The Trail of a Sourdough Part 20

How very strange it was! Could it be possible that here were ledges containing much gold which no one had ever discovered, and which might all be her own if she could succeed in keeping her secret until her father should arrive? Of his coming she had not the least doubt, as had her aunt; she felt positive if he were dead she would in some way know it. It was springtime and the season for vessels to put into the harbor for coal and fresh water on their way to the Arctic Ocean; and they would bring him sometime she felt confident. Then he would be delighted to hear of his daughter's discovery, and together they would grow to be very rich indeed.

Eyllen was a sensible girl and a good reasoner, but her knowledge of minerals was exceedingly limited. Each piece of white rock was, to her, quartz; and the place where gold was found in any form was a mine, or would be one later when developed. She really wished to find out if there was more of the same gold-bearing ore at the spring, for unless there were large ma.s.ses of it she knew her discovery was worthless.

Then she thought of her often recurring and unpleasant sensations at the spring, and it occurred to her that here was a way by which to gain further knowledge. If she could bear the headaches and dizziness might she not, by this means, trace the hidden ledges? It seemed reasonable even to her inexperienced mind. But she would need to use considerable caution. None must see the gold-bearing rock which was already so fascinating to her. In some manner, she reasoned, she must find a way of gaining information about minerals other than by asking questions.

Curiosity upon the subject would quickly give her friends the cue to her new interest. She decided to visit the library of Father Peter in his absence, and from his housekeeper borrow some book giving such information. By talking to the good woman about her home work and children she could manage to distract her attention so she would not notice which book it was she was taking.

In this way Eyllen planned for hours before sleeping. When she finally slept it was to dream of a beautiful water witch who lived in the bottom of the mountain spring between the rocks, but when, on insisting upon a nearer view she found it to be only herself with her dark hair floating around her, she laughed aloud, and so awakened. This decided her, however, upon one thing.

She would search for a tiny fragment of the beautiful rock containing as much of the precious mineral as possible, and wear it suspended about her neck underneath her dress; as this, according to tradition, would surely preserve the wearer from witchcraft. Not that she believed herself possessed of any spirit other than her own; but the strangeness of the sudden indisposition attacking her at the spring, added to her dream, caused her to greatly wonder.

A week pa.s.sed. Eyllen developed a most remarkable pa.s.sion for wild flowers, along with a sudden and vigorous distaste for basket-making.

She declared the latter occupation gave her headache and loss of appet.i.te, and only the fresh mountain air made her feel like herself again. In her aunt's cabin the window ledges were filled with blossoms, and an overflow of the same was furnished the priest's housekeeper.

Then, too, a daily watch was kept for s.h.i.+ps from the westward by the girl whose strong limbs served her well in mountain climbing. As the sun grew warmer and clearer above the islands, she could see old "Round Top"

begin to breathe. At times this mountain's snowy head became quite hidden in the obscurity of misty vapor or smoke clouds, while the double peak of Isanotski, rising as grandly as ever to its height above the others, seemed, by its longer-retained snow cap, to a.s.sure the world of its superiority.

Frequently, but cautiously, she rambled among the hills. Patiently she investigated the rocks upon the hillside, quickly learning where she might venture to be free from the sudden indisposition, and where it was sure to attack her; for there appeared no cessation of the phenomenon.

With the hammer which she secretly fetched from home she hacked the out-cropping lode in different directions. Everywhere in the white rocks there were the golden specks scintillating in the suns.h.i.+ne. It was a bona fide gold-bearing ledge. From the borrowed book she gained much knowledge that was helpful, but with this more and more she felt her powerlessness to proceed or to turn her newly found interest to good account.

More than ever she longed to see her father. Between her walks to the spring on the hillside she climbed the bluff and continued to look for s.h.i.+ps from the westward. To be sure other vessels were beginning to arrive, and to welcome them the whole settlement habitually turned out upon the wharf. There were empty water tanks re-filled, repairs made, and larders replenished, while s.h.i.+p's officers drank, smoked, and told sea yarns in the saloons along the water front.

Thus pa.s.sed weeks of waiting to Eyllen and her aunt. It seemed that the monotony would never end; but it did end suddenly at last.

One day as the two women sat busily at work upon their baskets the youngster of the family rushed in quite breathless.

"A s.h.i.+p's in sight which flies the Russian flag! She's nearing the harbor now! Some men with gla.s.ses on the bluff have sighted her, and signalled to those below! She may be coming from Vladivostock and bring news of my uncle!" and the lad dashed out of the cabin and down again upon the wharf.

"Or, better yet, the s.h.i.+p may bring him!" suggested Eyllen, in a flutter, hastily rising and putting away her work. "I must see if my father has really come."

"I trust it is so; then will my prayers not be in vain. If he brings money again will they be answered," said the girl's relative.

"If he brings no gold his daughter will be glad to see him," said Eyllen in a slightly offended tone.

"I meant no harm, Eyllen. You surely understand me. Has not your father been always welcome here?"

"Yes, yes, Aunt," and tears forced their way out of her eyes, as the girl threw her shawl about her. "But come, we will soon find out about this vessel, and who is on board."

The s.h.i.+p was now moving into the placid bay and toward the sh.o.r.e. From a flag staff the Russian emblem already fluttered a welcome to the visiting craft. To be sure, the sh.o.r.e flag was accompanied by one made up of stars and stripes, and this last floated proudly at top of the mast above the other, but the two flags seemed not to be on unfriendly terms.

At last the vessel swung alongside the dock. Eagerly did Eyllen and her aunt, standing among the group of natives, scan the faces of those on the vessel. None were familiar, and they were about to turn disappointed away when they heard a shout.

Some one on deck motioned to the two women to come to the s.h.i.+p's side, and they hurriedly obeyed, scarcely knowing what they did.

"Were you looking for someone?" kindly inquired an officer in Russian.

"My father," replied the girl, disappointedly. "But he cannot be on board your s.h.i.+p or he would have been out to greet us."

"Your father's name?" asked the officer.

"Fedor Michaelovitz," responded Eyllen.

"He is on board, but he is ill. We will fetch him ash.o.r.e presently," but even as he spoke two men pa.s.sed through the door to the gangplank. They carried a litter between them upon which lay stretched a man.

Eyllen rushed toward the litter. It was really her father, but so changed that she would not have recognized him.

According to the physician's orders Fedor Michaelovitz was placed in the small hospital established upon the islands for sailors, and there he was well tended. In a few days he was far enough recovered to relate to his daughter his story.

After leaving her three years before and meeting many vicissitudes and disappointments, he had at last gained a fairly good position, when smallpox overtook him, and during a long illness he had lost it.

Recovering and working his way up again elsewhere, he had lived frugally in order to save a competence upon which to live with his daughter in their own country to which he wished to take her.

When his wishes seemed about to be realized the bank in which his money had been placed, failed, and he lost all his hard earned savings.

Weakened by discouragement he again fell ill, and then he decided to sail for the Aleutians and see his daughter at all hazards. Penniless, ill, and discouraged, he was a man who, in middle life, had still nothing to show for years of work and hards.h.i.+ps.

One redeeming feature of all this dark outlook, there was with him a friend who was apparently moved by the misfortunes of Michaelovitz, and that was a young Russian sailor with whom he had become acquainted some years before, and who followed him wherever he went, even at the risk of causing a corresponding failure in his own affairs by so doing.

The young man's name was s.h.i.+smakoff, and he had proven himself not only kindly and generous, but self-sacrificing and n.o.ble. Along with these good and somewhat unusual qualities, he possessed more than average good looks and abundant patience. He it was who now in the hospital faithfully attended Michaelovitz, as was his habit.

This young man had been told but little of the family history of his friend, only knowing that his wife was dead and that a daughter lived upon the Aleutians with her aunt.

This much he knew upon landing. At sight of Eyllen's bright eyes and rosy cheeks the young man's heart fluttered. She was good to look upon.

Without commenting upon it even to himself he immediately proceeded to take, as compensation for attentions to her sick father, such keen enjoyment in her presence as only those long isolated can know in the society of ladies. Not that he forgot his manliness. For that the young man was too sensible; but he simply drank in every word uttered by the young girl, as a thirsty traveler would drink fresh water in a parched and burning desert.

The girl, herself, was unconstrained. Probably in this lay her greatest attraction. She had other hopes and interests, and they were centered in her father's recovery, and in her rocks a few miles away on the hillside.

Eyllen did not immediately relate her adventures to her father. He must recover his health before she disclosed her secret. To this end she now bent all her energies. A basket was traded to a neighbor for fowls in order that he might have nouris.h.i.+ng broths, and her fis.h.i.+ng tackle was brought into play to furnish the freshest of fish from the bay.

With attendants like Eyllen and s.h.i.+smakoff, who could long remain upon a sick bed? Especially on these beautiful green islands in spring-time?

Greatest of all gra.s.ses were those growing before the doors, and brightest of all blossoms were those plucked by the hands of Eyllen.

Sweet was the fragrance of iris and violets, and lupins grew straight stalked and fearless. Lilies, too, appeared later, and all crowded the windows of the invalid whose heart was gladdened, softened, and refreshed by their sweet and silent influence.

At her basket work Eyllen sat daily for hours with her father, until he was strong enough to walk to her relative's cabin. Of course it was only to be expected that s.h.i.+smakoff would accompany them. Upon one side of the convalescent he furnished support, while Eyllen a.s.sisted on the other.

The girl's aunt had prepared a dinner especially for the visitors, at which the incorrigible youngster had been instructed to appear only when his elders had finished. It was Sat.u.r.day, and the priest's school was not in session that day. Freedom from this restraint had had its effect upon the urchin, and his mother found it in her heart to frequently wish that it had been a school day instead. With care she instructed him in what manner to behave himself, and what things he must under no consideration do, one of which was not to talk too much.

"In that case, mother, what I do say must count," said the boy, not dull as to wit.

"Count fifty before you speak at all. Then you must consider what you say, and you will not be foolish. I daresay you will still show yourself feather-headed enough," and his mother sighed, apparently striving to be resigned to the suspense of her position.

The visitors were telling of their recent voyage to the islands. The youngster could keep quiet no longer.

"Eyllen has been long expecting you, Mr. s.h.i.+smakoff. She often went to the hilltop to wave to you, and I suppose she also called you. Did you hear her across the water, and come in answer?"

The young man smiled.

"Be silent! you naughty boy!" commanded his mother, with as much force as she could master.

Eyllen's color grew like the wild roses in the window.