<h2 id="c20"><br/>CHAPTER XX <br/>A MESSAGE FROM THE AIR</h2>
<p>A cup of perfect coffee, followed by a dash
into the bracing Arctic morning, completely revived
Marian’s spirits. Casting one longing look
backward at the mysterious treasure of ancient
dishes and old ivory, throwing doubt and discouragement
to the winds, with energy and
courage she set herself to face the problems of
the day.</p>
<p>The passing of the rapids by the overland trail
was all that their host had promised. Struggling
over rocky, snow-packed slopes; slipping, sliding,
buffeted by strong winds, beaten back by swinging
overhanging branches of ancient spruce and
firs, they made their way pantingly forward until
at last, with a little cry of joy, Marian saw their
own sleds in the trail ahead.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_166">[166]</div>
<p>“That’s over,” she breathed. “How thankful
I am that we did not attempt to make it
with the sleds, or with our treasure on the backs
of the deer. There would not have been
left a fragment of our dishes as big as a dime.
As for the sleds, well it simply couldn’t be
done.”</p>
<p>“<i>No-me</i>,” sighed Attatak.</p>
<p>“I wonder how he could have brought them
by the rapids?” Marian mused as she examined
the sleds. There were flakes of ice frozen to the
runners. She could only guess at the method he
had used, only dimly picture the struggle it must
have taken. Even as she attempted to picture
the night battle, a great wave of admiration and
trust swept over her.</p>
<p>“The treasure is safer in his hands than in
ours,” she told herself.</p>
<p>“But, after it has left his hands?” questioned
her doubting self.</p>
<p>“Oh well,” she sighed at last, “what must be,
will be. The important thing after all is to
reach the station before the Agent has started
on his way.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_167">[167]</div>
<p>Again her brow clouded. What if there was
no one to go back with her?</p>
<p>To dispel this doubt, she hastened to hitch her
deer to her sled. Soon they were racing away
over the trail, causing the last miles of their long
journey to melt away like ice in the river before
a spring thaw.</p>
<p class="tb">In the meantime a third startling revelation
had come to Patsy. First she had discovered
that at least one of the persons connected with
the strange purple flame was a girl. Next she
had found the red trail of blood that apparently
was made by one of Marian’s slain deer, and
which led to the door of their tent. The third
discovery had nothing to do with the first two,
nor with the purple flame. It was of a totally
different nature, and was most encouraging.</p>
<p>“If only Marian were here!” she said to
herself as she paced the floor after receiving
the important message.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_168">[168]</div>
<p>This message came to her over the radiophone.
It was not meant particularly for her,
nor for Marian. It was just news; not much
more than a rumor, at that. Yet such news as it
was, if only it were true!</p>
<p>Faint and far away, it came drifting in upon
the air from some powerful sending station.
Perhaps that station was Fairbanks, Dawson or
Nome. She missed that part of the message.</p>
<p>Only this much came to her that night as she
sat at their compact, powerful receiving set, beguiling
the lonesome hours by catching snatches
of messages from near and far:</p>
<p>“Rumor has it that the Canadian Government
plans the purchase of reindeer to be given to her
Eskimo people on the north coast of the Arctic.
Five or six hundred will be purchased as an experiment,
if the plan carries. It seems probable
that the deer purchased will be procured in
Alaska. It is thought possible to drive herds
across the intervening space and over the line
from Alaska, and that in this way they may be
purchased by the Canadian Agent on Canadian
soil. A call for such herds may be issued later
over the radio, as it is well known that many
owners of herds have their camps equipped with
radio-phones.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_169">[169]</div>
<p>There the message ended. It had left Patsy
in a fever of excitement. Marian and her father
wished to sell the herd. It was absolutely necessary
to sell it if Marian’s hopes of continuing
her education were not to be blasted. There was
no market now for a herd in Alaska. In the
future, as pastures grew scarcer, and as herds
increased in numbers, there would be still less
opportunity for a sale.</p>
<p>“What a wonderful opportunity!” Patsy exclaimed.
“To sell the whole herd to a Government
that would pay fair prices and cash! And
what a glorious adventure! To drive a reindeer
herd over hundreds of miles of rivers, forests,
tundra, hills and mountains; to camp each night
in some spot where perhaps no man has been
before; surely that would be wonderful! Wonderful!”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_170">[170]</div>
<p>Just at that moment there entered her mind a
startling thought. Scarberry’s camp, too, was
equipped with a radio-phone. Probably he, too,
at this very moment, was smiling at the prospect
of selling six hundred of his deer. He wanted
to sell. Of course he did. Everyone did. He
would make the drive. Certainly he would.</p>
<p>“And then,” she breathed, pressing her hands
to her fluttering heart, “then it will be a race;
a race between two reindeer herd; a race over
hundreds of miles of wilderness for a grand
prize. What a glorious adventure!”</p>
<p>“If only Marian were here,” she sighed again.
“The message announcing the plans may come
while she is gone. Then—”</p>
<p>She sat in a study for a long time. Finally
she whispered to herself:</p>
<p>“If the message comes while she is gone; if
the opportunity is sure to be lost unless the herd
starts as soon as the message comes, I wonder if
I’d dare to start on the race with the herd, with
Terogloona and without Marian and Attatak.
I wonder if I would?”</p>
<p>For a long time she sat staring at the fire.
Perhaps she was attempting to read the answer
in the flames.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_171">[171]</div>
<p>At last, with cheeks a trifle flushed, she sprang
to her feet, did three or four leaps across the
floor, and throwing off her clothing, crept between
the deer-skins in the strange little sleeping
compartment.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_172">[172]</div>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />