a for- 
 tified castle, for the passage was too narrow to be suc- 
 cessfully navigated by so beamy a craft as the Sen- 
 nieio's master, and when that autocrat of the ship was 
 on deck the cook took good care to keep the galley 
 hatch closed and fastened on the inside. 
 
 At Ebb's flight. Captain Duff chuckled hoarsely, 
 and muttered to himself, " That's the way to fix 'em." 
 
 *' Good-morning, sir," remarked Phil at this moment. 
 
 
 t 
 
TIT 
 
 ! 
 
 
 V4 
 
 THE FUU-SEAL K TOOTH 
 
 " Ell ! What's tliat ?" demanded tlic cai)tain, whirl- 
 ing around with surprising agility for a man of his 
 size. "Why aren't you on deck, ye landlubber? I 
 want you to understand that I don't allow no skulking 
 below at this time o' day." 
 
 "Very well, sir. I'll go just as quick as I get ray 
 shoes on. I don't suppose you want me to do so bare- 
 footed." 
 
 " Barefooted, or web-footed, or club-footed, or with- 
 out any feet at all ! What is it to me how ye go, so 
 long as ye do go !" roared the captain. "Am I master 
 of this ship, I'd like to know, or am I only a howling 
 figure-head ?" 
 
 " You certainly are, sir," replied Phil, as with shoes 
 in hand he moved towards the companion-way. " And 
 I am certain that no one who is acquainted with you 
 would doubt it for a moment." 
 
 With this parting shot the lad disappeared, leaving 
 the captain to splutter and fume and wonder if there 
 was any hidden meaning in his remark. " If it warn't 
 for Ims shooting," he muttered, " I'd set him ashore on 
 the first land we make, and I don't know but what 
 I'd better get rid of him anyway, afore he stirs up a 
 mutiny." 
 
 Then he went on deck, where he made things so 
 lively for the next five minutes, and sent the crew 
 scurrying hither and thither with such agility by his 
 fiercely worded and loudly bellowed orders, that when 
 he went below for breakfast he actually forgot to find 
 fault with the cook for having served the meal so long 
 before that its several dishes had grown cold. 
 
 I 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 CAPTAIN duff's SIIUKWDNKSS 
 
 ALTiiou(iii Phil Ryder was generally a licarty eater, 
 he had a dainty taste, and was very particular about 
 his food. It must be what he liked, it must be cooked 
 just 80, and, above all, it must be served with cleanli- 
 ness, or he would rather experience a considerable de- 
 gree of hunger than touch it. In this he had been 
 encouraged by his aunt Ruth, and, to a certain extent, 
 by his father. Now, therefore, he found the Scameic's 
 table so far beneath his standard of perfection, and so 
 very different from those to which he had been accus- 
 tomed, that he barely tasted the food prepared for that 
 breakfast. He refused the coffee — which, as Captain 
 Duff was a great coffee-drinker, was of a better quality 
 than that usually furnished aboard-ship — nibbled at a 
 bit of hardtack, and then pushed back his stool. 
 
 "What's up?" inquired the captain, noting this 
 movement with surprise. " Feeling squeamish ? I 
 thought you never got seasick." 
 
 "No, sir, I'm not feeling squeamish, and I'm not in 
 the habit of getting seasick." 
 
 " Then why don't ye eat V" 
 
 " Because I'm not hungry." 
 
 " Humph ! ye'd better say at once that it's because 
 the victuals don't suit ye. Never mind, though ; we'll 
 try and have them fixed to yotir liking the next time." 
 
 After breakfast, the mate, who had been up all night, 
 and had brought the schooner safely through the Strait 
 
76 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 of Fuca into an open seaway, turned in for a long sleep, 
 and Captain Duff took the deck. 
 
 Phil went forward for his talk with Serge, and 
 learned, among other things, that the light-house tower 
 of Cape Flattery, which was just fading from view, 
 marked the most northerly light-station of the United 
 States on the Pacific coi^t. When the young hunter 
 wondered at this, and asked if there were no light- 
 houses in Alaska, Serge replied that so far as he knew 
 there was not one. 
 
 In this statcL'ient he was correct, for though many 
 Alaska harbors and channels are well buoyed and 
 marked by day beacons, yet on all of its thousands of 
 miles of storm-beaten, fog-enshrouded coast not a light 
 sends forth its cheery gleam, nor does a single fog- 
 horn give warning of hidden dangers. 
 
 Phil was intensely interested in everything that 
 Serge told him concerning seals, and now realized for 
 the first time the importance of his position on board 
 the Seamew, and the reason why his skill in shooting 
 had been so highly regarded by Captain Duff. 
 
 " What pay does a seal-hunter generally receive ?" 
 he asked, after a short period of thinking. 
 
 " One dollar each for the first one hundred skins, two 
 dollars for the first two hundred, and so on up to four 
 dollars each for the first four hundred, I believe," re- 
 sponded Serge. 
 
 " And how many does a good hunter usually secure ? 
 What is the average, I mean ?" 
 
 "The best I have heard of in a three months' cruise 
 is four hundred and sixteen skins," was the reply. 
 
 " Whew !" ejaculated Phil. " That would make his 
 pay for three months' work something over sixteen 
 hundred dollars. If I could only make half of that 
 sum, wouldn't it be fine ? How much do the green 
 skins letch V" 
 
CAPTAIN DUPP S SHREWDNESS 
 
 11 
 
 " Anywhere from ten to twenty dollars apiece, ac- 
 cording to the demand." 
 
 " I had no idoa they were so valuable, and I wish we 
 could begin getting some right away. I should like to 
 make enough money before reaching Sitka to replace 
 what I lost by carelessness," remarked Phil. " I for- 
 got, though," he added, with an abrupt change of tone 
 and a comical expression of dismay. " I have agreed 
 to work without wages, and I suppose that means that 
 I am not to receive any commission, no matter how 
 many skins I get. I wonder if I am sliippcd as a 
 hunter or only as a sailor ?" 
 
 " I am sure I don't know," answered Serge. " Didn't 
 you read the paper before you signed it ?" 
 
 " No ; I was in too much of a hurry, and too glad to 
 be taken on any terms. Did you read it ?" 
 
 " No, for I thought, of course, that you had." 
 
 "Well," sighed Phil, " I have often heard my father 
 say that one should never sign his name to a paper of 
 any kind without knowing exactly what it contained. 
 Oh, dear ! If a fellow could only remember and do 
 just what his father told him, how easy it would be to 
 keep out of scrapes. I wonder why it is that we 
 never think of these things until it is too late ?" 
 
 " How lucky those fellows are who have fathers to 
 tell them what to do. I haven't had one since I was a 
 little chap and too young to appreciate him," said 
 Serge, rather enviously. 
 
 At this point in the conversation Captain Duff called 
 Phil aft, and said that he wished him to join in a shoot- 
 ing-match with the other two hunters, Ike Croly and 
 Oro Dunn. A number of rifles and shot-guns lay on 
 top of the cabin - house, while towing astern of the 
 schooner, and bobbing in her wake at the end of a 
 hundred yards of line, was a round billet of wood 
 painted black, and about the size of a very small keg. 
 
78 
 
 THE FUR-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 1^1 t 
 
 I 
 
 "Five shots apiece with rifles, six with shot-guns, 
 and I will keep the score," announced the captain, add- 
 ing, "and the one who does the poorest cleans the 
 guns." 
 
 One after another the young men stepped to the 
 rail and fired without a rest, with either rifle or shot- 
 gun, as the case might be. Although the captain, who 
 watched the target through a glass, would announce 
 no results until the contest was ended, Phil saw so 
 many splashes in the water while others were shoot- 
 ing, that though he w.as unable to judge of his own 
 work, he was almost certain the gun cleaning of that 
 day would not fall to him. 
 
 To his dismay, when the contest was ended, the 
 captain, who had kept the score in a blank-book, de- 
 clared that out of the eleven shots fired by each Ike 
 Croly had scored nine hits and two misses, Oro Dunn 
 eight hits and three misses, and Phil Ryder five hits 
 and six misses. "You therefore may take the guns 
 forward and clean 'em," he said to Phil. " And I 
 must say I expected better work from you, judging by 
 the way you bragged yesterday." 
 
 Phil could not und( .-stand it. He could not remem- 
 ber having shot so poorly as that in years. Hia defeat 
 was the harder to bear on account of Captain Duff's 
 scornful words and the triumphant looks of the other 
 hunters, who, as he had seen from the first, were in- 
 tensely jealous of him. Still, there was nothing to be 
 said or done, and gathering up the guns he went for- 
 ward to clean them. He was resolved, however, that 
 when the time came for real action he would show 
 those two who could bring in the most seal-skins, 
 which was exactly the result that shrewd Captain Duff 
 wished to obtain. 
 
 By the time the young hunter finished his task the 
 morning was well spent, and he was beginning to sniff 
 
'S 
 
 by 
 
 •e in- 
 to be 
 for- 
 tbat 
 show 
 cins, 
 Duff 
 
 the 
 sniff 
 
 " IIK KOl'NI) A HAILKIl WITH WHICH UK SKT VltiOKOUSLY TO WORK " 
 

CAPTAIN DUFF'S SHREWDNESS 
 
 79 
 
 with some interest tlic savory odors of cooking that 
 came from the galley. As ho carried the cleaned 
 guns into the cabin and placed them in their racks, he 
 was glad to see that Ebenczer was setting the table 
 for dinner. 
 
 When he again went on deck the captain ordered 
 him to bail out the boat tb.at was towing astern. 
 Looking over the rail, Phil noticed for the first time 
 that one of the three light whale-boats carried by the 
 schooner was indeed towing astern by a short painter. 
 He could discover no way of getting into her save by 
 sliding down the rope by which she was held, and he 
 wondered if the feat were possible. His hesitation 
 was but momentary, however, for he saw that his 
 liunter rivals and several of the crew were watching 
 him curiously. 
 
 So the lad swung himself over the rail, and tightly 
 clutching the rope with both hands and feet, slid 
 downward. As he reached the boat, his weight rest- 
 ing on the bow caused it to sheer so abruptly that he 
 was very nearly flung into the eddying water, but with 
 a violent effort he managed to fling himself at full 
 length into the bottom of the uneasy craft. As he 
 scrambled up he saw, to his dismay, that the forward 
 plug was missing, and through the half-inch hole thus 
 left in the boat's bottom a stream of water was spirt- 
 ing viciously. Acting more from instinct than from 
 knowledge he made his way hurriedly to the after end. 
 Thus his weight sank the stern and at the same time 
 lifted the bow, so that the volume of water entering 
 the boat was very considerably diminished. Here he 
 found a wooden bailer, with which he set vigorously 
 to work. 
 
 After a few minutes of this he bethought himself 
 that some one might toss him a plug from the schooner, 
 and he hailed the deck at the top of his voice. Al- 
 
 \ I 
 
. f 
 
 80 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 thoujQfh he shouted until he was lioarso, he received no 
 answer, nor could he catch a glimpse of a hunan being 
 on board the craft behind which he was towing. No 
 one came to look at him over the rail, and she might 
 have been sailing ot her own accord at her own sweet 
 will for aught that he could see of life or guiding in- 
 telligence. One thing he did discover, however, which 
 was that the rope by which he was towing had been 
 so lengthened that his boat was now twice the distance 
 from the schooner it had been when he entered it. 
 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE FIRST SEAL-HUNT 
 
 For an hour or more Phil Ryder sat in the stern of 
 the boat, alternately bailing, shouting, and casting 
 hopeful glances at the schooner's rail every few mo- 
 ments in the full expectation of seeing some one who 
 would relieve him from his unpleasant position. Dur- 
 ing this time he was painfully conscious of a most ^ 
 vigorous appetite, that was whetted by occasional tan- 
 talizing whiffs that came floating back to him from 
 the galley. At length he began to believe that by 
 some strange oversight he must have been forgotten, 
 and that if anything was done to relieve the situation 
 he must do it himself. He thought that if he could 
 only haul his boat up close under the stern of the 
 schooner he might be able to climb up the rope, and 
 so gain her deck. As no other plan offered, he pro- 
 ceeded to put this one into execution, and stepping 
 forward into the bow of the boat, without regard to 
 the increase of water that this movement caused to 
 flow in through the plug-hole, he seized the rope and 
 began to pull with all his might. The instant the 
 stern was raised and the bow lowered by this transfer 
 of weight the boat sheered wildly to one side. Then 
 she was brought back with a sudden jerk that very 
 nearly capsized her, and immediately made a furious 
 rush in the opposite direction, until her bow was so 
 nearly dragged under that to save himself and restore 
 the former state of affairs Phil was compelled once 
 more to spring aft. His sole plan for escape had . 
 
 i I'M 
 
82 
 
 TlIK FUR-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 
 ' 
 
 ; 
 
 resulted in dismal failure, and so much water had 
 entered the boat during the experiment that to keep 
 her from swamping he had need to bail furiously for 
 another hour. At the end of that time ho had once 
 more got the better of the exasperating leak, so that 
 ho could rest for a few minutes. Then he must fall 
 to bailing again. So in resting and bailing by turns 
 the long afternoon hours were slowly worn away. 
 The poor lad was faint from hunger, cold, wet, and 
 furious at the supposed carelessness that had left him 
 in such an unpleasant, not to say dangerous, position. 
 
 It was not until nearly sunset that the welcome 
 sound of a voice came to his ears. Looking up, he 
 saw Ebenezer's black face peeping over the rail, and 
 heard him announce, " Suppah, sah !" 
 
 " Haul in on the painter, you grinning idiot I" 
 shouted Phil, whereupon the negro placed his hand 
 to his ear and called back : " Yes, sah. Suppah I'* 
 
 "Oh, what ?" old stupid!" groaned Phil, sinking 
 back despairingly in the stern of the boat. '*I may 
 stay here until I starve or drown for all the help he'll 
 give me." 
 
 Just then came another shout, and a new hope 
 sprang into the breast of the despairing lad as he saw 
 the lank but powerful frame of Jalap Coombs rising 
 above the rail, and felt that his boat was being drawn 
 towards the schooner. When it was at length pulled 
 up as close as possible the mate shouted : 
 
 "Now, lad, make a climb for it hand over hand, 
 and ril stand by to give ye a h'ist when ye get within 
 reach." 
 
 A minute later Phil stood safe and sound on the 
 Seamew^s deck, but so angry that he broke out at once 
 with: 
 
 " That's as mean a piece of business as I ever heard 
 of, and if I can find out who is responsible for it. 
 
THE FIRST SEAL-HUNT 
 
 83 
 
 atcr had 
 i to kt'(>|) 
 >U8ly lor 
 bad once 
 ;, so that 
 nuHt fall 
 by turns 
 n away, 
 kvet, and 
 left him 
 osition. 
 welcome 
 J up, he 
 'ail, and 
 
 idiot 1" 
 is hand 
 [il" 
 
 sinking 
 "I may 
 •Ip he'll 
 
 w hope 
 he saw 
 
 8 rising 
 drawn 
 pulled 
 
 • hand, 
 within 
 
 on the 
 ^t once 
 
 • heard 
 for it. 
 
 ril pay him back, see if I don't ! It's an outrage ! 
 and—" 
 
 •' Steady, lad ! Steady I'* interrupted Jalap Coombs. 
 " Your trouble's all over now, and there ain't no use 
 kicking it into life again. As my friend old Kite 
 Uoberson uster say — " 
 
 " Oh, hang Kite Robinson !" cried Phil. 
 
 " So, now ! So ! What did poor old Kite ever do 
 to you that yo should want to hang him? 'Tain't 
 right to speak so onrespectful agin them as is older 
 than you be, and 'twon't do no good niither. As my old 
 friend uster offen say, * Ef ye kick a trouble, it '11 kick 
 back, but there ain't no trouble in the world kin stand 
 up agin a good broad grin.' So jest ye give a grin 
 'stead of a kick, and ye'll feel all right." 
 
 Phil could not help laughing at the very homeliness 
 of this advice, and with that laugh his recent experi- 
 ence did really begin to look as much like a joke — 
 though a rather serious one, to be sure — as an outrage. 
 In another moment he was following Jalap Coombs 
 into the cabin, where Captain Duff and the two other 
 hunters were already seated at supper. 
 
 How warm and bright and cosey the cabin did seem ! 
 Phil wondered how he could he . j thought it dingy 
 and stuffy. How good it was to see a bountifully 
 provided table once more, and people ! He even felt 
 an almost friendly feeling towards the captain, whose 
 broad red face loomed above one end of the table. 
 
 " Hello, Ryder !" roared that individual. " Too bad 
 ye was left out in that boat so long, but fact is I've 
 been turned in all the afternoon, and I neglected to 
 mention it to Mr. Coombs when he went on watch. 
 The wust of it to me would have been the missing of 
 my dinner ; but I don't suppose you minded that, see- 
 ing as ye ain't pertickerler 'bout eating noway." 
 
 " The worst of it was that as a plug was out of the 
 
 r 
 
Il 
 
 •4 
 
 THE FUU-SEAL 8 TOOTH 
 
 boat, I had to bail nearly all tbc time to keep her from 
 swamping," replied Phil. 
 
 " Sho, now ! That so ? Waal, it give ye something 
 to do, and kep' yc from idleness, which some folks 
 finds mighty hard to stand. I don^t mind it muoL my- 
 self, but then wo ain't all made alike." 
 
 Phil was too busy eating to make any reply to this, 
 and at the same time he was wondering if a new cook 
 liad been found to take Ebenezer's place. Certainly 
 nothing he had previously eaten on board the tSeamew 
 had tasted half so good as that supper. 
 
 It was a noticeable fact that from that time on our 
 young hunter seemed to enjoy his meals as much as 
 any of those who sat at the cabin table. It was also 
 observed that Captain Duff every now and then broke 
 into a hoarse chuckle at meal-times without any appar- 
 ent cause. 
 
 Early the next morning, several seals having been 
 seen from the schooner's deck, the three boats wore 
 cleared away and sent forth in pursuit of the shy but 
 coveted game. In each boat were a hunter, a boat- 
 puller, and a steersman ; each was provided with a 
 sail, oars, and a boat compass, and in each were stowed 
 a breaker of fresh water and a bag of sea-biscuit. The 
 hunter sat or stood in the bows forward of the mast, 
 where he could have an unobstructed view ahead and 
 on both sides. He was provided with both a rifle and 
 a shot-gun, one or the other of which was always n 
 his hands ready for instant use. He also carried a 
 plentiful supply of cartridges. 
 
 The boat-puller sat amidship, and rowed or trimmed 
 sail as occasion might demand ; "hile the steersman, 
 occupying the stern, not only steered the boat, but 
 kept careful note of the courses taken by means of his 
 compass, and of weather indications. He of course is 
 always an experienced sailor. All three were warmly 
 
TIIK FIRST HEAL-IIUNT 
 
 85 
 
 been 
 were 
 
 clnd, and each had an oil-skin suit ready at hand. A 
 long-handled gaff or sharp Iiook of steel lay along the 
 thwarts, whero it could ho readily reached by any one 
 of the three. 
 
 When the boats left the schooner they separated 
 until about half a mile apart, and then ran down the 
 wind, all steering exactly the same course. They were 
 followed by the SettmeWy under shortened sail, and 
 steering the same course as they. Thus, though they 
 might lose sight of her through distance, darkness, or 
 fog, they were pretty certain to find her again, though 
 it often happens that seal-huniing boats are lost, some- 
 times to be picked up after days of anxious drifting, 
 and not infrequently never l;o be seen or heard of 
 more. 
 
 Serge was ordered to go as boat-puller in the craft 
 of which Phil was the hunter, much to the satisfaction 
 of both lads. As they were the least experienced of 
 the three crews, they were given the schooner's best 
 sailor-man for boat-steerer, no other than Jalap Coombs 
 himself. 
 
 Phil felt rather nervous as he found himself actually 
 embarked on the career of a seal-hunter, and realized 
 how largely the success of the cruise depended on his 
 individual efforts. To be sure, he had, by his own 
 carelessness, cut himself off from sharing any of its 
 profits, but he felt that he had a reputation at stake. 
 So, like all young sportsmen, he was extremely anxious 
 to make as good a " bag " as either of the other hunters 
 who were oa the same quest as himself. Thus he was 
 determined to do his very best, if only to show Ike 
 Croly and Oro Dunn that there were other people in 
 the world who could shoot as well as, if not a little 
 bette' than, they. 
 
 Thi^ first hunting day was a gray one, with occa- 
 sional flurries of rain, but fortunately without fog — a 
 
80 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL 8 TOOTH 
 
 rare circumstance in those latitudes. For an hour or 
 more the occupants of the mate's boat held their course 
 without catchi-^.g sight of the coveted game, though 
 the eyes of all three searched the dull surface of the 
 waters incessantly. They heard several faint shots 
 from the direction taken by the other boats, and these 
 only made them the more anxious to discover game 
 of their own. Suddenly a sharp whisper of " There's 
 one !" from the stern of the boat caused both lads to 
 look around. 
 
 " Where ?" cried Phil, eagerly, not realizing in his 
 excitement that he was epeaking aloud. 
 
 "Gone," answered the mate, dryly, but in a tone of 
 great vexation, " to sec who ye was hollering at." 
 With this he pointed to the right, where the boys saw, 
 already out of range, a dark object fleeing with in- 
 credible swiftness and a series of curious bouncings, by 
 which its body was thrown c'ear of the water by each 
 impulse. 
 
 "Oh !" exclaimed Phil. "That's too bad ! What 
 an idiot I was !" 
 
 " Never mind, son," replied Jalap Coombs, consoling- 
 ly. " Better luck next time; but mind and don't speak 
 out loud again till your seal's in the boat." 
 
 The next was discovered by Phil himself, and, hold- 
 ing up his hand warningly, he pcirited to it. It lay on 
 the surface asleep, and ere its keen sense of smell, 
 which in a seal is active even in slumber, warned it of 
 the presence of its enemies, they were within range. 
 As it finally lifted its startled head a sharp report rang 
 out, and it was dead. 
 
 "Quick, Serge!'' shouted the mate. "Row to it 
 afore it sinks, as it surely will unless it had just '^v.iwn 
 in a breath." The animal had sunk when they reached 
 the spot, but so short a distance that the body could 
 still be reached by the gaff and drawn into the boat. 
 
 
'' 
 
 in his 
 
 H 
 
 O 
 c 
 
 H 
 
 B 
 W 
 « 
 » 
 
 w 
 > 
 w 
 o 
 a 
 » 
 
 D 
 
 H 
 
 S3 
 
 
 M 
 7i 
 
 H 
 
rs . 
 
 ir^ 
 
 
THE FIRST SEAL-HUNT 
 
 87 
 
 Phil's eyes sparkled as he gloated over this his first s«3al, 
 and while Serge was skinning it he eagerly searched 
 for another. 
 
 The next one, discovered an hour later, took the 
 alarm before they got within shot-gun range, and 
 bounded away. "He's a lucky beggar!" said Jalap 
 Coombs, in a disgusted tone; but Phil, dropping the 
 useless shot-gun and snatching up his rifle, took a 
 quick aim and fired. 
 
 " The very prettiest wing shot that ever I see !" cried 
 the exulting mate, as three minutes later ':hey hauled 
 the dtad seal into the boat. "Plumb through the 
 head, too !" 
 
 So with varying fortunes the day wore on until it 
 was time to return to the schooner, unless they wished 
 to remain out all night. In the boat were five hand- 
 some skins and one seal, just killed, that still retained 
 its glossy coat. Now their sole anxiety was to know 
 whether either of the other boats had beaten them or 
 not. The mate thought they were "high line" for 
 that day, but Phil was doubtful. 
 
 ii 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 OVERBOARD IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 il 
 
 \ I 
 
 As the mate's boat approached the Seameio at the con- 
 clusion of that first day's hunt, its occupants saw that 
 the other two boats were already alongside, and that 
 their cargoes were being transferred to the schooner's 
 deck. 
 
 "They've beaten us," said Phil, despondently, as 
 he noted the number of skins being handed up over 
 the side. " I declare luck seems to be dead set against 
 me!" 
 
 "If you only hadn't lost the tooth," murmured 
 Serge. 
 
 " I'm glad I have," replied the other, sharply, as he 
 caught these words. " I'm glad I haven't got it now, 
 too, because there is no such thing as luck, and I'll 
 prove it to you yet by getting more seals than both 
 those fellows put together, even without any wretched 
 tooth to help me." 
 
 "I'm sorry, then, that I ever gave it to you," retorted 
 Serge, angrily. 
 
 " So am I ; and after this I hope you will keep your 
 witch charms to yourself." 
 
 " Hello, for'ard there !" cried Jalap Coom.bs, whose 
 quick ear detected the angry tones, though he could not 
 distinguish the words of their conversation. " What's 
 to pay ? You two aren't quarrelling, be ye ? I hope 
 hot, for, as old Kite Roberson uster say, ' Any man as 
 will quarrel with a friend don't desarve to have no 
 friend.' So kiss and make up, same as the little lambs 
 
 ' I 
 
OVERBOARD IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 
 
 89 
 
 does. I tell ye, lads," he added, earnestly, " in this 
 'ere onsartin v'y'ge of life the wise sailor-man takes 
 advantage of the fair breezes and smooth waters of 
 friendship, while the swabs is forever bucking agin the 
 cross-seas and head-winds of strife." 
 
 Although both lads heard these words and appre- 
 ciated their good sense, their anger still so rankled 
 that they could not bring themselves to act upon the 
 mate's advice. So as their boat ranged alongside the 
 schooner they sat in a moody silence, and it rested 
 with Jalap Coombs to reply to the questioning hails 
 regarding the success of their first day's hunt. 
 
 " How many ye got ?" shouted Ike Croly, from the 
 deck. 
 
 " How many ye got yourself ?" queried the mate. 
 
 " I got eight, and Oro he got seven," was the reply. 
 
 "Ye done well ! Mighty well ! Them's the figgers 
 we 'lowed ye was making by counting your shots, and 
 as we didn't want to make ye feel bad at fust start- off, 
 we only brung in six of ourn. We're going to fetch 
 along the rest to-morrow, though, so look out for your- 
 selves." 
 
 So Ike Croly was *' high line " for that day, and dur- 
 ing the rest of the evening he showed both by looks 
 and conversation how proud he was of the honor, and 
 that he considered himself to be a very fine fellow in- 
 doed. 
 
 As for Phil, he was not only humiliated by his de- 
 feat, but heart-sore over his quarrel with Serge. IIow 
 bitterly he repented of his hasty words ! and how 
 gladly would he recall them even now if only his 
 wretched pride would permit ! I3ut it would not, 
 and so at the supper-table he sat moody and silent, 
 while the others eagerly discussed the events of the 
 day. 
 
 " I tell ye," cried Jalap Coombs, moved to do a little 
 
 ■ 
 
90 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 
 i 
 
 boasting for his side as an offset to that of Croly and 
 Dunn, " that young feller " — here he nodded in PhiPs 
 direction — "has made the best fust day's record of any 
 green hand at the business I ever run across." 
 
 "I might think so too," growled Captain Duff, "if 
 it hadn't been for his big talk about how he could 
 shoot at the start-off. As it is, I must say I am dis- 
 appointed in the result." 
 
 " And I tell ye," continued Jalap Coombs, without 
 paying the slightest heed to this interruption, "lie 
 made as pretty a wing shot to-day as ever I see. A 
 clean kill at more'n two hundred yards, nigher two 
 hundred and fifty, with the seal on end, jumping like 
 all possessed, and tearing along like a blue streak. A 
 man might live to be a thousand, like old Jerusalem — 
 Methusalem, I mean — and never see a neater shot in all 
 that time. Why, I couldn't have done better myself." 
 
 As it was a notorious fact that while Jalap Coombs 
 was a capital judge of shooting, he was also one of the 
 very worst shots in the world, this last sally raised 
 such a laugh at his expense that even moody Phil was 
 unable to resist a faint smile. It was quickly over- 
 clouded, however, as his thoughts reverted to Serge, 
 and he was glad when, the meal being finished, he was 
 at liberty to go on deck. 
 
 Here a busy scene was being enacted, which was at 
 the same time so new and strange to Phil that he could 
 not but regard it with interest. By the light of the 
 setting sun the last three seals shot that day were 
 being stripped of the precious skins for the sake of 
 which they had been compelled to yield their lives. 
 The three most expert seal-skinners of the crew, one 
 of whom was Serge Belcofsky, were engaged in a 
 match race at this business. Phil, who, having had 
 some experience in skinning deer and other game, 
 could appreciate the diflUculties of the task, watched 
 
OVERBOARD IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 
 
 01 
 
 thout 
 , "he 
 
 3. A 
 
 r two 
 
 with amazement the ease and rapidity with which his 
 friend worked. 
 
 Serge had jjlaced the body of his seal squarely on 
 its back, and with a knife sharpened to the keenness 
 of a razor he made a single straight cut through the 
 skin from the lower jaw along the neck, chest, and 
 abdomen to the root of the tail. Next came four 
 swift cii'cular cuts, one around the base of each fore 
 flipper, one around the extremity of the body at the 
 tail, and another around the head just back of the 
 jaws. 
 
 The skin being now ready for removal. Serge 
 grasped an edge of it, and with his keen blade rapidly 
 " flensed" it or cut it free from the body, which he 
 rolled over as the operation proceeded, until he liter- 
 ally rolled the seal out of its skin. After this, one of 
 the crew carried the skin below, and laid it, hair side 
 down, in a "kench," or bin constructed for the purpose. 
 Here the fleshy sides of the skins are covered thickly 
 with salt, and they are left in that condition until the 
 end of the voyage. They are thus thoroughly pickled, 
 and will keej) in this state for an indefinite length of 
 time. 
 
 As Serge finished his task nearly half a minute ahead 
 of his most expert rival in this peculiar business, the 
 spectators greeted him with shouts of applause and a 
 vigorous hand-clapping. The young Alaskan acknowl- 
 edged this with a smile and a bow, but at the same 
 time glanced inquiringl}'- to where Phil stood, to see 
 if he were joining in these tokens of appreciation. 
 But the young seal-hunter Avas not given to outward 
 demonstrations of his feelings, and though his heart 
 was peculiarly warmed towards Serge at this moment, 
 and he longed for a reconciliation, he could not bring 
 himself to let this feeling manifest itself before others. 
 So he stood motionless and silent. 
 
 ■ 
 
92 
 
 TUB fur-seal's tooth 
 
 Serge, too, was longing for a renewal of friendship 
 with the one of all his companions whom he most ad- 
 mired and loved, and was bitterly disappointed that 
 Phil should give no sign of a similar desire. More to 
 hide the expression of this feeling than anything else 
 he picked up the body of the seal which he had just 
 finished, and bore it to the rail with the intentioo of 
 throwing it overboard. The deck was slippery with 
 blood and blubber oil, and Serge was not just then in 
 a mood to exercise caution. He was thinking of Phil 
 instead of what he was doing. As a consequence, 
 when he lifted the seal above his head and leaned far 
 over the rail to fling it from him, his feet slipped, and 
 in an instant he had plunged headforemost into the 
 cold waters. 
 
 Phil uttered a cry of horror as his friend thus disap- 
 peared from view, for it instantly flashed into his mind 
 that, like most natives of Alaska, where the water is 
 too cold to tempt them to linger in its icy embrace, 
 Serge did not know how to swim. The young hunter 
 was so prompt to act that even as he cried aloud in his 
 distre2«J he was casting aside his coat and kicking off 
 his heavy boots. Then, darting aft, he sprang on the 
 rail, and with the same motion flung himself into the 
 sea. As he came to the surface he caught sight of 
 Serge struggling to keep his head above water but a 
 few feet from him, and a couple of strokes took him to 
 the side of the drowning lad. 
 
 "Rest your hands on my shoulders, old man," he 
 shouted, " and I can support you. Don't grab me, or 
 you will drown us both." 
 
 Half choked, blinded, and breathless as he was, 
 Serge heard, understood, and obeyed. 
 
 By treading water, and at the same time paddling 
 with hid hands as a dog uses his fore - paws in swim- 
 ming, Phil managed to keep both his own head and 
 
OVERBOARD IN THE NORTH PACIFIC 
 
 93 
 
 that of his helpless comrade above water. It required 
 a tremendous effort, however, and he realized that 
 some unnatural weigh*, was gradually dragging them 
 down. 
 
 " Kick off your boots. Serge !" he cried. 
 
 " I can't," gasped the latter. 
 
 "You must! Unices you do I can't hold out a min- 
 ute longer." 
 
 Somehow or other Serge managed to obey and get 
 rid of his heavy water-filled sea-boots, though how he 
 did it he never could tell. Fortunately they were 
 several sizes too large for him, a fact over which he 
 had previously lamented. 
 
 The relief from their weight was instant, and Phil 
 felt that he was now good for several minutes longer. 
 
 "Can you see the schooner?" he asked. 
 
 "No," answered Ser^:e, who was looking in the 
 wrong direction. 
 
 " Look again, and look all around." 
 
 " Yes, yes !" screamed the other. " Here she is, 
 right on top of us ! Look out ! or we shall be run 
 down." 
 
 I 
 

 I ;: 
 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 »» 
 
 rillL BECOMES " HIGH LINE 
 
 Just as Serge uttered his terrified scream at tlie 
 sight of what he believed to be the schooner about to 
 run them down, he gave a lurch to one side that sent 
 him clear of Phil and plunged him again beneath the 
 surface. The swimmer seized him by the collar, and 
 at the same moment was struck by something on the 
 opposite side that he instinctively grasped. It was an 
 oar belonging to the boat into which Jalap Coombs 
 had slid as it towed astern of the schooner, and cutting 
 the painter, had come to their rescue. As from his 
 position in rowing he was not able to look ahead, he 
 had not yet seen the lads, when a scream from under 
 his bows warned him that he was upon them. The 
 boat had appeared to Serge so suddenly and unexpect- 
 edly that to his bewildered eyes she looked as big as 
 the schooner, and he believed his own fate and Phil's 
 to be sealed. 
 
 It did not take the chilled and dripping lads long to 
 scramble into the boat, for though they were so numbed 
 as to be almost helpless, both they and Jalap Coombs 
 were such experienced boatmen that all three knew 
 exactly what to do. Relieved from the terrible strain 
 under which they had labored, they felt so weak that 
 they would gladly have lain down in the bottom of 
 the boat ; but Jalap Coombs said : "No indeed, ye'll 
 do nothing of the kind. Set on that thwart, each take 
 an oar, and row for all you're wuth to keep up a cir- 
 kerlation and get warm. Ef ye don't, I'll have to turn 
 
■^Pl 
 
 PHIL BECOMES "high LINE" 
 
 05 
 
 to aiifl give ye both the sound thrashing ye dcsarvo, 
 tliougli I was brung up a Quaker, and arc opposed to 
 fighting on gineral principles." 
 
 He spoke so sternly that neither of them dared dis- 
 obey him, and so they wearily rowed for all they were 
 worth, which was very little indeed just then, until the 
 returning schooner picked them up, and willing hands 
 outstretched over her side drew them once more into 
 safety. 
 
 In the meantime the lads, whose friendsliip had been 
 sundered for a little, only to be welded more firmly 
 than ever by the death struggle they had just shared, 
 had exchanged a few broken but heartfelt sentences as 
 they sat side by side on that weary thwart, and now all 
 was again well with them. 
 
 Serge had said, " Oh, Phil ! I shall never forgive 
 myself !" And the latter had answered : " You don't 
 have to, old man. If you will only forgive me, it will 
 be more than enough." After that the mere toueliinff 
 of their wet shoulders had proved comforting, and 
 given assurance of a friendship that neither of them 
 believed could ever .igain be broken. 
 
 Youth and health can withstand almost anything, 
 and so in the morning, after a night between warm 
 blankets, the lads were as fit as ever for their day's 
 work. As they started out in their boat in pursuit of 
 seals, they felt none the worse for the experience of the 
 previous evening, which was already become a memory, 
 and one not altogether tinged with sadness. In fact, 
 they were not inclined to regard their adventure half so 
 seriously as did Jalap Coombs. lie said: 
 
 " Ef it hadn't er been for me and old Kite Roberson, 
 the Seameio would have lost two of her best hands." 
 
 "We know what would have happened if it had not 
 been for you," replied Phil, gratefully ; " but what bad 
 Mr. Robinson to do with it?" 
 
 I I 
 
 f 
 
\> 
 
 !l 
 
 !■;( 
 
 i I 
 
 00 
 
 TIIK FUR-8EAL*S TOOTH 
 
 "Moro'n a little," answered the mate, shaking his 
 head and gazing into the remote distance, as ho always 
 did when referring to his late but still venerated friend. 
 " Old Kite uster say : * When two friends has quarrelled, 
 and is trying to make up without knowing jest how 
 to do it, then watch 'em, for they ain't responserble for 
 their acts.' Remembering this as I did, I naturally felt 
 it my dooty to keep an eye on you two last evening, 
 though it war my watch below, and some would have 
 said I hadn't no call to be on deck. Says I to myself, 
 'There's no knowing what they'll do.' Sure enough 
 when I seed fust one plump overboard and then t'other, 
 I knowed why I had been called, and acted according. 
 S-s-t ! there's a holluschickie [young male seal] now !" 
 
 As the fur-seal when sleeping in the water lies on his 
 back with his fore-flippers folded on his breast, and as, 
 when in this position only his nose and the heels of his 
 hind-flippers are exposed to view, it would bo hard to 
 say how even Jalap Coombs's practised eye could dis- 
 tinguish a holluschickie, or bachelor seal, from a female, 
 or even from a seecatch or old bull. His assertion was 
 proved true, however, when this one was hauled into 
 the boat, after a capital shot by Phil, and after Serge's 
 powerful strokes had taken them so quickly to the 
 spot that the sinking body could be gaffed. 
 
 Phil was glad of this, for he hated to kill female 
 seals, such a proceeding not being at all in accordance 
 with his sport&rajinlike instincts or training. He was 
 often obliged to do this, however, for the pelagic sealer 
 must shoot quickly if he is to shoot successfully, and 
 without pausing to discover, even if such a thing were 
 possible, whether he is firing at a yearling pup, a bache- 
 lor, a female, or an " old wig," as the seecatchie or vet- 
 eran bulls are called, on account of a patch of white 
 hair on their shoulders. 
 
 As Jalap Coombs philosophically remarked, " They 
 
 ness. 
 
PHIL BECOMES " IIIOII LINE" 
 
 07 
 
 all count in the day's catch, and numbers, not quality, 
 is what wo open- water fellows is after." 
 
 The crew of the mate's boat worked so well on this 
 day, Phil shot with such quickness and precision. Serge 
 rowed with such enerc^y, and Jalap Coombs steered to 
 such a nicety within range of the shy animals after 
 they were once sighted, that before night a well-earned 
 success had rewarded their efforts, and their boat was 
 heavily laden with seal-skins. 
 
 Besides those they secured, many seals were shot at 
 and missed, some were wounded and escaped, and still 
 others sank beyond reach after being killed. Most of 
 Phil's shots were made at mere black points that a[)- 
 peared but for a moment on this side or that as the 
 seals came to the surface for a breath of air, only to 
 dive again almost immediately. The whole body was 
 rarely seen, save when the seals were at play, when 
 they would spring clear of the water with graceful 
 leaps, like so many salmon. At other times they (iwam 
 a few feet beneath the surface with marvellous swift- 
 ness, and if one were noted as he came up for breath, 
 he was too far away to be seen when forced to do so a 
 second time. 
 
 With all these difficulties to contend against, the 
 securing of twenty seals by a single boat \vas consid- 
 ered by Jalap Coombs a capital day's work, and as 
 they approached the Seameio at sunset the heart of the 
 young hunter beat higli with the hope that he had at 
 length scored more points than either of his rivals. 
 Nor was he disappointed, though, when a dozen skins 
 had been sent aboard, and no more were seen in the 
 boat, a derisive laugh was heard from the schooner's 
 deck. When, however, Jalap Coombs began to hand 
 out the rest of the skins, which he had purposely hid- 
 den beneath the sail, this laugh was not only silenced, 
 but was changed into exclamations of astonishment. 
 
 
' 
 
 98 
 
 THE PUR-SEAL'S TOOTH 
 
 'I'l 
 
 ! li 
 
 Ore Dunn had brought in eighteen skins, and had 
 boastfully declared that he was " high line " for the day, 
 as no young sport from the East '.vas likely to beat that 
 score, or even come anywherj near it. When Phil's 
 twenty skins were counted out, Mr. Dunn retired to the 
 cabin as crestfallen a seal-hunter as sailed the Pacific at 
 that moment, and muttering unpleasant things about 
 some people's luck. 
 
 Serge said he ought to add " Brown " to his name. 
 
 Jalap Coombs was triumphant. At the supper-table 
 he boasted so tremendously of his protege's shooting, 
 that although Phil could not entirely repress his hap- 
 py smiles, he was forced to remain as silent as on the 
 previous evening. Even Captain Duff congratulated 
 him in his own rough way, and said that if this thing 
 were kept, up he would soon be obliged to allow his 
 youngest hunter the same commission as the others. 
 
 At *iJ<) same time Serge was the hero of the fore- 
 castle, where the mate's crew, and Phil in particular, 
 were praised to the full content of the young boat- 
 puller. 
 
 For ten days longer this exciting business of seal- 
 hunting on the high seas v^as continued, with varying 
 success and in all kinds of weather. Occasionally a 
 day, or at least part of one, would be fair and bright, 
 but more often the sun was hidden by fog -banks or 
 low-hanging clouds, while snarling squalls of wind and 
 rain swept above the sullen waters. Once the sea was 
 lashed into fury for twenty-four hours by so fierce a 
 gale that the brave little schooner, hove to under a 
 tiny storm try-sail and the merest corner of her jib, 
 was taxed to her utmost to ride it out. 
 
 By the time that several hundred skins, of which a 
 full third were credited to Phil's gun, were safely salted 
 away in the kenches, the seals suddenly disappeared. 
 Jalap Coombs said that the schooner must be w 'thin 
 
PHIL BECOMES " HIGil LINE " 
 
 99 
 
 one hundred miles or so of the AIcMitian Islands, and 
 that the game they had followed so far had doubtless 
 passtjd through them hito Bering Sea, where the re- 
 united seal herds were by this time "hauling out "on 
 the Pribyloff Islands. 
 
 " How I should love to see them there !" txclaimed 
 Phil. 
 
 " Well, you're not likely to have a chance on this 
 v'y'ge," answered Jalap Coombs, " and if ye did, yo'd 
 be a long ways further from Sitka than ye be now." 
 
 This set the young hunter to thinking seriously of 
 his original purpose in taking this cruise. Of course 
 he had often thought of it before, though not very 
 seriously; but now he began to watch anxiously for 
 the promised vessel, to which he and Serge might be 
 transferred with a view to reaching their desired des- 
 tination. Once he ventured to mention tlie subject to 
 Captain Duff, only to receive the gruff reply : 
 
 " Ye don't suppose I'm going hunting schooners just 
 to set you aboard of, do ye? When we Iiappen to 
 hail one, I'll see. Meantime you can keep right on 
 earning the money I've already laid out on ye, besides 
 what's due for your passage." 
 
 As at the lowest estimate Phil had already ear/ied 
 several hundred dollars, of which he was not to see 
 one cent, he considered that his account with Cap- 
 tain Duff was more than balanced, which belief was 
 equally shared by Serge. 
 
 One morning soon after this Phil was surprised to 
 find the Seamew at anchor. He looked eagerlv about 
 for signs of land, but none were to be seen. " Where 
 are we ? and what are we anchored here for ?" he 
 asked of Jalap Coombs, who happened to be on deck 
 at the time. 
 
 ''Outer edge of the Shumagin Banks, and I s'pose 
 we're here to fish," was the brief answer. 
 
100 
 
 1113 pur-seal's tooth 
 
 They evidently were there to fish, and all hands 
 were set at it as soon as breakfast was over. With 
 bits of seal blubber for bait, they hauled in cod as 
 fast as they pleased. Very soon a portion of the crew 
 were told off to split and salt these, while the rest con- 
 tinued to add to the catch. By nightfall a sufficient 
 number of fine large fish to suit Captain Duff's pur- 
 pose had been caught, split, and salted away on top of 
 the seal - skins already packed in the kenches below- 
 deck. His desire for the valuable furs had only been 
 increased by the successful issue of his voyaye \ip to 
 this time, and he had determined upon a li >• , ove 
 that would secure him as many more seal-isj.uis us he 
 already had if it could be successfully carried out. 
 He d»i not disclose his intentions even to his mate, 
 but merely ordered the anchor up at the conclusion of 
 that day of fishing, and laid a course to the westward. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 A VENTURE INTO FORBIDDEN WATERS 
 
 On the morning following that of the day of fishing 
 the Seamew was skirting a wild-looking coast, against 
 the bald headlands of which the huge blue billows of 
 the Pacific thundered with a ceaseless roar. The scene 
 was one of awful grandeur and desolation, though not 
 of utter solitude, for though no sign of human life was 
 visible, sea-lions disported in the tumultuous breakers, 
 huge whales rolled lazily on the long swells, and myr- 
 iads of sea-fowl circled with harsh cries above the pre- 
 cipitous rocks. Above all towered the symmetrical 
 snow-capped peak of a lofty mountain, from the sum- 
 mit of which a thin banner of smoke trailed to lee- 
 ward. It was Shiohaldin, the most beautiful peak of 
 all the Aleutian Islands, and as it was the first volcano 
 Phil Ryder had ever seen, he gazed upon it with de- 
 liglil and wonder. The forbidding coast they were 
 skirting, and which was Phil's first bit of Alaska, was 
 the south side of the island of Oonimak, one of the 
 largest of the entire Aleutian chain, and also the only 
 one f [iny size absolutely without inhabitants. 
 
 AivL. a while the fchooner reached the western ex- 
 tremity of this inhospitable island, and turning into 
 the broad channel of the Oonimak Pass, wps soon 
 breasting the green waters of Bering Sea. Here her 
 course was again altered, so that she now followed the 
 northern coast of the island, and was headed towards 
 its upper or eastern end. This shore was much less 
 abrupt than the other, and broad levels of mousy tun- 
 
102 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 I- 
 
 ■■n 
 
 I 
 It 1 
 
 
 dra broken by foot-hills stretched away to the moun- 
 tains that had risen so sheer from the Pacific side. 
 
 At length towards evening anchor was dropped in 
 a small, well-sheltered bay at the extreme eastern end 
 of the island, and Captain Duff caused himself to be 
 rowed ashore. In a short time he returned, and to 
 the surprise of all hands informed his crew that hi 
 wished his cargo of seal-skins broken out at once and 
 transferred to a place on shore that he would point out. 
 
 So actively was this job of nighl-work carried for- 
 \ that before morning every seal -skin had been 
 
 takwii from the schooner, carried ashore, and safely 
 salted away in a kench constructed within the ruins of 
 an old stone hut. This was but one of a number still 
 standing, which showed that at some previous time 
 Oonimak Island had supported at least one populous 
 village. 
 
 This mysterious proceeding having been carried out 
 to Captain Duff's satisfaction, and only a scanty cargo 
 of salted cod-fish left in his vessel's hold, her anchor 
 was again lifted, and she was headed northward into 
 the fog-hiaden regions of Bering Sea. In these for- 
 bidden waters any vessel was liable at any time to be 
 overhauled by some American revenue-cutter or Brit- 
 ish man - of - war, and subjected to an examination. If 
 seal-skins were found on board she was seized and sent 
 to some distant port, from which there was no chance 
 of escape, and where her crew were detained as pris- 
 oners until such time as their case might be tried be- 
 fore the proper authorities. 
 
 The strange proceeding of the Seameio's master in 
 discharging his cargo on a desolate island, carefully 
 concealing it there, and then venturing into the forbid- 
 den Avaters, drew forth many eager and curious com- 
 ments from his crew, all of whom wondered what the 
 next act on the programme would bo. None, however, 
 
• • 
 
 mfi 
 
 7} 
 
 •n 
 
 T, 
 
 v» 
 
 •Ji 
 
 7) 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 X 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 o 
 
 •y. 
 
A VENTURE INTO FORBIDDEN WATERS 
 
 103 
 
 dared question the schooner's autocrat, for, as though 
 well aware of their desire to do so, he became more of 
 a bully than ever, and so roared and bellowed and 
 snarled at every one and ev rything as to make all 
 hands anxious to keep as far from him as possible. 
 
 None discussed the situation more earnestly than 
 did Phil and Serge whenever they could get together 
 beyond the captain's range of observation, for they 
 were well aware that every mile of progress in this 
 new direction found them just so much farther away 
 from Sitka, as well as from the track of vessels bound 
 for that port. 
 
 " I tell you what it is, old man," Phil remarked, on one 
 of these occasions, " while I don't know where we are 
 bound or when we will get there, it seems to me that 
 shipping on board this schooner was a mighty poor 
 inove on mj'- part. I might have known that I would 
 never get to Sitka this way, if I had only stopped to 
 think. But I didn't, and I don't suppose I ever shall 
 until it is too late for thinking to do any good." 
 
 " What worries me most," responded Serge, " is that 
 it was I who proposed the plan." 
 
 " Now don't you fret about that. You only did 
 what you thought was for the best, and, after all, I 
 don't know but it is just as well that I came on this 
 cruise. I should have been certain to get into some 
 other scrape equally bad, if not worse, if I hadn't. 
 Why, when I recall that one of the only two nights I 
 ever spent in Victoria was passed in a police-station, I 
 tremble to think what might have happened if I had 
 been left there for two whole weeks. I should really 
 be enjoying this trip, too, if it wasn't for thinking of 
 my poor father. He surely must be in a state of mind 
 by this time. At any rate, I am seeing something of 
 Alaska, or rather of its fogs and waters, and that iu 
 what I came out West for, you know.' 
 
 5» 
 
104 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 [ ^' 
 
 " Yes," said Serge, anxious to encourage this brighter 
 view of the situation, "and you are making a splendid 
 reputation for yourself as a seal-hunter. Why, after 
 this trip, if you want it, you can get a job any time at 
 the very highest rates going. I tell you what ! If I 
 could only shoot as you can, I should feel fixed for 
 life." 
 
 "But I sha'n't ever want any such job again," re- 
 plied Phil. " To tell the truth, I am getting awfully 
 sick of this killing business. It was exciting at first, 
 but the keeping it up day after day is horrid. One 
 might as well turn butcher at once, and be done 
 with it." 
 
 "Oh!" said Serge, with a puzzled air, as though this 
 sentiment were beyond his comprehension. " If you 
 look at it that way — " 
 
 "Well, I do !" interrupted Phil, " and I hope I shall 
 never be called upon to shoot another seal." 
 
 The reason why Serge was unable to regard the busi- 
 iness of killing animals, whose skins represented money, 
 in the same light that Phil did was because of the vast- 
 ly different surroundings amid which he had been 
 brought up. The most important industries of the 
 great territory that claimed him as a son are hunting, 
 fur -trading, and fishing. In fact, these and a little 
 mining were the only business pursuits of which he 
 had known anything until he started on his long voy- 
 age to the Atlantic coast. Thus from his earliest child- 
 hood he had been brought up to believe that fur-bear- 
 ing animals were to be killed wherever found, and to 
 regard a successful hunter with the same respect that 
 Phil would accord to a successful banker or lawyer. 
 
 Thus we find individuals, communities, and even na- 
 tions, regarding the same things from entirely differ- 
 ent points of view according as they have been edu- 
 cated. Each honestly believes himself or itself to be 
 
 ii 
 
A VENTURE INTO FORBIDDEN WATERS 
 
 105 
 
 in the right, and that all others must bo wrong. In 
 this manner arise differences of opinion that sometimes 
 lead to strife. Wherefore let us try to look at all 
 things from our neighbor's point of view before con- 
 cluding to differ with him concerning them. 
 
 The foregoing paragraph is a sermon, and though it 
 is a very tiny one, it ought to apologize for intruding 
 itself into a story. I am afraid, though, that, like many 
 other sermons we are all acquainted with, it is so 
 puffed up with its own conceit that it will do nothing 
 of the kind. 
 
 So while Phil Ryder had arrived at the conclusion 
 that the business of killing seals was one that no self- 
 respecting hunter who also claimed to be a sportsman 
 could follow, Serge Belcofsky regarded it as a most 
 eminently respectable occupation, in which opinions 
 both lads were right. 
 
 In the meantime, while these discussions were going 
 on in forecastle and on deck, the Seameio flew north- 
 ward for a day and a night. It was generally believed 
 that she was in search of some new fishing-ground, 
 for, as all hands knew, Bering Sea is one of the best- 
 stocked fish-preserves in the world, and contains a sup- 
 ply of food fishes sufficient for the feeding of all the 
 people in the world. 
 
 It is one of the very foggiest places in the world 
 also, being even more foggy than the Bay of Fundy, 
 and for the same reason, which is warm water and cold 
 air. As the warm waters of the Gulf Stream enter 
 the Bay of Fundy, so the warm waters of the great 
 Japan current enter Bering Sea. In both places they 
 meet waves of cold arctic air, by which evaporation 
 is condensed into fog. If the air were as warm as 
 or warmer than the water there would be no focr, as is 
 the case in the tropics; but when warm water and cold 
 air meet fog is the result. 
 
 Vi 
 
106 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 •! 
 
 The steam that we see issuing from the spout of a 
 teakettle as it sits on top of a stove is nothing more 
 nor less than fog. It is the vapor rising from the hot 
 water in the kettle condensed by the much cooler air 
 outside. If the outer air were as hot as that inside the 
 kettle we would see no steam, though the invisible va- 
 por would be passing from the spout just the same. 
 To prove this it is only necessary to set the teakettle 
 in the oven. 
 
 Thus Bering Sea is always foggy during the summer 
 months, when its waters are warmer than its air, and 
 that is one reason why the fur-seal, who dearly loves 
 cool wet weather and foggy days, finds in it a conge- 
 nial home and makes it his summer resort. Another 
 reason is that these waters so abound in lish that form 
 the seal's chief food, and to procure which he thinks 
 nothing of swimming one hundred or more miles in a 
 day from his rookeries on the Pribyloff Islands. 
 
 Although seals can exist for a long time without 
 food, they must eat sooner or later. 2-^ the mother 
 seal, having stayed on one of the islands with her ])up 
 until she is very hungry, will leave him gorged with 
 milk sufficient to nouiish him during her absence, and 
 set forth on long fishing expeditions that may extend 
 over two or even three days. When she returns she 
 fijids her own little one amid thousands of others that 
 look exactly like him, just as surely as a human mother 
 would select her own baby from a roomful. So anx- 
 ious is the mother that her pup shall have enough food 
 to make him grow into a strong, beautiful holluschickie 
 that she will nurse none but him. 1 hus if she did not 
 return from her long journey in search of food he 
 would surely die of starvation, as all the other seal- 
 mothers would be too busy suppljung the wants of 
 their own little ones to care for him. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 CRUEL KILLING OP MOTHER-SEALS 
 
 It was because Captain Duff wanted more seal-skins, 
 and because the seals insisted in resorting to Bering 
 Sea, tliat he had taken the tieame%o into those waters, 
 lie knew tliat the Pribyloff seals, in vast numbers, 
 roamed far and wide in search of food ; he knew that 
 liere they were less shy and more easily secured than 
 elsewhere, and he believed that, hidden by the preva- 
 lent and friendly fogs, his swift little schooner could 
 escape the vigilance of meddlesome patrol boats. Of 
 course he ran the risk of losing his vessel by taking 
 her into the forbidden waters for this purpose, and of 
 course he was disobeying a law in so doing. Captain 
 Duff was willing to run the risk, however, and as for 
 laws — while he entertained a great respect for those 
 that protected his interests, he had little regard for 
 such as interfered with his schemes for money-getting. 
 So, having hidden the seal-skins already secured in a 
 place from which he, or those whom he might send, 
 could reclaim them at some future time, and having 
 provided himself with a supply of salted codfish, be- 
 neath which the skins that 1' .low hoped to obtain 
 might be concealed, foxy Captain Duff headed the Sea- 
 meio into Bering Sea, and sailed her for a day and a 
 night towards the seal-haunted Pribyloff Islands. 
 
 Only he of all on board knew whither she was being 
 taken ; or if Jalap Coombs suspected, he shrewdly 
 kept his own counsel, as is always best for mates to 
 do unless their advice is asked, lie had become su 
 
108 
 
 THE FUR-SEALS TOOTU 
 
 strangely taciturn during the last two flays, that even 
 his boys, as he called Phil and Serge, could extract no 
 information from him. 
 
 Early in the morning of the second day the Seame%o 
 was hove to. With the first light the hunters were 
 ordered into their boats, and sent in pursuit of the 
 schools of seals that surrounded the schooner in every 
 direction, as far as the eye could reach through the 
 drifting fog. These were darting, diving, leaping 
 high in air, gambolling with all the playfulness of 
 kittens, and showing themselves by every movement 
 to be the swiftest of swimmers, and the most graceful 
 of marine animals. 
 
 Although Phil Ryder was not prepared for a flat 
 disobedience of orders, he still moved towards the 
 boat with such evident reluctance as to a ^act the 
 captain's notice. 
 
 " I shall pay you the same commission as me other 
 hunters for this day's work, Ryder," said Captain 
 Duff, a day or two later, when the Seamew was well 
 into Bering Sea, " and the hunter making the biggest 
 score to-day will get a ten-dollar bonus. The same 
 will be given to the steersman of his boat, and half as 
 much to his boat-puller." 
 
 " Hurrah for Captain Duff !" yelled Oro Dunn. "That 
 bonus has got to come to my boat, or I'm no shot." 
 
 " Don't ye be too sure of that !" shouted Ike Croly, 
 whose boat had pushed off. " I've already laid out to 
 spend that money myself." 
 
 " Oh, you have, have you ?" muttered Phil, with all 
 the old pride in his reputation as a crack shot fully 
 aroused. "Perhaps you'd better not spend it until 
 you get it, though." 
 
 " Come back to the schooner with each dozen that 
 ye get, and we'll take care of 'em here," was Captain 
 Duff's parting instruction as the boats put off. 
 
CUUEL KILLING OF MOTIIER-SUALS 
 
 100 
 
 Never had Pliil imagined that so many seals existed 
 as he saw tiiat day, nor did it seem possible tiiat these 
 could he the same shy creatures he had encountered in 
 the North Pacific. In the excitement of inakinj^ a 
 score he forgot all that he had said about seal-killing 
 being butchery, and fired at every mark with the reck- 
 less ardor of an enthusiastic sportsman. 
 
 B^ive times during that day of slaughter did the 
 mate's boat return to the schooner, and each time she 
 bore a dozen seals. On the last return trip she was 
 laden to the gunwales with a dozen and two more. 
 
 " Never in all my experience did I see sich a day's 
 haul of seals !" exclaimed Jalap Coombs. " And I 
 only wish my friend, old Kite Robsrson, war here to 
 see what a Yankee boy kin do with a pop-gun." 
 
 "I'm glad he isn't," replied Phil, who, weary and 
 aching all o*rer, was beginning to feel ashamed of and 
 disgusted with his day of killing. 
 
 As he clambered up over the schooner's side ho 
 caught sight of something that caused him to start 
 back as though he had been struck. On the deck, 
 mingled with blood and blubber, was a white fluid 
 that ran to the scuppers and trickled from them in 
 streams. 
 
 "What is it?" demanded Phil, hoarsely, of one of 
 the crew, who was busily skinning a seal. As he asked 
 the question he pointed a trembling finger to a pool of 
 the white fluid. 
 
 "That !" answered the man, indifferently. "Why, 
 that's milk from the cows you fellows have been bring- 
 ing in to-day." 
 
 " Cows ! Do you mean seal-mothers ? Where are 
 their young ?" 
 
 " What ! the pups ? Back on the rookeries, of 
 course." 
 
 " And what will become of them ?" 
 
 ',* 
 
i tl 
 
 
 no 
 
 THE FlK-SEAL's tooth 
 
 " Oh, I don't know. I suppose they'll die after a 
 while. But what ails you ? J3e you sick ?" With this 
 tbi^ man paused for a moinent in his work and gazed 
 curiously at Phil's pale face. 
 
 "Sick! Yes, I am sick at heart!" cried the con- 
 science - stricken lad, before whose mental vision was 
 flashing a vivid picture of the helpless and starving 
 pups whose mothers he had slaughtered that day. 
 He seemed to hear their pitiful little voices growing 
 weaker and weaker with each hour as tliey called in 
 vain for tliose who would never return to them. He 
 seemed to see them dying, after days of suffering, and 
 for a moment ho felt all the horror that comes to him 
 who has committed a murder. 
 
 He was restored to his surroundings by Captain 
 Duff's loud voice calling out : " Hello, Kyd-jr! Here's 
 your bonus; for you'ro high line to-day. Jf ye'll only 
 do as well to-morrow and the day after, I'll promise to 
 start ye for Sitka by steamer afore the week's out." 
 
 Thus saying, the speaker extended towards the lad the 
 reward he had promised for that day's butchery--a 
 ten-dollar gold piece. 
 
 With a cry of rage and a savage motion Phil 
 snatched the glittering coin, and with all his might 
 flung it from him into the sea. Then confronting the 
 amazed man with blazing eyes and a wrathful voice, 
 he almost screamed : " Did you thinl: I would take 
 your blood-money? I've sunk as low as murder, I 
 know, but not so low as to take pay for it ! And 
 bad as I am, you are a thousand times worse, for I did 
 not know what I was doing, while you knew all the 
 time and urged me on. But never, so long as I live, 
 will I take the life of another of those harmless creat- 
 ures. Never! never!" 
 
 " What ever does the boy mean ? Has he lost his 
 senses and gone mad?" cried the captain, in bewilder- 
 
 
; 
 
 Phil 
 
 -i 
 
 V! 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 71 
 
 r: 
 
 .1 
 
 "I 
 
■^"www«55!tbth; 
 
CRUEL KILLING OP MOTHER-SEALS 
 
 111 
 
 rhent, at the same time retreating a step, as though 
 fearful that Phil was about to spring at him. 
 
 At that moment came a startling interruption of tliis 
 tragic scene. It was the deep boom of a heavy gun, ev- 
 idently fired from a considerable distance to windward. 
 
 Instantly all eyes were turned in that direction, 
 where through the twilight was still distinctly to be 
 seen a white steamer, with a cloud of black smoke 
 pouring from her yellow funnel, and headed in their 
 direction. 
 
 The exclamation of "A cutter !" was heard from a 
 dozen lips at once, and, sure enough, it was one of those 
 handy little government cruisers that are so dreaded 
 by evil-doers, and afford so great a protection to hon- 
 est sailors. She had fired a blank shot from her single 
 gun as a command for the Seamew to lie to and await 
 her coming. 
 
 The schooner was under way, and running down the 
 wind to the eastward under easy sail. Captain Duff 
 could not afford to ^u caught thus, red-handed as it 
 were, with the bodu of recently-killed seals <a his 
 deck, and the green hides of others still imstowed. 
 The steamer was yet a mile away. The Seamew was 
 remarkably fast in a moderate breeze and smooth 
 water, and night was coming on. He ooiild at least 
 gain time enough to conceal his illegal freight and to 
 transform his vessel, to all outward ap]»earance, into an 
 ordinary fisherman. He might possibly escape entirely, 
 and the chance was worth taking. 
 
 " Bring her on the wind !" he shouted >j the man at 
 the wheel. "Trim in ! trim in ! Up with your main- 
 topsail, flying-jib, and jib-topsail ! Lively, lads ! lively ! 
 Drop everything else, and get sail on to her ! Mr. 
 Coombs, break out the main-stay sail and set it. Here, 
 you ! Help me get in these boats !" 
 
 Phil was so carried away by the excitement of the 
 
 
112 
 
 THE FUR-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 momont that before he knew what he was about he 
 found himself working furiously with the captain and 
 two other men at getting the boats that were still tow- 
 ing alongside out of the water and on deck. 
 
 By the time this was done the schooner was hauled 
 on an easy bowline, which was her best point of sail- 
 ing, and with every stitch of canvas that could be 
 packed on her, was tearing through the water so swiftly 
 that it seemed doubtful if even a steamer could catch 
 her. Certainly, if the wind held, she could r:t be 
 overhauled before night closed down. Still, while she 
 was getting into racing trim, and on account of the 
 alteration in her course, the cutter had made a decided 
 gain, and was now much nearer than at first. 
 
 " Blow, good wind, blow i" sliouted Captain Duff, 
 as he stood on the after-deck, critically eying his sails. 
 Phil Ryder stood a short distance from him, watr-hing 
 the cutter, and experiencing a return of the bitter feel- 
 ings he had forgotten during the recent period of ex- 
 citement and action. 
 
 " Oh, I hope she will catch us !" he exclaimed, aloud, 
 though unconsciously. 
 
 Just then a second gun was fired by the pursuer, and 
 with an angry scream a shot flew over the schooner, 
 and plunged into the water far ahead. 
 
 "Then go below, ye swab, and stay there !" roared 
 Captain Duff, furious at both the shot and Phil's 
 words. As he spoke he gave the lad a violent shove 
 that landed him at the foot of the cabin stairs, and at 
 the same time the slide was drawn to above bis head. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 CHASED BY A REVENUE-CUTTER 
 
 As Phil picked himself up from the cabin floor, his 
 whole frame ablaze with anger, he muttered through 
 his clinched teeth, "If that brute thinks I am going to 
 stay down here like a rat in a hole, he is mightily mis- 
 taken, that's all." 
 
 Then, with a boldness born of his bitter feelings, he 
 made his way through the narrow passage into the 
 galley, out through it to the deck, and walking deliber- 
 ately aft, assumed his former position. Now, however, 
 he keenly watched Captain DufT's every movement, 
 feeling certain that the latter was too great a coward 
 to strike him while he was on guard. 
 
 The captain glared savagely at the only member of 
 his crew who dared to openly defy him, but seemed 
 uncertain how to act. Perhaps it was fortunate for 
 both of them that in this emergency their attention 
 was directed from each other by a third shot from the 
 cutter. This time the range was so perfect that the 
 hurtling missile j' ssed through the schooner's main- 
 topsail, in which it tore a jagged hole. 
 
 Although this being made a target for cannon-balls 
 was a thrillingly novel sensation to our young hunt- 
 er, his state of mind was such that it caused him 
 neither fear nor anxiety. After standing still a min- 
 ute or so longer, he walked slowly forward to find 
 Serge, and ask him how he was enjoying the ex- 
 perience. 
 
 Ere tl. ' cutter could fire another shot darknes^j had 
 
 fi 
 
 n 
 
114 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 i 
 
 so set in that neither vessel was visible from the other, 
 and only a red glow at the top of her funnel marked 
 the pursuer's position. 
 
 Little by little Captain Duff altered his course by 
 hugging the wind a trifle more closely, until at length 
 ev >n the glow above the cutter's funnel was no longer 
 to be seen, nor the beat of her screw heard. Then the 
 red-faced master of the SeameiOy realizing that he had 
 escaped the clutches of the law, gave a hoarse chuckle 
 of satisfaction. 
 
 Phil found Serge quite as indifferent to the result of 
 the chase as himself, though somewhat more nervous 
 concerning the shots, and much relieved when he found 
 there were to be no more. When, an hour later, supper 
 was served aboard the schooner, the lads ate theirs to- 
 gether on deck. Then when Serge was relieved from 
 watch, Phil crept into the narrow forecastle bunk with 
 him, and they shared it together for the rest of the 
 night. 
 
 While our lad was not willing to trust himself with- 
 in reach of Captain Duff's arm durin? Llie hours of 
 darkness, he was so ready to defy him by daylight that 
 in the morning he returned to the cabin for breakfast, 
 during which meal both ho and his table companions, 
 including the captain, preserved an unbroken silence. 
 
 The schooner, having been kept under full sail all 
 night, was felt by all hands to have placed many 
 miles of safety between herself and her pursuer by 
 sunrise, or at least by the time the sun was supposed 
 to have risen beyond the dense fog-bank in which the 
 Seamew was again enveloped. So confident was Cap- 
 tain Duff that he was beyond his enemy's reach that, 
 his cupidity being aroused by the sight of a sleeping 
 seal, he determined to have one more day of slaughter 
 before leaving those waters. He therefore ordered 
 out the boats, and charged the hunters to do their best. 
 
CUASED BY A REVENUE-CUTTP^R 
 
 115 
 
 as this would be their last chance of that season to 
 make any money by seal-killing. 
 
 To the amazement and consternation of the entire 
 crew, the youngest of the htfnters, boldly facing the 
 bully, of whom they stood so greatly in awe, refused 
 point-blank to fire a shot at a leal. 
 
 "I said last evening, when I discovered the crime of 
 which I had been guilty, that I would never shoot an- 
 other seal, and I never will," said Phil, with all the 
 decision of which his voice was capable. 
 
 "Mr. Coombs," said the captain, in the blandest of 
 tones, stepping to the rail and addressing the mate, 
 who had already entered his boat, " will you oblige 
 me by passing up that water-breaker? Thank you. 
 And that bag of biscuit, if you please? Now, ye 
 mutinous young swib !" he roared, turning to Phil 
 with an abrupt change of voice and manner, " get into 
 that boat, quick ! afore I throw y^ in !" 
 
 " Certainly, sir, I will get into the boat, for I do not 
 intend to be mutinous, but I have promised my^solf not 
 to shoot any more seals, and I cannot break a promise." 
 
 " Humph !" growled Captain Duff, *' we'll see what 
 your promises amount to. There is neither foud nor 
 water in your hoiiy, and I'll see that neither you nor 
 those with you get a mouthful of either till ye bring 
 back a load of seals or their skins. You may choose 
 to mako your companions suffer for your fool notions, 
 but I rather guess they'll find a way to make you 
 change your mind. Shove oft*!" 
 
 When the schooner was lost to sight in the fog. 
 Serge rested on his oars, and turning to his friend, 
 asked, "Do you mean to stick it out, Phil?" 
 
 "I certainly do not intend to shoot a seal this day," 
 was the quiet reply. 
 
 "Well, then, though I can't exactly understand your 
 feelings in this matter, I'll see you through with it, 
 
116 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 and stand by you to the end, and hero's my hand 
 on it." 
 
 " Thank you, old fellow !" and with the warm hand- 
 clasp that passed between the two lads the young 
 hunter felt that his cause was won. 
 
 " Is it a clear case of conscience with ye, lad ?" in- 
 quired the mate. 
 
 " Yes, sir, it is." 
 
 "Then ye can count me on your side too; for, as old 
 Kite Roberson uster say, 'any man as '11 go back on 
 his conscience ain't no right to call his.self a man,' and 
 them's likewise my sentiments." 
 
 In the meantime seals were gambolling about the 
 boat on all sides, and gazing fearlessly at them from 
 the wave crests raised by a rapidly freshening breeze, 
 while the distant sounds of rapid firing told of the 
 work being performed by the other hunters. The oc- 
 cupants of the mate's boat talked in low tones of their 
 situation and its possible results, while their craft 
 drifted with the wind for nearly an hour. 
 
 Suddenly Jalap Coombs lifted his hand for silence, 
 and listened intently for a moment. Then he said, 
 *' There's a screw - steamer bearing down on us, and 
 she's not far away." 
 
 Tho commanding officer of the United States rev- 
 enue-cutter Phoca was a far shrewder man than Cap- 
 tain Duff had given him credit for being. Although 
 he Iiad been disappointed at not overhauling the Sea- 
 mew before darkness hid her from view, he by no means 
 gave up all hope of capturing the saucy schooner, 
 cleverly as she had escaped him for the time being. 
 Watching her through a powerful glass, long after she 
 was lost to the unaided vision, he noted that she was 
 gradually hauling on the wind, and shaped his own 
 course accordingly. Shortly before daylight he stopped 
 his engines, and set a dozen pair of the keenest ears 
 
CHASED BY A REVENUE-CUTTER 
 
 117 
 
 rs 
 
 among his crew to listening for any sounds that might 
 come over the fog -obscured waters. He, too, heard 
 the splashing of frolicking seals, and wisely concluded 
 that a skipper who was so anxious to secure a few 
 skins as to be willing to run the risk of hunting them 
 in Bering Sea would, in his present state of fancied 
 security, try for a few more before leaving it for good. 
 Not long after this the correctness of his judgment 
 was proved by the sound of shots borne faintly down 
 the wind through the heavy air. Quickly was the 
 Phoca got under way, and stealthily, like the white 
 ghost of a ship, she sped through the mist in the direc- 
 tion of the shots. 
 
 "We'll pick up the hunting-boats and their crews 
 first," said the commander to his first - lieutenant. 
 " Then Mr. Skipper will find himself too short-handed 
 to make sail in a hurry, and I rather guess that, like 
 Davy Crockett's coon, he will conclude to come down." 
 
 The plan worked so well that in less than an hour 
 from that time Captain Duff, Ike Croly, Oro Dunn, 
 and the rest of the Seameio's company found them- 
 selves prisoners on board the revenue- cutter Phoca^ 
 while their own craft was in charge of a prize-crew of 
 bluejackets detailed for that duty. 
 
 In the excitement attending this capture, and the 
 hurried transfer of crews, the fact that a boat con- 
 taining the schooner's mate and two others was miss- 
 ing was entirely overlooked until the vessels were 
 again under way. Then, though guns were fired, and 
 several hours were spent in search for the lost boat, no 
 trace of it was found. In the meantime the wind 
 freshened so rapidly into a gale that finally, fearful for 
 the safety of the craft in his charge, with the rugged 
 rocks of the Aleutian Islands under their lee, tlie com- 
 mander gave the reluctant order to run for a pass, and 
 the open waters of the Pacific. 
 
 
\ ^ 
 
 118 
 
 THE PUR-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 ». II 
 
 i »•■ 
 
 Thus it happened that the boat in whose occupants 
 we are most interested was left tossing alone on the 
 storm-lashed waters of that desolate 8f4. Although 
 its crew were thus placed in a most unpleasant and 
 even dangerous position, it was one for which they had 
 only themselves to blame. So close had the Phoca 
 passed to them that they might easily have hailed her 
 and been picked up, had they chosen to do so. Instead 
 of this they kept perfectly quiet, or only conversed in 
 low tones, and congratulated each other that, owing to 
 Phil's firmness, no shots by which their presence would 
 have been betrayed had been fired from their boat 
 that morning. Their reason for this action was that 
 they were unanimous in desiring to escape capture — 
 Jalap Coombs, because he had no liking for an im- 
 prisonment, or at least a long residence on shore in 
 enforced idleness ; Phil, because his heart was set on 
 reaching Sitka as soon as possible, and he fancied the 
 captured schooner would be taken to Seattle or San 
 Francisco ; and Serge on the general theory that it is 
 a bad thing to be captured under any circumstances. 
 
 Besides, when by the sounds that came over the sea 
 the mate felt assured that the Seaniew had been taken, 
 he proposed a plan which seemed so feasible that both 
 lads readily agreed to it. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 CASTAWAYS ON OONIMAK 
 
 " You see, boys," began Jalap Coomba, after it was 
 certain that the Seamew had been captured, "as my 
 friend old Kite Roberson uster say, ' I ain't no pig in 
 a poke.' Not that I've ever got onto the exact bear- 
 ings of a 'poke'; but nigh as I can make out, it's some 
 turrible dark place like a ship's hold with the haichea 
 battened down, or maybe a tomb. Anyhow, I haven't 
 been in the dark all this time so much as Cap'n Duff 
 thought I was. He 'lowed he was the only navigator 
 'boardship, while I 'lowed there was two of us. So, 
 while he kep' his log, I likewise kep' mine. Now, 
 'cording to my reckoning, we are not, at this blessed 
 minute, raore'n fifty mile from the island of Oonimak, 
 with a breeze that's coming on a gale blowing dead 
 for it. If we choose, we can make it inside of six 
 hours, and I reckon we'll make it anyway, sooner or 
 later, whether we choose or no, ef this wind holds. 
 There is water there and maybe something to eat, 
 both of which is wanting with us at the present time." 
 
 "There are seal-skins there too," interrupted Serge. 
 
 "Sartain there is, lad, and I was meaning to have 
 fetched 'em on the next tack. Now the question is, 
 who owns them seal-skins, and what shall be did with 
 'em? Ef they is left wliere they be too long, they'll 
 spile. Ef the natyves finds 'em they'll be stole. Ef 
 they stays there till Cap'n Duff can come for them, 
 they'll be spiled. Ef the gover'ment finds 'em, they'll 
 be confiskercated, though being took in the open sea 
 
 il 
 
120 
 
 THE FURSEAI/B TOOTH 
 
 they ain't in no ways liable. Ef we find 'era, weMl 
 save 'em and make good use of 'em. A part of 'era 
 belongs to us, anyway, and the rest would naturally 
 be ours by the right of salvjigo ef we saved 'cm frora 
 destruction. So now I leaves it to you two ef our best 
 plan ain't to clap sail onto this little packet, head her 
 for Oonimak Island, do the best we can with our seal- 
 skins, and afterwards shape our course 'cording to sar- 
 cumstances ?" 
 
 Both lads agreed that they could suggest no better 
 plan of action than this, whereupon the mate remarked 
 that '* them was his sentiments and likewise old Kite 
 Roberson's, who uster say, * When ye sight a good 
 thing, keep your eye on it ; if not, what's the use of 
 eyes ?' " 
 
 So the whale - boat's sail was hoisted, she was got 
 before the wind, and on the fierce breath of the rising 
 gale she was whirled away like an autumn leaf in iho 
 direction of Oonimak Island. 
 
 So strongly did the gale blow by the time the day 
 was half spent, and with such prodigious leapings did 
 the light boat spring from crest to crest of the leaden 
 seas, that every ounce of Jalap Coombs's strength and 
 every atom of his skill were necessary to her safe steer- 
 ing and to keeping her from being swamped. While he 
 stood up in the stern in order to get a better purchase 
 on his long steering - oar, the lads, crouched in the 
 boat's bottom amidship in order to steady her as much 
 as possible, were obliged to devote most of their time 
 to bailing. In spite of their thick clothing and oil- 
 skins, the damp chill of the wind penetrated to the 
 bone, and they were drenched by incessant showers of 
 flying spray. 
 
 After six hours of this terribly exciting and arduous 
 sailing, all hands began to look anxiously for a break 
 in the fog, and strained their eyes for some glimpse 
 
CASTAWAYS ON OONIMAK 
 
 121 
 
 of the land they felt sure must be near at hand. At 
 length, in a momentary lift, they caught sight of Shi- 
 shaldin*s snowy cone, and knew that Jalap Coombs had 
 indeed broiU'rht them to Oonimak. Now thev heard 
 the roar of breakers, though they could see nothing of 
 the coast against which these were so furiously thun- 
 dering. To keep on seemed suicidal ; while to either 
 halt or retreat in the face of the furious gale now rag- 
 ing was impossible. 
 
 A warning cry from Phil, a mighty sweep of Jalap 
 Coombs's steering-oar, and their cockle-shell swerved 
 from a jagged rock against which the hissing waves 
 were churned to a yeasty froth. Their tremendous 
 speed was apparent as they swept by this mark so 
 swiftly that in a moment it was again swallowed by 
 the mist, and had vanished behind them. 
 
 "If we can only have the luck to strike a beach," 
 said Serge, though his words were unheard save by 
 himself. 
 
 "Hold hard ! and stand by !" shouted Jalap Coombs, 
 as with set face and unflinching gaze he stared through 
 the gray thickness at a line of leaping white, behind 
 which was a dim background of land. "We're close 
 in now, and she'll strike in another minute ! When 
 she does, then jump and run for your lives. Look 
 out!" 
 
 Even as he spoke the whale-boat was lifted high in 
 the air, j oised for a moment like a bird in mid-flight, 
 and then hurled forward amid a smother of foam and 
 a roar of rushing waters. An instant later she struck 
 with a crash that left hei* occupants bruised and breath- 
 less. There was no time, however., to consider bruises 
 or aches, and almost with the shock itself they had 
 gained their feet and leaped into water up to their 
 knees. 
 
 Phil had grasped both shot-gun and rifle with the 
 
122 
 
 TUE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 hope that he might save them from the wreck. Wheth- 
 er or not he was overb«,lanced by their weight lie nev- 
 er knew ; but with his first step into the water he 
 slipped on the kelp-covered rocks, fell face downward, 
 and would have been swept away by the outward rush 
 of the sea had not the mate seized his uc-iar. With a 
 single movement of the sinewy arm Phil was lifted to 
 his fe? t, and in another minute had been dragged be- 
 yond reacjh of the breakers that chafed and roared in 
 impotent rage at this escape of the prey they had 
 deemed so surely their own. 
 
 The next sea sprang upon the boat, rolled it over 
 and over, bit at it Avith savage teeth, and finally tossed 
 It, hopelessly shattered, at the feet of its recent occu- 
 pants. 
 
 Serge could have cried at this wanton destruction of 
 that upon which they had so much depended, while 
 Phil was equally disconsolate over the loss of his guns. 
 To Jalap Coombs, however, these successive disasters 
 seemed onlv to lend an access of cheerfulness and ac- 
 livity. Rushing into the ravenous waters, he snatched 
 from them the boat's mast and sail, the long-handled 
 gaff, a couple of oars, a coil of line, and some loose bits 
 of rope. 
 
 " Don't ye be cast down, lads !" he cried, cheerily, 
 after this had been accomplished, and the three stood 
 together on the beach. " We've more to be thankful 
 for than to grieve over. We've lost our boat, to be 
 sure ; but it's a marcy it brung us safe to shore as it 
 did. There's no use in crying over it now ; for, as old 
 Kite uster say, * What can't be mended had best stay 
 broke.' " 
 
 "But what are we going to do for a living now 
 that our guns are gone?" asked Phil. 
 
 " Guns ?" cried Mr. Coombs, contemptuously. " Ef 
 we hadn't nothing but guns to depend on in this 
 
 . 
 
 ■"?HffT?f««1H»|l«*>Wt|MI'l»riMMM1»W 
 
 n iiHiin«ni««iM- wii*F»w«'M«w«ri^r«7K'X<T'.«'/t';f«^^^ 
 
CASTAWAYS v^N OONIMAK 
 
 123 
 
 world, I reckon tliere'd be a-raany of us wouldn't make 
 no living. I know I wouldn't, nor do I think Kite Rob- 
 erson would have ; for, good soul as ho was, he never 
 could a-bear the sight of a gun. Said his daddy lister 
 lick him with a ramrod from the time he was broiling 
 ajjo till he run awav to sea. What are wo going to 
 do for a living? Go fishing for one thing; develop 
 the resources of this here island for another. When 
 we're tired of developing Ave can go into the fur busi- 
 ness, and take to trading seal - skins. You've forgot 
 the wealth we've got stowed away up yonder, haven't 
 ye, and that we com" here a-purjiose to look after ?" 
 
 " Yes, I had," answered Phil, soberly, "and I had 
 forgotten our many other mercies as well. I had al- 
 most forgotten the miraculous preservation of our 
 lives ; but I shall remember, and be thankful for it 
 from this time on." 
 
 "We are fortunate to be cast away on this particu- 
 lar island," broke in Serge, "for, from what I have 
 heard, it has plenty of water, which some of them have 
 not, plenty of food, such as it is, plenty of material for 
 making a fire, plenty of old houses in which we can 
 find shelter, and, above all, it is located right in the 
 track of all vessels going into or out of Bering Sea, 
 as well as up and down the coast." 
 
 " If food, drink, fire, and shelter are awaiting us, let's 
 go to them, and not keep them waiting any longer," 
 cried Phil, " for I am 'lungry, thirsty, wet, cold, and 
 tired, and if you two are not all of those things you 
 ought to be." 
 
 "Speaking of fire," remarked Jalap Coombs, as he 
 ruefully withdrew the shattered remains of what had 
 been a water-tight match boy from his pocket, "I hope 
 you boys have got some dry matches with ye, for mine 
 are all spiled." 
 
 As neither of them had any matches, the raate'w face 
 
124 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 
 grew very sober, but he brightened as Serge re- 
 marked, confidently, "If you will provide food, Mr. 
 Coombs, I will promise you the fire to cook it with, un- 
 less all the stories I have heard of this island are false." 
 
 " Good for you, lad ! Fire's one of the most impor- 
 tant things ; but I must say I don't see how you're 
 going to get it, unless ye mean to climb to the top of 
 yon smoking mountain." 
 
 "I don't believe I shall have to go quite as far as 
 that," replied Serge, " but I'll get it, and the question 
 is where will you have it put. Do you know what 
 part of the island we have landed on, or where the 
 seal-skin cache is ?'* 
 
 " I do," answered Phil ; " for I recognize that far 
 point with the ugly-looking water just beyond." 
 
 " Right you are, lad," said Jalap Coombs. " It was 
 just to the east'ard of this very place we landed the 
 skins, and the cache isn't more'n half a mile away from 
 where we stand. You're right in calling that * ugly ' 
 water too, for it's the beginnmg of Krenitzin Strait, as 
 nasty a bit of roaring tide-rip and eddy, rock and reef, 
 as ye'll find on the coast. It's God's marcy that we 
 warn't flung in there instead of on to this beach. Ef 
 we had been, we wouldn't have stood no more show 
 than a butterfly in a whirlwind." 
 
GHAPTJIR XX 
 
 BRIMSTOXE AND FEATHERS 
 
 While thoy talked, the three drenclied and shiver- 
 ing castaways walked briskly up the beacli, through a 
 broad belt of golden-green moss, crossed a little stream 
 of fresh water, from which they drank eagerly, and 
 finally reached a wind-swept plateau overlooking both 
 the sea and the mad waters of Krenitzin Strait. Here 
 they found the ruins of many ancient dwellings hud- 
 dled closely together, and marking the site of a once 
 populous Aleutian settlement. Although the mate 
 and the two lads knew that Oonimak Island had not 
 been inhabited for many years, they could not help ex- 
 pecting to see human forms emerge from some of the 
 ancient dwellings, and fancying that in the shriek of 
 the wind over the roofless structures they heard de- 
 spairing human voices. 
 
 Phil and Serge had never been there before, but Ja- 
 lap Coombs had, though only in the night -time, and 
 he pointed out the ruin that stood nearest the beach 
 as the one containing the cache of seal-skins. 
 
 They did not visit it, but searched among the others 
 for one suited to their purpose. At length they found 
 an old barrabkie, or primitive Aleut hut, three walls of 
 which were still standing, though the other wall and 
 the roof had fallen in, tilling the interior with a con- 
 fused mass of rubbish. 
 
 " My ! what a dismal - looking place !" exclaimed 
 Phil, with a shiver. " If it wasn't for this terrible 
 
126 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 wind that seems to blow right through mc, I'd rather 
 take my chances outside." 
 
 " Wait till we get through with it, lad, afore ye pass 
 jedgraent," said Jalap Coombs. " I never see a place 
 yet so dismal but what a couple of live Yankees like 
 me and you, one of which is likewise a subjeck, couldn't 
 knock the dismalness out of. Now, Serge, my boy, ef 
 ye'U only go ahead with that fire scheme of your'n, 
 the rest of us '11 overhaul this shebang, and see ef we 
 can't make it a little more ship-shape." 
 
 So Serge departed on his self-imposed mission, while 
 the others began a vigorous cleaning out of the old 
 barrabkie. 
 
 The floor of this ancient habitation, which was of 
 the same style as those built by many Aleuts of to- 
 day was of hard - packed earth, and was sunk about 
 four feet below the level of the surrounding surface. 
 A stout frame of whale ribs standing about six feet 
 high had been erected and enclosed in a wall two feet 
 thick of tough, peaty sods. This in turn had been 
 protected by an outer wall of loose rocks, while the 
 whole had at one time been roofed with whalebone 
 rafters and a thick thatch of the heavy sedge-grass 
 that grows on all those islands. 
 
 For an hour Phil and the mate worked like beavers 
 to clear this place of its ruinous litter. Then they 
 returned to the beach and brought up everything that 
 had been saved from the wrecked boat, including, of 
 course, its sail. This with great difticulty, on account 
 of the high wind, they fashioned into a sort of a tent 
 roof, supported by oars, over one end of the barrabkie. 
 This being finished to their satisfaction, the mate went 
 to the beach for drift-wood in anticipation of their 
 promised fire, while Phil gathered a quantity of sphag- 
 num moss, which he spread thickly over the earthen 
 floor of their shelter. 
 
 
BRIMSTONE AND FEATIIEKS 
 
 127 
 
 While the latter was wondering what he shouM <lo 
 next, and what had become of Serge, and if any one 
 else had ever been so hungry as he without the slight- 
 est prospect of supper, Jalap Coombs appeared stag- 
 gering beneath an immense load of drift - wood, and 
 greatly excited. 
 
 " Come, lad," he cried, as he seized the long - han- 
 dled steel gaff, " let's go fishing. We may have to 
 eat 'em raw, for I don't see any sign of Serge or his 
 fire. But even that '11 be better than starving." 
 
 " Fishing for what ?" called out Piiil, as he hurried 
 after his companion. 
 
 " Salmon !" shouted back the mate. " They're run- 
 ning in the strait." 
 
 Now Phil had seen salmon-fishing in Canada, where 
 after hours of wading and patient labor an occasional 
 fish had been lured with a fly, and finally hooked. 
 Then, after a protracted struggle, in which the angler 
 had displayed infinite skill and patience, the fish had 
 either escaped or been brought within reach of a gaff. 
 With this as his sole experience in salmon-fishing, he 
 could not help thinking that Jalap Coombs must be 
 crazy to fancy that without rod, line, reel, fly, or hook 
 he was going to capture one of the wariest and gamest 
 of fish with a gaff. 
 
 Nevertheless, that is just what our young hunter did 
 see done. He also saw another sight that filled him 
 with wonder. It was a stream of fresh-water flowinji 
 into Krenitzin Strait, and filled from bank to bank 
 with salmon, thousands and tens of thousands of them 
 leaping, crowding each other almost to suffocation, and 
 eagerly working their way up against the swift cur- 
 rent to their spawning -beds some miles inland. In 
 these beds they had been born, and to them they re- 
 turned as surely as came the seasons themselves. It 
 is so with every Alaskan river and stream, from the 
 
128 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 mighty Yukon southward. Every summer sees them 
 swarm with uncounted myriads of this noble fish. 
 Millions are caught for canneries and salteries, whence 
 they are shipped to all parts of the world, and by the 
 natives, v ho thus obtain their chief food supply for 
 the ensuing year, while millions more are never even 
 seen by man. 
 
 Phil had known of canned salmon, but had an idea 
 that they came only from the Columbia River. He 
 had never imagined that in far-away Alaska these 
 splendid fish outnumbered those of the mighty Oregon 
 stream a thousand to one. And he had just now been 
 wondering if Jalap Coombs could catcli one with a 
 gaff! Had even laughed at the idea ! Now he smiled 
 as he reflected on his own previous ignorance concern- 
 ing salmon and their ways. Why, he could catch 
 them with his hands if he cared to go into the water ; 
 while to hook out any required number with a gaff 
 was as simple as catching oj'^sters with a rake. 
 
 Within three minutes the mate had secured two fine 
 fish, weighing between ten and twenty pounds each. 
 Then he and Phil went a short distance down the 
 beach, and inside of fifteen minutes more had captured 
 half a dozen great paper-shelled crabs, each as large as 
 a soup-plate. Phil also filled his pockets with mussels, 
 and laden with this abundant supply of food they 
 again turned their steps towards the barrabkie. 
 
 As they approached it they were overjoyed to see 
 a thin column of smoke rising above its low walls. 
 
 " Hurrah !" shouted Phil. " Serge has got a fire 
 sure enough. But what a horrible, vile, dreadful 
 smell ! What can it be ? Phew !" 
 
 " Smells like burning feathers," said Jalap Coombs. 
 " Wonder who's fainted ?" 
 
 Filled with curiosity, they hurried forward, and as 
 they entered the barrabkie they beheld Serge on his 
 
Rccs them 
 loble fish, 
 es, whence 
 md by the 
 supply for 
 icver even 
 
 ad an idea 
 liver. He 
 aska these 
 ity Oregon 
 , now been 
 >ne with a 
 T he smiled 
 ;e concern- 
 ould catch 
 the water ; 
 dth a gaff 
 ce. 
 
 ed two fine 
 
 unds each. 
 
 down the 
 
 d captured 
 
 as large as 
 
 th mussels, 
 
 food they 
 
 cie. 
 
 yed to see 
 walls, 
 got a fire 
 dreadful 
 
 p Coombs. 
 
 ird, and as 
 jrge on his 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 "millions are caught for CASNKBIES EACH YKAR " 
 
i! 
 
 
EtI 
 
 imiMSTOXE AND FEATHERS 
 
 129 
 
 knees before a large flat stone in one corner. He was 
 bending over it, and blowing with furious energy at 
 a little bunch of something, from which a dense cloud 
 of smoke and the most nauseous fumes were issuing. 
 
 Hearing the voices of his companions, he shouted 
 joyfully, without looking up, and hardly pausing in his 
 bellowslike blowing, " I've got it." 
 
 " What ?" asked Phil, holding his nose. " The chol- 
 era? If so, keep right on with your fumigating. If 
 not, do take pity on a suffering community, and feed 
 your flame with leather, or rubber, or bones, or some- 
 thing else that is sweeter and pleasanter to the smell 
 than the frightful stuff you are burning." 
 
 Just then the smouldering mass burst into a briiyht 
 blaze, and Serge sprang to his feet, jubilant over his 
 success. 
 
 " Isn't it glorious !" he shouted, as he added a few 
 wood shavings to his blaze. Then lighting a sliver, he 
 thrust it into a previously prepared pile of small sticks 
 that he had placed directly before the open end of the 
 tent. These were kindled in a moment. Larger 
 sticks and billets of wood were carefully added, until 
 in a few minutes more a fine, leaping, crackling, spark- 
 ling, and altogether lovely fire was banishing the last 
 trace of gloom from the interior of the old barrabkie, 
 and extending a cheery welcome of glowing warmth 
 to the three castaways, from whose soaked garments 
 little clouds of steamy fog began to ascend as they 
 gathered admiringly about it. 
 
 At length Serge stood up, and stepped back a pace 
 or two with an expression of triumphant satisfaction 
 that said as plainly as words, "Now I am ready for 
 congratulations." And the others did congratulate 
 him most heartily. Jalap Coombs said, " I wouldn't 
 have believed it could be did ef I hadn't seen it." 
 
 "It didn't take seeing to make me believe it," said 
 
 9 
 
130 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL*8 TOOTH 
 
 Pliil. " Smelling was sufficient. What was the magic 
 compound from which you produced such a frightful 
 smell, and sucli satisfactory results ?" 
 
 " Eider-down and sulphur," answered Serge, smiling. 
 
 " lirimstone and feathers !" shouted Jalap Coombs. 
 "I knowed it. That's what old Mis' Roberson — she 
 that was Kite's wife, you understand — alius kep' on 
 hand for fainting fits. I've smelled 'em many a time, 
 and to this day their parfume carries me back to my 
 happy childhood." 
 
 "It was certainly strong enough to carry one 'most 
 anywhere," interrupted Phil. "But where did you 
 get 'era, old man, and how did you set em afire ?" 
 
 "I had a long tramp after the sulphur," replied 
 Serge, "and only found it in a canon about three miles 
 back of here, near the foot of the mountain. As I 
 couldn't find any dry moss to go with it, I hunted for 
 feathers as the next-best thing, and was lucky enough 
 to discover an eider-duck's nest on the cliffs. Then I 
 came back here and found my * fire-stick,' that flat bit 
 of flint-rock, in one of the old huts, also my * striker,' 
 that bit of quartz. After that the getting of fire was 
 simple enough. I spread a layer of eider-down on the 
 flat rock, sprinkled a little sulphur over it, and pounded 
 the mixture with my quartz rock until it was set on 
 fire by a spark struck from the flint." 
 
 " Well, if that isn't one way of getting a fire !" ex- 
 claimed Phil. "I say, Serge, what a wise sort of chap 
 you are, anyway ! I am only just beginning to find it 
 out. Why didn't you tell us how much you knew 
 back there in New London ?' 
 
 " Because the kind of things I know best are only 
 worth knowing in this country, where I learned them," 
 replied Serge. " They would not be appreciated in 
 New London." 
 
 " I suppose not," said Pliii, thoughtfully ; " and the 
 
 i 
 
 iW— i I I 
 
ex- 
 ^hap 
 id it 
 fiiew 
 
 ;m 
 
 5) 
 
 in 
 
 the 
 
BRIMSTONE AND FEATHERS 
 
 181 
 
 kind of things I have been taught, such as Latin and 
 Englisli literature, don't seem to count for much out 
 here. Neitlier does the thing that I know best of all 
 Hcem to be appreciated by the present company. It is 
 that I am as hungry as sixteen wolves, and want my 
 
 supper." 
 
 With this startling statement Phil pounced upon an 
 unoffending crab and thrust him without the slightest 
 compunction into a bed of glowing coals. 
 
I 
 
 ii 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 1 s 
 
 ] I 
 
 I!' 
 
 r n 
 
 ■ I: 
 
 Ifi i '^ 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 LUXURY ON A DESOLATE ALEUTIAN ISLAND 
 
 Both Jalap Coombs and Serge quickly followed 
 Piiil's example so far as the crabs were conceriiefl, 
 and while these were baking, the lads amused them- 
 selves by roasting and eating the mussels with which 
 the young hunter had filled his pockets. " My, but 
 aren't these good !" cried Phil, smacking his lips over 
 one of the little yellow mussels that he had just with- 
 drawn steaming hot from its shell and eaten. " I 
 wish we had a bushel of them." 
 
 " Ef ye had, ye'd be sorry ye ever seen a mussel 
 afore ye'd finished with 'em," remarked the mate, with 
 a knowinsT shake of his head. Disdainino- to waste his 
 time over anything so trifling and unsatisfactor}'^ as 
 mussels, he Avas devoting himself to the spitting of a 
 salmon on a long stick, which, by the aid of several 
 bits of rock, he so arranged that the fish was held jnst 
 above ;i bed of coals. 
 
 " Wiiy ?" asked Phil and Serge together. 
 
 " Because ye'd bo made sicker 'n I be of my given 
 name, which seeing 'fs mussels was the cause of it, I 
 never could .ibide tlio pesky things. I never have et 
 'em, and never will long 's I kin find anything else to 
 starve on." 
 
 " How could mussels possibly be the cause of your 
 having so qu — I mean so distinguished a name ?" asked 
 Phil, with undisguised cnriositv. 
 
 " Waal, 1 tell ye what. It's quite a yprn liow the 
 hull thing kim about ; but ef you boys will run down 
 
 II 
 
 •IWtWmiR"- 
 
LUXUIiY ON A DESOLATE ALEUTIAN ISLAND l'S3 
 
 just 
 
 yonr 
 asked 
 
 to the bcacli once more for Jiiiotlier load of firewood 
 afore it gets plumb dark, and wliile I tend to the cook- 
 ing of tlie fisli, I'll spin it to ye after supper." 
 
 Aureeinix to this, the lads, tired and hungrv as thev 
 Avere, set forth into the outside darkness and chill, 
 both of which were intensified by the brief period of 
 firelight and warmth they had just enjoyed. The 
 wind was ho-Alinix witli such an increase of furv that 
 it was all thev could do to force their way against it, 
 while ihe fog had given place to dashes of sleety rain. 
 
 Glad enough were they when, tlieii' mission acccjm- 
 plished, they once more regained the barrabkie, bend- 
 ing beneath great loads of wood, which they Hung 
 down with sighs of relief. 
 
 How bright and cheerv the once despised interior 
 now looked ! What a comfort it was to be sheltered 
 from the tempest, and, above all, what deliciously tan- 
 talizing odors of cooking pervaded the whole jdace ! 
 The crabs, beaut if tdly baked, had been drawn from 
 the ashes, and with uplifted claws seemed to beckon 
 the famished lads to come and eat them. The great 
 salmon was nearly done, and was being basted with 
 its own drippings caught in a mnssel-shell that Jalap 
 Coombs had thrust into the cleft end of a stick. 
 
 No second invitation from the big crabs was needed, 
 for hardly liad Phil and Serge caught sight of them 
 before they pounced upon them witli such ferocity 
 that the mate was obliged to suspend ctdinary opera- 
 tions for the time being in order to obtain his share of 
 the first course. 
 
 "I always thought that crabs were oidy good when 
 deviled," remarked Phil at length, as he paused in his 
 eating to look for something on which to crack a bijr 
 claw. "That's the way my aunt Ruth cooks them. 
 It's an awful botln-r, though, and wiiy people shouhl 
 take all that trouble f<»i' nolhini; I can't imauine. I'm 
 
134 
 
 THE j'ur-seal's tooth 
 
 |:- 
 
 
 . i 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 1; 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 sure these knock any deviled crabs I ever ate away 
 out of siijlit." 
 
 Then came the fish, which was rather smokj'-, to be 
 sure, and was served on a bit of board, without sauce 
 garnishings, condiments, or accessories, but which the 
 guests at this wiklerness feast pronounced the very 
 finest and l)est-cooked salmon they had ever tasted. 
 Jahij) Coombs congratulated his young companions on 
 their sj)lendid api)etites, before which tlie great fisli 
 rapidly disappeared, until nothing was left but head, 
 tail, and cleanly picked bones, and they complimented 
 him upon his cooking. 
 
 " Wouldn't it make my aunt Ruth open her eyes, 
 thouiji; !" said Phil. " She's a good cook, and she 
 knows it too ; but she never cooked a salmon lik(^ ^his 
 — that is, not when I was around. Yes, indeea, Ah". 
 Coombs, you certainly could give her points." 
 
 If Miss Ruth Ryder could have seen her fastidious 
 nephew at that moment, seated on the earthen floor of 
 a ruinous Aleutian barrabkie, and tearing with knife 
 and fingers at a smoky half-cooked salmon, while in 
 the glow of a drift-wood fire his honest freckled face 
 shone w^ith a complete satisfaction, she would have 
 marvelled at him. Could she also have heard his un- 
 stinted praise of this rudely served meal, and his ex- 
 traordinary comparing of her own dainty cooking with 
 the rough-and-ready methods of the uncouth sailor- 
 man who sat beside him in favor of the latter, she 
 would have mourned over him as over one who had 
 lost his mind, and knew not whereof he spoke. 
 
 Could she, however, have known how very, very 
 hungry this same nephew had been but a few minutes 
 before, and realized the wonderful properties of the 
 sauce named appetite, she would have rejoiced with 
 him both in his possession of it and his present oppor- 
 tunity for riiMing himself of it. SIu^ might have been 
 
LUXURY ON A DESOLATE ALEUTIAN ISLAND 135 
 
 
 
 shockod at liis apparent forgetfulness of all her teach- 
 ings in the matter of table manners, but she would 
 have been comf(n'teil by his appearance of perfect 
 content with his situation and its surroundings. 
 
 " I say, isn't this jolly ?" he cried, as, having per- 
 formed his share of clearing up by wiping his knife on 
 a wisp of grass, he lay back luxuriously on his yielding 
 couch of moss and basked in the iireglow. " I'm sure 
 I don't know what a fellow could want in the way of 
 camping out any better than this. We've a good shel- 
 ter, comfortable beds, ])lenty to eat, an interesting 
 country to explore, no one to bother us, the best tish- 
 ing I ever heard of, and good shooting. You said 
 there was plenty of game here, didn't you, Serge .^" 
 
 "I don't know that I did," answered the young Alas- 
 kan, "but there is. I found fresh caribou tracks to- 
 dav, and wherever there are caribou there are h\<x 
 brown bears as well — in fact, I saw what I am sure 
 must be a bear road." 
 
 " What do you mean ?" asked Phil, showing his in- 
 terest by rising into a sitting posture and gazing at 
 tlie speaker. 
 
 " I mean what I said. A regular bear and caribou 
 road. I never saw one before, but I have often heard 
 hunters describe the well-beaten trail that starts away 
 off on the mainl:\nd somewhere bevond the head of 
 Cook Inlet and follows the Kenai ]>eninsula for two 
 or three hundred miles down to this very Strait of 
 Krcnitzin, and so to tiiis island. Every summer many 
 caribou follow it and come to Oonimak for the sake 
 of the moss and lichens that grow here more luxuri- 
 antly than anywhere else. Wherever caribou go the 
 bears follow, so I expect there are plenty of both on 
 the island now." 
 
 " Oh, if I oidy had a riile !" sighed Phil. '* Is there 
 anything else in ihi' way of game?" 
 
I::! 
 
 rii 
 
 136 
 
 THE FUR-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 " Not much ; only sea-lions, and hair-seals, and foxes, 
 and any quantity of sea -fowl, including ducks and 
 geese, and now and then a sea-otter." 
 
 " I call that a pretty fair list. By-the-way, what is 
 a sea -otter? I don't remember ever to have seen 
 
 5» 
 
 one. 
 
 " Probably not," laughed Serge. " Along the south- 
 ern coast of these very islands is about the only place 
 in the whole world where they are now found, and even 
 here they are rarely seen. I tell you the hunter who 
 gets a sea-otter nowadays is in great luck ; and yet 
 the only money or trade goods that the four or five 
 thousand Aleuts of these islands ever see come to them 
 in exchange for sea-otter skins. It is the only paying 
 kind of hunting that is left entirely to the natives, and 
 in which white men do not engage." 
 
 " Why don't they ?" 
 
 " Because it is too hard work and too dangerous." 
 
 " Is it any harder or more dangerous than seal-hunt- 
 ing?" 
 
 "I should say it was ! The sea-otter is one of the 
 shyest and most keen-scented of animals. If the tini- 
 est bit of a fire is lighted to windward of him, even 
 miles awav, he will scent it and be off. If a man 
 walks on a beach, many tides must wash out the scent 
 of his footsteps before a sea-otter will approach that 
 place. So when the wind is off shore the hunters have 
 to go without fire, even for cooking, in winter as well 
 as in summer, sometimes for weeks at a time. Then, 
 too, the sea-otter never really comes ashore, but spends 
 most of his time in the water am<«^ ij the great kelp- 
 beds that you lave seen floating in ihe North Pacific. 
 
 k err 
 
 Even their young are born in :b/»st> floating cradles. 
 The only ]»lact vou can catc) hiir asliorc \? on tlie 
 rocky reefs and lialf-subm. _\t. i>lauds lying twenty 
 or thirty miles off the cosites5> and as he only lands on 
 
 \ 
 
LUXURY ON A DESOLATE ALEUTIAN ISLAND 137 
 
 the 
 
 ini- 
 
 Iven 
 
 lan 
 
 cut 
 at 
 
 live 
 ell 
 
 CM, 
 
 ids 
 Ip- 
 c. 
 
 les. 
 ho 
 
 11 
 
 them when driven to do so by the severest gales, it is 
 then that he must be hunted." 
 
 " How do they hunt him ?" asked Phil, who seemed 
 to follow this investicfation to its end. 
 
 "If the storm is off shore, like this one, tlie hunters 
 wait till it shows signs of breaking. Then they hiundi 
 their bidarkies, fasten their kamleikas tightly around 
 the hatch coamings so that not a drop of water can gut 
 in, and run down the gale through seas that would 
 swamp many a larger craft, until they reach the reef, 
 and make a landing under its lee. Then they creep 
 up to windward over the rocks, and generally catch 
 ]Mr. Otter asleep in the sea-weed, where they kill him 
 with short clubs. The story is told of two native 
 hunters who once got seventy-eight in a single hour 
 by this method." 
 
 "What is a bidarkie ? And what is a kanilcika?" 
 asked Phil, to whom these were strange terms. 
 
 "A bidarkie." lauglied Serge, "is a kyack or skin 
 canoe, sueh as is usihI by all Aleuts. It is all covereil 
 over, and is absolutely water-tight, except for the 
 round holes or hatches in which its occupants sit. 
 Some bidarkies ha\o three of tlu>e h<des. some two, 
 and many only one. As a general thing, ^e.i-otter 
 hunters go in couples, and use two-holed bidarkies. 
 A kamleika is a loose water-proof over-garment made 
 of sea-lion intestines. When a hunter, wearing one of 
 these and sittiiiij in a bidarkie, makes its skirts fatst to 
 the coaming of his hatch no water can enter his boat, 
 no matter how many seas break ov»'r it." 
 
 "Do you mean to say that the only way of hunting 
 sea-otters is to go thirty mili<— ' fr"iii land, in a gaK% 
 with a chance of tinding ai. almost invisible rei : >>{ 
 rocks and landinu: on it, or or beini; blown on\ t<> sea 
 it' you don't hapi)en to hit it?" 
 
 " That's jfflrst about it," replied Serge, "though some 
 
 t!^ 
 

 138 
 
 THE FUR-SEALS TOOTU 
 
 are shot in tlie surf, and some are caught by surrounds 
 in the open water, where they are driven by a whole 
 fleet of bidarkies until they are out of breath ; for an 
 otter is obliged to come up every now and then to 
 breathe, like a seal." 
 
 " And what does it all amount to, anyway ? I mean, 
 what are the pelts worth?" 
 
 " I have known of a single skin bringing as high as 
 eight hundred dollars," was the answer. 
 
 " Phe-w-w !" whistled Phil. " No wonder they arc 
 hunted. Did you say there were any left ?" 
 
 " Not many. They used to be found along the en- 
 tire American coast as far south as California, and on 
 the northeast coast of Asia as well ; but now, as I said, 
 they are only to be found in the wilder parts of 
 Alaska." 
 
 " Who buys the skins ?" 
 
 " Traders who make that their sole business, and 
 engage the hunters by the year, paying them fifty, 
 sixty, and even as high as one hundred dollars a 
 skin." 
 
 " I mean, where do they go finally V" 
 
 " Oh, to Russia and China mostly, where they are 
 used to trim military uniforms and mandarin robes." 
 
 " Well," said Phil, who had been intensely interest- 
 ed in all this, " I don't know of anything Pd rather 
 get a shot at, and if I only had a ritle Pd try for one, 
 though I suppose Pd have to iiave a bid — what do you 
 call it ?— too." 
 
 " A bidarkie," laughed Serge. "No, not necessari- 
 ly; sea-otters are often shot in the surf from the beach, 
 and then the hunter waits until the waves bring the 
 body ashore." 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 HOW JALxVP COOMBS GOT HIS NAME 
 
 i; 
 
 While tlie lads talked of sGa-otlcrs, their compan- 
 ion, who had cleaned up tlie dislies by the simple proc- 
 ess of sweeping the remains of their meal into the lire, 
 had been dcliberatelv shaving bits of tobacco from a 
 plug that had fortunately escaped a wetting, and fill- 
 ing his beloved pipe. This he had lighted witli a live 
 coal deftly picked up in his callous fingers, and he now 
 sat, surrounded by a halo of fragrant smoke, blinking 
 in the firelight, a picture of placid contc ;.t. Seizing the 
 opportunity of a pause in the conversation he broke in 
 witii : 
 
 " Sea-otters allers reminds me of old Kite Robcrson 
 who once said, consarning 'em, ' Jal ' — lie allers called 
 me ' Jal,' short for Jalap, y<' understand — " 
 
 " By-the-way," interrupted Phil, " you ])romised to 
 tell us how you happened to have such an outlan — I 
 mean, such a peculiar name." 
 
 " So I did, and so I will. To begin with, I want to 
 sav that I don't believe as a irineral thiiii; in rebellini; 
 again' the name your parents have give ye, when like 
 as not they didn't have nothing else fo give. In some 
 cases, though, it's difficult to beconu» resigned. I've 
 striv faithful to get reconciled to Jalap, v.'ithout get- 
 ting an inch nearer to it to-day than I was when I fust 
 realized what a heathenish hail it war. IJuing the 
 youngest of thirteen boys, and mv father allers hank- 
 ering fur a gal baby, I was naturally a turrible disap- 
 pointment to him, in addition to being a mortal ugly 
 
w 
 
 140 
 
 TIIK FUU-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 
 young duffer to look at. Seeing he was about run out 
 of Scripter names for boj'S, my fatlier was hard put to 
 it to know what to call me, and as christening day 
 drew nigh he was in a wuss quandary than ever. 
 
 " 'Bout this time old Kite Roberson — he was young 
 Kite then — came back from his fust v'y'ge, which he 
 had been four years arter whales in the South Pacific. 
 Now in my town and his'n mussels, such as you two 
 M'as eating just now, was plenty, and the boys uster 
 have mussel roasts as a reg'lar thing. Kite Avas mortal 
 fond of 'em, and seeing as he hadn't had none in four 
 years, made up his mind the fust thing when he got 
 back to have the biggest kind of a mussel roast. And 
 so he did. From all accounts he must have et 
 nigh onto a bushel, and naturally they made him no 
 sick that he like to ha' died. Now old Mis' Roberson, 
 Kite's ma, was a master-hand at doctoi-in', and what 
 she doctored with mostly was jalap. Of course she 
 give this to Kite, and stood over hiiii while he swal- 
 lowed it, till he didn't know which was wust, it or 
 dying. 
 
 " Fust time he got round he come over to our house, 
 we being neighbors, to see me, which he hadn't ever 
 sot eyes on me afore. My father fetched me out, and 
 says, referring to me, ye understand, * He ain't no 
 beauty, is he ?' 
 
 "'No,' says Kite, who was allers plain-spoken, 'he 
 ain't, for a fact; and to tell ye the truth, Mr. Coombs, 
 I can't think of anything he favors so much as he does 
 a dose of jalap.' 
 
 " 'Jalap,' says my father, meditating and turning of 
 the word over in his mouth — 'jalap. It's bitter but 
 wholesome, and as he's the dose I've got to take 
 whether or no, I'll call him Jalap, and done with it.' 
 
 " He kep' his word, and that's how I come to be sot 
 airin mussels," 
 
HOW JALAP COOMBS GOT IIIS NAME 
 
 141 
 
 ') 
 
 'S 
 
 "I declare! I don't blame you, Mr. Coombs," said 
 Phil, laiighii)g at this quaint bit of family history; 
 "and if I had been in your ])lace I would have had it 
 changed as soon as I grew up." 
 
 " No," said the mate, decidedly, " that wouldn't have 
 done, 'cause, you see, it were all owing to the name, 
 for which Kite naturally felt responserble, that he come 
 to be so friendly with me. Sorter trying to make 
 up for what he'd did, ye understand; and his friend- 
 sliip, he being a powerful smart man, made me what 
 
 »» 
 
 I be. 
 
 Phil M'anted to laugh again at the evident pride with 
 which the mate of the Seameio regarded his station in 
 life, but realizing that it would be very rude, hastily 
 changed the subject by inquiring: " By-the-way, Mr. 
 Coombs, how soon do you think we shall be obliged to 
 leave this island ? If it wasn't for my poor father's 
 anxiety I should like to stay here a month. You see, 
 after what Serge has told me, I find there are ever so 
 many things here that I want to see. In fact, I feel as 
 i£ I must soe a sea-otter. That is," he added, mischiev- 
 ously, "it seems as if a sea-otter was the one thing I 
 otter see." 
 
 " Hey ?" ejaculated the mate, taking his pipe from 
 his mouth and gazing at Phil as though he feared some- 
 thing had gone wrong with the lad. Then, as a twinkle 
 in the other's eye betrayed him, he exclaimed : " Get 
 along, ye young villain! We'll stay here long enough 
 to let you see all you want of this island, and more too, 
 ef I'm not mightily mistaken in the weather. And now 
 ye'd best follow your chum's example and turn in, for 
 ef ye ain't sleepy, ye ought to be arter the day we've 
 had and the to-morrows that is a-coming." 
 
 So the three casta wavs on that desolate northern 
 island slept on their mossy couch as soundly and peace- 
 fully as tliough in their bunks on board the Seamew or 
 
142 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 1 
 
 M 
 
 in the beds of their distant homes. All night long the 
 wind howled about the stout walls of their .shelter, the 
 rain beat on the canvas roof above them, and a mighty 
 roar from the sea filled the air; but none of these things 
 disturbed them, and not until long after daylight did 
 one of them awake. 
 
 For a solid week did the tempest rage with unabat- 
 ed fury, and long before the end of that time they were 
 wearied almost beyond endurance with their enforced 
 inaction and monotonous diet. To Phil in particular 
 did the salmon and crabs, that he had thought so good 
 on that first night, grow so distasteful that it became 
 almost impossible for him to swallow the hated food. 
 
 During those seven long, weary days they only left 
 the hut when forced to do so to obtain food, wood, or 
 water. Serge went as far as the wreck of their boat, 
 where he obtained several oak ribs and half a dozen 
 nails. The latter were ground, or, rather, rubbed 
 down to sharp points by his companions, while he bus- 
 ied himself in cutting out two of the great clumsy- 
 looking wooden halibut - hooks, such as are used by 
 the Indians about Sitka, and specimens of which are 
 brought from there by every Alaskan tourist. At the 
 proper point in each of these he inserted one of the 
 sharpened nails, and Jalap Coombs lashed them solidly 
 into place with bits of twine. 
 
 Phil ridiculed these, and said that any fish stupid 
 enough to be hooked by them deserved to be caught ; 
 but Serge only smiled the superior smile of one who 
 knows, and answered : "All right, we'll see !" 
 
 When the gale finally blew itself out Phil did see, 
 and marvelled at the facility with which codfish and 
 flounders were caught by these same despised wooden 
 hooks, which he was forced to admit were as deadly as 
 the finest sproats or Limerick bends he had ever used. 
 
 One morning, at the beginning of their second week 
 
It long the 
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 it became 
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 IMAGE EVALUATION 
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 (716) 873-4S03 
 
 
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HOW JALAP COOMBS GOT HIS NAME 
 
 143 
 
 of captivity, the castawj'iys were awakened by a burst 
 of sunshine, and sprang from their couch of moss to 
 be greeted by as glorious a July day as any of them 
 had ever seen. It was made up of sunshine, blue sky, 
 a dimpled sea, a landscape of plain, foot-hill, and snow- 
 capped mountains all glowing with the yellows, reds, 
 purples, and greens of mosses, lichens, and volcanic 
 cliffs. Above all, Shishaldin reared his lofty crest that 
 his filmy smoke-plumes might stream out bravely in 
 the crisp morning breeze. 
 
 During the week just past our friends had discussed 
 over and over again their plans for the future, and had 
 decided that the first thing was to attract the atten- 
 tion of some passing vessel that might be induced to 
 take them and their seal -skins to Oonalaska. This 
 place, although lying many miles to the westward, was 
 the nearest settlement and tiading-post, and also the 
 point of departure for the monthly steamer to Sitka. 
 At Oonalaska they would dispose of their furs. Phil 
 and Serge would engage passage for the destination 
 they so longed to reach, and J<ilap Coombs's future 
 would be laid out according to circumstances. But 
 first they must catch their schooner. 
 
 As vessels were more likely to be seen on the Pa- 
 cific than on the Bering Sea side of the island, they de- 
 cided first of all to climb a very considerable eleva- 
 tio 1 that rose almost directly from Krenitzin Strait, 
 and a couple of miles south of their camp. From this 
 they hoped to see both waters. During their walk 
 they caught glimpses of several small bands of car- 
 ibou, rnd of one or two distant moving objects that 
 Phil was certain must be bear. Never had he wished 
 for a rifle so much as now. Venison and bear meat! 
 How good either or both of them would taste ! How 
 he hated fish and longed for meat! But there was 
 probably no gun of any kind within a hundred miles of 
 
 hi 
 
 / 
 
144 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 !J 
 
 m 
 
 him save those that he knew of at the bottom of the sea ; 
 so wliat was the good of wishing for one ? 
 
 Thoy were disappointed to find that the Pacific was 
 hidden from the elevation they ascended by another 
 rising beyond it. As they descended into the valley 
 between the two, with the intention of climbing the 
 second hill, they were startled by the ringing report of 
 a rifle-shot. A moment later three caribou came fly- 
 ing up the valley with the speed of the wind, rushed 
 past them so close that they involuntarily stepped 
 back for fear of being trampled underfoot, and disap- 
 peared. A fourth who was lagging behind, evidently 
 wounded, stumbled, and halted but a short distance 
 from them. Ere he could resume his flight, a second 
 shot, still from some unseen source, stretched him dead 
 at their feet. 
 

 "■w 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 KOOGA THE ALEUT, AND HIS BIDARKIE 
 
 To say that our friends were startled by the sound 
 of these rifle - shots in that wilderness, which but a 
 minute before they M'ould have sworn did not con- 
 tain a human being other than themselves, but feebly 
 e>.presses their astonishment and joy. To them, or at 
 least to Phil Ryder, a rifle-shot indicated the presence 
 of white men. These must belong to a vessel that 
 would take him and his companions to some point 
 from which passage might be engaged for Sitka. 
 Thus, ere the breeze had dissipated the little cloud of 
 blue smoke from that second shot, all the perplexities 
 of the situation had vanished, and Phil felt as though 
 the object of his long journey were at length attained. 
 To his amazement and dismay, the figure that bounded 
 into view from behind a jutting point of rock as the 
 caribou fell was not that of a white man, but of a 
 native. Although he was clad in hat, shirt, trousers, 
 and boots of the quality adopted by all who lead 
 rougii out-of-door lives, his short figure, dark skin, 
 and broad face proved him to be a full-blooded 
 Aleut. 
 
 If the castaways were surprised to see him, he was 
 equally so at their appearance, and at sight of thcni 
 stopped short in his tracks. Then with a glance at 
 his caribou to assure himself that it was de<ad, he 
 slowly advanced towards where they stood. 
 
 Serge, with extended hand, stepped forth to meet 
 him, and, in the Russian trade patois common to that 
 
 10 
 
146 
 
 TUB FUB'SBAL S TOOTH 
 
 coast, told him how glad they were to sec him, and 
 asked how he happened to be in that place. 
 
 He replied that his name was Kooga, that he had 
 come alone in his bidarkie from Oonga Island to act 
 as hunter for, and keep supplied with food during the 
 next three months, a party of sea-otter-ca* chers who 
 were daily expected to reach that neighborhood from 
 Oonalaska. 
 
 Having in turn learned who the strangers were, and 
 expressed his gratification at meeting them, Kooga 
 turned his attention to his game, which he proceeded 
 to skin and cut up with the utmost dexterity. 
 
 As the others watched him with hungry anticipa- 
 tions. Serge continued to ply him with questions, and 
 thus learned that he, like themselves, had been weather- 
 bound on the island by the tempest of the past week, 
 but for which his friends would long since have ar- 
 rived. Now he thought they would leave Oonalaska 
 in the traders' schooner that very day, and that the 
 next one would witness their arrival off that point of 
 Oonimak nearest the little outlying island of Saanak, 
 where are the best sea-otter grounds of the coast. 
 
 " He also says," continued Serge, interpreting this 
 communication for the benefit of the others, ** that 
 after leaving her lumters the schooner will run on to 
 Saanak, where she will cache a store of provisions for 
 their use, and will then return to Oonalaska, not to 
 come back for three months." 
 
 " What a splendid chance for us !" cried Phil. " It 
 is exactly such a one as we have been wanting. Talk 
 about bad-luck now !" he added, with a sly glance at 
 Serge. ** It seems to me ours couldn't be much better 
 than it is if we had arranged it to suit ourselves." 
 
 Serge paid no attention to this remark, for he was 
 listening attentively to Kooga, yf]\o was again talking, 
 and saying that in four days froni that time another 
 
KOOGA TUB ALEUT, AJD HIS lilDARKIB 
 
 147 
 
 and 
 
 trading-sfliooncr bound for Oonalaska from the cast- 
 ward was due to pass close to the north side of Ooni- 
 mak Island. 
 
 " Butter and better !'* exclaimed Phil, when this was 
 translated. "We surely can't miss them both, and 
 must be taken off by one or the other. I hope it will 
 be by the sea-otter fellow, though, as I should dearly 
 love to see something of that hunting." 
 
 " And I," said Jalap Coombs, " hope it will be by 
 the other one, seeing as it will be so much handier to 
 load our seal-skins into her." 
 
 "Oh, I had forgotten them !" replied Phil, in a tone 
 of disappointment. "Yes, I suppose we must take the 
 north-side schooner." 
 
 "You speak as if you were certain of catching either 
 one you wanted," laughed Serge ; " but, for my part, I 
 think there is a big chance of missing both of them. 
 Tliey may pass in the night, or in a fog, or too far out 
 to notice our signals. Now I propose that we divide 
 into two parties, and watch at both ends of the island 
 at once. If Mr. Coombs is willing to remain in camp 
 at the north end, you and I can go with Kooga to the 
 south end, where we may have a chance to see some- 
 thing of sea-otter hunting. If at the same time wo 
 can catch that schooner, and persuade her to come 
 round to this side of the island, we sha'n't need the 
 other. If we miss her, or she refuses to take us, we 
 shall still have plenty of time lo get back hero before 
 the other is due." 
 
 " Good for you. Serge !" shouted Phil. " That's an 
 immense scheme, and I don't see why I didn't think of 
 it myself, only I never do think of things until after- 
 wards." 
 
 " It shows the result of a sea-training," said Jalap 
 Coombs. " I was jest a-considering of that same plan, 
 and would have laid it afore all hands arter dinner, 
 
148 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 which, it seems to mc, is the thing to be thought of 
 fust. So now, if our oakum-colored friend will give 
 us a hunk of his meat, weMl lay a course for our own 
 galley fire over yonder. Arter stowing a cargo of 
 grub we'll consider what's the next thing to be did." 
 
 "That suits mo exactly," agreed Phil, who had been 
 casting longing eyes Jit the tempting-looking venison, 
 "and the sooner that plan is carried out the better. 
 So open negotiations at once — won't you. Serge, like 
 a good fellow? I don't believe I ever was more nearly 
 starved." 
 
 Serge laughed, and after a few minutes' conversa- 
 tion with Kooga, informed his companions that the 
 native was perfectly willing to go with them to the 
 barrabkie, and that they were welcome to all the meat 
 they wanted, as his bidarkie would not hold half of it. 
 The fact is that the young Aleut was fully as hungry 
 as t'ney, and possessed of an equal longing for fresh 
 meat, the gale having so interfered with his hunting 
 as to compel him to live on shell-fish ever since he 
 reached the island. 
 
 This being settled, all four loaded themselves with 
 venison and followed Kooga's lead to the place where 
 he had made his lonely and cheerless camp, and where 
 his bidarkie was carefully hauled up on the beach be- 
 yond high -water mark. His shelter was a tiny A 
 tent, supported by paddles and spears, and pitched in 
 the lee of a huge bowlder. A quantity of moss heaped 
 within it had formed for him a bed similar to that of 
 our castaways. He had not, however, been able to 
 make a fire, his supply of tinder being wet, and he not 
 having had the good -fortune to discover an eider- 
 duck's nest. 
 
 The bidarkie excited Phil's curiosity to such an ex- 
 tent that it seemed as though he would never weary of 
 examining it. It was one of the two-holed craft, and 
 
r 
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 n 
 
 > 
 
 H 
 
 a, 
 
 > 
 
 r". 
 H 
 
 H 
 
 i ; 
 
■ 
 
KOOOA TUB ALEUT, AMD HIS BIDARKIB 
 
 140 
 
 after it bad been carefully launched and ladon the 
 Yankee lad asked Serge if he thought Kooga would 
 allow him to occupy its vacant hatch for the short 
 cruise. 
 
 When Serge made the request the young native 
 looked dubious, and shook his head. He had seen too 
 many self-confident white men spilled into the icy 
 waters of that coast from those ticklish craft ; but as 
 Phil insisted, he finally yielded a reluctant consent. 
 He, of course, did not know that the white lad had 
 been considered the most expert canoeman in Now 
 London, or that his own canoe was a tiny-decked affair 
 of cedar every whit as crank as this bidarkie. His 
 eyes therefore opened wide with surprise as his new 
 companion stepped lightly into the canoe and settled 
 himself in its forward hatch, with all the confidence of 
 one who had always been accustomed to such things. 
 When, in addition to this, Phil seized a double-bladed 
 paddle and began to wield it with the practised skill 
 of an old canoeman, the young Aleut actually laughed 
 aloud with gratified amazement. 
 
 As under the influence of its two well-handled pad- 
 dles the light craft shot away up the strait. Jalap 
 Coombs and Serge watched it with a feeling of pride 
 that their companion should thus prove himself the 
 equal of a native in one of his own especial lines of 
 business. The mate was especially outspoken in his 
 admiration of this feat, which would have been as im- 
 possible to bim as the navigating of a balloon. " I 
 don't believe even old Kite Roberson hisself could 
 have done it any handier," he said, as he resumed his 
 burden of venison, and started with it along-shore in 
 the direction of the barrabkie. 
 
 Tht canoe reached a point opposite the hut some 
 time before the others, and when they got there it was 
 already unloaded. Most of its cargo bad been trans- 
 
150 
 
 THE FUR-SBAL*8 TOOTH 
 
 ferrcfl lo the hut, and its occupants were just return- 
 ing for the few things that were left. Among these 
 was Kooga's rifle, wliich Phil picked up and examined 
 with interest. lie marvelled to find it so good a one, 
 for it was a Winchester of the latest pattern. As he 
 lifted it to his shoulder and sighted it his eye was 
 caught by a slight movement on a small rock nearly 
 half a mile out in the strait. A hair-seal which had 
 been sleeping there had just lifted its head. At th.'it 
 distance it did not look larger than a man's fist. 
 
 Phil drew Kooga's attention to it and offered him 
 the rifle, signifying by motions that he should shoot ; 
 but the native shook his head decisively, and gave the 
 former to understand that the mark was too small for 
 such a distance. Upon this the Yankee lad, carefully 
 adjusting the sights of the rifle, and assuring himself 
 that there was a cartridge in its chamber, took a delib- 
 erate aim and f^rcd. 
 
 The seal dropped its head as though it had again 
 gone to sleep, and the native smiled. 
 
 "Tell him to go and get it," said Phil to Serge, who 
 came up at that moment. When the latter repeated 
 this request Kooga's pitying smile changed to an ex- 
 pression of incredulity. Nevertheless, he again placed 
 his canoe in the water and paddled away. When ho 
 returned with the dead seal, shot directly through the 
 brain, his expression was one of amazement. 
 
 " He must be the white man who makes guns," he 
 said to Serge, " and command them to do his will. 
 Take him away from here soon, for if he once gets 
 among the kahlan [sea -otter] he will leave none for 
 us." 
 
 A sea-otter hunt was, however, the one thing upon 
 which Phil Ryder's heart was most set just then. Not 
 only that, but he had determined to go on one in Koo- 
 ga's company. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 A DOUBLE WATCH FOU SCIIOONRRS 
 
 KooGA the Ak'iit spent the rest of that day and the 
 following night with his new-found Ti lends. The din- 
 ner, to which all of them had looked forward with such 
 interest, jjrovcd a great success. Frcni his hidarkic tho 
 young native produced a small ' ass kettle, in which 
 they made a venison stew that they nte with mussel- 
 shell spoons. lie also brought forth a basket so exqui- 
 sitely woven of native grasses as to bo perfectly water- 
 tight. In this was his choicest treasure, a brick of 
 tea, such as the Western Aleuts procure from Rus- 
 sian traders, and which they guard with most jealous 
 care. From this, after the stew had disappeared and 
 the kettle was thoroughly cleansed, he treated himself 
 and his friends to a brewing of the fragrant leaf. 
 
 In the meantime bits of venison and seal meat were 
 cooking and being oaten on all sides, while Kooga ev- 
 ery now and then allowed himself an extra relish in tho 
 shape of a strip of raw seal blubber. He also showed 
 the others how to roast the larger caribou bones, and 
 extract from them the marrow, which Phil, tasting for 
 the first time, pronounced "immense." 
 
 After the feast came to an end, owing to the inabil- 
 ity of its guests to eat another mouthful, Kooga taught 
 them to build a low scaffold of drift-wood, on which to 
 smoke and dry by fire-heat strips of venison and split 
 salmon. In procuring wood for this purpose, he and 
 Phil visited the wrecked whale-boat. The tide was 
 low, and while wandering about in the vicinity of the 
 
I ' 
 
 152 
 
 THE FUB-SKAL*8 TOOTH 
 
 wreck, the keen eye of the Aleut detected something 
 buried in kelp at the edge of the breakers. Drawing 
 this forth, he laid it at Phil's feet. To the lad's aston- 
 ishment, it proved to be his bag of water-proof rifle- 
 cartridges, lost when the wreck occurred. For an hour 
 or more they searched among the slippery rocks with 
 the hope of finding one or both of the lost guns, but 
 without success. Then, as the recovered cartridges 
 were of no use to him, Phil presented them to Kooga, 
 whose rifle they exactly fitted, to the immense gratifi- 
 cation of that young Aleut. 
 
 It having been decided that the plan proposed by 
 Serge should be carried out, and a quantity of food 
 having been prepared both for taking and for leaving 
 behind, the two white lads and their native guide made 
 an early start for the south side of the island the next 
 morning. Jalap Coombs remained at the barrabkie, 
 to which they promised to return in a day or two, or 
 at least before the four days, at the expiration of which 
 a schooner might be expected on that side, should have 
 elapsed. 
 
 Phil and Kooga, who had struck up a wonderful inti- 
 macy, went in the bidarkie, which also carried their 
 very simple camp outfit, while Serge followed down 
 the shore of the strait. 
 
 As the little party set forth. Jalap Coombs called 
 after them, " Mind, boys, and get back as quick as ever 
 ye can, either with or without the schooner, for we'll 
 be turrible lonely while ye're gone — me and old Kite 
 Roberson will." 
 
 Owing to the intricate and dangerous navigation of 
 Krenitzin Strait, which necessitated long detours and 
 occasioned many delays, the bidarkiy did not reach the 
 south side of the island much before Serge, who had 
 put in twenty miles or so of the toughest kind of 
 tramping without a halt. 
 
 i^ 
 
A DOUBLE WATCH FOR SCHOONERS 
 
 153 
 
 It did not take them long to pitch the little tent and 
 collect materials for a fire, which Kooga lighted with- 
 out difficulty by means of an old-fashioned flint and 
 steel, his tinder being now perfectly dry. Drift-wood 
 was so scarce on that side of the island that they were 
 obliged to content themselves with a very small blaze. 
 It was sufficient, however, to boil water for a kettle of 
 tea, and this, with a few strips of dried venison toasted 
 on the coals, constituted a meal that even Phil declared 
 was better than some he had eaten. 
 
 After dinner, as there were still some hours of day- 
 light left and no schooner was in sight. Serge, wishing 
 to try for a halibut with one of his home-made hooks, 
 proposed to Kooga to take him a short distance from 
 shore in the bidarkie — a proposal to which the latter 
 readily acceded. 
 
 So they went fishing, and Phil, still incredulous as 
 to their success with such rude tackle, sat on the edge 
 of a precipitous cliff and watched them. As he sat 
 there he could not help feeling very lonely and rather 
 homesick. His thoughts turned towards the father 
 whom he loved so dearly. He wondered if he were 
 very anxious about him, and whether he had gone to 
 Victoria to search for him, or were still awaiting his 
 coming in Sitka. 
 
 " Oh dear," sighed the lad, " how wretchedly I have 
 mixed things up, anyway ! Just as Aunt Ruth said I 
 would, too. No matter. I'm on the right track at last, 
 and I must reach Sitka very soon now. If I don't, it 
 won't be my fault, anyhow. I wonder if Aunt Ruth 
 has heard that I am lost, and what she would say if 
 she could see me at this minute." 
 
 With this he glanced about him, and the vastness of 
 his own surroundings filled him with a sense of his own 
 insignificance and weakness. Before him was out-spread 
 the limitless Pacific, whose mighty billows surged and 
 
154 
 
 THE pur-seal's tooth 
 
 E I 
 
 > 
 
 ' 
 
 t ! 
 
 !( 
 
 t J 
 
 i 
 
 thundered against the black rocks hundreds of feet 
 below. In the immeasurable distance the sun was 
 sinking beneath the heaving waters. Behind him 
 towered a range of frowning mountains, their gaunt 
 frames seared and riven by the Plutonic forces whose 
 ominous banner still floated from Shishaldin'e lofty 
 crest. A few sea-fowl circled and screamed about his 
 head. How terrible it was to be there alone ! Phil 
 laughed for human companionship, and wished the 
 other fellows would come back. 
 
 Suddenly he started up in affright. The bidarkie 
 was not where he had last sseen it. What had hap- 
 pened? Was he indeed alone in that awful place? 
 No ; there it was, and Phil heaved a great sigh of 
 relief. But how far away it was ! How could they 
 have gained such a distance so quickly? Now it 
 seemed to be coming towards him again, and at a 
 tremendous speed. What could it all mean ? He 
 rubbed his eyes to oe sure they were not playing 
 him false. That they were not was proved by a 
 sight of the frail craft right abreast of him, but mad- 
 ly dashing past, and above the surge of breakers 
 the shouts of his companions came faintly to his 
 ears. 
 
 For nearly an hour were the erratic movements of 
 the bidarkie continued, and then slowly and heavily it 
 approached the shore. Phil ran back and down the 
 roundabout way loading to the beach to meet it. 
 When he reached the water's edge he found the oth- 
 ers already on shore, and just landing a halibut so 
 huge that both the white lads estimated it to weigh 
 fully two hundred pounds. 
 
 " You ere," explained Serge, " we couldn't get it into 
 the canoe, or kill it, or do anything except let it tow us 
 round till it was tired out. Finally we got close enough 
 for Kooga to spear it, and then we took our turn at tow- 
 
A DOUBLE WATCH FOR SCHOONERS 
 
 155 
 
 ing. The hook held, thcigh, and I don't believe it 
 would if it hadn't been a good one." 
 
 " It certainly is a good one !" exclaimed Phil, " and 
 I will never say another word against that style of 
 tackle. But, oh. Serge, it was horrid here while you 
 were gone, and I hope you won't ever leave me alone 
 in such a place again." 
 
 "All right, old fellow, I won't," replied Serge, 
 heartily. 
 
 After securing the precious bidarkie in a place 
 of safety, and cutting a few steaks from the great 
 halibut, the three lads returned to camp, where they 
 passed their evening in cooking and eating another 
 meal. 
 
 " I don't know how it is," remarked Phil, meditative- 
 ly, as he washed the dishes by thrusting his sheath- 
 knife into a tuft of moss, "but there seems to be 
 something in the air of this country that makes a fel- 
 low want to eat about a dozen meals a day." 
 
 There seemed to be something in the air that com- 
 pelled sleep, too. As there was a moon, the others 
 agreed to Phil's proposition, born of his recent re- 
 solves, to take turns in watching all night for the 
 schooner. Kooga, to whom the plan was explained by 
 Serge, was to take the first. Serge the midnight, and 
 Phil the morning watch. This scheme was carried 
 out as arranged, except that the rising sun found the 
 last watcher sound asleep. Awakened by its warm 
 beams, he cast a glance at the sea, sprang to his feet, 
 rubbed his eyes, and looked again. Then he gave a 
 shout that brought the others to his side. 
 
 The sight that met their gaze was that of a placid 
 sea, with a dozen bidarkies, fully two miles away, 
 stretched out in a long line on its heaving bosom. 
 Beyond them were the white sails of a schooner head- 
 ed to the eastward. 
 
166 
 
 THE FUB-SEAL's TOOTH 
 
 [ 
 
 (( 
 
 IIow could she have got past without you seeing 
 her ?" asked Serge. 
 
 "I'm sure I don't know," answered Phil, '^unless it 
 was that I had closed my eyes for a minute. You see, 
 I was so awfully sleepy that I had the hardest kind of 
 work to keep them open. Now I'll tell you what, 
 though: Kooga and I will go out and overtake those 
 bidaikies and find out when the schooner is coming 
 back. We can catch them easy enough, for they seem 
 to be waiting for something. I shouldn't wonder if 
 they were going to make a surround, which is what I 
 want to see more than anything." 
 
 " Well," agreed Serge, hesitatingly; " but don't you 
 think I'd better go, as I can understand what they 
 say ?" 
 
 "Oh, that'll be all right," replied Phil, confidently. 
 " There are sure to bo some among them who can speak 
 enough English to tell me what I want to find out." 
 
 " And you will be back before night ?" 
 
 " Of course. Probably inside of a couple of hours." 
 
 Serge hurriedly explained Phil's proposal to Kooga, 
 and that shrewd native, glad to ha^e the company of so 
 mighty a hunter as the Yankee lad, willingly agreed to 
 take him along and show him how sea-otters are captured. 
 
 Then he hastily collected his weapons, and taking 
 with him a few strips of dried meat to be eaten as 
 they went, the young Aleut led the way to the cove, 
 where his bidarkie was hauled up. 
 
 Phil, also snatching up some strips of meat, quickly 
 followed, and Serge went down to see them off. 
 
 " Don't forget, Phil, that you're to be back before 
 dark !" he shouted, as the light craft shot out from 
 the cove. 
 
 " Never you fear, old man !" came back in laughing 
 tones. 
 
 He who was left climbed up to the place Phil had 
 
A DOUBLE WATCiJ FOR SCHOONF.BS 
 
 157 
 
 occupied the evening before, and uatcheH the fleet of 
 bidarkies until all of tbera h i 1 vanished in the dim dis- 
 tance. Then, with many misgivings as to the wisdOiH 
 of the plan just pursued, Serge turned slowly away to 
 prepare his solitary breakfast. 
 
 »> 
 
 ! !1 
 
\ i' 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 HUNTING THE SKA-OTTER 
 
 Although the long line of bidarkies of which Phil 
 Ryder and his Aleut companion had started in pur- 
 suit were apparently moving very slowly, as seen from 
 a distance of two miles, they were in reality skim- 
 ming the water with swiftness and in perfect silence. 
 Their occupants, while wielding their double -bladed 
 paddles without a splash, and keeping the canoes well 
 abreast of each other at intervals of a few hundred 
 feet, maintained a keen watch for the slightest token 
 of a sea-otter's presence. 
 
 Suddenly one man makes a silent signal that is 
 flashed in an instant along the entire line. He has 
 caught a glimpse of one of the coveted animals appar- 
 ently asleep. Although no word is spoken, and no 
 sound comes from end to end of the little fleet, the 
 sharp-witted animal takes the alarm almost at the mo- 
 ment of discovery, and dives like a shot to the very 
 bottom of the sea, leaving only a bubbling wake to 
 mark his descent. 
 
 A few powerful strokes bring the bidarkie of the 
 discoverer to the spot. There it is abruptly halted, 
 and the hunter holds his paddle aloft while the others 
 skim over the water like a flight of birds, until they have 
 ranged themselves in a great circle half a mile in di- 
 ameter about him. The otter must come up to breathe 
 within fifteen or twenty minutes, and when he does 
 so some one of the thirty pairs of keen-sighted eyes so 
 eagerly watching for him is sure to detect the act, 
 
HUNTING THE 8EA-OTTER 
 
 159 
 
 even though he should show only the tip of liis nose. 
 A wild yell announces the discovery ; the hunted ani- 
 mal again dives; another bidarkie, with uplifted paddle, 
 marks the spot, and again the circle is formed. Thus 
 the unfortunate otter, coming to the surface at short- 
 er and shorter intervals, is made to dive and dive 
 again, never being allowed to draw a full breath, un- 
 til at the end of two or three hours he floats on the 
 surface completely exhausted, and falls an easy victim 
 to the nearest spear. 
 
 To an uninterested observer it is a pitiful sight to 
 see a defenceless and harmless creature thus hunted 
 to its death. At the same time the pursuit is possessed 
 of the fascination that always attends the matching 
 of human skill against animal cunning and powers 
 of endurance. Then, too, there is the excitement of 
 ever-present danger in thus venturing into the open 
 sea, almost beyond sight of land, in such cockle-shells 
 as Aleutian bidarkies. In that region of sudden squalls 
 and fierce gales, dense fogs that settle over the water 
 like vast smothering blankets almost without warning 
 — huge whales and other sea-monsters that are always 
 rising to the surface, and whose slightest touch would 
 overturn a bidarkie as though it were a feather — the 
 uncertainties of an otter -hunter's life are many and 
 constant. 
 
 Two surrounds and captures had been made by the 
 hunting-fleet in which we arij interested ere, some time 
 in the afternoon, it was finally overtaken by the bid- 
 arkie containing Phil Ryder and his Aleut compan- 
 ion. They were just in time to participate in a third 
 surround, every movement of which the white lad 
 watched with lively interest. 
 
 This was the longest chase of the dav, and the sun 
 was disappearing behind an ominous - looking cloud- 
 bank before it was concluded. During its continuance 
 
160 
 
 THE FUR-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 there was no opportunity to communicate with the 
 hunters. Tiie moment the capture! was effected the 
 entire fleet was headed towards a distant island, barely 
 discernible to the eastward, and was urged with all 
 speed in that direction. 
 
 Under the circumstances there was nothing for our 
 friends to do but to follow them, and it is doubtful if 
 Phil could have induced Kooga to do otherwise even 
 had he been so inclined. He was not, however, for he 
 realized that it would now be impossible to regain their 
 starting-point of the morning before dark. Besides, 
 he had not yet gained the information concerning the 
 schooner's movements for which he had set out. So 
 he must spend a night with the otter - hunters, and 
 with the first streak of daylight he would set forth on 
 his return journey to Oonimak and Serge. 
 
 " T*oor Serge ! what a lonely night this will be for 
 him," reflected Phil, remembering his own brief expe- 
 rience of the evening before. "It can't be helped 
 now, though, and I'm awfully glad it isn't my fault." 
 In spite of this the lad's conscience insisted on whis- 
 pering, "You know you came out to see the otter- 
 hunt rather than to gain information, for Serge could 
 have done that much better than you." 
 
 " Pshaw !" muttered Phil, " that's not true, to begin 
 with ; and even if it were, what difference will a single 
 night make, anyway ? I guess Serge can stand it, for 
 he is more used to such things than I am. Then, too, I 
 am certain the schooner has not gone back yet, for she 
 couldn't have passed without me seeing her." 
 
 When the little fleet finally made a landing by the 
 last of the twilight, and after a wearisome paddle of 
 many miles, it was on the small outlying and terribly 
 rugged island of Saanak, the favorite haunt of the sea- 
 otter and the point at which the bulk of the world's 
 supply of this immensely valuable fur is obtained. 
 
IIUNTIXO THE SEA-OTTER 
 
 161 
 
 Here the swarthy hunters glanced askance at the 
 white lad, .and not until Kooga had given a long expla- 
 nation of how he happened to be there, and a glowing 
 account of Phil's wonderful skill with the rifle, did 
 they consent to admit him to a share of their scanty 
 food supplies and still scantier shelter. 
 
 Although Phil did not, of course, understand a word 
 of all this, he guessed what was being said, and was 
 provoked that he should have placed himself in such a 
 position. To his further chagrin, he could not discover 
 one among all the hunters who could speak a word of 
 English. So Serge had been right, and he had acted 
 the part of a headstrong fool, after all. 
 
 While his hunger forced him to eat a share of the 
 hunters' supper, which consisted of nearly raw meat, 
 sea-biscuit so hard that they made his teeth ache, and 
 a cup of tea as strong as lye, he did not relish it, and 
 his thoughts turned with longing to the once despised 
 cabin mess of the Seamew. As for the dainty home- 
 table presided over by his dear Aunt Ruth, he dared 
 not think of it. 
 
 If his supper was bad, how much worse were the 
 sleeping accommodations that the bitter chill of the 
 night forced him to share ! As the cold wind swept 
 in from the sea with ever-increasing force and charged 
 with stinging sleet, it compelled all hands to crawl into 
 the few wretched little tents, open at both ends, that 
 afforded their only shelter from the inclement weather. 
 They had no blankets, nor bedding of any description, 
 and were forced to huddle together for warmth. 
 
 As poor Phil thus lay on the bare rocks between 
 Kooga and another not over-cleanly Aleut, his mind 
 once more reverted to his far-distant home, with its 
 innumerable comforts, that he had once accepted as a 
 matter of course, without a thought of how they were 
 provided or any feeling of gratitude for them. 
 
 li 
 
163 
 
 THE PUR-SEAlAs TOOTH 
 
 I 
 
 : J 
 
 I 
 
 " Oh clear ! wliat wouldn't I give for a few of tliosc 
 things .at this minute !" reflected poor Phil. " A warm 
 house, for instance, and a clean soft bed, and clean 
 clothes and soap and towels, and a brush and comb, 
 and, above all, for one of Aunt Ruth's delicious sup- 
 pers. Hut what is the use ! I can't have them, and I 
 am having just ^v4iat I set out for — a trip to Alaska 
 and a sea-otter hunt. This misery will be over in a 
 few hours at any rate, for I shall make Kooga take 
 me out of this in the morning, and in a week or so 
 from now I shall be looking back on it from Sitka, 
 and telling of it as a most interesting experience." 
 
 Alas for Phil's hopes ! When the morning light 
 came it revealed such a mighty sea rolling in under 
 the lashings of a southwesterly gale, and furiously 
 hurling itself against the rock-bound coast, as would 
 have prohibited the launching of a life -boat, much 
 more a bidarkie. For three days did the gale con- 
 tinue, and for three days did it hold Phil Ryder and 
 the native hunters close prisoners on the island of Saa- 
 nak. At first the former raged at his detention almost 
 as furiously as did the gale itself, though after a while 
 he wisely determined to make the best of the situation, 
 and discover whatever good points it possessed. 
 
 As the wind came off the sea, they could build as 
 many fires as they chose without fear of alarming the 
 wily game of which they had come in pursuit. Thus 
 they could cook food and make tea, which, under the 
 circumstances, was of inestimable comfort. In these 
 occupations, together with smoking and sleeping, most 
 of the hunters spent their time. On the second day, 
 Kooga, taking his rifle and inviting Phil by signs to 
 accompany him, set forth in search of sea-lions, which 
 are highly esteemed as food by all natives of those 
 northern regions. They also use its skin in making 
 their boats, its intestines for their water -j^roof gar- 
 
99 
 
 P" 
 O 
 V. 
 
 •y. 
 
 V! 
 
 H 
 
 •y. 
 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 
 
 o 
 cr. 
 
 l;i 
 
HUNTING TUB SBA-OTTBlt 
 
 163 
 
 mcnts, its back-sinews in place of thread, while the oil 
 extracted from its blubber affords them loth light and 
 fuel. 
 
 As the sea-lion is extremely shy and diflicult to ap- 
 proach in the daytime, ho is generally hunted on moon- 
 lit nights. He is more than twice as large as the fur- 
 seal, but, like the latter, is a fearless swimmer, and 
 delights to sport in the heaviest seas at the very point 
 where they break and hurl themselves against a rock- 
 bound coast. Like the seal, too, the sea-lion loves to 
 haul itself from the water, and, climbing the most rug- 
 ged rocks, lie and bask for hours. 
 
 Realizing the difficulty as well as the importance of 
 obtaining a sea-lion, as food was becoming scarce in 
 camp, Kooga took Phil with him or this hunt, in tho 
 hope that the lad might be induced to make some of 
 his marvellous shots. Nor was he mistaken, for, after 
 a long and painful stalking of a small herd of these 
 animals, Phil shot and killed two at a distance of over 
 five hundred yards. On their way back to camp, where 
 the entire body of hunters was turned out to go for 
 their game, Phil had the further good-fortune to shoot 
 an otter that was sporting far out in the surf. He 
 waited to secure its body, while Kooga ran on with 
 the joyful news. 
 
 As the natives came trooping up the beach they re- 
 garded the young white hunter with respect and admira- 
 tion, while they greeted with extravagant delight the 
 courtesy that led Phil to turn his first sea-otter into 
 the common stock of the party. On the following day, 
 after hours of weary and motionless watching, he suc- 
 ceeded in killing two more otters, one of which he gave 
 to Kooga, while keeping the skin of the other for him- 
 self. 
 
 The gale blew its. f out during the third night, and 
 very early in the » .orning of the fourth day Phil 
 
 M 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 n 
 
104 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL 8 TOOTH 
 
 awoke his Aleut companion, to wlior^ he indicated by 
 signs that it was time for them to be gone. Upon this 
 Kooga woke another native, and talked earnestly to 
 him for a few moments. Then, to Phil's amazement, 
 this fellow turned to him and said, in tolerable English: 
 
 " Why you go ? Schooner gone three day, bime-by. 
 You no catch him. Better you stay, hunt, catch plenty 
 money. No go." 
 
 "You miserable rascal!" shouted Phil, seizing the 
 speaker by the collar and shaking him violently. 
 " You have been able to talk United States all this time, 
 have you, and wouldn't ? Now you want me to stay 
 and hunt for you ! Well, Fll see you hanged first ! 
 So you tell Kooga that if he isn't ready inside of five 
 minutes to carry me back to where he brought me 
 from, Pll fix his miserable rifle so that it will never 
 shoot again." 
 
 This awful threat, together with the white lad's 
 furious aspect and loud voice, so alarmed the natives 
 that they were only too glad to get rid of so danger- 
 ous a character by letting him go in peace. So in less 
 than five minutes later he and Kooga had launched the 
 bidarkie and were off. It was noticeable, liowever, 
 that the latter left his cherished rifle behind, probably 
 being afraid that he who could shoot so magically 
 would bewitch it. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 SEKGE KILLS A BEAR, AND JALAP COOMnS DISAPPEARS 
 
 It cost Phil and Kooga the greater part of a day of 
 unremitting labor to return to that point of Oonimak 
 Island where they liad left Serge. During that time 
 the former had ample opp'^rtunity for reflection, lie 
 realized how reckless he had been in setting forth on 
 Kuch a wild chase at so critical a juncture, just to 
 gratify a selfish whim, and now lie bitterly regretted 
 that he had not been more thoughtful both for his com- 
 rades and liimself. " The worst of it is," he muttered, 
 " that not only have I missed the schooner on this side 
 of the island, but I am afraid the other lias gone by as 
 well. It would serve me just right, too, if Serge had 
 got tired of waiting, and had rejoined Mr. Coombs, and 
 i hey had both been taken off by the other schooner. 
 What shall I do, though, in that case? Return to 
 Saanak, I suppose, and turn Aleut, and follow sea-otter 
 hunting as a business for the rest of my life. But he 
 hasn't gone ; I know he hasn't ! Old Serge is too true 
 a comrade to do a thing like that. In spite of loneli- 
 ness and uncertainty and everything else, I shall find 
 him waiting for me ; I know I shall." 
 
 And so it proved. As the paddlers wearily drew 
 near to their journey's end late in the afternoon, Kooga 
 first discovered a human figure on the beach of the 
 well-remembered cove, and pointed it out. Phil knew 
 it must be his faithful friend, and uttered a wild yell, 
 a faint answer to which came back from the solitary 
 figure. Then, inspired with a new energy, the tired 
 
\V ' 
 
 166 
 
 THE FUR-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 crew of the bidarkie so redoubled their efforts that 
 their little craft fairly i!ew over the smooth waters, 
 leaving a long shining wake of dancing bubbles be- 
 hind her. Up to the very beach she dashed with un- 
 abated swiftness, and there was brought to a sudden 
 halt by a powerful back -stroke from the flashing 
 blades. 
 
 " Hurrah, Serge, old man ! Here we are again !" 
 shouted Phil. 
 
 "Oh, Phil ! I am so thankful that you have come, 
 and are safe. I had almost given you up for lost." 
 
 A second later the friends had grasped each other's 
 hands, and were both talking at once, they had so 
 much to tell and so many questions to ask. 
 
 " It is so good to see you again, Phil !" and, " Old 
 man, I never was more glad to get back to a place in 
 my life !" were exclamations repeated over and over 
 
 again. 
 
 " Do you know," said Serge, " I was certain it must 
 be you when I first sighted the bidarkie, so far away 
 that she was the merest speck. Then, as she drew 
 near, you looked so much like a native that I was filled 
 with a horrid fear. You see, not having any hat on — " 
 
 " Oh yes !" interrupted Phil. " I lost that the day we 
 were out after sea-lions. I tell you what, Serge, that's 
 the grandest kind of hunting, right in the edge of 
 great breakers that are dashing their spray all over 
 you, and they look as big as elephants — the sea-lions, 
 I mean — and they've got the wickedest teeth, and 
 great shaggy manes, and they roar as if they meant to 
 eat you up. Oh, it was fine !" 
 
 "And wearing that kamleika," continued Serge. 
 
 "That's so ! I forgot I had it on. One of the hunt- 
 ers gave it to me the day I got my first otter and pre- 
 sented it to them. Yoii'd better belie e that takes 
 careful shooting ! It was the finest work I ever did, 
 
 ^m^.:J'" '." 
 
SERGE KILLS A BEAU 
 
 167 
 
 5> 
 
 and you ought to have seen those fellows' eyes stick 
 out. I've brought a skin with me, too. By-the-way, 
 did you know the schooner had gone back ?" 
 
 " I should rather say I did," replied Serge. " She 
 came past the day after you left. I managed to at- 
 tract their attention, and in spite of the sea they got a 
 boat ashore. Of course, I was awfully disappointed 
 to find that you were not on board, and felt worse 
 when they said they hadn't seen anything of you. 
 They offered to take me to Ooualaska, but of course I 
 "wouldn't go. They couldn't stop to go around the 
 island after the seal - skins either, because they were 
 under charter to leave Oonalaska almost immediately 
 for Sitka. So—" 
 
 "For Sitka !" groaned Phil. 
 
 "Yes. Isn't it too bad! So I traded a bear- skin 
 with them for some groceries, and they went on." 
 
 "A bear-skin!" exclaimed the other. "Where on 
 earth did you get a bear-skin ?" 
 
 " Killed the bear," answered Serge, coolly. 
 
 " But you hadn't any gun." 
 
 " Didn't need one. I killed him with my knife. 
 You see he got at my halibut the very first night. 
 Hearing the noise, I went down and tried to drive him 
 away by throwing rocks. One of them must have hit 
 him and made him mad, for he took after me, and I 
 ran back to the tent. He followed altogether too 
 close for comfort, and when I went through it and out 
 the back way he tried to do the same. Somehow he 
 managed to knock out the poles, bring the tent down 
 about his ears, and get all tangled up in it. You bet- 
 ter believe he was furious, and the way he growled 
 and snarled and tore round was a caution. 7 saw that 
 it was my only chance, so I went for him with my 
 knife, and finally killed him, though he tore my clolli- 
 ing some while I was doing it." 
 
I 
 
 
 108 
 
 TUB FUR-SEAL'S TOOTH 
 
 (( 
 
 Tore your clothing !" cried Phil, regarding bis 
 friend from head to foot; "I should say he did. Why, 
 man, you arc in rags ! If that doesn't beat all the bear- 
 hunting I ever heard of, though ! Seems to me you 
 liave had about as exciting adventures as I have. But, 
 by-the-way, did you say you had some groceries ? Do 
 let's go and sample them, for I know I'm hungrier than 
 that bear was. I am curious to see if I shall recognize 
 a grocery, too, it's so long since I've met with one. 
 What arc they ? Coffee, sugar, milk, butter, flour, jams, 
 biscuit, syrup, mince - meat, pickles, canned peaches, 
 and—" 
 
 " Hold on !" laughed Serge. " How much do you 
 think an undressed bear-skin, out of season and full of 
 knife-holes, is worth in this country? They only valued 
 it at two dollars; but they gave me some flour, tea, and 
 sugar, a little lard, a few biscuit, quarter of a pound of 
 baking-powder, a small iron kettle, half a dozen empty 
 tin cans, a sail-needle, and some twine, wliich seemed to 
 me a pretty good price under the circumstances." 
 
 "So it was," retorted Phil; "and if you haven't 
 eaten all the tin cans let's go and tackle them." 
 
 Kooga, who had hauled up his bidarkie, and waited 
 patiently for the lads to finish their conversation, fol- 
 lowed them up to Serge's camp, at sight of which ho 
 uttered an exclamation of amazement. Kooga's tent, 
 neatly repaired, had been re-erected, and a stone wall, 
 about four feet high, had been built along two sides to 
 serve as a wind-break. A small fire burned brightl}', 
 and above this a kettle of water boiled merrily. The 
 interior of the tent was filled with a bed of softost 
 moss, and it all looked so cosey that Phil declared he 
 felt as though he had got home again. 
 
 In a short time Serge had ready such a supper as 
 made the returned wanderer repeat this sentiment 
 more emphatically than before. The ingenious lad 
 
 I 
 
SERGE KILLS A BEAR 
 
 Hid 
 
 I 
 
 had converted several of his tin cans into cookinjr 
 utensils. On one of these he had baked a sort of thin 
 biscuit, made of flour, salt water, lard, and baking- 
 powder. Another was his fry-pan, in which lie cooked 
 a quantity of small fish, like herring. A third was his 
 teapot. A dozen fat little birds that he had trapped 
 were nicely cleaned and spitted ready for cooking, 
 while the bill of fare was completed by smoked halibut 
 and thin strips of bear meat. 
 
 " Well !" cried Phil, as he sat down to this bountiful 
 meal. "If there is anything finer than this in Alaska, 
 then I don't want to see it, that's all. To think of 
 having biscuit — actually hot biscuit — baked on a piece 
 of tin, too! Serge, you are a genius ! A genuine out- 
 and-out genius ! And if my aunt Ruth could see this 
 lay-out I really think she would turn green with envy. 
 And tea with sugar in it — real, truly sugar! Say, 
 Serge, if you don't promise to take me in as a rcjcular 
 boarder, I'll— I'll— well, I'll go and get married, that's 
 what I'll do !" 
 
 "It is pleasant now that you are back," said the 
 young Alaskan, modestly. "It has been terribly lonely, 
 though, and I had to work at something all the time 
 to keep from thinking. I wanted awfully to go to the 
 north side of the island and see how Mr. Coombs was 
 getting along, but as it would have taken the best part 
 of two days io get there and back, and you might have 
 come in the meantime, I didn't dare to. Now, if he 
 were only here !" 
 
 " Yes, and old Kite Robinson, our family party would 
 be complete, and we'd be almost as well off as if we 
 were in Sitka. I declare I could kick myself when I 
 remember that if I'd only taken your advice we might 
 have been on our way to Sitka in your schooner by 
 this time !" 
 
 " I don't know about that," responded Serge. " We 
 
m 
 
 
 w 
 
 ii 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 170 
 
 THE fur-seal's tootu 
 
 couldn't have gone off and left Mr. Coombs alone on 
 the island." 
 
 " That's so ! I never thought of that. Poor old 
 Jalap ! I wonder how he is getting on all alone, and 
 what he thinks has become of us. We must go over 
 to-morrow and relieve his anxiety, and take him a cup 
 of tea. Perhaps his schooner hasn't come along yet, 
 and wo shall be all right, after all." 
 
 Bright and early the following morning the little 
 camp was dismantled and abandoned. Kooga took 
 his tent, and bidding farewell to the lads into whose 
 lives he had entered so strangely, shoved off his bid- 
 arkie, and started on his lonely return trip to far 
 Saanak. After watching him out of sight, the others 
 loaded themselves with their newly -acquired camp 
 outfit, and started on their long, toilsome march to the 
 north side of the island. 
 
 When, after many hours of tramping, they came in 
 sight of the now familiar ruins and thei:* own barrab- 
 kie they were struck with the hitter's appearance of 
 loneliness. There was no smoke nor sign of human 
 presence. Filled with undefined anxiety, they hurried 
 forward, only to find the hut abandoned, and a little 
 heap of cold ashes in the place where its cheerful fire 
 had blazed. The companion whom they !>ad left there 
 five days before had disappeared, nor could they find 
 a clew to the time or manner of his departure. 
 
 " The schooner must have come, and he must have 
 taken the seal-skins to Oonalaska in her," suggested 
 Phil. 
 
 *' I should think so, too," replied Serge, who had just 
 returned from an inspection of the cache, " if it wasn't 
 for the fact that the seal-skins arc still here, and ap- 
 parently untouched." 
 
CHAPTER XXVir 
 
 rillL SEES HIMSELF AS OTHERS SEE HIM 
 
 It is needless to say that our lads wore wofully dis- 
 concerted by the unexplained .absence of Jalap Coombs 
 from the place where they had left him. Their home- 
 coming, as they had ten? 1 their return to the barrab- 
 kie during that day's toilsome march, was not only 
 robbed of all the pleasure they had anticipated, but 
 was confronted by a mystery that filled them with 
 anxious thoughts and gloomy forebodings. It did not 
 seem possible that their comrade could have departed 
 from the island without leaving some message for 
 them. Neither could they understand why he should 
 have gone without taking the seal-skins which he had 
 prized so highly. Had he wandered to some remoto 
 part of the island, and become lost? or fallen down 
 one of its tremendous precipices ? or — But what was 
 the use in such conjectures? An experienced sailor- 
 man like the mate of the Seamew was not likely to 
 have done any of these things. He was even so averse 
 to walking, save on the deck of a vessel, that they could 
 not imagine him as having gone any farther from the 
 hut than was absolutely necessary to procure food, 
 fuel, and water. 
 
 Remembering his friend's recent experience with a 
 bear, Phil suggested that Jalap Coombs might have 
 been attacked and carried off by one of those animals; 
 but Serge at once pointed out the absurdity of such a 
 theory. The bears of that country, he said, would not 
 attack a man unless first wounded or provoked, and 
 
172 
 
 TUE pur-seal's tooth 
 
 the mate, as they both knew, was not one who would 
 needlessly or recklessly affront a bear. Besides, such a 
 struggle, as was suggested, could not have taken place 
 without leaving unmistakable traces, and of these there 
 were none. To be sure the interior of the old barrab- 
 kio was in great disorder. The lads particularly noted 
 that the split caribou bones from which they had ex- 
 tracted the marrow on the last evening they had spent 
 there, and which they had flung into one corner, were 
 now scattered in every direction, some of them lying 
 at quite a distance beyond the hut. For a while they 
 could not account for this ; but at length Serge dis- 
 covered a fox track clearly imprinted in some damp 
 ashes, and so one bit of mystery was removed. 
 
 They had so confidently expected to find a fire at the 
 hut that they had neglected to provide themselves with 
 the means for procuring one. Now they were too tired 
 and disheartened to go off on a long search for sulphur 
 and tinder. So they ate what remained of the slender 
 stock of provisions brought from their last camp, and 
 then, huddling close together for warmth beneath the 
 tent-roof of the hut, they discussed their unfortunate 
 situation and gloomy prospects for the futnro, until at 
 length they fell into the dreamless sleep of utter weari- 
 ness. Phil's last words before dozing into unconscious- 
 ness were, " I can't see that we've anything to hope 
 for, not even a breakfast to-morrow morning, unless 
 we — care — to — eat raw — fish; which I won't." 
 
 Then, save for the melancholy whistle of the wind, 
 the ceaseless boom of breakers, and the occasional yelp 
 of a prowling fox, the old barrabkie and its inmates 
 were buried in a profound silence. 
 
 The summer nights are so short in that latitude that 
 it was broad daylight when Serge found himself as 
 wide awake as evei in his life, sitting up and listen- 
 ing nervously to certain mysterious and inexplicable 
 
rillL SEES HIMSELF AS OTHERS SEE IlIM 
 
 173 
 
 sounds. IIc! heard shouts .iiid l.iugliter, the cr.is]iiu2^ 
 of rocks, and another sound, which for the moment he 
 could not define. 
 
 "Phil! Piiil! Wake up!" he cried, in a low tone, 
 at the same time shaking his drowsy comrade. " Tiiero 
 are men outside ! A lot of them ! And I hear some- 
 thing that sounds like escaping steam." 
 
 "Oh, you must be dreaming!" replied the other, in- 
 credulousl}'. " No, I declare you are right, for I hoar 
 them myself !" 
 
 With this both lads sprang to their feet and rusluMl 
 outside. The sight that met their astonished gaze was 
 that of a number of men busily engaged in tearing 
 down the stone walls of the old hut in which the seal- 
 skins were stored. Others were bearing the skins away 
 and depositing them in a ship's boat that a couple of 
 sailors were fending off from the rocks. 
 
 " Hello there !" shouted Phil, running down and 
 plunging into the midst of this busy scene. " Who 
 are you, and what do you mean by stealing our seal- 
 skins ?" 
 
 The men paused in their labor to gaze at this sud- 
 den apparition. " His seal-skins ! Will ye listen to 
 the cheek of that ?" exclaimed one of them, mock- 
 ingly. "The young beggar will be saying this is his 
 island next." 
 
 " Yes, my seal-skins !" cried Phil, hot with indigna- 
 tion. "Even if they were not, they aren't yours. 
 You are a lot of thieves and highway robbers, and if 
 there is any law in this forsaken country you shall suf- 
 fer for this outrage — see if you don't !" 
 
 A roar of laughter greeted this speech, and a num- 
 ber of insolent retorts would have been made to it had 
 not a young man in uniform, who seemed to be the 
 leader of the party, appeared at this moment from the 
 interior of the hut. 
 
I 
 
 174 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 " What's going on here ?" he demanded, in a tone of 
 authority. " Hustle those skins along lively, men !" 
 Then, turning to Phil and Serge, ho demanded, rough- 
 ly, " Well, who are you, and what do you want here?" 
 
 "Supposing you answer my question first," replied 
 Phil, hotly. " Who are you, and by what authority 
 are you stealing our seal-skins?" 
 
 " Oh, they are yours, are they ?" retorted the other, 
 surveying the irate lad from head to foot with an 
 amused smile. " Very well, if you claim them, the 
 best thing you can do is to go off to the ship and pro- 
 sent your claim to the captain. lie is only too glad of 
 a chance to settle all such matters. Coxswain, take 
 these chaps aboard ship, present them to the captain 
 with my compliments, and tell him that they are de- 
 sirous of a settlement in connection with these seal- 
 skins, which they claim as their proj)crty." 
 
 " I don't know that we care to go aboard your ship," 
 said Phil. " Supposing your captain comes ashore 
 and settles with us right here. We didn't invite him 
 to this island, or ask him to take our seal-skins." 
 
 " Oh, I guess you'd better go," responded the other, 
 with a peculiar smile. "You'll be apt to get better 
 terms if you do. Besides, our captain makes a point 
 of never going ashore before breakfast." 
 
 Phil was about to make some angry reply to this, 
 when Serge nudged him, and said, in a low tone, "Be 
 careful, old man, or you'll get us into trouble. Don't 
 you see she's a cutter ?" 
 
 A startled glance at the anchored vessel, to which, 
 in his excitement, he had not paid particular attention 
 before, satisfied Phil that she was, indeed, what Serge 
 claimed. Another look at the young man in authority 
 showed his uniform, though faded and bearing evi- 
 dences of long service, to be that of the United States 
 Revenue Marine. 
 
rillL SEES HIMSELF AS OTHERS SEE HIM 
 
 175 
 
 »» 
 
 " I don't care if she is," he answered, stoutly. " We'll 
 go and see her captain, though, and find out by what 
 authority he seizes the property of honest citizens. 
 Come on. Serge." 
 
 A few minutes later the boat was run alongside the 
 cutter's port gangway, and its cockswain was reporting 
 to the first lieutenant : " Here are two men, sir, that 
 Mr. Ramey ordered me to bring off. They say as 
 them seal-skins are theirs and want to see the captain 
 about 'em." 
 
 " Very well," answered the officer. " Follow me, you 
 two, and I guess the captain will dispose of your case 
 in short order." 
 
 Thus saying he led the way aft to the captain's 
 cabin, which was at the same time the office in which 
 he transacted his business. Knocking at the door, the 
 officer was bidden to enter, and, ordering the lads to 
 remain where they were, he did so. A minute later he 
 reappeared, told them they might step inside, as the 
 captain was ready to hear their story, and then re- 
 turned to his post of duty on the upper deck. 
 
 As Phil and Serge stepped inside the roomy, well- 
 appointed cabin, the former thought he had never 
 seen a more comfortable, home-like appearing place. 
 It contained a centre -table on which stood a pot of 
 ferns, a number of easy-chairs, a writing-desk, and a 
 cabinet organ. At one end was a small library of 
 carefully selected books, and on a low sofa seat, at 
 one side, were scattered a number of magazines and il- 
 lustrated papers. 
 
 The most startling object in the room to Phil, how- 
 ever, was a large mirror that confronted him as he 
 entered the door, and in which, f jr the first time in 
 weeks, he saw his own reflection. He had forgotten 
 that he still wore the kamleika of a sea-otter hunter, 
 that he was hatless, that his feet and lower limbs were 
 
I 
 
 H' 
 
 1 
 
 ; 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 t 
 
 : 
 
 i 
 
 
 ■; 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 170 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 incased in great cowhido boots, or that his hair was 
 long and uncombed. Now to his dismay he realized 
 that in general appearance ho more nearly resembled a 
 native Aleut than he did a civili/ed white lad, not to 
 say a young gentleman. In his contusion he hardly 
 realized that the captain of the cutter was speaking 
 to them, and that Serge, who, for the moment was the 
 more self-possessed of the two, was answering him. 
 Suddenly he was recalled to his senses by hearing an 
 exclamation of: 
 
 " Bless my soul ! not Sorgo Belcofsky of Sitka ! Of 
 course it is, though. Why, Serge, you young scamp, 
 how arc you ? and how, in the name of all that is 
 mysterious, do I find you here masquerading as a seal- 
 poacher ? I saw your mother only a few days ago, and 
 she is terribly anxious about you. Why aren't you in 
 Sitka ?" 
 
 To Phil's amazement, as Captain Matthews, who was 
 a tall, fine-looking man witli gray side wliiskers, uttered 
 these words he stepped forwai'd, and, grasping the hand 
 of his companion, shook it heartily. 
 
 " I am trying to get to Sitka, sir, the best I know 
 how," answered Serge, laughing, as he shook hands 
 with this old acquaintance, " and so is my friend here, 
 Mr. Ryder, whose father is waiting fcv him there ; but 
 somehow luck seems to b? against us." 
 
 "Ryder! Ryder!" rrpeated Captain Matthews, 
 turning to Phil with a puzzled expression. " It can't be 
 that you are the son of Mr. John Ryder, the famous 
 mining expert whom I heard of in Sitka, and who is 
 hunting all over the country for a lost boy ?" 
 
 " I believe I am, sir," replied Phil, " for my name is 
 Philip Ryder, and I seem to be very much lost, and 
 my father is Mr. John Ryder, a mining expert." 
 
 " Well, bless my soul !" cried the captain. "If this 
 isn't a most extraordinary state of affairs ! And so you 
 
air was 
 realized 
 nbled a 
 , not to 
 hardly 
 peaking 
 was the 
 ig him. 
 kring an 
 
 ka! Of 
 scamp, 
 that is 
 s a seal- 
 igo, and 
 t you in 
 
 kvho was 
 , uttered 
 he hand 
 
 I know 
 liands 
 id here, 
 re; but 
 
 itthews, 
 
 can't be 
 
 famous 
 
 who is 
 
 name is 
 ost, and 
 
 "If this 
 i so you 
 
 H 
 
 8 
 
 'y. 
 
 H 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 
 > 
 
 B 
 
 C 
 1= 
 
 r 
 o 
 
i 
 
 ': ! 1 1 
 
 '^ 1 
 
 ■4' 1 1 
 
PHIL SEES HIMSELF AS OTHERS SE!j: HIM 
 
 Ui 
 
 two young scamps are the very Ryder and Belcofsky 
 whose names appear on the Seamew's shipping-papers, 
 and whom I wasted so much time hunting for. But 
 where is Coombs — Quinine Coombs, or whatever his 
 medicinal name is ?" 
 
 " I am afraid we have lost him somewhere," replied 
 Serge. 
 
 " Like as not," retorted the captain. " You seem 
 to be capable of losing anything or anybody, including 
 yourselves." 
 
 " Was it you who captured the Seatneto, sir ?" in- 
 quired Phil, curiously. 
 
 "Of course it was, and I took her into Sitka harbor, 
 where she lies now, and where her case is to be tried 
 before Judge Ames. As you formed part of her pirat- 
 ical crew, 1 want to know if there is any reason why 
 I should not clap you two in irons as prisoners of war 
 and deserters, and take you there too ?" 
 
 " I only wish you would, sir," replied Phil, earnestly. 
 
 Just then a clear, laughing voice from behind them 
 said, " I think, papa, it is about time that I were al- 
 lowed to greet my old friend Serge." 
 
 Turning quickly, poor Phil beheld one of the very 
 prettiest girls he had ever seen. Aa a thought of his 
 own ridiculous appearance flashed into his mind, he 
 blushed furiously, and wished that he were in the 
 ship's hold, or a dungeon, or any other place that was 
 dark. 
 
 12 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 rniL AND SERGE AS PRISOXEUS OP WAR 
 
 
 Captain Israel Matthews, commanding the United 
 States revenue-cutter Phoca, and one of the most liigh- 
 ly esteemed officers in the service, had cruised in those 
 far northern waters for two years, and during most of 
 that time he had been accompanied by his motherless 
 daughter May, who loved the sea as a sailor's daughter 
 should. During these years May IVIatthews had made 
 several long visits in Sitka, where there is always a 
 charming colony of naval families and those of other 
 government officials. Here she had also become well 
 acquainted in the few old Russian liouseholds still re- 
 maining in that quaint Alaskan town. Of these the 
 Belcofskys were the most prominent; so by this time 
 she and Serge seemed quite like old friends. 
 
 On the present occasion, while she was greeting him, 
 and laughing familiarly at his ragged and generally 
 disreputable appearance, Phil edged towards the door 
 in a vain effort to escape an immediate introduction. 
 In this, however, he was frustrated by the captain, 
 who, noting the movement, called out sternly: 
 
 "Hello there, prisoner! No dodging ! Come back 
 here and be introduced to your jailer, who will be held 
 responsible if you escape. Daughter, allow me to pre- 
 sent my friend Mr. Philip Ryder, drecsed for his fa- 
 mous impersonation of an Aleut swell, in the Alaskan 
 comedy of 'Bering Breakers,'" 
 
 " Don't mind him, Mr. Ryder," laughed Miss May, 
 extending her hand with engaging cordiality to poor 
 
 ' ( 
 
■ 
 
 
 ; 
 
 
 
 > 
 <1 
 
 Hi 
 
 St 
 
 ;l 
 
PHIL AND SERGE AS PRISONERS OP WAR 
 
 179 
 
 embarrassed Phil. "He chaffs every one just that 
 way, and says the most horrid things. You ought to 
 see him in his winter uniform. He looks so exactly 
 like an Eskimo that even the dogs howl and run away 
 at sight of him." 
 
 " Yes, my winter coat really does make them howl 
 with envy," retorted Captain Matthews. " But come, 
 lads, let us go into the wardroom and see if we can't 
 provide you with some civilized toggery. After that, 
 as a penalty for your recent acts of piracy, etc., I sen- 
 tence you both to appear in this cabiu and breakfast 
 with Miss May and myself." 
 
 In the wardroom, or officers* quarters, the captain 
 introduced Phil and Serge to several of the younger 
 officers, who readily undertook to furnish them with 
 an outfit of clothing suitable to an appearance at the 
 cabin breakfast-table. 
 
 When, an hour later, after a welcome bath, after that 
 member of the ciew who acted as ship's barber had 
 trimmed their hair, and clad in exceedingly becoming 
 suits of uniform, our lads again preiented themselves 
 in the cabin, Captain Matthews insisted that they should 
 introduce each other to him. Otherwise., he declared, 
 he should never believe they were the castaways whom 
 out of pity for their starving condition he had invited 
 to breakfast. 
 
 " Just wait, sir, until you see us eat," remarked Phil, 
 significantly. 
 
 Then the captain called them reformed pirates, and 
 imitation lieutenants, and would doubtless have invent- 
 ed many other equally absurd names had not Miss May 
 clapped her hands over his mouth, and declared she 
 would not allow any further abuse of her prisoners. 
 
 It is doubtful if ever a merrier party sat down to a 
 breakfast in all Alaska, and certainly no meal was ever 
 more thoroughly appreciated than was that one by Phil 
 
180 
 
 THE FUli-SKAL's TOOTH 
 
 and Serge. The former pretended to have forgotten 
 the use of forks and spoons, while the captain ordered 
 the table-boy to serve the siiarks' fins and wlialebone as 
 quickly as possible. Phil told how Serge tried to drive 
 away a bear that was breaking into his halibut larder, 
 and Serge in turn told how the master of the Seamew 
 had taught Phil to appreciate Ebenezcr's cooking. 
 
 This mention of the Seameio led the lads to inquire 
 for further particulars concerning that vessel, and re- 
 garding affairs in Sitka. Therefore Captain Matthews 
 said that, having learned from one of the schooner's 
 crew of the cache of seal-skins on Oonimak Island, he 
 had only remained in Sitka long enough to turn his 
 prize over to the authorities, and had then hastened 
 back to make a further capture of her hidden cargo. 
 
 " I wondered — " murmured Serge. 
 
 " Now," continued the captain, " I propose taking it, 
 and you, too, and Mr. Ipecac Coombs, if I can find him, 
 to Sitka for trial, though I must first run up to the 
 PribyloflF Islands, and then stop in at Oonalaska on 
 my way back." 
 
 " That will be fine !" exclaimed Phil. " Having got 
 so near the seal islands, I hated the thought of leaving 
 Bering Sea without seeing them, for it seems to me 
 that those millions of seals must be one of the sights 
 of the world." 
 
 "So it is, my boy," responded Captain Matthews, 
 " and I am glad you are to have the opportunity of 
 witnessing it. If it were on anything but an island, 
 though, from which it would be impossible for you to 
 escape, I don't think I should allow you on shore, ex- 
 cept under guard, for I am bound you shall fetch Sitka 
 this time, if it can be managed." 
 
 " I hope you will succeed, sir," laughed Phil, " though 
 I don't know exactly what I shall do when I get there, 
 so long as ray father has left." 
 
rillL AND SERGE AS PRISONERS OF WAR 
 
 181 
 
 "I fancy he will be back again by that time. He 
 is certain to find out in Victoria where you have gone, 
 and will probably return to Sitka to await your ar- 
 rival." 
 
 "So he will," said Phil, brightening, "for I left a 
 note for him in Victoria, telling him just what I in- 
 tended to do." 
 
 " Did you inform him that you proposed to become 
 a seal-hunter, and then turn into a pirate, and then get 
 cast away on Oonimak Island, and get lost among the 
 sea-otters, and captured by a revenue-cutter, and be 
 delivered to him in irons?" asked the captain, gravely. 
 
 "No, sir, not just that in detail," laughed Phil. "I 
 left most of it to be understood." 
 
 "Well, I only hope he'll understand it. By-the- 
 way. Serge, I've a bit of news that will interest you to 
 the extent of nearly a thousand dollars. Do you re- 
 member showing me once a very curiously carved fur- 
 seal's tooth that had been presented to your father by 
 aChilkatchief?" 
 
 "Yes, sir, I remember it well." 
 
 "Well, those Indians have been having very bad 
 luck lately with their fishing, trading, and one thing 
 or another, and have decided that it is all owing to 
 the fact that they allowed that magic talisman, as they 
 regard it, to pass out of their possession. So they sent 
 a delegation down to Sitka to try and recover it from 
 your mother. I saw them there last week, and they 
 were terribly in earnest about getting it. They even 
 offered your mother as high as ten of their finest old- 
 time dance-blankets for it, and you know those are 
 now worth anywhere from seventy to one hundred 
 dollars apiece. Your mother told them that you had 
 it, and had taken it with you on a long voyage. She 
 said, though, that she had no doubt you would sell it 
 to them on your return, and that you were expected 
 
I 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 182 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 back every day. So they are waiting for you, and you 
 may look forward to a very savage demonstration of 
 welcome the moment you set foot on Sitka wharf. 
 Have you the tooth with you ? I should like to see 
 it again." 
 
 " No," answered Serge, slowly ; " I gave it away." 
 
 " You don't say so ! How could you be so foolish ? 
 To whom did you give it ?" 
 
 "To one who proved my best friend in a strange 
 country," replied Serge, nodding significantly in PhiPs 
 direction. 
 
 " Oh !" exclaimed the captain, in a relieved tone. 
 "So you are the lucky possessor of the magic tooth, 
 are you, Master Phil? Then our Chilkat friends must 
 drive their bargain with you. Would you mind al- 
 lowing me to have it a moment ? I want my daughter 
 to see it ; for, on account of its history and associa- 
 tions, I regard it as one of the most interesting of 
 Alaskan curios." 
 
 " I am awfully sorry, sir, but I — " 
 , " Don't tell me that you have given it away too." 
 
 " No, sir, but I have lost it. You see, I had no idea 
 of its value, and failed to take the care I should 
 of it." 
 
 " I might have known it !" cried the captain, in a 
 tone of vexation. "A chap that can manage to lose 
 himself as often as you have would lose anything. 
 But there, lad, forgive me," he added, quickly, as he 
 caught the look of mortification that swept over Phil's 
 face. "I didn't mean to say rude things, and if you 
 think the trinket has gone beyond hope of recovery 
 we'll say no more about it." 
 
 Just then a knock came at the cabin door, and Mr. 
 Ramey, the third lieutenant, who had been sent ashore 
 to bring off the seal-skins, reported that he had com- 
 pleted this duty, and that they were all on board. 
 
PHIL AND SERGE AS PRISONERS OF WAR 
 
 183 
 
 " Very good," said Captain Matthews. " You may- 
 ask Mr. Nelson to get under way for the Priby- 
 loffs." 
 
 " There is one more thing, sir," continued the young 
 lieutenant, hesitatingly. " Although not instructed to 
 do so, I took the liberty of examining several other of 
 those ruins on shore, and in one of them I found this, 
 which I trust you will have no objection to my keep- 
 ing." 
 
 "Certainly not, if " — began the captain, casting a 
 careless glance at the object the lieutenant held out 
 for inspection. It was the skin of some animal turned 
 inside out, so that its real nature could not be deter- 
 mined. 
 
 Both Phil and Serge recognized it at once, and be- 
 fore the captain could complete his sentence the former 
 exclaimed, " Why, it is my sea-otter skin that I had 
 forgotten all about. I am ever so much obliged to 
 you, sir, for bringing it off." 
 
 " You may leave it, Mr. Ramey," said Captain Mat- 
 thews. " I was about to say that I had no objection 
 to your keeping it provided no owner could be found; 
 but as one has appeared, that of course settles the 
 matter." 
 
 As the disappointed lieutenant walked away, he mut- 
 tered to himself, " I do believe that this is the very 
 chap who claimed the seal-skins. Now it seems that 
 he owns everything else on the island, and I shouldn't 
 be surprised if he owned this ship before we got rid 
 of him." 
 
 In the meantime Phil was asking the captain's per- 
 mission to present the sea-otter skin to his daughter 
 before he should have a chance to lose it. Though the 
 latter demurred at first, on account of its value, Phil 
 so insisted that he finally consented. Thus, to her 
 great delight, Miss May became possessed of one of 
 
184 
 
 THE PUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 tho finest pieces of fur in all Alaska, while Phil was 
 happily relieved of a responsibility. 
 
 A few minutes later tho swift cutter was speedincf 
 away over the green waters towards the Pribyloifs. 
 Ooniraak Island, with its many memories, was fading 
 from view, and a new field of possible adventure was 
 opening before our young seal-hunters. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 A CRUISE OX A BERING SEA CUTTER 
 
 Nearly two hundred and fifty miles north from 
 Ooniniak lie the Pribyloffs, towards the larger and 
 more northerly of which, the island of St. Paul, the 
 swift revenue cutter Phoca was speeding her way. 
 That day of steaming over the restless waters of Be- 
 ring Sea was one of unalloyed pleasure to both Phil 
 and Serge. Their troubles were over ; they were real- 
 ly bound for Sitka at last, and, eii routej were going to 
 stop at the wonderful seal islands, of which both had 
 heard so much as to fill them with curiosity. Above all, 
 they were making this delightful trip in company with 
 congenial companions, some of whom were friends. 
 
 It was a real pleasure now to watch the seals, that 
 began to appear when the cutter was fifty miles north 
 of Oonimak, and which increased in numbers as the 
 day wore on. They exhibited very little fear even of 
 the steamer, but would gaze curiously at her until they 
 deemed her too near for their own safety, when they 
 would suddenly sink out of sight and dart away like a 
 flash. 
 
 "I never tire of watching the dear thir.vf^," said 
 May Matthews, as she and Phil stood together in tin; 
 narrow space just in front of the pilot-house. "What 
 with their quick movements and lovely great brown 
 eyes, I think they are simply fascinating ; don't you '?" 
 
 " Indeed I do," answered her companion ; " and 
 though this is the first opportunity I have had for 
 studying them from this point of view, I shall always. 
 
186 
 
 THE PUR-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 11 
 
 think of them after this as the most graceful and in- 
 teresting of marine animals." 
 
 " Do you know," continued the girl, " they seem to 
 mo so nearly human that I don't see how any one can 
 have tlie heart to kill them ; do you ?" 
 
 " No," replied Phil, boldly, " I do not ; as I see them 
 now, I would almost as soon think of shooting my dear 
 old Irish setter Tab." 
 
 In making this reply the lad was but expressing the 
 hone.it sentiments with which he now regarded the 
 business that had once seemed to him so harmless. 
 He was thankful to discover, as he thought he had 
 from her conversation, that Miss May had no idea of 
 what his position on board the Seameio had been, and 
 determined that if he could prevent it she should never 
 learn that he had been a seal-hunter. He was intense- 
 ly chagrined, therefore, when, as he finished speaking 
 a voice from the pilot-house window directly above 
 their heads said ; 
 
 " Is not that rather a curious opinion for you to ex- 
 press, Mr. Ryder, seeing that you have so recently and 
 successfully been engaged in that very business ? For 
 my own part, I can't see any more harm in killing one 
 of those seals than in killing a sheep ; but then I'm 
 very practical and haven't a bit of sentiment." 
 
 Looking quickly up and with crimsoned face, Phil 
 recognized his first acquaintance of that morning ; but 
 before he could utter the retort that sprang to his lips, 
 his companion said, quietly : 
 
 "Then I, for one, am sorry for you, Mr. Raniey ; 
 for it does not seem to me that people who are merely 
 practical get the fullest enjoyment out of life." Then, 
 before the young lieutenant could make reply, she ex- 
 claimed: "Oh, there is a school of whales ! Are you 
 wsll acquainted with whales, Mr. Ryder? Let us go 
 aft where we can see them better." 
 
A CRUISE ON A BERING SEA CUTTER 
 
 187 
 
 Wlicn they wore beyond ear-shot of the pilot-houso 
 the girl said : " I hope you won't mind Mr. llainey. 
 lie is horrid, anyway, and is always saying disagree- 
 able things. He hates this ship and tiiis station, and 
 is awfully provoked because papa would not recom- 
 mend him for a vacancy at San Francisco. I expect 
 he bears you a grudge on account of the sea-otter skin, 
 but you mustn't care." 
 
 " I only feel badly," replied Phil, " to have you know 
 that I was a seal-hunter. Now you will let me explain — 
 won't you? — that I only shipped on the Seamew because 
 I'd lost all my money, and couldn't think of any other 
 way of getting to Sitka. I didn't know until we were 
 out at sea that I was to be a hunter. Even then I 
 didn't realize for some time what ihe business really 
 meant. When I did, I refused to have anything more 
 to do with it ; and that is the reason we were left be- 
 hind when you captured the schooner and took her to 
 Sitka." 
 
 " Yes, indeed. I know all about it," replied Miss 
 May, enthusiastically. " Serge has already told me how 
 nobly you behaved when that horrid captain ordered 
 you out to shoot the poor mother-seals. It was a per- 
 fectly splendid thing to do, and it was to show that 
 I feel just as you do on the subject that I said what I 
 did a few minutes ago." 
 
 Phil's face was again crimsoned, though this time 
 the flush was not one of anger. It was very pleasant 
 to be thus appreciated, but he was too honest a fellow 
 to ttike all the credit to himself. 
 
 Did he also tell you how finely he and Jalap Coombs 
 backed me up on that occasion ; and that if they hadn't 
 I should have been forced to give in at last ?" 
 
 "No ! Tell me," exclaimed the girl, eagerly. " I love 
 to hear of such things — I mean, of friends standing by 
 each other through thick and thin, aad being willing 
 
it i 
 
 ■ 
 
 188 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 to undergo all sorts of suffering and hardship for the 
 sake of what tliey believe to be right." 
 
 So Phil told her c^ the staheh friends with whom he 
 had been cast away on Oonimak, and they laughed 
 together over "old Kite Roberson's" wisdom until 
 dinner-time. Then they separated, for Piiil and Serge 
 had accepted an invitation to dine with the officers in 
 the ward-room. 
 
 To the great relief of the former, Mr. Ramey did not 
 appear at this dinner, being compelled to remain on 
 duty until some officer Avho had finished his meal would 
 relieve him. The other hosts of the occasion formed just 
 such a genial, jolly party of bright fellows as is to be 
 m^u with in Yankee wardrooms all over the world, 
 and the dinner proved a great success. Although 
 our lads were slyly chaffed on all sides concerning 
 their recent experiences, and the first-lieutenant's ac- 
 count of how he had conducted them to the cabin as 
 prisoners of war was received with shouts of laughter, 
 the story of their adventures was listened to with 
 closest attention, and both of them were compliment- 
 ed on their pluck in times of danger. 
 
 Early on the following morning tlie Phoca, steaming 
 through the dense fog that nearly always envelops 
 the Pribyloffs in summer-time, was suddenly surround- 
 ed bv incredible numbers of screaming seafowl. A\- 
 though the noise made by these was deafening, it was 
 a welcome sound, for it was a certain sign of the vicin- 
 ity of the island of St. George, whose precipitous cliffs 
 are vast bird rookeries. 
 
 Two hours later the still, fog-laden air was pervaded 
 by the far-reaching odor of the seal rookeries and kill- 
 ing-grounds of St. Paul. At the same time the dull 
 roar of its restless seal millions filled miles of surround- 
 ing space, like that of a distant Niagara. The darting 
 forms of fur-seals playing fearlessly about the ship 
 
 
 ._ 
 
A CRUISE ON A BERING SEA CUTTER 
 
 189 
 
 
 until 
 
 were to bo seen on all sides, while at safer distances 
 bands of hair -seals and big sea-lions could easily be 
 distinnruished from their more <Traceful cousins. From 
 fog-hidden Walrus Rock came the deep bass roaring of 
 hundreds of the unwieldy long- tusked monsters from 
 which that islet derives its name, though it is chiefly 
 noted as being the site of one of the most fain., us 
 bird rookeries in the world. Here, too, as had liap- 
 pened off the bluff coast of St. George a few hours be- 
 fore, sea-fowl swarmed about the ship with deafening 
 cries, both 'n the water and in the air. 
 
 Feeling his way carefully with a lead. Captain Mat- 
 thews, who had been here many times, took his ship 
 around Reef Point and anchored her in three fathoms 
 of water, well to windward of St. Paul, nearly a mile 
 off shore, and so beyond tho influence of its horrible 
 odors. 
 
 "Now," said he to Phil and Serge, after the vessel 
 had been made snug, 'I expect to remain here three 
 days, unless driven from my anchorage by a sou'wester. 
 During that time, while you would be heartily wel- 
 come on board ship, I should advise you to take up 
 your quarters on shore, as there is so much for you to 
 do and see that you would finu it inconvenient to be 
 constantly interrupted by coming off for your meals. 
 The government and company people are always de- 
 lighted to entertain visitors, and I will see that vou 
 have the proper introductions. Another bit of my 
 advice is to put on your old Ooirrnak clothes, which 
 will be in keeping with those univorsallv worn on the 
 island, and will prove more suitable to your explora- 
 tions than anything else." 
 
 The lads accepted both these ])ieces of advice, and, 
 after bidding good-bye to the officers and to Miss 
 May, who positively declined to visit people whose 
 sole business was the killing of her dear seals, they 
 

 
 190 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 set forth from the ship filled with eager anticipations 
 of what they were to see. 
 
 " Remember," called out Miss May from the deck, 
 "that you are to be on board in time to start for 
 Sitka." 
 
 "Indeed we will!" answered both lads at once. 
 *' We won't miss it this time even if we have to accept 
 your father's invitation to go in irons I" cried Phil. 
 " Good-bye !" 
 
 Mr. Ramey, who had obtained permission to go 
 ashore with his beloved camera, for which he hoped to 
 find sunlight enough after a while, went in the boat 
 with Captain Matthews and the lads. 
 
 As it approached the shore and the fog began to 
 lift, both Phil and Serge uttered exclamations of 
 amazement. To the left, as far as the eye could reach, 
 literally covering the land, apparently ranged in 
 platoons, companies, regiments, and armies, were the 
 seals in countless myriads, an incredible mass of animal 
 life. They were in ceaseless motion ; and all, from old 
 bulls to new-born pups, were roaring, barking, spitting, 
 yelpini^, or plaintively calling, until the whole formed 
 a mighty volume of sound that is never stilled, night 
 or day, from the time the seals arrive in June until 
 they depart in October. 
 
 From this scene, which they looked forward to visit- 
 ing later, the lads turned their attention to the village 
 of St. Paul, which occupied a rising ground on the 
 right, directly above the beach. Here they were amazed 
 to see a collection of nearly one hundred comfortable- 
 looking frame-houses, a number of warehouses and 
 other company buildings, a Greek church, a store, 
 and a school - house, all painted white and neatly 
 ranged along regularly laid-out, terraced streets. With 
 its general air of prosperity, neatness, and comfort 
 this sealing-station in far-away Bering Sea compared 
 
A CRUISE ON A BERING SEA CUTTER 191 
 
 favorably with thousands of other American villages 
 scattered over more favored portions of the country. 
 There were no shade trees, to be riure, nor is there'a 
 tree of any kind on the island ; but then none is needed, 
 for the almost perpetual fog does away with the neces- 
 sity. High above the village, from the top of a tall 
 pole, floated an American flag. As Phil Ryder stepped 
 ashore and looked up at this well-loved emblem of his 
 country, he realized as never before what a vast and 
 far-reaching empire it is, and his heart thrilled with 
 pride at the thought that it was his country and that 
 was his flag. 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 XIT"' 
 
 THE THIRD LIEUTENANT'S HUMILIATING POSITION 
 
 
 In 
 
 \\\ 
 
 '' 
 
 A THRONG of villasjers wore assembled on the bes«^h 
 to witness the landing of the boat, for in lliat distant 
 community the arrival of a ship bringing news from 
 the great world is an event of general interest. Every- 
 one knew Captain Matthews, and all wanted to shako 
 hands with him ; but he found time to present our lads 
 to the principal men of the place, such as the govern- 
 ment inspector, the company's agent, the priest, and 
 the doctor who has charge of the hospital in which all 
 sick or wounded villagers are cared for free of expense 
 to themselves. All of these extended a cordial hos- 
 pitality, and promised that the lads should be well 
 taken care of during tlieir short stay, and shoivn all 
 the sights. 
 
 A good-looking young Aleut, who was the possessor 
 of such a tremendously long and mysterious name that 
 neither Phil nor Serge dared try to pronounce it, was 
 introduced to them as the school teacher, and as there 
 was no school at that season he at once offered to act 
 as their guide. 
 
 " There is a drive going on now," he said, in such 
 perfect English as to surprise them; "and if you care 
 to see it we must go at once." 
 
 Agreeing to this, the visitors started t>ff with their 
 guide in the direction indicated. 
 
 " The one thing that gets me !" exclainud Phil, hold- 
 ing his nose and making a wry face, " is, how you peo- 
 
THE THIRD lieutenant's HUMILIATING POSITION 103 
 
 It is enough to breed 
 
 pie can stand this awful smell, 
 sickness and cause death." 
 
 "Smell?" repeated the guide. "Is there a smell? 
 I suppose there must be, for I have heard other stran- 
 gers complain of it ; but I don't notice it." 
 
 "And yet you have a nose." 
 
 " Certainly I have ; but then I was born here, you 
 know. You would get so used to it in two or tiiree 
 wcel s that you would not be troubled by it any more 
 thiin I am." 
 
 *• Would I?" asked Phil, incredulously. 
 
 "Yes. When I first returned from the East I must 
 confess that I noticed it a little for a day or two, but 
 I quickly forgot it." 
 
 "What part of the East did you visit?" inquired 
 *)erge, thinking that he meant eastern Alaska, and 
 perhaps Sitka. 
 
 " Rutland, Vermont, where I was educated," replied 
 tiie teacher, simply. 
 
 " You don't say so !" cried Phil ; " why, I am from 
 New England myself. New London, Connecticut, is 
 my home, and that is where I met Serge, too." 
 
 " Then I am doubly glad to make your acquaint- 
 ance," said the teacher, "for I love New England almost 
 as much as I do this island. The people there v;ere 
 very kind to me. But here is the drive." 
 
 A thousand seals, all young r lies, were being slow- 
 ly driven by half a dozen shouting Aleuts up from a 
 beach, or " hauling-ground " as it is called, two miles 
 away. They were strung out in a long panting line, 
 for a seal finds it extremely diflicult to drag himself 
 along on dry land, and must be allowed to rest every 
 few minutes. To Phil's surprise they were as docile 
 as sheep, and much more easy to drive, because they 
 could not run. 
 
 They had nearly r iched the killing-ground when 
 
 13 
 
 
194 
 
 TUE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 f: 
 
 t i 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 our lads met thera, and there they were allowed to 
 rest for an hour, in order that they might cool off. If 
 this were not done, and if they were killed when over- 
 heated, the hair and fur would drop out from the skin 
 almost as soon as the latter was removed, rendering it 
 worthless. 
 
 While the stals were thus cooling, the killing-gang 
 of about twenty stalwart young natives, all armed 
 with six-foot clubs and with keen -edged knives, ar- 
 rived upon the scene. 
 
 *' Where do they get those tremendous base - ball 
 bats ?" inquired Phil. " Do they come from the main- 
 land ?" 
 
 " Yes," laughed the guide, " and from the other side 
 of it, too. They are killing -clubs, and are made on 
 purpose for this work in your own town." 
 
 " Not New London, Connecticut !" 
 
 "That's the very place." 
 
 " But why do you call them killing-clubs ? Surely 
 they don't beat the poor brutes to death with those 
 things." 
 
 "Not exactly. But they kill them with a single 
 blow on the head, and then cut their throats." 
 
 " What a barbarous way !" cried Phil, indignantly. 
 
 "Oh no," replied the teacher. "It may seem so 
 to you, but it really is not. The seal's skull is so 
 thin that a heavy blow crushes it and kills him in- 
 stantly." 
 
 " Why not shoot them ?" 
 
 " Because that would be a less certain and more ex- 
 pensive method, and then the noise would alarm all 
 the other seals. They are easily panic-stricken, tame 
 and fearless as they seem. For that reason not a gun 
 or a dog is allowed on these islands." 
 
 While they were thus talking the killing - gang, by 
 command of their native foreman, was separating a 
 
p; 
 > 
 
 r 
 
 r 
 > 
 •y. 
 
 c 
 
 r 
 
 c 
 
 K 
 
THE THIRD lieutenant's humiliating position 195 
 
 (( 
 
 pod" of about two hunclred seals from the rest of 
 the drove. These were urged to a short distance 
 from the others, where they were closely huddled to- 
 gether until they were directly beneath the uplifted 
 clubs. At another word of command the cruel clubs 
 descended with terrific force, and the work of killing 
 w^as begun. 
 
 " Oh !" cried Phil, " I can't stand this ! It is too 
 horrible! Come on, Serge. Let's get away from here." 
 
 So, to the surprise of the teacher, who liad imagined 
 that his new friends would be particularly interested 
 in this scene, to which he had become hardened by a 
 a life-long familiarity, they turned from it and hurried 
 away. 
 
 If they had remained they would have seen the dead 
 seals skinned with marvellous dexterity, and the skins 
 loaded into mule-carts to be driven to a salt-house, 
 where they would lie in pickle for several weeks before 
 being rolled into bundles of two each, and stored in the 
 company warehouse. At the end of the season, which 
 closes in August, during which month the seals shed their 
 coats, the seventy or one hundred thousand skins repre- 
 senting the year's take would be shipped on the com- 
 pany's own steamer to San Francisco, and from there 
 to London, to be prepared for use, as described in a 
 previous chapter 
 
 But Phil was too sick at heart and disgusted with 
 the scene he had just witnessed to care for any further 
 details of the business. So, followed by Serge and the 
 teacher, he set rapidly off in the direction of the rook- 
 eries or breeding-grounds, in search of more agreeable 
 scenes. 
 
 In the rookeries the lords of all they survey are the 
 old bulls, huge shaggy fellows, from six to eighteen or 
 twenty years of age. These arrive at the islands early 
 in May, and each immediately takes possession of a 
 
i 
 
 190 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 \ 
 
 i\ I I 
 
 iill: 
 
 
 bit of the bowlder -strewn coast about twenty feet 
 square. 
 
 " lie files a homestead claim on it," as Serge laug'h- 
 ingly remarked. 
 
 "Yes," said the guide, "and he is ready to defend it 
 with his life, if necessary, against all rivals." 
 
 Here he remams, unless some bull more powerful 
 than he drives him away, for the succeeding three 
 months. During that time he neither eats nor drinks,' 
 never visits the sea, and only takes the merest snatches 
 of sleep. His entire time is spent in roaring out fierce 
 challenges to his neighbors, fighting savage battles 
 with them, stealing their wives whenever he gets a 
 chance, and in protecting his own against other seal 
 wife-stealers like himself. He will attack aiMnan who 
 ventures on his domain as quickly as he will a brother- 
 seal, and is altogether a most pugnacious and disagree- 
 able old fellow. He is three or four times as large 
 as the gentle little female seals who gather around 
 him, and, always holding himself erect with defiantly 
 uplifted head, towers above them to a height of several 
 feet. 
 
 In the midst of all this fighting and incessant com- 
 motion the fat roly-poly " pups " are born, and here 
 they spend a month or so, under the protecting care of 
 their mothers. Then, as they are sociable little chaps, 
 they begin to herd together in great "pods," and 
 roam about the rookery until they finally reach the 
 water, which they at first regard with great amaze- 
 ment and dislike. Gradually they paddle into its 
 shallow pools, and begin to learn to swim. This is 
 such a hard lesson that they do not master even its 
 ABC for several weeks, and they study it for at least 
 a month before graduating into the deep-water class. 
 
 These rookeries are never disturbed by the sealers, 
 their drives being always made from among the count- 
 
 I 
 

 H 
 K 
 
 
 o 
 
 5 
 5! 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 c 
 c 
 
 
 ill 
 
 V ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
(f ! 
 
THE THIRD lieutenant's HUMILIATING POSITION 107 
 
 less thousands of "hollusrliickie," or young male seals, 
 whom the old bulls will not permit to occupy the same 
 ground with themselves, and who, when they wish to 
 come ashore, are forced to " haul up " on the adjacent 
 beaches. 
 
 Our lads were immensely interested in the fights of 
 the fierce old bulls and fascinated by the comical an- 
 tics of the pups, which at this time had just learned 
 how to swim. 
 
 While they were wandering here and there amid the 
 tiles of this vast seal army, whose members were too 
 busy with their own concerns to pay the slightest at- 
 tention to them — unless, indeed, they happened to in- 
 trude upon the domain of some old bull, who speedily 
 warned them off — they suddenly came upon so comical 
 a sight that it caused them to roar with laughter. It 
 was nothing more nor less than the arrogant young 
 third lieutenant of the Phoca, his uniform torn and 
 covered with mud, seal hairs, and filth, trying to creep 
 away on all-fours from the territory of two of the most 
 savage old bulls on the rookery. As was afterwards 
 learned, he had made a dash for a rocky ridge, from 
 which he hoped to secure a fine photograph, when, 
 half-way up, his foot had slipped, and, dropping his 
 camera, he had pitched headlong directly under the 
 noses of two rival bulls who happened to be contesting 
 a bit of ground at the foot of the ridge; Instantly they 
 devoted their entire attention to him, and every time 
 he attempted to rise they promptly knocked him down. 
 Then he tried to crawl away; but with each movement 
 he made they would rush at him with open mouths and 
 gleaming teeth, only to retreat a few feet and glare at 
 him when ho again lay still. 
 
 It was fortunate that our friends appeared on the 
 scene when they did; for the victim of this awkward 
 predicament might have been kept there until utterly 
 
 1! 
 
 '4 
 
 f 
 
hi 
 
 198 
 
 THE fukseal's tooth 
 
 exhausted if they had not. As it was, they succeeded 
 in to distracting tlie attention of the savage monsters 
 thsit he effected an escape. Ilis camera was ruined, 
 arid he was filled with wrath, not only against the seals, 
 but against those who had witnessed his ignominir as 
 position. In particular was he wroth against poor P lil, 
 probably because he of the three rescuers was least 
 able to restrain Lis laughter. With each new mental 
 picture of the situation he roared afresh until the tears 
 streamed from his eyes. "Hang that fellow!" mut- 
 tered Mr. Ramev to himself. "He's altogether too 
 fresh ! But I'll find some way to cause him to laugh 
 from the other side of his mouth — see if I don't !" 
 
 i ,■■■■ 
 
 I 
 
% 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 WIIEKE IS THE CENTRE OF THE UNITED STATES? 
 
 The more Mv. Ramey reflected upon his recent ri- 
 diculous adventure, the more determined he became 
 to keep its history from reacliing the ears of his ship- 
 mates c<< board the Phoca^ if such a tiling were possi- 
 ble. ITe knew that if it once got into the wardroom 
 he would never hear the last of it, for nothing more 
 pleases a wardroom mess than a good joke at the ex- 
 pense of one of its members. The story is told and re- 
 told with such humorous additions as may suggest 
 themselves from time to time. It is treasured up to 
 be related through coming years in many different 
 wardrooms until, unless its victim is sensible and good- 
 natured, it weighs upon him like a chronic night- 
 mare, and causes him much unhappiness. Fortunately, 
 most wardroom men have had both these qualities 
 thoroughly rubbed into them by a four-years' course 
 of vigorous polishing at Annapolis, and so are in a 
 condition to laugh as heartily over a good story at 
 their own expense as at any other. TT nfortunately, in 
 the present case, Mr. Ramey was not an Annapolis 
 man, and had not yet learned to take such things good- 
 naturedly. Then, too, as ho was very fond of jokes at 
 the expense of others, he realized how bitter and nau- 
 seous the dose would be made for him. Therefore, he 
 mentally vowed that, if he could com[)ass it, neither 
 Pliilip Ryder nor Serge Belcofsky should again set 
 foot on the deck of the good ship Phoca. To this end 
 he began to scheme, even while they were brushing 
 

 
 :|i 
 
 11^ 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 i i 1 
 1 ) 
 
 11 
 
 ill 
 
 If 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 200 
 
 THE FUK-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 the dirt of the rookery from his uniform, and from the 
 very first fortune seemed to favor him. 
 
 "I wouldn't mention this if I were you," l)e said in 
 a low tone to the lads, " until we are once more aboard 
 siiip and away from the island, because there is such 
 a strong feeling here against any one who disturbs a 
 rooker}" that it might get me into trouble. Of course 
 it is too good a yarn to withhold from the wardroom, 
 but it will be all the better for being kept a few days." 
 
 "All right," replied Phil, striving politely to smoth- 
 er his laughter; " we won't speak of it on the island." 
 At the same time the lad smiled to think how he 
 should enjoy telling it to Miss May, and how heartily 
 that appreciative daughter of the sea would laugh 
 over it. 
 
 Captain Matthews dined ashore with the company's 
 agent that day, while Mr. Ramey and our lads had 
 accepted an invitation from the government inspector, 
 under whose hospitable roof the latter were also to 
 spend the night. 
 
 During the meal, at whicli, in honor of the guests, 
 were served all the delicacies of the islands, Phil paid 
 particular attention to a large omelette, a dish of 
 which he was very fond. As he had seen no fowls 
 about the village, he inquired of his host where he 
 kept his hens. 
 
 "Oh, just around the corner !" laughed the inspect- 
 or, "where we have a chicken ranch containing sev- 
 eral millions of egg-laying fowls. By-the-way," he con- 
 tinued, more soberly, " that is one of the sights of this 
 region, and you ought certainly to visit it before leav- 
 ing here. It — Walrus Island, I mean — supports the 
 most accessible as well as one of the most populous 
 and densely-packed bird rookeries in the world out- 
 side of the Antarctic Ocean. That is where we keep 
 our million or so of hens, only we call them gulls, murres. 
 
 it 
 
 i 
 
 1l 
 
 m 
 
 
 i! 
 
WHERE IS THE CENTRE OF THE UNITED STATES? 201 
 
 
 Ires, 
 
 arries, auks, chookiea, 8ea-]>arrots, and cormorants. 
 On the five or six acres of level surface offered by 
 Walrus they are packed as tightly as sardines in a 
 box ; they are everlastingly quarrelling among them- 
 selves, and yet they are so perfectly fearless of man 
 that they will scarcely move out of the way to avoid 
 being stepped on. Yes, indeed, it is a sight you ought 
 not to miss. A boat is sent over from here every few 
 days after eggs, of which six men will collect several 
 tons in as many hours. If I find that one is going 
 over in time for you to make the trip, I will let you 
 know, and I should advise you to take it." 
 
 "Thank you, sir," said Phil "I should like it 
 above all things." 
 
 "There is another thing on hand just now," contin- 
 ued the inspector, "that I think would interest you im- 
 mciisely. Have you ever seen a sea-lion ?" 
 
 •'Yes," replied Phil, "I shot two only the other 
 day." 
 
 "Then you know what great ferocious -appearing 
 monsters they are. Would you believe that a herd of 
 them could be driven out on land, and kept for days 
 at a time within a corral, or fence, of nothing but 
 sticks, strings, and bits of fluttering cotton rags, such 
 as a child could easily tear down ?" 
 
 " No," answered Phil. " It doesn't seem possible." 
 
 "Well, it is," said the inspector, "and you can see 
 that very thing to-morrow, if you care to visit North- 
 east Point. You see, as we kill all our seals for the 
 year inside of a montli, we made our last drive of this 
 season to-day. A lot of our young men, being thus set at 
 liberty, have gone over to Northeast to begin a sea- 
 lion drive on their own account. The skins are valu- 
 able for making boats, you know, while the fiesh is es- 
 teemed much more highlv than that of a seal." 
 
 "But hoNV can they drive sea- lions?" asked Phil. 
 
 W 
 
ijd 
 
 Si 
 
 ,1 
 
 ^'11 
 
 202 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL*S TOOTH 
 
 " I thought they were so shy that a man couldn't get 
 near them." 
 
 " So they are, and for that reason they can only be 
 approached at night, when they are asleep on the 
 beach, and then only by exercise of the utmost caution. 
 The hunters creep along the beach, among its many 
 bowlders, on all-fours, until they are between the herd 
 and the water. Then they jump up with waving arms 
 and a wild yelling that frightens the sea-lions almost 
 out of their senses. Those that have been asleep, with 
 their noses pointed towards the sea, rush into the 
 water with such force that nothing could stop them, 
 and so escape. At the same time, those who are so 
 unfortunate as to be headed inland when thus rudely 
 awakened, rush with equal precipitation in that direc- 
 tion. The natives close in behind them, dancing, bran- 
 dishing weapons, screaming, making all sorts of fran- 
 tic noises, and so drive them at a sort of a lumbering 
 gallop for several hundred feet, when the frenzied ani- 
 mals, breathless and exhausted, fall panting to the 
 ground. Instead of killing them where they are, the 
 natives allow them to rest a few minutes. Then they 
 rouse and urge them forward by all manner of de- 
 vices, the most successful of which is the sudden open- 
 ing of gingham umbrellas in their faces. When they 
 have got the herd out of sight of the water, behind 
 some sand-dune, they crowd them together and run a 
 fence of strings around them in no time. The strings 
 are supported by slender sticks thrust into the sand, 
 each of which bears a bit of fluttering cotton cloth. 
 Here the forty or fifty big brutes are as securely fenced 
 as though behind stone walls, and here they remain 
 for several weeks, or until three or four hundred of 
 their kind have been secured and herded with them. 
 During this time, instead of remaining stupidly quiet, 
 as you might imagine, they are constantly on the alert, 
 
WHERE IS THE CENTRE OF THE UNITED STATES? 203 
 
 
 writhing, fighting, and climbing over each other with 
 incessant motion." 
 
 " Seems to me I never heard of anything so stupid !" 
 exclaimed Phil. 
 
 "Did you ever hear of any one being afraid of 
 ghosts ?" asked the inspector. 
 
 " Yes, sir, I believe I have." 
 
 "AYell, it seems to me that such people are just as 
 silly and stupid as the jea-lions, who are afraid of bits 
 of fluttering cotton cloth. Doesn't it to you ?" 
 
 "Of course it does, sir!" answered the lad, heartily, 
 for John Ryder had taught his son to regard all forms 
 of superstition as the result of combined cowardice and 
 ignorance. " But while I should hate to meet or know 
 any person who is such a coward as to believe in and 
 be afraid of ghosts, I should dearly love to see a herd 
 of sea-lions in a corral of strings. So I think I will go 
 over there to-morrow. I shall have plenty of time, 
 sha'n't I. Mr. Ramey ?" 
 
 " Certainly," replied the lieutenant, " you have still 
 two days and two nights to spend ashore; or, rather, 
 you have two whole days, for the nights here are so 
 short now that they are hardly worth counting." 
 
 "By -the -way, Ramey," remarked the inspector, 
 " speaking of nights, do you remember the questions 
 you promised to look up for me when you were last 
 here? One was whether sunlight was ever absent 
 from all parts of the United States at once, and the 
 other was, where is the centre of this country between 
 the east and the west ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir," replied the lieutenant, "i do and I have 
 looked them up. In summer the sun may always be 
 seen from one part or another of United States terri- 
 tory ; for it rises over Eastport, Maine, before it sets 
 on Attu Island. As to the east -and -west centre of 
 the country, it is — " 
 
 ) 
 
1 
 
 ' m 
 
 m 
 
 l\ 
 
 204 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 " Where do you say ?" interrupted the inspector, 
 and putting the question to Phil. 
 
 " Omaha," was the prompt reply. 
 
 " Do you think so, too ?" asked the inspector of Serge. 
 
 "No, sir. I should think it might be somewhere 
 west of the Rocky Mountains." 
 
 Phil laughed at this, but the inspector said: "Don't 
 laugh too soon, my lad. I expect he is more nearly 
 right than you. llow is it, Rainey ?" 
 
 " They are both pretty far out in their guesses," re- 
 plied the young officer, delighted at this opportunity 
 of exposing the ignorance of "these youngsters," as 
 he mentally termed them. "Omaha is away off the 
 mark, and the 'somewhere west of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains' is very indefinite. The truth is that Attn, the 
 westernmost Aleutian island, being very nearly three 
 thousand miles to the westward of San Francisco, 
 makes that city practically the midway point. In 
 reality, though, the point is still some sixty miles to 
 the westward of the Golden Gate, while the exact 
 geographical centre of the United States is at a point 
 in the Pacific forty miles off the mouth of the Columbia 
 River." 
 
 " Well !" cried Phil, laughing. " So that is the case—" 
 
 "I can assure you that it is," interrupted Mr. Ramey, 
 stiffly, " for I made the calculations myself." 
 
 " I had no intention of doubting the correctness of 
 your figures," responded Phil, in a tone that was pain- 
 fully polite. " I was only about to say, if that is the 
 case, when the seals leave here they seek winter- quar- 
 ters in the very centre of the country." 
 
 This Mr. Ramey considered a very flippant manner 
 of treating a problem upon the solution of which he 
 had exhausted his entire stock of mathematics, and it 
 confirmed him in his opinion that this young Ryder 
 was decidedly " fresh." 
 
WHERE IS THE CENTRE OP THE UNITED STATES? 205 
 
 Soon after this Captain Matthews and his third 
 lieutenant returned to the cutter, while our lads visited 
 the library, the hospital, the quaint Greek church, and 
 the interiors of several native houses, which they found 
 to be surprisingly neat and comfortable. Having thus 
 seen all there was of interest in the immediate vicinity, 
 they turned in to get a good night's rest, preparatory 
 to their long trip of the morrow. 
 
 as 
 
 » 
 
I 
 
 '11 
 
 li 
 
 i t 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 WHY THE CUTTER DEPARTED WITHOUT HER PASSENGERS 
 
 Phil and Serge, in planning their expedition to 
 Northeast Point to visit tlie sea-lion hunters, expected 
 to walk the entire distaiice, which is about ten miles. 
 At breakfast-time, however, they were told by the in- 
 spector that he had arranged to have them taken in a 
 bidarrah, or large open boat, the wooden frame of 
 which is covered with sea-lion skins. He also had a 
 supply of provisions put up for them, had ordered out 
 a crew of six men to row the bidarrah, and had taken 
 every precaution to make their trip comfortable and 
 enjoyable. The boat was to return that same day, 
 and would bring the lads back in plenty of time for 
 supper, which they had been invited to take with the 
 priest of the little Greek church. 
 
 Although the morning was damp and chilly, both 
 lads thoroughly enjoyed the unique trip up the coast. 
 Phil had brought along his kamleika, which kept him 
 perfectly dry, and Serge did not seem to mind the 
 dampness any more than the natives themselves, 
 who fairly revel in wet, foggy weather, and are never 
 more uncomfortable than when the sun shines out 
 warm, as it occasionally does, even over the Priby- 
 loffs. 
 
 On the present trip there was just fog enough to 
 keep the crew of the bidarrah in good spirits, without 
 hanffinc: so low as to conceal the shore line. Conse- 
 quently, the wonderful seal-life in the water and on 
 land, through and past which the boat moved, was 
 
WHY THE CUTTER DEPARTED 
 
 207 
 
 out 
 •iby- 
 
 to 
 
 [lOUt 
 
 Inse- 
 on 
 Iwas 
 
 plainly visible. From end to end of the island the 
 coast was crowded with it, and by the time the bidar- 
 rah reached its destination Phil declared that he be- 
 lieved all the " sea-bears " of the world must be col- 
 lected in that one place. 
 
 They found the camp of the hunting-party in and 
 about an old native hut that reminded the visitors of 
 the one they had occupied on Oonimak Island. It was 
 beliind a range of low sand-dunes, and just beyond it 
 they caught sight of the chief attraction of the place, 
 a small herd of sea-lions, great shaggy fellows, very 
 much larger than seals, ramping and floundering about 
 behind an enclosure of strinsfs. The situation struck 
 our lads as so comical that they laughed at it until 
 they were actually tired with laughing. For an hour 
 they watched the frantic efforts of the uncouth beasts 
 to discover some point of escape that was not guarded 
 by a fluttering white rag. At the end of that time 
 they were called to dinner, which was served in the 
 old hut, and which proved so much better than they 
 expected that they ate it with real enjoyment. 
 
 One of the hunters who could speak a little English 
 told them that if the wind proved favorable that night 
 he and his companions would make another drive, and 
 Phil declared that he meant to stay, in the hope of 
 seeing it. 
 
 " It must be one of the most curious hunting scenes 
 in the world," he said, "and I shall probably never 
 have another chance to see it. I don't live in Alaska, 
 you know ; besides, I'd a thousand times rather spend 
 a night out here than in the village, where I must 
 breathe the awful-smelling air of the killing-grounds. 
 So if you will make my excuses to the priest, like a 
 good fellow, I think I'll st .y. We have plenty of 
 time, you know." 
 
 AH right," replied Serge; "but as I want to see 
 
 (( 
 
208 
 
 THE FUn-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 i. 
 
 those queer old Russian books the priest promised to 
 show us, I think I'll go back in the bidarrah." 
 
 As this boat was ready to leave directly after din- 
 ner, the lads bade each other good-bye, Piiil promising 
 to make his way to the village on foot early the fol- 
 lowing morning, so as to reach it in plenty of time to 
 rejoin the Phoca. 
 
 After his friend's departure he again visited the 
 captive lions, and wondered, as he watched them, if 
 they were the same as those he had read of on the so- 
 called "seal rocks" of San Francisco. If his friend 
 the inspector had been there, he would have told him 
 they were not; that the seal-rock sea-lions were of a 
 variety found only on the Californian coast, and that 
 they do not attain more than half the size of their 
 great Alaskan cousins. 
 
 When tired of this amusement Phil wandered to a 
 point commanding a fine view of the great seal herds, 
 and became so absorbed in watching them that the af- 
 ternoon passed before he knew it, and he was surprised 
 when the hunter who could speak English called him 
 to an early supper. After it, Piiil and this hunter 
 went together to the beach, where, to the lad's great 
 disappointment, the latter said he feared there would 
 be no sea- lion drive that night, as the wind showed 
 signs of changing. 
 
 While they talked of this a boat appeared, coming 
 from the direction of the village. One of its occu- 
 pants, all of whom were natives, stepped ashore, and 
 talked for a minute with the hunter. 
 
 " He says," remarked the latter, turning to Phil, 
 " that they are bound for Wah-us Island after eggs, 
 and that if you want to go they will take you. They 
 will stay all night, but will start back for the village 
 early in the morning." 
 
 " That suits me !'* exclaimed Phil ; " so long as there 
 
•NVHY THE CUTl'ER DEPAUTKD 
 
 209 
 
 isn't to be any lion-hunt, a hunt for birds' ejjfgs in an 
 Arctic rookery is the next best thing. Besides, if 
 thes • fellows will carry me back to town in their boat, 
 I shall be saved the long, lonely tramp, for which I 
 didn't care very much anyhow." 
 
 With this Phil bade his hunter friend good-bye and 
 stepped into the big boat, which was immediately 
 shored off and headed for Walrus Islet, six miles away. 
 
 About an hour later the inmates of the hunting- 
 camp were startled by the sudden appearance among 
 them of Serge Belcofsky, hot and breathless, as though 
 he had run all the way from the village. 
 
 " Where is my friend?" he shouted, darting search- 
 ing glances about the dim interior. 
 
 "Gone to Morzovia for eggs," replied the English- 
 speaking hunter. 
 
 "Oh !" groaned Serge. "How could he do such a 
 thing? Now we shall be too late, and tlie cutter will 
 go without us." 
 
 His distress was so real that, while not wholly un- 
 derstanding its cause, the good-natured Aleut took pity 
 on him and said: " My bidarkie is here. It has two 
 holes. If you like, we will go to Morzovia. You may 
 then fetch your friend back. I will come in the bi- 
 darrah." 
 
 Anything was better than a whole night of inaction. 
 It was possible that the cutter would wait for them, 
 and they might yet get back to the village in time. 
 Thus thinking. Serge eagerly accepted this generous 
 offer, and a few minutes later the light bidarkie was 
 skimming the darkening waters of the open sea in the 
 direction of Walrus Islet. 
 
 To understand the existing condition of affairs wo 
 must have been at the village about the time Phil and 
 Serge were eating dinner with the sea- lion hunters- 
 A newly-arrived steamer had just dropped anchor near 
 
 14 
 
w 
 
 210 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL 8 TOOTH 
 
 1; I I 
 
 r 
 i 
 
 the P/ioca, and her nuistcr, a stoutly - built German 
 named Kulin, was on liis way to visit and report 
 to Captain Matthews. His sliii) was the Norsk, a 
 tramp steamer from San Francisco, hound for the 
 mouth of the great Yukon lliver, with men and sup- 
 plies for a new Alaskan fur-trading company. He had 
 touched at St. Paul for information and, if possible, to 
 obtain a pilot. 
 
 More important than all the rest of his news, in Cap- 
 tain Matthews' estimation, was that of a certain mys- 
 terious schooner which the master of the I^orsk had 
 seen in Oonalaska harbor. He could learn nothing 
 definite as to her movements, but it was commonly 
 reported that she had been chartered at a big price to 
 go into Bering Sea after seal-skins. 
 
 "Confound these poachers!" exclaimed Captain 
 Matthews. " 1 no sooner get rid of one than anoth- 
 er appears. ]\tr. Ramey, you Avill please go ashore 
 with the gig, intercept Mr. Ryder and Mr. Bolcofsky 
 the moment they return from Northeast Point, and 
 bring them back with you. Tell them we shall leave 
 for the southward the moment they get on board, and 
 that at any rate we must be out of here before sunset." 
 
 As the third lieutenant was rowed towards the village 
 his mind was filled with unpleasant reflections. Those 
 chaps were to come on board again, after all, and 
 through them he would be made a butt of ridicule for 
 the wardroom mess. It was tough luck, and he wished 
 they were in Halifax, or some other distant port, at that 
 moment, instead of on the seal island of St. Paul. 
 
 When he reached the landing he found that they 
 had not returned. He also found the egg -bidarrah 
 just about to start for an all -night's trip to Walrus 
 Islet. Now Mr. Ramey had picked up a fair knowl- 
 edge of the Aleut language, armed with which, and a 
 silver dollar, he approached the native skipper of the 
 
 V. 
 
^^h^r' 
 
 VKKV WKLL, MIJ. IJKI.CUKSKV ; Do AS VOL: I'LEASE ' " 
 
1 : i 
 
WHY THE CUTTER DEPARTED 
 
 211 
 
 egg -boat. "Tlje young white gentlemen," he said, 
 " wish voiy much to visit INIorzoria. Thoy are now 
 coming in a l)i(hin-ah from Nortlieast Point. Here is 
 a dolhir, wliicli is yours if j'ou will kindly stoj) when 
 you meet that bidarrah and invite them to go with 
 you." 
 
 The native willingly agreed to do this, and a mo- 
 ment later he liad the satisfaction of sceino: the eirf- 
 boat shove off. '•' The scheme may work, or it may 
 not," he said to himself. " At any rate, it is worth 
 trying. It gives me one more chance, and it won't 
 hurt those young beggars to wait licre a week or so 
 longer, until some other ship comes along to take them 
 off." 
 
 Half-way up the coast the egg -boat met the other 
 bidarrah, and Serge received an invitation to go to 
 "Walrus Islet, which he declined. When he reached 
 the village ho found Mr. Ramey patiently waiting. 
 "Where is Ryder?" asked the young officer. 
 "He decided to stay behind and spend the night 
 with the hunters," w^as the reply. 
 
 " Then he'll be apt to get left, for the cutter is to 
 sail as soon as you and I can get aboard." 
 
 Serge was thunderstruck. For a moment he knew 
 not what to do or say. Then a sudden plan flashed 
 into his mind. 
 
 " Mr. Ramey," lie said, " I am going overland to 
 fetch my friend : it is the quickest way. Will you 
 kindly beg Captain Matthews to wait for us just as 
 long as he can? I know we can be back before mid- 
 night." 
 
 "Very well, Mr. Belcofsky; do as you please," re- 
 plied the officer. Then without another word Ser£re 
 set off OP a run for the distant point where lie expect- 
 ed to find Phil. 
 
 Mr. Ramey returned to the ship and reported that 
 
ii 
 
 
 I' *l 
 
 
 'if 
 
 1 
 
 
 ' '^'i 1 
 
 
 ''- s 
 
 
 r V 1 
 
 
 1^ 1 
 
 iP^m 
 
 '; 
 
 J 
 
 
 1 
 
 ii 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 ■ '-i^ 
 
 
 212 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 lie believed the young gentlemen had gone to Walrus 
 Islet egg-hunting, and it was doubtful if they returned 
 before the afternoon of the following day. 
 
 "The yonng scamps !" exclaimed Captain Matthews. 
 "So they have given me the slip, after all ! Well, I 
 can't wait for them now, but will come back and pick 
 them up after we run down this new ])oacher," 
 
 On hearing this Mr. Ramey was greatly troubled, 
 and became tilled with a fear that haunted him for 
 some days. 
 
 So the Phoca sailed away, and her recent passengers 
 were left behind. 
 
 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 IN HOT P U K S U I T 
 
 Captain- Mattiikws liatl obtained the name of tlic 
 suspicious st'liooner from the master of the A'ors/c. It 
 was Philomel, and he at once recognized it as that of 
 a well-known craft belonging to a sea -otter trader, 
 which he had frequently seen plying her honest voca- 
 tion among the islands of the Aleutian chain. " That 
 is a new dodge and a good one," he muttered. ' "The 
 rascals knew the risk of bringing a strange vessel into 
 the sea, and so have chartered a well - known craft, 
 thinking that she can go where she j)leases without ex- 
 citing suspicion. I am on to their game, though, and 
 they must be a good deal smarter than I think they 
 are if we don't have them alongside before many days 
 are past." 
 
 The Phoca first ran down to Oonalaska and dropped 
 anchor in Captain's Harbor on the second day after 
 leaving St. Paul. Here her commander learned, with- 
 out going ashore, that the Philomel had been chartered 
 by one Jalap Coombs, and had cleared five days be- 
 fore for a general tradint; vovage to Oonimak I>lund 
 and other Bering Sea points lying to the eastward. 
 
 " IIo ! ho! my veteran poacher with the medicinal 
 name! It is you, is it? and up to your old tricks!" 
 said V aptain Matthews to himself, as he ordered his 
 vessel to be got under way for the eastward. 
 
 Late that same afterno')n the schooner Philomel w;»s 
 reported at anchor off the northeast point of Ooiiiuiak, 
 and close in shore. 
 
I 
 
 i 
 
 p^ 
 
 u 
 
 b 
 
 s: I 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 ! *; 
 
 .1 
 
 214 
 
 THE FUK-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 "Very good, sir," said the captain to his first lieu- 
 tenant, who made this rej)ort ; " we will anchor for the 
 night a cable's length outside of her, and you will at 
 once send an officer on board to make a careful ex- 
 amination of her cargo. If he finds anything sus- 
 picious about her — any guns, extra boats, or other evi- 
 dences of a sealing outfit — let him bring her skipper 
 back with him." 
 
 To the surprise of those on board the cutter, she 
 liad barely droj)ped anchor l)efore a small boat con- 
 taining two men was seen to put off from the scliooner 
 and come towards her. Captain Matthews, who was 
 curious to see what sort of a man he had to deal with, 
 stepped on deck in time to receive a genuine surprise. 
 Instead of the old. sea-dog whom he expected, he be- 
 held a fine-looking man of middle age, wearing an iron- 
 gray mustache, and clad in the soft hat, corduroy suit, 
 knee-breeches, worsted stockings, and heavj^ walking 
 shoes of a gentleman tourist or sportsman. Lifting his 
 hat as he stepped on deck and approached the captain, 
 the stranger asked: 
 
 "Are you the commander of this vessel, sir *?" 
 
 " I am," replied Captain Matthews. Then, thinking 
 to disj)lay at once the extent of his information, he 
 added: "And you, I presume, are the person who has 
 cliartered yonder schooner ?" 
 
 "I am, sir," answered tlie stranger; "andmynameis — " 
 
 " Coombs, is it not ?" 
 
 "Oh no! Mr. Coombs is ^till in the boat, and we 
 have come oif to beg your assistance. As I was about 
 to say, my — " 
 
 "Excuse me," interrupt«:d the captaitj, "l>u: 1 fear 
 you are applying to th-> wrong person for ;issj>itai!ce in 
 the business in whicli you are engaged." 
 
 " Do you know what it is, then ?" asko^ tlie stranger, 
 with an air of surprise. 
 
T 
 
 IN HOT PURSUIT 
 
 215 
 
 iiikiiic; 
 
 (1 we 
 
 about 
 
 lice in 
 
 iiigor, 
 
 i 
 
 
 " I have reason to believe that you are after seal- 
 skins," was the reply, given Avith an air tliat seemed to 
 say: " Deny it if you can." 
 
 "I am willing to acknowledge that part of our busi- 
 ness hero was to secure certain seal-skins that had been 
 left on yonder island. That, however, devolved en- 
 tirely upon jNIr. Coombs, and Avas something with 
 which I had nothi ig to do. My errand here, and the 
 one in which I hoped for your assistance, is the search- 
 ing for a lost boy — my own son, in fact. He was known 
 tobeon Oonimaklsland two weeks ago; butnow, though 
 we have scoured the island from end to end, we can 
 discover no traces of him." 
 
 " Bless my soul!" cried Captain Matthews. "And 
 your name is — " 
 
 "John Ryder; while that of my lost boy, on who>e 
 account I am suffering the greatest anxiety, is Philip 
 —Philip Ryder." 
 
 "Yes, yos ! my dear sir! I know him a ell, tin yom^g 
 scam[) ! And you may instantly sot your mind at rest 
 concerning him. He is safe, sound, and hearty, not 
 far from here — in a place from which h- cannot ]>ossibly 
 escape. Why ! he was on board this very ship only a 
 few days ago." 
 
 "But where is he now?" ,iske«l Mr. Ryder, eagerly.. 
 
 "Just over here on one of the Pribvloff Inlands,, 
 where you will lhi<l him as snug as a bug iu a rug ; 
 only I defy you to distinguish him ivuxn a dozrn of the 
 other young Aleuts there." 
 
 "Then," sighed the happily relievecl l>ut still anx- 
 ious father, "he is still three hundred mile> away fr..m 
 me. 
 
 M 
 
 "Oh no! not so far as that. Barely two hundred 
 and seventy. A mere step to one who, like yourself, 
 has already covered nuch great distances in searchiii-^ 
 fof him. You see, I know all about your fruitless tnj. 
 
21G 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 i5 
 
 to Victoria. But how on earth do yon happen to be 
 here, and in company witli Rhubarb — Hartshorn — 
 Plague take the man's pharmaceutical name !" 
 
 "Perhaps you mean Jalap," suggested Mr. Ryder, 
 laughing for the first time in many days. 
 
 " Jalap ! That is it — Jalap Coombs. But never mind 
 now. Come down into the cabin and meet my daugh- 
 ter, and take dinner with us. You can't imagine what 
 a pleasure as well as a surprise this is to me. And we'll 
 liave Jalap down too. Then all our yarns cati be 
 spliced together, and served, until there's no sign of a 
 break left. Mr. Nelson, will you kindly invite Mr. 
 Coombs aboard, and in my name request the pleasure 
 of his company at the cabin dinner-table. Let one of 
 the men look after his boat. Now, Mr. Ryder, if you 
 are ready." 
 
 Thus it happened that, a few minutes later, the very 
 cabin which had so recently received Phil and Serge 
 into its cheery presence was occupied by a group of 
 those friends who were most deeply interested in or 
 had shared their adventures and experiences. Captain 
 Matthews and Mr. John Ryder were equally pleased with 
 each other, while Miss May found the unique personal- 
 ity of Jalap Coombs so fascinating that she devoted 
 herHelf to drawing him out and makinir him feel at home. 
 
 The honest sailor was at first shv and embarrassed 
 amid his unaecustomed surroundings, but under the 
 charming iiifiuencci of his fair hostess his seir-j)osses- 
 sion was soon entirely restore<l. Thus, when slic finally 
 said : "Ami now, Mr. Coombs, do begin at the very 
 beginning, and tell us how you haj)pened to desert 
 those poor young lads and leave them without any one 
 to tako^care of them on this desolate island," he read- 
 ily replied as follows : 
 
 " Wal, marm — that is to say, miss — as old Kite Hob- 
 erson uster say-—" 
 
n or 
 )tain 
 with 
 nal- 
 otcd 
 ome. 
 ssod 
 tlic 
 
 SOS- 
 
 ally 
 ,('ry 
 sert 
 
 Olio 
 
 11(1- 
 loh- 
 
 i 
 
 
 ».,. 
 
 '" WAL, MAUM — AS (ll.I) KITK UOHKitriON I STKK SAV ' " 
 
IN HOT PURSUIT 
 
 217 
 
 "I knew ho would come in !" cried Miss M;iy, laugh- 
 ing and clapping her hands. 
 
 " Who, marin ?" asked the mate, turning a bewil- 
 dered gaze towards the cabin-door. 
 
 "Your friend ]Mr. Robinson, of conrse." 
 
 "Yes, to be sure. You see, me and him's been 
 friends so long — it's going on forty year olf and on, 
 boy and man — that now wherever you find one you're 
 likely to run agin t'other on the next tack. Wal,he 
 Mster say. Kite did, that while a word's a word, it has 
 as many sounds as there be people that uses it. So, 
 while the word desartion has a pleasant sound coming 
 from your lips, it's mighty ugly from some ; and I'm 
 proud of the chance to clear myself of the charge, see- 
 ing as I didn't do it intentional, but with the best of 
 intentions. 
 
 " So, to begin with, the day on which I were left, or, as 
 some might ignorantly call it, desarted, by my young 
 shipmates, on that very day along comes a schooner, 
 the same Phllomeel that is now swinsjinor under our 
 starn. Althoucfh she were in charge of a crew of na- 
 tyves, with a natyve cap'n, and in a powerful hurry, 
 she stopped at my signal and sent a boat ashore to see 
 what was up. 
 
 "Do all I could I couldn't strike no bargain with 
 'em, nor get 'em to wait till I could go for the boys. 
 The best they would do was to offor me j)assage to 
 Oonalaska, where her owner lived, who, so they said, 
 would give me a charter in no time. So, seeing- as I 
 couldn't do no better, and thinking I'd be back again 
 inside of three days, I -eft a note for the boys and 
 went aboard. We made a quick run to Oonalaska, 
 but when I tried to get a charter out of the owner, he 
 wouldn't hoar of nothing but casli down, and as I 
 hadn't dollars enough to charter a <lingy, let alone a 
 schooner, there I was. For the best part of a week 
 
m 
 
 218 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 I 8ta3'^cil ill that melanelioly seaport, wisliiiiL;- as IM 
 never lieered of it, ami laboring day by day with the 
 shark what owns tlie Philomeel. I offered him a 
 quarter of the seal-skins, then a half, and finally the 
 wliole of 'em, only to let his schooner go and fetch off 
 the hoys." 
 
 " Wliat a horrid, avaricious old thing he must be !" 
 cried Miss May, indignantly. 
 
 " It ain't no name for it, marm — that is to say, miss. 
 He \f a 'hunks' if ever there was one, and so I up and 
 told him. He said he didn't believe I had any seal- 
 skins, but just wanted to get his schooner for a poach- 
 ing cruise in the sea. While I was thus jibing and 
 filling without making an inch of headway, a Dutch 
 steamer come in, and I offered the skins to him to go 
 and fetch the boys back to Oonalaska ; but the Dutch- 
 man was suspicious, like the rest of 'em, and said he 
 was in a hurry to get to St. Michael's, v/hich, of course, 
 I knowed the boys wouldn't want to go there, anywaj"-, 
 seeing as it would make 'em wuss oft' than ever. 
 
 " Finall}', when I was wellnigh desperate and at the 
 end of my cable, the Sitka steamer came in, and I went 
 aboard to see what I could do with lier cap'n. There I 
 run across the very Mr. Ryder what sits facing of me 
 at this minute, who, when he heard me say as my 
 name were Coombs, speaks up quick and sez, 'Jalap?' 
 and I sez, 'Jalap it is.' Then he sez, fierce -like, 
 ' Where's my boy ?' With that I knowed for the fust 
 time wlio he was, and I sez, ' Don't ask me, Mr. Ryder, 
 but count on me to help ye find him, for,' sez I, ' I'm as 
 bound as you be to do it, ef it takes every seal-skin I'm 
 wuth.' 
 
 "That same dav we had the Philomeel chartered 
 for casli, with me in as cap'n, and Avas cracking sail 
 on to her for this blessed island of Oonimak. AVe 
 made port in fine style, with our flag a-fiying, and 
 
 ' 
 
IN HOT rUlJSL'lT 
 
 219 
 
 »» 
 
 would liavc fired off our kcrosono stove, only we didn't 
 liave any. But it warn't no use. There wasn't nary 
 soul in si-ht, nor liasn't been from that day to this. 
 1 ho seal-skins was gone, too, and it's my opinion that 
 blooming Dutchman come along and shanghaied 'em " 
 "No, lie didn't," laughed Captain Matthews "I 
 seized them in the name of the United States, and they 
 iire in tlie hold of tliis very ship at this very minute." 
 
 " Wal," said Jalap Coombs, with a comical air of 
 resignation, "ef government 's got 'em 'tain't no use 
 and I might as well do like old Kite Ro])erson said' 
 lie uster say, 'Jalap, my son, let* by -goners bo by- 
 goners, and never waste time in frettino- over lost 
 fish.'" ° 
 
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 IMAGE EVALUATION 
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 Hiotographic 
 
 Sdeices 
 
 Corporation 
 
 
 
 
 33 WIST MAIN STRUT 
 
 WEBSTIR.N.Y. I4S80 
 
 (716) 873-4503 
 
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► , 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 MU. JOHN RYDKU8 STOIJY 
 
 When the mate ]\sn\ thus fiiiiMliud liis yarn, Captain 
 MatthewH turned to Mr. Ryder and said: "Now, sir, 
 that Mr. Coombs has so satisfactorily explained his own 
 movements since he was last heard from, perhaps you 
 will have the kindness to relate your own experiences 
 while in pursuit of your eluf*ive son." 
 
 " I will do so with pleasure," replied Mr. Ryder, " pro- 
 vided that you will afterwards tell us how you discov- 
 ered the lads, and how it happens that they are now at 
 the Pribyloffs." 
 
 " Certainly," replied the former, whereupon Phil's fa- 
 ther proceeded with his narrative as follows: 
 
 " When I learned definitely that my boy was to 
 join me at Sitka by a certain steamer, I was tilled with 
 pleasant anticipations, and counted the days until he 
 should arrive, for I think there is a stronger bond of 
 sympathy between us than between most fathers and 
 sons of Phil's af^e. I so arranged my business that we 
 could spend the greater part of the summer in those 
 hunting and exploring trips of which we are Ijoth so 
 fond — in fact, all my plans were laid with reference 
 to him ; and when the steanaM* came in without him, I 
 doubt if there was a more disappointed father than I 
 in the United States. It brought ij letter from him, 
 written in Victoria, stating that he was ready and 
 wailing to take that very ship, and it brought his 
 trunk. I also discovered amung the passengers an ac- 
 quaintance named Ames — Judge Ames, you know — 
 
MR. JOHN nVDEU's STORY 
 
 ogi 
 
 who liad met Phil in Victoria, phiniied with him what 
 they sliould do togetiur while coming up the coast, 
 and was greatly exercised over the hoy's nonappear- 
 ance. 
 
 "Of course the chances were that he had simply 
 jTot left, and would be along on the next boat ; but, 
 as I could not bear the thr>ught of ten days of sus- 
 pense, I determined to go back on the steamer that 
 had just arrived — at least, until we should meet the up 
 boat. Then, if Phil were on board, I could return with 
 him ; while, if he were not, I should be well on my 
 way towards Victoria, in which place I should then 
 know he must have met with some serious trouble. 
 You know as well as I that I did not meet him on the 
 second steamer, and did not find him in Victoria. I 
 did, however, discover plenty of traces of him. First, 
 there was a note for me at the Driard, statinir that he 
 liad taken passage with a friend natned Serge Belcof- 
 sky — whose mother I had met — on the fishing-schooner 
 ^Seauiew^ for Sitka. Upon making inquiries I learned 
 that the Secmieio was more of a sealer than a fisher- 
 man, and tliat while she might possibly touch at Sitka, 
 the chances were against her doinsr so. 
 
 " I also found at the hotel my boy's rifle — which, by- 
 the-way, I have with me now — his travelling-bag, and 
 overcoat, all of which he had left to satisfy a bill for 
 board amounting to less than ten dollars. As I had 
 provided him with plenty of money, I could not at 
 first understand this. When, however, I <liscovered a 
 wad of bills, most of them Canadian, amounting to 
 very nearly one hundred dollars, inside the lining of 
 his overcoat, and found the iipper edge of an inner 
 pocket partially torn from its fastenings, it was all 
 made plain. I knew in a moment that poor Phil's 
 careless habits had again got the better of him, and 
 had t'.is time brought him to quite serious grief. 
 
 i 
 
li 
 
 ' 
 
 222 
 
 THE FUR-SEALS TOOTU 
 
 " What worried me most of all was to learn that, on 
 the second of the two nights he seems to have spent in 
 Victoria, Phil was ftrrestod. Of course I followed this 
 up at once. I found and rewarded the police-sergeant, 
 who had taken such pity on the lad as to allow him to 
 occupy his own bed, instead of locking him up. Then 
 I saw the judge before whom the ease had come for 
 examination. We discovered that we had known each 
 other by reputation for some time, and he relieved ray 
 mind at once. He said he remembered the case very 
 well. Phil had been arrested on a charge of threatened 
 assault and battery, evidently trumped up to gratify 
 some private spite, as the complainant never appeared 
 to press the charge. The judge said tliat when Phil 
 gave him his name it had a familiar sound, but that he 
 did not identify it with mine until after the boy was 
 dismissed and had disappeared. He also said that if 
 the young scamp had only made himself and his trouble 
 known ho would gladly have assisted him to the extent 
 of his power. 
 
 " I was still puzzled to know how the boy had ob- 
 tained a position as a sailor, and what he was wearing, 
 as his trunk, bag, and overcoat were now in my posses- 
 sion, and apparently nothing had been taken from the 
 two former." 
 
 "He wasn't just a common sailor — he was a hunter," 
 here broke in Miss May, proud of her acquaintance 
 with the facts in this interesting case. 
 
 "So I afterwards discovered," replied Mr. Ryder, 
 "and I must say that is his one act of which I feel 
 ashamed. I never thought that a son of mine would 
 become a pot-hunter, and pursue butchery as a busi- 
 
 ness. 
 
 >» 
 
 " Oh I but you don't understand !" cried Phil's fair 
 champion, eagerly. " He didn't know at first that he 
 was to be a hunter, and then be didn't realize what it 
 
MR. JOHN RYDER S STORY 
 
 223 
 
 meant, and just as soon as he found out he refused to 
 obey the captain's orders to hunt any longer." 
 
 "As clear a case of mutiny as I ever heard of," 
 laughed Captain Matthews. 
 
 *'Ye8, and the wust of it were that he carried the 
 best part of the crew with him, meaning mo and young 
 Belcofsky," added Jalap Coombs, " which if he hadn't 
 ye'd have found him safe in Sitka when ye come back, 
 as it now turns out." 
 
 "That is one of the best bits of news I have heard 
 yet !" exclaimed Mr. Ryder, " and it lifts a load (»ff 
 my mind. As for being a mutineer, I hope my boy 
 will be one all his life against cruelty, no matter what 
 consequences m.ay be threatened, or what results may 
 follow. Now I am reconciled to my long delay in 
 finding him, though when I returned to Sitka and dis- 
 covered the schooner Seameio at anchor in the harbor, 
 but without my boy aboard, I was wellnigh heart- 
 broken. Of course I interviewed her 8kipj)er, and got 
 all possible information from him, but he was a surly 
 fellow and gave me but slight comfort. My only con- 
 solation was that he spoke so highly of Mr. Coombs, 
 and claimed that he would get my boy out of his 
 scrape if any one could." 
 
 " Which I thanks him hearty!" exclaimed the mate, 
 " and could say the same for him ef I had to; bearing 
 in mind old Kite Roberson's advice, allers to speak the 
 truth when ye're compelled." 
 
 " After learning all I could from Captain DuflF," con- 
 tinued Mr. Ryder, "I made some inquiries about tlio 
 Oonalaska steamer, which happened to be in port, anv» 
 then went to see Avhat mail had been laid on my desk, 
 which stands in one corner of Gilford's store. Among 
 my letters was one for Piiil, which, under the circum- 
 stances, I thought I might take the liberty of opening. 
 It was very badly written, but I managed to make out 
 
 (1 
 
 ^^*^-^ Mi 
 
I 
 
 224 
 
 THE fuu-seal's tooth 
 
 
 f 
 
 • 
 
 that tijo writer, who evidently was some Kleeping-car 
 |>orter, ( nclose*! and forwarded a triiiiiet tiiat Phil had 
 lost and he had found in his car. The article in ques- 
 tion was in the shai)e of an animal's tooth, and bore 
 some sort of carving. Not thinking it of any particu- 
 lar value, I left it lying on my open desk while I went 
 to call on Mrs. 15elcofsky, from whom I wished to learn 
 what she had heard from Serge." 
 
 "It wasn't a fur-seal's tooth, was it?'' interrupted 
 Captain Matthews, with eager interest. 
 
 " I am sorry to say that it was, and, moreover, that 
 it was the fur-seal's tooth, as I discovered a very few 
 minutes later. I found Mrs. iJelcofsky full of trouble 
 on account of the importunities of some Indians who 
 were demanding something from her. After I had 
 driven them away she explained that they were bound 
 to obtain a certain cliarmed talisman in shape of a fur- 
 seal's tooth, that had once been the property of their 
 tribe, but which had afterwards fallen into her hus- 
 band's hands. lie had left it to her, and she had given 
 it to Serge. 
 
 " I at once identified it with the one that had just 
 come so queerly into njy possession, and, promising to 
 fetch it in a few minutes, hastened back to my desk — 
 but I was too late. The tooth had disappeared; nor 
 could I discover a trace of where it had gone. 
 
 " When I reported this to Mrs. Belcofsky she said it 
 was only what she had expected, because, while it would 
 bring good-fortune to me, to whom it was a gift, and 
 evil to him who stole it, it possessed such a fascination 
 for certain persons that they could no more resist the 
 temptation to take it than they could help breathing. 
 * The Indians say that it was stolen in the first place,' 
 continued Mrs. Belcofsky, ' all carved as it is from the 
 oldest and wisest seecatch that ever lived in Alaska, 
 and that it will continue to be stolen to the end of 
 
ping-car 
 Phil Iwid 
 in qut's- 
 iiui bore 
 j)articu- 
 I went 
 to learn 
 
 irrupted 
 
 ^er, tliat 
 ery few 
 trouble 
 ans who 
 tr I had 
 e bound 
 of a f ui - 
 of their 
 ier hus- 
 d given 
 
 tad just 
 
 ising to 
 
 desk — 
 
 ed; nor 
 
 3 said it 
 t would 
 ift, and 
 3ination 
 sist the 
 athing. 
 
 place,' 
 rom the 
 Alaska, 
 
 end of 
 
 
 93 
 
 V! 
 
 V. 
 
 H 
 
 C 
 
 c 
 
 w 
 
 ► 
 
 •Jt 
 
 r 
 v. 
 
 T, 
 
 > 
 
 I 
 
r 
 
MR. JOHN Ryder's story 
 
 225 
 
 timo, save when it is guarded by a shaman (mcdicino 
 man) from whom none may steal it.' 
 
 *' The next day I left Sitka on the Oonala^ka steamer, 
 determined to continue the searcli for my boy along 
 the entire Aleutian chain, through Bering Sea, and to 
 the north-pole itself, if I failed to tind him short of 
 there. 
 
 " Our trip was without incident, except that our pur- 
 ser, a young fellow front Sitka, met with a series of 
 strange accidents, one on top of another, that finally 
 culminated the dav we reached Oonalaska in his fall- 
 ing and breaking a rib. When we undid his shirt wc 
 found the fur-seal's tooth suspended by a string from 
 his neck, and he acknowledged to having stolen it from 
 my desk in Sitka. Said he intended to sell it to the 
 Indians when he got back." 
 
 " Good enough !" exclaimed Captain Matthews at 
 ^his point. "I am relieved to learn that you finally 
 recovered that pesky thing. Now will you be kind 
 enough to let me look at it ? I want to show it to my 
 daughter." 
 
 " I am very sorry," began Mr. Ryder, " but — " 
 
 " Don't say that you have gone and lost it again !" 
 cried the commander of the Phociiy with a comical as- 
 pect of despair. 
 
 "No; but I am inclined to think that it wts again 
 stolen. You see, just then Mr. Coombs appeared; and, 
 in the confusion of the moment, I thrust the tooth 
 into an inside overcoat - pocket, and for some time 
 thought no more about it. I lunched that day on 
 board the Norsk, a German steamer that happened to 
 be in port. While at the table I happened to relate 
 the history of the fur-seal's tooth up to date, and, as 
 the captain expressed a desire to see it, I directed the 
 Japanese table-boj'' to fetch my overcoat, which was 
 hanging in a state-room. He did so, but, to my great 
 
 IS 
 
T 
 
 220 
 
 THE PIJUSEAL'S TOOTH 
 
 ' ! 
 
 mortification, I found that I liad again allowed tlio 
 tooth to 8lip througl) my hands. It had disappeared, 
 nor have I Hinco heard from it. The Nornk left Oona- 
 laska that evening, and the next day we came here, 
 only to meet with the disappointment of which you hnve 
 already learned. The only thing we have discovered 
 is a fragment of the note left by Mr. Coombs for the 
 boys. As it was at a distance from the hut, and badly 
 chewed, we concluded that the foxes got it instead of 
 those for whom it was intended." 
 
 " Well," exclaimed Captain Matthews, " it is a 
 mighty interesting yarn, and T wish you every good- 
 fortune in your search for those boys. If you'll take 
 my advice, though, you'll start for the Pribyloffs just 
 as quick as the wind will allow, for they are as slippery 
 as cats, and there's no knowing what they'll be up to 
 next. In the meantime I'll jog back to Sitka, and 
 leave you to bring them along as soon as wind, tide, and 
 accidents will allow." 
 
CHAPTER XXXV 
 JALAP COOMlis's PIIILOSOPIIT 
 
 The little Philomel ha<i a hard time getting to the 
 Pribyloff Islands. She was buffeted by head-winds 
 and forced to sail nearly one hundred miles out of her 
 course by a gale. Then she became involved in such 
 mazes of fog and perplexity that ten full days elapsed 
 before she finally entered the region of screaming sea- 
 fowl, and her people knew that the seal islands were 
 at hand. Soon afterwards a lifting fog disclosed tho 
 low dark coast-line of St. Paul, which, forbidding as it 
 appeared, gladdened Mr. John Ryder's eyes as though 
 it had been the fairest scene on earth. Was not his 
 boy there ? And would not a few more hours see them 
 reunited? He fondly hoped so, and in spite of his 
 many disappointments could not believe that another 
 was in store for him. No ; Phil must be here, of 
 course. It was not likely that he had been offered a 
 chance of getting away, and even if he had he was 
 pretty certain to have waited for the Phoca^a prom- 
 ised return. So it was with a heart full of joyful 
 anticipations that Mr. John Ryder finally landed at tho 
 village of St. Paul. 
 
 The usual crowd was collecttd on the beach to 
 witness the arrival, and stepping up to the nearest 
 white man, who happened to be the government in- 
 spector, Mr. Ryder handed him a note of introduction 
 from Captain Matthews, saying, at the same time: 
 "These are my credentials, sir; and my excuse for 
 landing here, where I am well aware strangers are not 
 
T- 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 228 
 
 TIIK FUUSKALS TOOTH 
 
 portnittcd save by authority, is, that I am in search of 
 a lost boy, my son, Philij) llyder by namo. I must 
 confess that I am disappointed at not seeing him here, 
 but you can doubtless tell me where to find him." 
 
 A strange silence fell over the little group at these 
 words, which most of them understood ; while the in- 
 spector turned pale, and the hand, that he held out to 
 Mr. llyder, trembled. 
 
 "This is terrible, sir!" ho said, "and I know not 
 how to tell you — " 
 
 " Wh.at ? Has anything happened to my boy ? Is 
 he ill ? or— or— dead ?" 
 
 The unhappy father almost choked as he pronounced 
 the last words. 
 
 " I hope not, sir ! We hope not !" repeated the in- 
 spector, in a voice husky with emotion. " All we know 
 is that he is lost, and has been for two weeks past — in 
 fact, both ho and his companion disappeared just as 
 the revenue-cutter P/ioca^ on which they came to the 
 island, left it, and we have been unable to discover a 
 trace of them since, though parties have been out in 
 every direction searching for some clew to the mystery. 
 But come up to my house, gentlemen, and you shall be 
 given all the particulars so far as they are known to 
 
 t» 
 
 us. 
 
 At the word " lost," Mr. Ryder, strong, self - con- 
 tained man that he was, had staggered as though struck 
 a heavy blow, and Jalap Coombs, who stood imme- 
 diately behind him, grasped his arm. 
 
 " Don't ye give np. sir !" he cried, though even his 
 usually hearty tone was a little shaky. " Your boy 
 Phil ain't the lad to get lost so as he can't find hisself, 
 nor into a scrape that he won't work his way out of 
 somehow, not ef I know him, and I tnink I do. He's 
 been lost before and found, same as he will be this 
 time. Why, sir, it wouldn't surprise me one mite to 
 
]' 
 
 JALAP ASD I'IUL's FATHER IIKAK UAU NEW8 FROM THE HOYS 
 
I : ■ i 
 
 ''1 
 
JALAP COOMBS 8 PHILOSOPHY 
 
 229 
 
 see him turn up to-morrow bright and smiling As my 
 old friend Kite Roberson uster say, ' Them that's lost 
 the of tenest larns best how to take care of theirselves.' " 
 
 During the utterance of these homely words of com- 
 fort the little party had been walking up the ascent 
 towards the inspector's house, and now within its 
 friendly walls, that had so recently sheltered his boy, 
 Mr. Ryder learned all that was known concerning Phil 
 and Serge. The former had gone with a party of egg- 
 hunters to Walrus Islet, and so was away when the 
 captain of the Phoca was obliged to depart in search 
 of a poaching sealer of whose operations he had just 
 learned. 
 
 " By-the-way, her name was the same as that of the 
 schooner in which you have just come ! Could she 
 have been the same ?" asked the inspector. 
 
 At this the stricken father groaned aloud, while Jal- 
 ap Coombs answered, " I expect she is, sir, though it 
 was all along of a mistake." 
 
 " Of course it doesn't matter," gaid their host, " only 
 it does seem rather hard. But, to return to my story, 
 your son being away, his friend set out to fetch him, 
 and went over to Walrus with a native, whose place 
 Phil was to take for the return trip. They overtook 
 the egg-hunters just as they were landing, the native 
 was left with them, and the two lads started to return, 
 in spite of the fact that, as night, accompanied by a 
 thick fog, was shutting down, the hunters tried to dis- 
 suade them from the attempt. 
 
 " Your son shouted back : ' It'll be all risjht — we 
 can't miss it; and we must take the chances anyway, 
 for we're bound to get to Sitka!' That was the last 
 seen or heard of them. 
 
 "We did not feel any anxiety here until the egg- 
 hunters returned the following day, for we had not ex- 
 pected that the lads would get back that night; but 
 
 1 (. 
 
 % 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
230 
 
 THE FUR-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 when the bidarrah came in without them we knew at 
 once that something serious must have happened. By 
 questioning the hunters, I learned that the wind had 
 changed and blown fresh from the southward soon 
 after the boys left them; also that the tide was flood- 
 ing, with a strong current running north between Wal- 
 rus and St. Paul. It siemed most likely, therefore, that 
 the lads had been carried so far to the northward as to 
 miss the island entirely, especially as the night was of 
 unusual darkness. 
 
 "As soon as I obtained these facts I prepared for 
 sea the little schooner that we use to maintain com- 
 munication between here and St. George, manned her 
 with a crew of picked men, and sent her out with or- 
 ders to cruise back and forth to the northward of the 
 islands for a week, in the hope of picking them up. 
 Upon his return the captain of this vessel reported that 
 he had been as far as one hundred miles to the north- 
 ward, Keeping the sharpest kind of a lookout all the 
 time, but without avail." 
 
 " So you do not think there is the slightest chance 
 that we shall ever see them again?" asked Mr. Ryder, 
 in a voice that betrayed his own hopelessness. 
 
 " I will not say so," replied the inspector ; " for, of 
 course, there are always chances, and while doubt ex- 
 ists there is also room for hope." 
 
 " Of course there is, sir ! a plenty of it and rightly, 
 too!" broke in Jalap Coombs, who had followed the 
 inspector's narrative with the closest attention. "My 
 friend, old Kite Roberson, uster say that Hope was the 
 thing of all in this world he had the greatest respec' 
 and admiration for, 'cause ye couldn't kill it, and every 
 time it got a knock-down it would pop up agin bright 
 and smiling in some onexpected place. So I say, let's 
 tie to Hope, and not give up those boys yet awhile. 
 This gentleman has kindly give us the dark view of 
 
V, 
 
 JALAP COOMHS'S PHILOSOPHY 
 
 231 
 
 this case, now 'spose we takes a squint at the bright 
 side." 
 
 " Is there a bright side ?" asked Mr. Ryder. 
 
 " Wal, I should ruther say so! Not sunlight, may- 
 be, but bright enough to steer by. To begin with, a 
 bidarkie is one of the best sea-boats there is long's ye 
 keep her head to the sea or scudding, ami especially if 
 ye have kamleikas aboard. Did the lads have kamlei- 
 kas, do ye know, sir ?" 
 
 "Yes," replied the inspector; "Phil had his own, 
 and Serge borrowed one from the native who owned 
 the bidarkie." 
 
 " And how was they off for grub ?" 
 
 " I don't believe they had any, except a few eggs 
 that Phil insisted on taking as specimens for Miss Mat- 
 thews." 
 
 "Then thev couldn't have been better fixed!" cried 
 the mate. " Eggs is meat and drink, both in one shell. 
 Why, old Kite Roberson, who was one of the likeliest 
 navigators as ever trod a deck, uster consider eggs the 
 main part of a ship's stores. He knowed every egg 
 island in three oceans, and uster visit 'em regtilar Be- 
 sides that, he carried along sich a stock of fowls that, 
 no matter what ship he sailed in, she w^as allers called 
 the * Hen-coop.' 
 
 "So what's to bender two able young seamen, like 
 Phil and Serge, with a good sea-boat under their feet 
 and a locker full of the best of grub, from making a 
 cruise to some one of the islands lying up here to the 
 nor'ard? Nothing at all, I say. It would be right in 
 the line of sich lads as they be, and I wouldn't be one 
 mite surprised ef they was setting on some handy pint 
 of rock this very minute, straining their eyes watching 
 for us, and wondering why we didn't come along." 
 
 " Are there islands to the north of this ?" asked Mr. 
 Ryder, with a show of fnterest. 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 M 
 
T 
 
 232 
 
 TUE FUR-SEAL 8 TOOTH 
 
 "To be sure. There's St. Matthew, and St. Law- 
 rence, and Nunivack, and then up in the very middle 
 of the strait, where the United States and Russia is 
 less'n forty mile apart, is the Stepping Stones, two 
 little islands with the line running between 'em, and 
 so close together that an able-bodied biscuit - tosser, 
 standing on the American island, could toss a biscuit 
 over into Asia. To be sure, they're nigh on to a thou- 
 sand miles from here, and there ain't no show for the 
 boys to have fetched up there, nor yet on St. Lawrence, 
 but it's jest possible they've brung up agin St. Mat- 
 thew." 
 
 "We'll go there and see," exclaimed Mr. Ryder, 
 roused into a new activity by the ray of hope thus 
 skilfully brought to bear on the situation by Jalap 
 Coombs. 
 
 "Besides," continued the mate, "the lads has a 
 chance of being picked up by every one of the vessels 
 cruising in these waters, of which there is a plenty — 
 men-o'-war, whalers, revenoo-cutters, company ships, 
 and the like, to say nothing of seal-poachers and wal- 
 rus-hunters." 
 
 Thus it was decided that the Philomel should con- 
 tinue her search to the northward, and Mr. Ryder was 
 in a feverish state of anxiety until they were again off. 
 Before starting, he jjromised the inspector that, how- 
 ever their search might result, they would return to 
 the Pribyloffs and report. 
 
 Two weeks later they did so. They had been to St. 
 Matthew, where countless numbers of polar bears may 
 be seen at all seasons, and where an outlying cone of 
 basalt rises sheer a thousand feet from the sea, and 
 like a huge chimney pours forth an unbroken column 
 of black smoke. They had visited the savage walrus- 
 hunters of Nunivack, and they had returned to the 
 place from which they started without hav' ng dis- 
 
JALAP COOMBS'S PIIILOSOniY 
 
 233 
 
 covered a trace of or heard a word from the missing 
 lads. 
 
 Now, with hope wellnigh extinguished in his bosom, 
 though still lingering as a faint spark, .lohn Ryder 
 came asliore to make his last inquiry, it ho heard 
 nothing here, hope would indeed be dead. He won- 
 dered slightly at the unusual throng gathered on the 
 beach to welcome them. Suddenly his despair, won- 
 der, and all other feelings were merged in an over- 
 whelming joy; for, while they were still some distance 
 off, a clear, ringing voice shouted out; 
 
 " We have heard from them, and they are safe !" 
 "Didn't I tell ye it would turn out same as old Kite 
 Roberson allers said ?" remarked Jalap Coombs, in a 
 tone of quiet exultation. 
 
 (; 
 
 m 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 I 
 
 ! 
 
 i' 
 
 LOST AND DRIFTING IN BERING SEA 
 
 When Pliil Ryder stepped from the bidarrali, or 
 big open boat, in which he had made the six-mile trip 
 from St. Paul to Walrus Island, and clambered up 
 over the slippery rocks of the latter, he was nearly 
 stunned by the volume of sound that ceaselessly rises 
 from it. The shrieks of myriads of startled sea-fowl, 
 the rapid beating of their pinions resembling a low roil 
 of thunder, the gruntings, croakings, and hissings of 
 sitting birds that refused to leave their splotched and 
 dirt-smeared eggs, the roar of walrus, and the boom of 
 surf, combined to form a pandemonium of sound at 
 once deafening and distracting. 
 
 "How can I spend a night here?" thought Phil; 
 " and what a fool I was to come." 
 
 He was standing, bewildered by the awful racket, 
 with arms bent above his head, to defend it from the 
 whizzing flight of clumsy birds that shot through the 
 air in every direction ; two enraged burgomaster gulls, 
 whose nests his feet were invading, were pecking sav- 
 agely at his legs, and he was just meditating a retreat, 
 when some one pulled his sleeve. Turning, he was 
 amazed tc see the sea -lion hunter, who could speak 
 English, and whom he had left nearly two hours be- 
 fore on Northeast Point. 
 
 As the latter could not make himself heard above 
 the horrible din, he was pointing to the tiny cove in 
 which lay the bidarrah. There, to Phil's greater sur- 
 prise, he saw his friend Serge Belcofsky fending off 
 
LOST AND DItlFTINU IN KERING SEA 
 
 235 
 
 from the rocks a two-liolcd bidarkio that tossed, light 
 as an egg-shell, on the heaving waters. 
 
 "What on earth brought you here?" he shouted, 
 as soon as he had scrambled to his comrade's side. 
 
 " You did," answered Serge. " The Phoca is about 
 to sail, and I've come for you. So step in quick, and 
 let's be off. The hunter who came with me is going 
 to stay in your place, and come back in the bidarrah." 
 
 "All right," replied Phil; "I'm more than willing to 
 leave this beastly rookery, and more than anxious to 
 start for Sitka. I must have a few of those eggs, 
 though, for I promised Miss Matthews some for her 
 collection." 
 
 Within two minutes as many dozen eggs of all sizes 
 and varieties had been collected and stowed in the 
 after-part of the bidarkie. Phil slipped into the for- 
 ward hatch and fastened his kamleika about its coam- 
 ing, while Serge assumed his position aft, and made 
 the second hatch equally water-tight with the hunter's 
 over-garment which he had borrowed. 
 
 It was nearly dark, and they (;ould see a fog-bank 
 rolling sullenly in from the southward. Even the na- 
 tive who held their canoe began to grow apprehensive. 
 " Me fraid you no get," he said; " mebbe you stay here 
 better till morning." 
 
 " Oh, we'll get !" shouted Phil, confidently. " Any- 
 how, I'd rather run the risk than to miss our one chance 
 of a passage to Sitka. So shove off. Serge. Good-bye !" 
 
 Serge iiimself felt somewhat uneasy, but he had 
 come too far and worked too hard on this errand to 
 incline towards giving np now. Besides, he also was 
 very anxious to reach Sitka. So he shoved off, and 
 both the lads began to ,)addle with long sweeping 
 strokes. In another minute the arrowy craft had shot 
 away from the roaring islet, and was lost to view in 
 the gathering gloom. 
 
 i\ 
 
 III! 
 
 ^ 
 
 
236 
 
 TIIK PUn-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 Ij 
 
 
 They had not covered more, than a mile before the 
 advancing fog enveloped them in its soft, moist folds. 
 
 " Whe-e-w !" gasped Phil, breathing rapidly from 
 his vigorous paddling. "Isn't this smothering?" 
 
 "Yes," replied his companion, "and I'm getting 
 somewhat dubious about finding St. Paul." 
 
 " Oh, I guess we'll find it all right. We've only got 
 to keep the wind at our back. It is blowing from the 
 eastward, you know." 
 
 "But this fog came in from the southward." 
 
 " Do you think so ? It seemed to me to come from 
 the east with the breeze." 
 
 " All right," agreed Serge. " Perhaps it did. I'm not 
 quite sure of my compass up here. We've got to keep 
 on now, at any rate, for we could never find Walrus 
 again, while we can hardly miss hitting so big a mark 
 as St. Paul. If we strike either coast we can cruise 
 along it until we come to the villijpfe. I'm afraid, 
 though, we won't get there in time to catch the P/iOfa." 
 
 " Oh yes, we will. Captain Matthews isn't the man 
 to go off and leave us when he knows we are going to 
 be back some time to-night. You said you sent word 
 by Ramey, didn't you ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Then he's sure to wait. What's his hurry, any- 
 how ?" 
 
 " I believe he has word of some sealer poaching in 
 the sea, and is going to hunt her." 
 
 "My! won't it be fun to be on the other side of such 
 an affair? I tell you, we struck big luck when we 
 net the Phoca — in fact, I think this whole cruise, as 
 I look back on it, has been made up of a series of 
 lucky events, even though we haven't had the fur-seal's 
 tooth to help us." 
 
 So they talked, in disjointed sentences, as well as 
 their rapid breathing and relative positions would al- 
 
 IVr - 
 
T 
 
 efore the 
 ist folds, 
 lly from 
 
 g?" 
 getting 
 
 only got 
 from tile 
 
 tne from 
 
 I'm not 
 
 to keep 
 
 Walrus 
 
 : a mark 
 
 n cruise 
 
 afraid, 
 
 Phocay 
 
 he man 
 
 joing to 
 
 rit word 
 
 y, any. 
 
 Iiing in 
 
 of such 
 lien we 
 uise, as 
 ries of 
 ir-seal's 
 
 *^ 
 t/. 
 P- 
 > 
 y. 
 
 >■ 
 
 'A 
 
 r 
 
 a 
 f 
 a 
 n. 
 y. 
 
 
 
 t 
 
 ivell as 
 uld al- 
 
 
LOST AND imiFTINO IX KRUIXO HKA 
 
 S37 
 
 low, and all the while wielded their drippin^r paddles 
 with the energy of young athletes striving for a 
 prize. 
 
 Finally, Phil stopped paddling, and, half turning, 
 said : '* Let us listen a minute, old man. . It seems to 
 me we ought to hear the roar of seals on St. Paul by 
 this time. Pm sure we've been an hour on the way." 
 So the lads listened intently, but all they hoard was 
 the ceaseless roar and dash of the wind-swept waves. 
 
 Under circumstances such as those in which the 
 occupants of the little bidarkie found themselves, 
 there is no sound more depressing and awe-inspiring 
 than this, nor one that conveys more clearly an idea 
 of the immensity and terror of oceans. When it is 
 acoompanied by darkness and fog, the effect is so 
 heightened as to be wellnigh unbearable. 
 
 As our lads listened to it and felt the chill breath 
 of the wind-driven mist on their cheeks, they shivered, 
 and a great fear began to creep into their hearts. 
 
 *' This won't do !" cried Phil. " We must keep at 
 work or we'll never get there. It is strange, though, 
 that we don't hear anything. We ought to be almost 
 on the beach by this time. Do you notice how big 
 the waves are? It's lucky that our course is with them, 
 for they'd be tough fellows to .. ork against, and make 
 an ugly sea to cross." 
 
 For an hour longer they paddled steadily and in 
 dogged silence. Then both paused in their labor as 
 tliough moved by a single impulse. 
 
 "We've gone wrong somehow," said Serge, without 
 an attempt to conceal his anxiety. 
 
 " Do you mean, old man, that you think we have 
 missed the island altogether?" 
 
 " I am afraid we have." 
 
 " Then may God help us, for we can no longer help 
 ourselves." 
 
 . 
 
238 
 
 TUB FUK-bKALS TOUTII 
 
 " Amen," responded Serge, solemnly. 
 
 " I suppose we had butter continue paddling, if only 
 to keep her headed with the sea." 
 
 "And to keep from freezing," said Serge. "I'm 
 chilled to the bone now." 
 
 So they resumed their labor, but they worlrd list- 
 lessly and without heart. 
 
 At length the short night came to an end, and day- 
 light, dim and shadowy, began to steal over the toss- 
 ing waters. Occasionally the round head of a seal 
 rose above the surface close at hand, and the <inimal 
 stared at them for a moment with great wondering 
 eyes before again sinking silently from their sight. 
 
 " We could get one of those fellows if we wanted 
 him," said Serge, his glance resting on the slender 
 shaft of the native spear that was lashed on deck. 
 
 " What good would it do us ? I thought we lost our 
 interest in seal -skins some time ago," said Phil, bit- 
 terly, 
 
 " Seal-meat world save us from starving." 
 
 " How could we cook it ?" 
 
 " We couldn't," replied Serge, significantly. 
 
 " Well, I must confess that I'm hungry, but I don't 
 think I care to eat raw seal-meat just yet. I say, old 
 man, do you suppose two fellows ever had such an 
 unlucky trip as ours? We seem to have jumped from 
 one trouble into another ever since we started." 
 
 "And this is the worst of all," answered Serge, 
 despondently. 
 
 " Yes, I suppose it is ; and starving to death does 
 seem a very dreadful way of dying. I don't know 
 but what I'd rather drown and done with it." 
 
 "Suppose we try an egg,''^ suggested Serge, with 
 a sudden inspiration. 
 
 " That's so ! we have got eggs. I'd forgotten them 
 entirely. Raw eggs aren't half so bad as raw meat. 
 
LOST AND DKIFTINU IX IIKRINO SUA 
 
 2ao 
 
 TvG oaten them before, and when I didn't have to, 
 either." 
 
 " So have I," replied Forge, as, unf.istening his 
 kamleika, lie reached behind him and drew forth a 
 couple of the eggs Phil had brought along as speci- 
 mens. 
 
 " Il'm !" ejaculated the latter, .is, after carefully 
 removing a portion of the shell to see that the con- 
 tents were fresh, he swallowed them at a gulp. "A 
 little fishy, but not so bad as I expected. Let's have 
 another." 
 
 After eating half a dozen eggs apiece, the lads felt 
 decidedly better, and even a little more cheerful. 
 
 " It warn't much of a breakfust, but even a poor 
 breakfust tastes good to a 'iiungry man, as old Kite 
 Robinson uster say," remarked Phil, and at the pict- 
 ure thus called up boiii lads actually smiled. Then, 
 too, they caught a glimpse of the sun, which was a 
 slight comfort, though not so great as it might have 
 been, had it not shown them that they were headed 
 due north, instead of west, as they ha;^ supposed. 
 
 "We are headed for the north -pole," said Phil. 
 " Do you know of any place on which we might fetch 
 up, short of it?" 
 
 " Yes," re^^lied his companion, " there are islands 
 somewhere to the north of here, though I don't know 
 exactly where. I don't believe they are more than a 
 hundred miles or so away, though." 
 
 " Let's make a try for them," cried Phil, with sudden 
 energy. "Anything is better than lying still, and we 
 are not done for yet, by a long shot." 
 
 So all that long, weary day the plucky lads tried to 
 cheer each other as they alternately paddled, rested, 
 and made melancholy pretence of enjoying their raw, 
 fishy eggs. At length, however, their supply of these 
 was 'chausted, they were too utterly wearied to pad- 
 
 • ( 
 
 l| 
 
 li'^ 
 
 I* 
 
1' 
 
 
 240 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 it 
 
 (lie any longer, and night was again coming on. The 
 fog had thinned during the day, but only so as to dis- 
 close a wider expanse of chill waters, and with the 
 coming of night it closed in again as dense as ever. 
 The only comfort was that the wind had gone down 
 with the sun, leaving a smooth sea. 
 
 " I'm bopt out, old man !" said Phil, at length, as he 
 laid his p.iadle on deck. 
 
 "So am I," answered Serge, "and, what is worse — 
 Here the lad suddenly checked himself. He would 
 not add to his comrade's misery by disclosing, any 
 sooner than he could help, the new source of dread 
 that had just been revcp.led to him by a peculiar motion 
 of their frail craft. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 SAVED BY A MIRACLE 
 
 Serge had noticed for some time that the move- 
 ments of the tiny craft in whicli he and Phil Ryder 
 were navigating the mighty waters of Bering Sea were 
 heavy and lagging. It seemed to have lost life and 
 buoyancy. Instead of gliding smoothly through the 
 water, it seemed to drag, as though its bottom were foul 
 with grasses or barnacles. Serge of course knew that 
 this could not be the case, and, after puzzling over the 
 matter for some time, ccncluded that the fault did not 
 lie so much with the boat as in its exhausted crew, who 
 no longer possessed the strength necessary to force it 
 ahead with the same speed as formerly. 
 
 All at once he felt a movement of the bidarkie's 
 skin between its wide-spread ribs, and heard a peculiar 
 sobbing or sucking sound that instantly explained the 
 situation. It also filled him with a dread before which 
 even the fact that they were drifting helplessly over 
 the vast expanse of the great northern sea seemed in- 
 significant. 
 
 A bidarkie, or " bidarka," as it is often spelled, made 
 of green sea-lion skins stretched as tightly as possible 
 over a wooden or bone frame, allowed to dry in the 
 wind until they become taut and smooth as a drum- 
 head, and then liberally coated with seal-oil, is, for 
 twenty-four hours or so, one of the swiftest, safest, 
 smoothest, and most graceful of craft. A few years 
 ago two wrecked sailors made a two-thousand mile 
 voyage from one of the Aleutian Islands to San Fran- 
 
 16 
 
1 
 
 "I 
 
 242 
 
 THE pur-seal's tooth 
 
 Cisco in a nineteen-foot bidarkie, but they hugged the 
 coast, took inside passages wherever it was possible, 
 and camped on shore every night. By so doing they 
 were enabled to lift their frail craft from the water, 
 and allow it to dry six, eight, or ten hours out of every 
 twenty-four. Thus it retained its shape and remained 
 serviceable during the whole of that tremendous voy- 
 age. If they had not been able to do this, their bid- 
 arkie would have been worthless by the end of forty- 
 eight hours, the one great fault of this craft being that 
 after a while its skin covering becomes water -soaked 
 and will stretch. In this condition it sags in and out 
 between the ribs with strange sounds, until the boat 
 becomes wellnigh unmanageable. By-and-by, if the 
 soaking and stretching process continues, the skins are 
 so softened that the sinew threads with which they are 
 sewn together pull out and the seams open. Then in 
 a moment the bidarkie fills and sinks like a lump of 
 lead. 
 
 In the present case tl t softening process had begun, 
 and Serge was aware of it. Before another day was 
 done their frail craft would have ceased to float, and 
 they — well, they would be beyond the reach of human 
 aid or knowledge. Their bodies would be hidden deep 
 beneath the cold green surface of Bering Sea, while 
 their unknown fate would serve as a matter for sad 
 conjecture for many a day to the dear ones whom 
 they should never again see. 
 
 AH this flashed through the lad's mind in an instant, 
 with the bidarkie's first sobbing intimation that its 
 strength was nearly gone, and he was on the point of 
 sharing his unhappy knowledge with his companion. 
 But why should he ? Poor Phil was wretched enough 
 already. No ; he would keep the discovery to himself, 
 and his well-loved comrade should be spared its added 
 terror as long as possible. So, when the latter laid 
 
SAVED BY A MIRACLE 
 
 243 
 
 down his paddle, declaring himself utterly exhausted, 
 Serge answered, " So am I, and, what is worse, I don't 
 believe we will be able to stand watch during the 
 night. Certainly both of us can't keep awake all the 
 time, and so, old fellow, I would advise you to get a 
 nap if you can. Before sleep overpowers me I will 
 wake you, and so we will keep watch by turn as best 
 we may." 
 
 " Wliat shall we watch for ?" asked Phil, in a hope- 
 less tone. 
 
 " For tlie vessel that is to pick us up, to be sure," 
 replied Serge. 
 
 The former uttered a bitter little laugh, as he said : 
 "Then we might as well watch with our eyes shut. 
 There is no wind to move a sailing-vessel, even if there 
 were one in all this great awful sea, which 1 doubt. 
 As for a steamer, she would have to pass within fifty 
 feet before any one aboard could either see or hear us. 
 So I am going to try and forget our troubles in sleep, 
 and would advise you to do the same. Good-night, 
 old man." 
 
 With this the disheartened lad slipped wearily down 
 into the bottom of the canoe until his head rested on 
 the hatch-coaming, in which position he was speedily 
 oblivious of his melancholy surroundings. He dreamed 
 of his adored father and dear Aunt Ruth, and was once 
 more in his far-away, well-loved Eastern home. So he 
 smiled as he slept. 
 
 As Serge sat there alone amid the immensity of that 
 silent sea, he too thought of his home in green Sitka, 
 of the mother and sisters who were watching for him, 
 and he groaned aloud as he realized how little chance 
 he had of ever seeing them again. Then the brave 
 father, whose memory had been with him all these 
 years, seemed to appear to him with loving words. By 
 these he was so soothed and comforted that, after 
 
 i 
 
 11 " 
 
 il ! 
 
I 
 
 
 244 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 U 
 
 ? 
 
 a while, he too slipped down, and, with his white face 
 upturned to the dim sky, dropped into a slumber so 
 profound that it seemed as though nothing could ever 
 waken him from it. 
 
 So for an hour, or perhaps more, the bidarkie, still 
 upbearing its precious human freight, drifted through 
 limitless watery space unguided and unwatched, save 
 by Him who watches over all and takes note qf all in 
 this His world. 
 
 As she drifted, the tiny craft became aware of a 
 sister-ship towering dim and formless through the mist, 
 but drifting like herself. There is a bond of sympathy 
 between drifting ships, called by some people the at- 
 traction of floating bodies, that impels the smaller to 
 seek the company of the larger. So the little ship 
 drew gradually nearer and nearer to its big sister, and 
 was disappointed when the latter began to move away. 
 In another minute she would have disappeared, and the 
 sleeping lads would never have known of her presence 
 any more than she knew of theirs, had not something 
 so incredible and wellnigh impossible happened that 
 it might never happen again in all the years of the 
 world. 
 
 Just as the steamer began to move away, for the ship 
 that had come so silently drifting through the fog was 
 no other than the steamer Norsk, which had left St. 
 Paul that very afternoon, something small and sharp 
 struck Serge Belcofsky's face with stinging force. He 
 started up with a piercing scream of pain and fright, 
 but instantly wide awake. 
 
 His scream was answered by a loud "Hello! Who's 
 there ?" uttered in a clear, manly voice from the stern 
 of the vanishing ship. 
 
 "Help! Help! Don't leave us! Help! Help!" 
 yelled Phil and Serge, wild with excitement, hope, 
 and fear. At the same time they tried with desperate 
 
SAVED BY A MIRACLE 
 
 245 
 
 Jirough 
 
 energy to paddle after the vision of safety that had so 
 suddenly come to them, and now seemed about to dis- 
 appear as mysteriously as it had come. It did indeed 
 glide out of sight in the all-enshrouding fog; but ere 
 they lost hearing of the many sounds now arising from 
 it, a ship's boat, manned by lusty oarsmen who uttered 
 cheery shouts of encouragement, shot out of the mist 
 and, guided by the voices of the lads, came towards 
 them. In the bow stood the sturdy, well-balanced fig- 
 ure of a man of thirty, holding a flaring torch above 
 his head. The closely-bearded face thus revealed was 
 to Phil and Serge as the face of an angel, and one they 
 would never forget. 
 
 This man was Gerald Ilaraer, a Western Yankee, and 
 leader of the Yukon Trading Company, that the Norsk 
 was taking to Fort St. Michaels. It was he who, lean- 
 ing over the after-rail of the ship, just as her engines 
 were started, after being stopped for an hour for some 
 slight repairs, heard and answered thj despairing call 
 for help, that apparently came from the very waters 
 beneath him. The captain lay ill in his cabin, and the 
 first officer, a thick-headed fellow, who understood Eng- 
 lish very imperfectly, was in charge of the ship. 
 
 When Gerald Hamer ran forward, told him of what 
 he had heard, and begged him, in the name of human- 
 ity, to stop his ship and send a boat to the relief of those 
 who were crying for help, the fellow refused to do so. 
 
 "Ids some of dem nadives," he said; "ve cannod 
 vaste dime on dem." 
 
 " Natives nothing ! you thundering blockhead !" 
 roared Gerald Hamer. " If they were, you'd stop 
 and see what trouble they were in, or I'd know why. 
 But I tell you they are white men, and Americans. I 
 know the Yankee tongue when I hear it. If you don't ; 
 so stop your ship, and stop her quick, too, or, by Hookty, 
 I and my men will stop her for j^ou 1" 
 
 1! 
 
246 
 
 THE FUU-SEALS TOOTH 
 
 M 
 
 i 
 
 Thick-headed as he was, the mate realized in a mo- 
 ment that he could not safely refuse to obey this com- 
 mand, backed as it was by a score of sturdy Americans 
 who, at the sound of th3ir leader's voice, were gather- 
 ing about him like a swarm of angry hornets. So he 
 gave the requisite order in a surly tone, and the re- 
 cently-started engines were figain stopped. 
 
 "Bud I shall nod risg my mans for dot dirdy na- 
 dives," he said. " If a boad goes, den musd you dake 
 it yourselluf." 
 
 "Take it myself ! Certainly I will !" cried Gerald 
 Hamer. " Do you suppose I'd let you or your lubberly 
 crew have the honor of rescuing one of my countrymen ? 
 Not much ! Here, men, I want half a dozen volunteers 
 for dangerous boat -duty. Now don't all speak at 
 
 5> 
 
 once. 
 
 But they did, and, as though with the voice of one 
 man, raised a mighty shout of "Aye, aye, sir !" 
 
 Their leader smiled as he detailed six men to lower 
 a boat and go with him in it. To the others he said : 
 " You fellows stay here, and see that this ship doesn't 
 move an inch till I come back. Not an inch, if I'm 
 gone a year. Do you hear ?" 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir !" 
 
 "And keep the ship's bell ringing eight bells till I 
 get back, too, so that I can locate her if we get out 
 of sight." 
 
 "Aye, aye, sir!" and for the next fifteen minutes it 
 seemed as though the clangor of that brazen-throated 
 bell might have been heard from Bering Strait to 
 Oonimak. 
 
 " White men, as I said ; an 1 Americans, I'll be 
 bound!" cried Gerald Ilamer, as the light of his tore:, 
 fell on the object of his search. " Great Scott ! they're 
 only boys, and their craft is a water-logged bladder ! 
 How in the name of the good and the great — But 
 
m a mo- 
 his coni- 
 nericans 
 ! gatlier- 
 So lie 
 tlie re- 
 
 irdy na- 
 ou dake 
 
 Gerald 
 ubberly 
 rymeii? 
 Iiiiiteers 
 leak at 
 
 ! of one 
 
 lower 
 le said: 
 doesn't 
 , if I'm 
 
 s till I 
 ifet out 
 
 utes it 
 roated 
 •ait to 
 
 I'll be 
 
 torc:» 
 
 ihey're 
 
 idder ! 
 
 But 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 r 
 r 
 
 c 
 o 
 
 r; 
 
 (3 
 
 f 13 
 
 I "I 
 
 ^ 
 
m 
 
SAVED BV A MIIUCfiE 
 
 i>A7 
 
 there, lads ! no matter — you are safe now. Your trou- 
 bles are all over." 
 
 As he spoke these last words the strong man's voice 
 grew husky, and his eyes moistened, for poor Phil's 
 overstrained nerves had given way, and ho was sob- 
 bing hysterically, while Serge also seemed on the very 
 point of breaking down. 
 
 Very tenderly were the rescued lads lifted from the 
 frail little craft, that had upheld them so bravely, into 
 the ship's boat. They were too stiff and numbed to 
 stand. They could not even sit up, but sank limply 
 into the bottom of the boat, their heads pillowed on 
 coats gladly offered by members of the crew. 
 
 Then, with the bidarkie in tow, the boat was headed 
 back through the fog towards the clanging bell. Ten 
 minutes later, Phil and Serge, each surrounded by a 
 group of rough but willing nurses, were between warm 
 blankets, their bidarkie had been hoisted on deck, and 
 the good ship Norsk was cleaving the waters of Bering 
 Sea, on her way to the distant port of St. Michaels. 
 
 I I 
 
 ^Li 
 
 fy.j 
 
 „J 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 JAPONSKl's TEMPTATION AND THE PUR-TRADER's OFFER 
 
 When the steamer Norsk left the harbor of Oona- 
 laska, on the very day that Mr. John Ryder took lunch 
 with her captain, she carried with her the fur-seal's 
 tooth. Japonski, the table -boy, had listened with 
 avaricious ears to the story of its value. lie hoped 
 soon to go to Sitka himself, for he had a brother there, 
 employed as wardroom boy on an American man-of- 
 war. How well it would be to have one thousand of 
 those big American dollars to show to him and to 
 spend ! Japonski's brother had laughed when he sailed 
 on the Norsk, and told him that not many yen could 
 be picked up in the merchant - service. So it had 
 proved ; but here was a chance. A tooth would be a 
 very little thing, and so easy to hide. The white man 
 said, "He who stole it would have no good-fortune"; 
 but he must have said that to make him, Japonski, 
 afraid ; but a Hakodate man was not afraid. He 
 would prove it. 
 
 So Japonski slipped the fur-seal's tooth up his 
 sleeve, even while, with innocent face, he handed the 
 overcoat to Mr. Ryder. That night, in the privacy of 
 his own cubby-hole, just off the pantry, he examined 
 his prize, and gloated over it. The white man had 
 gone without suspecting him, and the ship was already 
 far on her way. Whatever this thing was worth, it 
 was his, and no one would ever know how he obtained 
 it. He smiled scornfully at the thought of its bring- 
 
 .%■ 
 
JAPONSKl's TEMPTATION 
 
 249 
 
 ing him any misfortune ; but, as he looked at it closely, 
 the smile faded from his face. 
 
 That bit of ivory had never been carved by Indian 
 hands, nor by Aleuts, nor Eskimo. Nowhere in the 
 world could such dainty work be done, save in his own 
 country, and who would thus depict the frowning face 
 of Buddha, terror of evil-doers, except a devout native 
 of Japan. That was one emblem borne by the ivory 
 tooth. On the opposite side was a fish. What could 
 it be but the lucky fish of Queen Jung-gu, the con- 
 queror of Corea ? 
 
 Alas, that he had dared steal a curio of such omen 
 as this ; but he could not give it back, lie dared not 
 give it to any except him from whom he had stolen it. 
 So he hid it away; but he thought of it all the time, 
 and from that day all things seemed to go wrong with 
 him. Never had he broken so many dishes, never 
 spoiled so much food, never so incurred the captain's 
 wrath. Still he clung to the tooth, and would not part 
 with it. The white man had said it was worth one 
 thousand silver dollars ; that would be fifteen hundred 
 silver yen, and on that sum he could live like a prince 
 for many years in his own country. 
 
 At the Pribyloffs the JVorsk took on board one Nik- 
 rik, an Aleut, who had been for some years employed 
 at St. Michaels, to act as a pilot through the shoals of 
 Norton's Sound. Although there was a strong gen- 
 eral resemblance between this man and the cabin-boy, 
 each of them regarded the other as belonging to an 
 inferior race. As, however, they were both looked 
 down on by the whites, they were almost forced into 
 each other's society, and thus it came about that, very 
 early in their acqu?jntanee, Japonski displayed his 
 treasure to Nikrik, and asked him what he thought 
 of it. 
 
 Now the Aleut was too great a traveller not to 
 
 i/[ 
 
HI 
 
 
 260 
 
 TIIK FUn-SEAr/s TOQTII. 
 
 Iiavo heard of tljo fur-sears tooth, for it was known — 
 at least, by fame — to all Northern Alaska, and the mo- 
 ment he saw it he was determined to possess it. So 
 he told Japonski tales of its strange power for evil over 
 all but those native to Alaska, and tried to frighten 
 him into giving it up. But Japonski only smiled 
 blandly and said, " Alle same I keep him." 
 
 Still, he was made uneasy by these tales, and from 
 that moment misfortunes seemed to crowd upon him 
 more thickly than ever. At length he so enraged Cap- 
 tain Kuhn by his carelessness that that individual 
 turned purple in the face, became speechless, and was 
 threatened with an apoplectic fit. Japonski had seen 
 him thus before, and knew just what to do. There was 
 a certain medicine that must be given quickly. He pre- 
 pared it, and forced a spoonful down the captain's 
 throat. To his horror the captain turned white and 
 rigid, and, to all appearances, died, then and there. 
 
 The terrified cabin-boy rushed out for aid, and the 
 very first person he came across was the chief engi- 
 neer, who was regulating a delicate bit of machinery. 
 The engineer was so startled by Japonski's sudden ap- 
 pearance that he dropped a tool into the machinery, 
 something snapped, and, a moment later, the engines 
 were stopped for repairs. Then Japonski ran and hid 
 himself in his cubby-hole, where Nikrik, finding him 
 some time later, said that if the captain died and the 
 ship was lost it would all be owing to the fur-seal's 
 tooth, which ue must give up at once in order to avoid 
 further disaster. 
 
 Upon this, Japonski conceived such a horror of the 
 bit of ivory, that he rushed frantically on deck and 
 flung it with all his might into the sea. Almost at the 
 same instant the engines were again started, and, when 
 he went below, the first news he heard was that the 
 captain was getting better. So he was glad of what 
 
I 
 
 m 
 
 it 
 lit- 
 
I?t 
 
 •n 
 
 -] 
 M 
 
 
 73 
 
 
JAPONSKl S TEMPTATICV 
 
 251 
 
 he had done, though it had cost him a fortune in silver 
 yen. 
 
 Early the next morning, when Nikrik went on deck 
 before j .ny one else except the watch, he spied the bid- 
 arkie in which our lads had come, and examined it 
 closely to see where it had been made, and by whom. 
 As he turned it over, something rattled inside of its 
 parchment skin. The Aleut reached in to feel for the 
 cause of this sound, and, when he withdrew hii» hand, 
 clutching the fur-seal's tooth that he had supposed was 
 lost forever, his oily face was overspread with a broad 
 grin o." gratified surprise. He knew, of course, that Ja- 
 ponski had flung it overboard, and now he also knew 
 that, by some miracle which he attributed to the magic 
 power of the tooth itself, it had fallen into the drifting 
 bidarkie. Nikrik had recognized the lads when they 
 were brought on board the night before ; but, with the 
 usual reticence of lis race, he had not yet inentioned 
 this fact. Now he was glad of it, because it was pos- 
 sible that one of them might claim the treasure he had 
 just stolen; for to an Aleut it is as much of a theft to 
 take a thing from a bidarkie as from its owner. So 
 Nikrik's guiltv conscience caused him to avoid Phil 
 and Serge as much as possible during the short time 
 that they remained on the same ship. 
 
 The pilot's thoughts dwelt so constantly on his 
 newly-acquired treasure that, in his absent-mindedness, 
 he ran tb.e Nbrttk ashore, when close to Fort St. Mi- 
 chpcls, in one of the channels with which he was most 
 lamiliar. This so enraged the mate that he ordered 
 him from the bridge, and declared he should have no 
 pay. That very evening, on shore, Nikrik engaged in 
 a gambling game with some; Yukon Indians, who had 
 come to the fort to trade. I?» this, luck ran so strongly 
 against him, that, before morning, he had staked and 
 lost everything of value he possessed, including the 
 
iir 
 
 i< 
 
 252 
 
 THE fur-seal's TOOTH 
 
 fur-seal's tooth. This fell to the lot of a young Indian, 
 who, ignorant of its true value, traded it to a recently- 
 arrived clerk of the post for a potmd of tobacco. Witli 
 an air of great satisfaction the clerk added this new 
 charm to some others that d.angled from his massive 
 (plated) watch-chain. There it attracted curiosity, 
 envy, and whispered remarks from all the natives 
 whose eyes liappened to light upon it. 
 
 Phil and Serge did not leave the bunks in which 
 their friendly rescuers had placed them for a day and 
 a night after going on board the N'orsky dining which 
 time they slept almost continuously. Vi^h'% ;'<ey did 
 appear on deck, they were so thoroug! ;;y ivrreshed 
 that no trace remained of their recent terrible advent- 
 ure, that now seemed to them only like some dreadful 
 nightmare. Until now they had not known nor cared 
 whither they were being carried; but the moment they 
 Pjtepped on deck, and while they were being warmly 
 greeted by Gerald Ilamer, their eyes turned wonder- 
 ingly to a low coast visible on the right. As soon as 
 they found a chance they inquired eagerly what land it 
 was, and on being told that it was the southern coast of 
 Norton Sound, while the Alaska Company's trading 
 post of Fort St. Michaels was directly ahead, they gaz d 
 at each other in speechless dismay. 
 
 " Is that where you were bound for when you gol 
 lost?" asked Mr. Haraer, politely; for he had not yet 
 learned the story of their wanderings. 
 
 " No," answered Phil, with a melancholy smile; " we 
 were bound for Sitka." 
 
 " Sitka !" exclaimed Gerald Ilamor. " Then you 
 have come from the north, I suppose?" 
 
 " No, we have come from Victoria, which, I beV < e, 
 is somewhat south of this." 
 
 " Well, I should say it was ! About three thousauti 
 miles ! And, as Sitka is all of twenty-one hundred miles 
 
JArONSKl's TEMPTATION 
 
 253 
 
 yet 
 
 (( 
 
 we 
 
 you 
 
 from here, I wisli you would tell me how you liavi 
 managed to miss it so completely, and drift up into 
 this latitude?" 
 
 As Nikrik ran the ship aground on a mud-flat just 
 then, there was plenty of time, while waiting for the 
 tide to float her off, for the lads to relate the story of 
 their wanderings and adventures. The fur-trader lis- 
 tened to it with profound interest, and, when it was 
 concluded, he said : 
 
 " If that doesn't beat all the roundabout travelling 
 and hard hick that ever I hoard of ! I should think 
 you would be sick of the sea, and willing to try dry 
 land for a while by this time." 
 
 "So we are," answered Serge; "but, as the railroad 
 isn't even laid out yet, I suppose we shall have to go 
 back on this ship — at least, as far as Oonalaska." 
 
 " But she isn't going there." said Mr. Hamer. " She 
 is chartered to carry a cago of furs from liere to 
 China." 
 
 " AVhew !" whistled Phil. "And is that where you 
 are going ?" 
 
 " Oh no, I am bound for Sitka," laughed the trader. 
 
 " What ?" cried both lads, in amazement. 
 
 " iTes, I mean it ; though, to be sure, I expect to reach 
 there in rather a curious way. You see, I have in this 
 ship a steamboat in sections, a saw-mill, some mining 
 machinery, and a couple of hundred tons of merchan- 
 dise- I am going to put my steamboat together as 
 soou ., . we get on si ore, load my freight aboard, and 
 take her a thousand miles up the Yukon River to the 
 mining camp at Forty-mile Creek. There I sh.dl leave 
 her for the winter and go out on snow-shoes, with dog- 
 sledges, seven hundred miles across country to Pyra- 
 mid Harbor, where I can get a steamer most any time 
 for Sitka, or Juneau, either of which is only about one 
 hundred miles farther. From one of those places I 
 
is ;• 
 
 254 
 
 THi: FUR-SEAL'S TOOTH 
 
 shfill go down to San Francisco for a new stock of 
 goods, and have them up here in time to meet my 
 steamboat again in the early summer. 
 
 " Most of th*c men I have with me now are ship- 
 carpenters, who will go back on this steamer to San 
 Francisco, by way of China ; so only about half a dozen 
 will remain with me, and I should be very glad of a 
 couple more hands. Now, if you care to take this trip 
 with me and are willing to work your passage, T will 
 pay all your expenses, and gua'antee to land you in 
 ^Ttka, sooner or later. What do you say? Will you 
 
 ► it?" 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX 
 SERGE RECOVERS A BIT OF LOST TROPERTY 
 
 Ox\ hearing the surprising and unexpected proposi- 
 tion made by the leader of the fur-traders at the close 
 of the last chapter, Phil and Serge looked inquiringly 
 at each other. Both of them were greatly pleased 
 with Gerald Hamer, who displayed the strength of 
 character, combined with an engaging franknes^'s, that 
 always appeals to manly lads, especially when exhib- 
 ited by one a little older than themselves. 
 " What do you say, Serge ?" 
 " I'd love to do it."" 
 '^Sowouldl." 
 
 " I don't know what else we can do, anyway. I'm 
 sure we don't want to go to China under the circum- 
 stances, and we haven't any money to live on here 
 while waiting for some schooner to come along and 
 take us away." 
 
 " No," said Phil ; " and, as it is now well on into 
 August, we might have to wait all winter, which woul.l 
 be horrid." 
 
 " It would be a splendid chance to see the country." 
 " So it would, and that is just what I came North 
 for ; while, thus far, I haven't seen much except the 
 waters surrounding it, and a few islands. If it wasn't 
 for my father, I'd say * yes ' quick enough. But what 
 will he think ?— in fact, what must he be thinking now ? 
 If I could only get word to him, somehow, that I was 
 all right, and that there wasn't the slightest cause for 
 anxiety." 
 
 I 
 
 I I 
 
 ;i 
 
250 
 
 THE fur-seal's tooth 
 
 " And if I could only send some comforting message 
 to my poor dear mother," reflected Serge. 
 
 "There is a chance to do that," said Gerald Ila- 
 mer, "which I suppose I ought to have mentioned in 
 the first place. This steamer is ohliged to stop some- 
 where near the Pribyloft' Islands on her return voyage, 
 to drop the native pilot who belongs there, and whom 
 they are under contract to return. You might send 
 letters by him as far as that, and run the chance of 
 their being forwarded. I suppose you might make 
 some arrangement to go that far yours'^ves as well, 
 though I am afraid Captain Kulm would charge a tidy 
 sum for your passage. Still, if you want to ask him, 
 and he is well enough to see you, I will — " 
 
 " We don't," interrupted Phil, resolutely. " We 
 haven't any money with which to pay for a passage to 
 the Pribyloffs, and I, for one, wouldn't go near them 
 again, even if I owned the steamer — in fact, I am tired 
 and sick of this miserable, cold, foggy Bering Sea, 
 and long to get away from it. It seems to me that a 
 trip on dry land is the thing I should most enjoy just 
 at present. So, if — " 
 
 "Don't conceive a false impression of what I am 
 proposing," laughed Gerald Hamer. "Most of my 
 coming journey is to be made on the waters of *bc 
 Yukon, and will be filled with hardships and trials. 
 There will be fine hunting of moose, deer, bear, and 
 other such game, if you care for that ; but not much 
 else in the way of recreation. Then, the last part of 
 the trip will be made in arctic weather, over snowy 
 plains and frozen lakes, up ice - bound rivers, and 
 through mountain passes where the drifts will be hun- 
 dreds of feet deep." 
 
 " That's so !" exclainiied Phil. " You did mention 
 'snow-shoes and sledges.' That settles it. I have 
 always wanted to be an arctic explorer, and I'd rather 
 
SERGE RECOVERS A BIT OF LOST PROPERTY 257 
 
 message 
 
 aid Ila- 
 joned in 
 op some- 
 voyage, 
 id whom 
 jht send 
 lance of 
 it make 
 as well, 
 je a tidy 
 isk hiiu, 
 
 . " We 
 
 -ssage to 
 ar them 
 am tired 
 ing Sea, 
 le that a 
 joy just 
 
 It 
 
 I am 
 
 of my 
 
 of *he 
 
 trials. 
 
 ;ar, and 
 
 ^t much 
 
 [part of 
 
 snowy 
 
 rs, and 
 
 )e hun- 
 
 lention 
 have 
 rather 
 
 take a dog-sledge and snow-shoe journey than anything 
 else in the worki. Besides, as it really seems to he the 
 only way for us to get to Sitka, it would be worse than 
 foolish for us to throw away such a good chance. I've 
 done so many foolish things already on this journey 
 that I don't mean to be guilty of another between here 
 and Sitka. So, Mr. Hamer, we not only accept your 
 offer, but thank you heartily for making it, and arc 
 ready to go with you this very minute. Aren't we. 
 Serge?" 
 
 "It's just as you say," laughed Serge. "So long 
 as I got you into this scrape, I'm bound to see yo»i 
 through it, and stick by you till we get to Sitka, if it 
 takes the rest of my natural life." 
 
 " You're a trump, old man !" cried Phil, heartily, 
 clapping his friend on the shoulder as he spoke. "And 
 our motto, like that of the fellow who was bound 
 across the plains to Pike's Peak, shall be ' Sitka, or 
 bust !' I'm awfully glad, though, that you feel as you 
 do about having got me into a scrape,* for I had a sort 
 of uneasy notion that it was I who had brought you 
 into one." 
 
 While Phil and Serge were writing the letters to 
 be sent back by Nikrik, the Norsk floated off the mud- 
 bank, and proceeded to an anchorage nearly three 
 miles off St. Michaels, a nearer approach being barred 
 by shoal water. 
 
 St. Michaels is the most northerly of the Alaska Fur 
 Company's trading-posts, and is also the most north- 
 erly settlement of white men in Alaska. To be sure, 
 there are two or three lonely whites in charge of the 
 Government Reindeer Station at Port Clarence, one 
 hundred miles farther north, while away uj) on the 
 bleak shore of the Arctic Ocean, at the extreme north- 
 ern point of the American mainland, the Stars and 
 Stripes wave proudly above another brave little band, 
 
 17 
 
258 
 
 THE FUK-SEAL'S TOOTH 
 
 who maintain the Government Relief Station of Point 
 Barrow. 
 
 St. Michaels consists of the company's store and 
 warehouse, an old loop-holed block-house, some twenty 
 residences, a Greek church painted red, a school-house, 
 and the few scattered huts or tents of visiting natives. 
 It is located on the bluff, seaward point of a small 
 barren island situated eighty miles north of the great 
 Yukon delta, and affording the first bit of coast avail- 
 able for white occupation in all that distance of limit- 
 less swamps and mud-flats. As it is the only point at 
 whicii sea-going vessels can approach anywhere near the 
 coast, it is the great transfer station for the entire Yukon 
 River trade, which, beyond here, is carried on by means 
 of small stern-wheeled steamboats of less than three feet 
 draught. It was on the island of St. Michaels, there- 
 fore, that Gerald Hamer proposed to land his cargo, 
 set up his steamboat, and prepare for his long trip into 
 the distant and almost unexplored interior. 
 
 As soon as the steamer Norsk came to anchor, he 
 borrowed our lads' bidarkie, and, taking only Nikrik 
 with him, went ashore to select a landing-place and 
 camp site. It was late in the afternoon when he re- 
 turned alone, wearied by his hard trip and angry at 
 the reception with which he had met, but more de- 
 termined than ever to proceed with his undertaking, in 
 spite of all obstacles. The Alaska Company had for 
 so long monopolized the fur trade of the vast region 
 drained by the mighty Yukon and its tributaries that 
 they were furious at the prospect of a rival, and deter- 
 mined to prevent it from establishing itself, if possible. 
 Their annual supply-ship from San Francisco, bring- 
 ing a large stock of merchandise, several new clerks, 
 and the news of ,the world, including that of the for- 
 mation of a rival company, had arrived and departed 
 shortly before the coming of the Norsk. Consequently, 
 
of Point 
 
 tore and 
 e twenty 
 •ol-house, 
 natives, 
 a small 
 the great 
 ast avail- 
 of limit- 
 point at 
 ! near the 
 i*e Yukon 
 ay means 
 ;hree feet 
 Is, there- 
 is cargo, 
 trip into 
 
 ichor, he 
 J Nikrik 
 lace and 
 n he re- 
 mgry at 
 ore de- 
 king, in 
 had for 
 region 
 BS that 
 deter- 
 )08sible. 
 bring- 
 clerks, 
 |he for- 
 iparted 
 luently, 
 
 SERGE RECOVERS A BIT OF LOST PROPERTY 259 
 
 when Gerald Hamer went ashore and introduced him- 
 self to the agent in charge, he was very coldly received, 
 and was forbidden to land his cargo within the limits 
 of the post. 
 
 Upon his return, which he was obliged to make 
 alone, Nikrik having disappeared among the huts of 
 the visiting natives, the young fur -trader called his 
 men together and addressed them as follows: 
 
 " Lads, we've got a fight on our hands. The people 
 on shore say that we sha'n't land. The whole settle- 
 ment is a trading-post belonging to the old company, 
 who have fenced it in, as well as a long strip of the 
 best beach. The only other place where we could 
 make a landing is on a bit of beach just beyond their 
 line, and I think they mean to fence and claim that 
 to-morrow. Now, I don't intend to interfere with any 
 one's established rights, nor am I inclined to yield my 
 own. That strip of unfeneed beach is government 
 land, to which our right is as good as theirs. I pro- 
 pose, therefore, to steal a march on them by making a 
 landing to-night with a raft of lumber, staking out a 
 claim, and having our shanties up before morning. 
 What do you say ? Are you with me ?" 
 
 " Aye, aye, sir !" came the hearty shout of the en- 
 tire party, and then, in individual voices : " That we 
 are !" "Only you lead the way, and we'll follow close 
 enough !" " We'll euchre them yet !" " I'd like to 
 see them try to drive us off from Uncle Sam's land !" 
 and so on, until the smiling leader raised his hand for 
 silence. 
 
 " Thank you, men," he said, simply. " I knew I 
 could depend on you, and now let us get to work." 
 
 All night long, under the skilful direction of the 
 leader, the labor progressed steadily and cheerfully. 
 Boats plied incessantly between ship and shore, a huge 
 raft of lumber was floated to the beach, and when. 
 
260 
 
 TUB fur-seal's tooth 
 
 some hours after sunrise, the sleepy inmates of Fort 
 St. Michaels issued from their houses, tLcy stared with 
 amazement at what, but the evening before, had been 
 a stretch of vacant land just beyond their boundary. 
 Now, a large portion of it, including the beach, was 
 staked out, a landing of log crib-work filled with rocks 
 projected into the water, two rough board shanties and 
 a dozen tents had been erected, camp-fires were blaz- 
 ing cheerily, and the sturdy colonists of this new settle- 
 ment were busily eating thtur well-earned breakfasts. 
 
 In all this work Phil and Serge had displayed such 
 willingness and activity as to draw forth the hearty 
 approval of Gerald Hamer. Through the night he 
 seemed to be everywhere, and in all places at once, 
 always ready to lend a helping hand or speak a cheer- 
 ing word, and at breakfast-time Phil confided to Serge 
 that, under such leadership, Sitka really seemed nearer 
 at hand than it had since they started from Victoria. 
 
 As it had been begun, so the work progressed with 
 perfect method and the utmost expedition. In ten 
 days after the Nbrsk^s arrival, her e'ntire cargo was on 
 shore and under cover, the steamboat was ready to bo 
 launched and receive her' -machinery, and it seemed 
 certain that, early in September, the Yukon party 
 would be off. All this had been accomplished in the 
 face of heavy odds, and every impediment had been 
 thrown in the way of the new company by the old 
 settlers. If Gerald Hamer hired native laborers, 
 threats and bribes were used to induce these to desert 
 him. Those who did work for him were paid in sil- 
 ver coin, which was pronounced worthless at the com- 
 pany's store, and refused when offered in exchange for 
 goods. 
 
 Native spies in the employ of the old company 
 lurked about the camp at all hours ; tools were stolen, 
 or rendered worthless, at every opportunity, and boats 
 
 •ii! 
 
SERGG RECOVERS A BIT OP LOST PROPERTY 201 
 
 were set adrift, or had holes bored in their bottoms 
 during the night. 
 
 At length Gerald Hamcr asked Phil and Serge if 
 they would get what sleep they could in the daytime, 
 and act as camp-guards at night. "I feel that I can 
 trust you two implicitly," ho said. 
 
 They willingly agreed to do this, and on that very 
 night, while they were patrolling opposite sides of the 
 camp, Serge sprang upon a skulking figure who, by a 
 violent effort, wrenched himself free and escaped, leav- 
 ing only a broken watch-chain in the lad's hand. To 
 his unbounded amazement, when he and Phil examined 
 this trophy by lantern-light, he found attached to it, 
 as a charm, the identical bit of carved ivory that he had 
 given to his comrade in New London, and which the 
 latter had lost so long ago. 
 
 "The fur-seal's tooth!" he cried, almost doubting 
 the evidence of his eyes. 
 
 " It certainly is !" exclaimed Phil, as he examined 
 it curiously. 
 
 " There must be magic in it, or how could it possi- 
 bly have come here ?" added Serge. 
 
 " Let me have that bit of chain and the rest of those 
 charms, and I'll find out what magic there is about it," 
 said Phil, mysteriously. 
 
 Serge gave then to him, and on the following day 
 Phil went, for the first time, to the company's store in 
 the trading-post. 
 
 " Do you know to whom these belong ?" he asked 
 of the first man he met, at th« nme time displaying 
 the trophy captured the night before. 
 
 " Why, yes," answered the man, examining them 
 closely. '* They belong to that fellow over there." 
 
 Turning in the direction indicated, Phil beheld the 
 man who, he believed, had injured him more than any 
 one else in the world — Simon Goldollar. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 A PROSPECT OP SNOW-SHOES AND SLEDGES 
 
 " You scoundrel !" shouted Phil, springing to where 
 Goldollar was seated at a desk, and standing squarely 
 in front of him. "How dare you show your thief's 
 face among honest men ?" 
 
 " Oh, it is you, is it ?" retorted the other, coolly, star- 
 ing at Phil from head to foot. " What are you doing 
 here, where you have no business and are not wanted, 
 and what do you mean by calling me a thief ?" 
 
 "I mean what I say. Didn't you steal this from 
 me?" Here Phil produced the fur-sp < tooth. 
 
 "No, I did not. I bought it froi ^nkon Indian 
 a few days ago." 
 
 " That's false, and you know it. But never mind. 
 Didn*t you steal nearly one hundred dollars from me 
 on the Canadian Pacific train f 
 
 "No, I did not. I saw you stick a wad of bills in 
 your pocket, and thought at the time you were the 
 most careless fellow with money I ever knew ; but I 
 never touched it or thought of doing such a thing." 
 
 "Perhaps you will also deny having me arrested on 
 a false charge in Victoria ?" said Phil, his voice trem- 
 bling with anger. 
 
 "Yes, I do deny having you arrested on a false 
 charge, but not on a true one. The charge was threat- 
 ened assault and battery, and I think I let you off 
 pretty easy by not staying to press it. Now, if you 
 don't keep a civil tongue in your head, and get out of 
 here pretty quick, you'll find yourself in a worse fix 
 
 wm 
 
A PUOSI'ECT OF SNOW-BIIOES AND SLEDOKS 2G3 
 
 mighty sudden. Say, Jacob, where did I got that fur- 
 seal's tooth I have been wearing as a wtitch-cliarm ?" 
 he asked of one of tlie group of clerks who had with 
 angry looks been loitering about Phil during this scene. 
 
 " Bought it of an Indian, for I saw you do it," was 
 the prompt reply. " So did I ;" " and I," spoke up two 
 more. " Hustle him out ! What does he mean by 
 coming here and insulting one of us !" cried others. 
 
 For once, prudence got the better of Phil's anger, 
 and, though ho believed at that moment he could thrash 
 all the clerks in tho store, ho wisely concluded not to 
 try. " I'll settle with you at some other time," he said 
 to Simon Goldollar; " and, in tho meantime, if you don't 
 want to be pitched overboard, you'd better not come 
 skulking about our camp in the night again." 
 
 Then, throwing lown tho fragment of watch-chain 
 with all its charms, except the fur-seal's tooth, at- 
 tached, he cast a contemptuous glance at the clerks, 
 and strode by them and out of the store, before they 
 could make up their minds whether to hustle him or not. 
 
 When Phil related this incident to Serge, the latter 
 chided him for venturing into the " lion's don," as ho 
 called it, without taking him along. 
 
 "But it was my quarrel and not yours," answered 
 the Yankee lad. 
 
 "Phil, you know bettor than to say that. In a 
 friendship that has been cemented as ours has, by the 
 sharing of dangers and pleasures, joys and sorrows, 
 starvation and plenty, one cannot have a quarrel nor a 
 trouble that does not belong equally to the other. 
 That is what I take to be the very meaning of the 
 word friendship." 
 
 " Right you are, old man ! and 1 won't do so again. 
 As it was, I came out of it unharmed; and now that we 
 have recovered the fur-seal's tooth, luck, according to 
 your belief, must be on our side." 
 
264 
 
 THE "' UR-SEAL's tooth 
 
 Soon after this, depredations on the camp liaving al- 
 most entirely ceased, Gerald Ilamer relieved our lads 
 from guard duty, and set them to collecting drift-wood 
 cii the beach, to be cut up and used as fuel undek* the 
 boiler of the new steamboat, the ChimOy as she had 
 been christened at her launching. 
 
 As all the drift in the vicinity of St. Michaels had 
 been gathered up for use in that fort, Phil and Serge 
 were compelled to go long distances up the beach, 
 gather what logs they could find into rafts, and pole 
 them to the camp. After three of such rafts had been 
 successfully landed, they went one day several miles 
 from camp for the one more that would be necessary 
 to complete their stock of fuel. 
 
 They worked hard all day at the collecting of this, 
 and, at length, shortly before sunset, had made ready a 
 larger raft than usual. They were in great haste, for 
 they feared darknes.. might overtake them before thoy 
 reached camp. Finally, Serge, who stood on the for- 
 ward or outer end of the raft, push-pole in hand, called 
 out to Phil, who had on long wading-boots, to shove 
 off. 
 
 Into that shove Phil threw all his strength, so that 
 the mass of logs had gathered good headway by the 
 time the deepening water compei'A^d him to scramble 
 on board. Ho sat still for a minute, or until the raft 
 was nearly one hundred yards from shore, to recover 
 his breath. Then he suddenly sprang to his feet, cry- 
 ing " Stop her, Serge ! stop her ! I Iiave left my pole 
 on shore." 
 
 As Serge hurriedly tried to comply with this request, 
 his pole, catching under the moving mass, wa^- snapped 
 short off. A strong wind was blowing off! the land, 
 and instantly both lads realized the danger of their 
 situation. * 
 
 " How could I have been so careless !" exclaimed 
 
A PROSPECT OP SNOW-SHOES AND SLEDGES 265 
 
 cry- 
 pole 
 
 poor Scrgi', his face ])ale with dismay. " It wasn't your 
 carelessness, old man; it was mine," replied Phil. "If 
 I hadn't left that wretched pole on shore, we could have 
 managed her oasy enough. Now I am going to do 
 my best to repair my fault." 
 
 As he spoke, die impetuous lad begaa pulling off his 
 boots. 
 
 " No, Phil, you mustn't try that," said Serge, at the 
 same time laying a detaining hand on the other's 
 shoulder. " The water is too cold for you to swim to 
 the shore and back again. Besides, I doubt if you 
 could catch the raft, at the rate the wind Js now mov- 
 ing her." 
 
 "But I can wade more than half-way," objected 
 Phil. 
 
 '* Nnt on this sticky mud bottom. I don't believe 
 you could w ».de ten steps." 
 
 " What can we do, then ? We can't sit tamely here 
 and drift out to sea. Oh, Serge, the horror of it ! the 
 terror! the awf ulness ! We can't endure it again. 
 Let us both take to the water, and make a try for the 
 shore together. Yes, old man, that is what we must 
 do ! There is no other way." 
 
 With this, Phil, who had already got rid of his boots, 
 began to throw off his coat. 
 
 " Hold on, Phil ! I see something that looks like a 
 boat! Yes, it is a native boat coming from up the 
 beach, and towards us." 
 
 Serge was right. In a few minutes more a large 
 bidarrah, filled wi ii native employes of the trading- 
 post, drew near, and its occupants stopped rowing a 
 short distance from the raft, to see what the lads were 
 doing. 
 
 " Come and take us off!" shouted Phil. " Don't you 
 see that we are helpless?" 
 
 " How much you give ?" asked a leathern-faced old 
 
266 
 
 THE FUR-SEAL S TOOTH 
 
 Eskimo, who sat in the stern, and seemed to command 
 the craft. " You give ton dollar ?" 
 
 "Yes," whispered Phil; "we will give you anything 
 you want, when we get back to camp." 
 
 " No ; give him now." 
 
 *' But we haven't any money with us." 
 
 "Then me go. Good-bye." The bidarrah actually 
 began to move ahead, while the face of the old image 
 in the stern was rendered still more hideous by a ma- 
 licious grin. 
 
 "Hold on !" screamed Phil, in desperation, "I will 
 give you this, and it is worth man^ times ten dol- 
 lars." 
 
 The bidarrah came a little closer, that the old man 
 might see what was offered. 
 
 " All light," he said, holding out his hand for the 
 coveted prize. 
 
 In another moment the lads had crossed the narrow 
 divide between a deadly danger and certain safety, 
 and the fur-seaPs tooth had found a new owner. 
 
 Soon after this narrow escape from imminent peril, 
 our lads bade farewell to the Nbrsk^ which steamed away 
 to the southward, bearing all of Gerald Hamer's party 
 save those who wore to follow his lead into the far in- 
 terior. She also bore Nikrik, who carried with him a 
 large package of letters wrapped in oil-skin, which he 
 was instructed to deliver unopened aboard the first 
 south-bound vessel that should touch at the Pribyloff 
 Islands. Thus, although Mr. Ryder did not receive 
 his son's letter, he learned of his whereabouts, and, filled 
 with a new hope, ordered the schooner Philomel to be 
 headed towards distant St. Michaels. 
 
 At length, one morning in late September, after many 
 vexatious delays, the steamboat, with whose fortunes 
 our lads had cast their own, was laden and ready to 
 start for the Yukon. With fluttering flags and de- 
 
'g 
 
 
 
 'A 
 
 -i 
 
 C 
 H 
 
 X;^,. 
 
4 
 
A PROSPECT OP SNOW-SHfiu-a *^tt. 
 
 aiXOVV SHOES AND SLEDGES 267 
 
 stood on her upper deck. " We are off .f 1 , ^J^" 
 ■ah for Hnow-shL and eled Js - I sj!.' oM "t'""" 
 
 Slad we got away before thaf craft came i T' ' '" 
 
 old »h,/. Y^ou'to ,ate." '"" """ ' ""P "* "°»'' 
 The craft to which he thus referred was a small 
 schooner beating up the sound. Prom hlr deck M 
 John Ryder was scanning the oncoming seamboat 
 arough a powerful telescope. Suddenlylt feH fC 
 Ins hands as he cried out, in wild excitemU: 
 
 r ank God, Jalap Coombs, our long search is end- 
 
 THE END 
 
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