gh,"
suggested Dave.

"Natives!" exploded Jarvis, "Them ain't any natural 'eathen. Them's
'eathen frum further down the sea. I 'ates to think what a 'ard lot they
is. Dave and me's seen a 'eap further north than this. 'E's got spies
everywhere, this 'eathen 'as."

"Struck me a little that way too," smiled Johnny. "That fellow I tore the
clothes off was wearing silk undergarments. Show me the Chukche who wears
any at all, let alone silk."

"Sure!" exclaimed Jarvis.

"But if they're around here, why don't we see them?" objected one of the
miners.

"The big cat's 'ere. Johnny saw 'im," scoffed Jarvis. "You 'aven't seen
'im, 'ave you? All that's about ain't seen. Not by a 'ouse full."

"What about the big cat?" exclaimed Johnny. "I thought I was seeing
things."

"E's a Roosian tiger," stated Jarvis. "I've seen the likes of 'im fur
north of here."

"To-morrow," said Johnny, "we'll take a day off for hunting. Big, yellow
cats and little yellow men are not good neighbors unless they've agreed in
advance to behave. Move we turn in. All in favor, go to bed."

A moment later the clubroom was deserted.

CHAPTER IV

CHUKCHE TREACHERY

The proposed hunt for "big yellow cats and little yellow men" did not come
off, at least not at the time appointed. Morning found the tundra, the
hills, everything, blotted out by a blinding, whirling blizzard. It was
such a storm as one experiences only in the Arctic. The snow, fine and
hard as granulated sugar, was piled high against the cabin. The door was
blocked. Exit could be had only through a window.

Dave Tower, in attempting to make his way to the storeroom to secure a
fresh supply of canned milk and evaporated eggs, found himself hopelessly
lost in the blinding snow clouds. Possessed of singular presence of mind,
he settled himself in the lee of a snow bank and waited. In time, a pencil
of yellow light came jabbing its way through the leaden darkness. His
companions had formed themselves in a circle and, with flash lights
blinking here and there, sought and found him. After that, they remained
within doors until the storm had spent its fury.

It was a strange world they looked upon when, after three days, they
ventured out once more. The snow was piled in ridges. Ten, fifteen, twenty
feet high, these ridges extended down the hillsides and along the tundra.
Through one of these, they tunneled to Mine No. 2, making an enclosed path
to the mine from the cabin.

"Fr