_ CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN. THE STARTING OF A BODYGUARD
"Nay, nay, lad," said Tregelly soothingly; "there's no one here now. That bag of gold was enough to bring one of the rowdies down upon you, but those three chaps wouldn't risk a meeting with the judge again."
"I don't know," said Dallas thoughtfully; "there is plenty of room hereabout for them to be in, hiding; and they must have gone somewhere."
"Not much chance for a man to keep himself alive in this country, without tackle and stores, or a shanty of his own."
"Unless he has attacked and murdered some one," said Abel bitterly. "But you will see."
The poor fellow was so exhausted by what he had gone through that, after painfully swallowing some of the tea that had been prepared, he dropped into a stupor-like sleep, whilst Dallas watched him anxiously.
"That was fancy of his, my lad," said Tregelly, who was making a hearty breakfast. "Come, you don't eat."
"How can I, with the poor fellow like this?" cried Dallas. "He seems to come in for all the misfortune."
"Yes, he is a bit unlucky," replied Tregelly; "but you must eat if you want to help him. Look here, I don't want to be unfeeling; but your mate isn't dying of fever."
"No, no; but look at him."
"Yes, I have, and he has been a good deal knocked about, besides having a frozen foot; but that will all get well. You are set up with provisions again; you've got your gold back, and a good claim of your own."
"Just good enough to keep us alive."
"Well, it isn't very lively work, my lad," said Tregelly; "but we must make the best of it. We shall have the summer again soon, and do better, perhaps."
"I hope so," said Dallas bitterly, "for we could never get through another winter like this."
"You don't know till you try. And you take my advice: let your brother--"
"My cousin."
"Well, it's all the same out here. Let him sleep all he can, and when he's awake feed him up and keep him warm."
"I can't get rid of the feeling that I ought to go back to Yukon Town and try to get a doctor."
"Nonsense, my son; he wants no doctor. And now look here; if I say something to you, will you believe that it's meant honest?"
"Of course. What do you mean?"
"Only this, my son; that I don't want you to think that I want to come and sponge upon you because you've got plenty of prog."
"Mr Tregelly!"
"Let me finish, my lad," said the big Cornishman. "I was going to say, what do you think of me coming and pigging here with you for a bit, in case what the youngster here says might be right; and if it is, you and me could polish off that gang pretty well, better than you could alone, or I could alone. Not that I'm skeered; but if young Wray here is right they'll be down upon me too. But I don't want you to think--"
"But what about your gold?" said Dallas eagerly.
"If any one should go there, and can find it, I'll give it him."
"Is it so well hidden?"
"Yes; I've got it froze into the middle of a block of ice. They'll never look there."
"Will you come?" said Dallas excitedly.
"I'll do better than that," said the Cornishman: "I'll stop now."
"You will?"
"Of course; and glad of the chance to help you. Yah!"
The big fellow jumped up in horror, as a loud rap came from close by.
"What was that?" cried Dallas, who was equally startled.
"It was that there dog's ghost got his tail thawed enough to give it a rap on the floor to say, 'That's right'; and I believe your cousin's right too, now, and this is a message sent to us to say, 'Look out, for those three beauties are coming here again.'"
"Nonsense!" cried Dallas, going down on his knees; "the dog's alive."
"I'm blessed!" said his big friend. "Well, some things can stand being froze hard and thawed out again better than we Christians. I s'pose it's having such a thick coat. Look at him; he's got one eye open, and he's winking."
In proof thereof came a low whine, as if in appeal for food.
"Look here, my sons," said Tregelly one day, as he came in last from the dismal darkness without to the bright warmth of the hut, where the fire was burning cheerily and an appetising odour of tea, damper, and fried ham proclaimed how busy, weak as he still was, Abel had been; "I used to grumble a deal down in old Cornwall because we had a lot o' wet days, and say it was a country not fit for anything better than a duck to live in; but I'm an altered man now, and I repent. It's a regular heaven compared to this Klondike country. Hullo, Scruff, my son, how are you?" The dog gave an amiable growl, and seemed to enjoy the gentle caress the big miner gave him with his heavy boot, as he lay stretched out by the fire.
"Don't grumble, Bob," said Dallas. "This looks cheery enough, and we've done some good to-day."
"Oh, I'm not grumbling, my son; only making comparisons as is ojus. That's what I used to write at school. This is a reg'lar Lord Mayor's banquet for a hungry man. But my word, how dirty I am!"
"So am I," said Dallas. "What with the gravel and the wood-smoke, I feel like a charcoal burner. I should like a wash, though."
"Wash, my son! I should like a bathe in our old Cornish sea, with the sun shining on my back. And I say, a bit of our old fish. A few pilchards or grilled mackerel, or a baked hake, with a pudding inside him--or oh! a conger pie."
"Don't, Bob," said Dallas. "This is painful. And look here; either you or I must go down to Yukon City with the sledge again, for the stores are getting low."
"Nay," said the big Cornishman; "we'll have up what I've got down yonder first. Clear out the place. There's enough there to last us a fortnight longer; and I want to go there badly."
"Very well," said Dallas; "then we'll go. Feel well enough to come as far as there to-morrow, Bel?"
"Yes; and I should like it," was the reply.
"Then we'll go. We'll shut up the dog here to keep house till we come back, though no one is likely to come. I say, how much longer it has been light to-day."
"Pretty sort of light!" growled Tregelly. "I could make better light out of a London fog and some wet flannel. We got a fine lot of gravel and washing stuff, though, out of the shaft to-day. Look here, I picked out this."
He held out a tiny nugget of gold, about as big as a small pea; and it was duly examined, put in a small canister upon the shelf, and then the evening meal went on, and Tregelly refreshed himself with large draughts of tea.
"Look here," he said: "we agreed that we'd tell one another if we found a good place, and we started working separate."
"Yes," said Bel, "and fate has ordered that we should come together again. We--bah! what mockery it seems to talk of 'we' when I'm such a helpless log."
"Look here, Bel, I wish you were a bit stronger, and I'd kick you."
"Don't wait, my son; kick him now," cried Tregelly. "He deserves it."
"I'll save it up," said Dallas. "But look here, Big Bob, you needn't make a long speech. You were going to say that you thought now that we had better stick together, share and share alike for the future."
"Well, I dunno how you knew that," said Tregelly; "but it was something of the kind."
"That's right, then we will; eh, Bel?"
"Of course; if Tregelly will consent to share with such a weak, helpless--"
"Here," cried the big Cornishman, springing up, "shall I kick him?"
"No, no; let him off."
"But he do deserve it," said Tregelly, subsiding. "Now, I was going to say it don't seem quite fair for me to stop, as those precious three--if there is three of 'em left unhung--not having shown up, there don't seem any need."
"More need than ever," said Dallas. "Your being here scares them away."
"Hope it do," said Tregelly. "Then look here, we'll go down to my pit to-morrow, and bring up the sledge load, including my bit of ice, for it can't be so very long now before it'll begin to thaw a bit every day, and I don't want my block to melt and let out the gold. There's more there than you'd think."
"But that's yours," said Abel.
"Nay, nay, my son; we'll put it all together. You've got some, and there's a lot yonder outside when the soft weather comes and we can wash it out; so that's settled. Wonder whether working in that hot damp shaft'll give us rheumatiz by-and-by."
"I hope not, Bob," said Dallas, yawning. "I've often thought of something of the kind. One thing is certain, that if we don't find much more gold than we have got so far we shall have earned our fortunes."
"Fortunes!" cried Abel contemptuously; "why, at the rate we have been going on, if we get enough to pay for our journey home, as well as for our provisions, that will be about all."
"And except for the pleasant trip, my sons, we might as well have stopped at home." _