First at the North Pole Part 17

"They are gone!"

"Gone?" repeated Chet, and now Professor Jeffer and Barwell Dawson listened with interest.

"Yes, gone--I can't find them anywhere." Andy rapidly went through every pocket in his clothing, and in the overcoat he had hung on a horn. "Yes, they are gone," he groaned. "Oh, this is the worst luck yet!"

"But they must be somewhere around," said Barwell Dawson. "Have you any idea where you dropped them?"

"No, although it might have been when I took that tumble in the snow."

"If you lost 'em there, we ought to go back for 'em right away,"

declared Chet. "The wind is rising, and that will drift the snow over 'em."

A vain search was made around the cabin and the shed, and then, tired as he was, Andy donned his overcoat and cap to go out. Chet did the same.

"Oh, you needn't mind, Chet," said Andy.

"I just will mind, Andy. We are going to get those papers back," was the brisk reply.

"Here, take a lantern," said Professor Jeffer, and brought forth an acetylene lamp, similar to those used on bicycles. "That ought to help you find the papers," he added.

In a minute more the two lads had set off through the snow. As Chet had said, the wind was rising, and it often caught the snow up in a mad whirl and hurled it into their faces.

"Phew! this is not so pleasant," panted Chet, when they paused to catch their breath, having covered about a quarter of the distance to where Andy had fallen. "Takes the wind right out of a chap. But never mind, come on," he continued, and started on once more.

The rays of the acetylene lamp lit up the way fairly well, and here and there they could see their former trail, although it was growing more indistinct every moment. The wind now whistled through the pines and spruces,--a sound as dismaying as it was lonely.

"Might have brought down some game, with the aid of this lamp," said Chet, as they trudged forward on their snowshoes.

"I'm not looking for game just now."

At last they reached what they thought was the spot where Andy had had the fall. So far they had seen no trace of the missing doc.u.ments. Now they gazed around, much crestfallen. The hollow was completely filled with the drifting snow, and a ridge had formed, wiping out the trail utterly.

"I am going to try digging," said Andy. "Wish I had brought a shovel along."

The lamp was hung on the branch of a tree near by, and both youths set to work, shoving and kicking the snow to one side or another. Thus they worked, in something of a circle, for the best part of an hour. Not a trace of the papers could be seen anywhere.

"Maybe I lost them further back--where we found the moose," said Andy.

"I'm going to look. But you needn't go with me if you don't care to, Chet."

"I'll go where you go, Andy. I want to see you get those papers back."

Again they moved forward, the wind and snow cutting each in the face, and sometimes almost blinding them. They had to rest twice before they reached the spot of Chet's thrilling adventure.

Again the search began, and it was kept up until both lads were wellnigh exhausted from stooping over and "sifting" the snow. Andy straightened his back and gave a sigh.

"I guess it's no use," he groaned. "They are gone! I'll never see them again! And that claim is gone, too!"

"Oh, don't give up yet!" cried Chet, trying to cheer him up. "If we can't locate them tonight, we'll do it in the morning when the sun s.h.i.+nes. They must be somewhere around. They made quite a package, with a rubber band around it, and such a package can't vanish completely."

To this Andy could only answer with a sigh. He doubted very much if the precious doc.u.ments would ever come to light again.

Utterly f.a.gged out, the boys turned their backs on the wind and made their way to Professor Jeffer's cabin. Here they found the others anxiously awaiting their return.

"What luck?" sang out Barwell Dawson.

"None," answered Andy, and dropped into a chair as tired out as he was disheartened.

"You'll have to go out in the morning."

"Just what I said," came from Chet. "Oh, we'll get those papers back, don't worry." But although he spoke thus lightly, it was only to cheer his chum up. He, too, was afraid the doc.u.ments were gone forever.

Andy's sleep was a troubled one. He dreamed that his Uncle Si was after him, and that both had a tussle in the snow over the papers. Then A. Q.

Hopton came up with a pitchfork, speared the papers, and bore them off in triumph. He awoke to find Chet shaking him.

"Andy, stop your groaning!" Chet was saying. "You are going on to beat the band!"

"I guess I had a nightmare," answered Andy, sheepishly. "What time is it?"

"Just getting daylight."

"Then I am going to get up, eat a little breakfast, and start on another search for those papers."

"Sure--and I'll go along."

The boys arose as quietly as possible, and dressing, went to the kitchen and prepared their morning meal of wheat cakes and a small moose steak, and coffee. They were just finis.h.i.+ng the repast when Professor Jeffer showed himself.

"Up early, I see," he said, with a smile.

"We are going to look for those papers again," explained Chet.

"To be sure. Well, I trust you find them, although I am afraid you will have quite a search."

The sun was just peering over the trees to the eastward when the two lads left the cabin. It promised to be a clear day. It was intensely cold, and the wind still blew, although not so hard as during the day and the night gone by.

Andy took the lead, and each boy strained his eyes to catch sight of anything that might look like the doc.u.ments. Once Andy saw something at a distance, and ran to it with a rapidly beating heart. But it was nothing but a strip of birch bark, and again his heart sank.

The noon hour found them still on the hunt. Fortunately they had brought some lunch along in one of the game bags, and they sat down in a sunny and sheltered nook to eat this, warming up a can of coffee over a tiny campfire Chet kindled. Then the hunt was renewed, and kept up in various places until the sun began to go down over the woods to the westward.

"It will be dark in an hour more, Andy," said Chet, kindly. "I guess we had better return to the cabin. We can come out again tomorrow, if you wish."

"I--I don't think it will be any use to come out again, Chet." Andy's voice was very unsteady. "I am afraid the papers are gone for good!"

"Oh, I wouldn't give it up yet!"

"If I only knew where I had dropped them! But I don't know. They may be right around here, and they may be half a mile away."

It was with a downcast heart that Andy followed his chum back to the cabin. Somehow, he had hoped that the timber claim would prove a valuable one, and that he would get a goodly share of it. Now that hope was shattered.