The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1955, Side 41

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
39
“They’ll dispute our claims, even if
we do get it staked,” Tom whispered
gloomily.
“Quiet! They’ll hear us,” Bill cau-
tioned.
Suddenly the drone of an outboard
arrested their efforts. They made their
way up over the ridge. Peering into
the darkness, they could see a darker
speck moving across the channel to
the mainland.
The two men watched silently un-
til the canoe was swallowed by the
distance and the night.
Bill chuckled.
“They didn’t see the vein,” he
exulted. “They don’t know about
Rocky Island; and for them, tomorrow
will be too late.”
All night Bill and Tom toiled and
sweated. They staked it from one end
to the other. The first light of dawn
found them chiselling holes with their
hand steel. They loaded them with
1NT, and lit the fuse.
The faint putt-putt of Sam Green-
back’s gang came from the channel.
I hen the blasts drowned out the sound
and echoed through the stillness of
their waiting.
Feverishly, they picked up the pieces
of rock that showered about the pit.
Mutely, they passed them from one to
the other. It was as if they had been
struck dumb.
Then Bill began to fill his canvas
poke with samples.
“It’s a mine”, he enthused. “With
their tent ten feet away, it’s still our
claim. Won’t them guys look sick
when they realize they were sitting on
the biggest mine in the North, and
didn’t know it?”
When Matt Kern landed at Bill
Hilton’s camp that same morning, he
carried a passenger. She climbed
nimbly from the plane, a trim girl in
blue slacks.
“Hi, Bill,” she called gaily.
Then, as they stood apart, she said
“I know all about your mine failing,
Bill. It doesn’t make any difference.
That’s why I came. I wanted you to
know.”
Bill’s heart sang. She loved him. The
wonder of it!
“Sam Greenback is hiring pro-
spectors to send to the Yukon,” Lila
was saying. “It’s good money; and I’ll
wait for you.”
Bill pointed to Rocky Island.
“Lila, darling, I’ve got it,” he said.
“This time it is sure. On that island
will be the Hilton Mine to replace
the lobstick; and a lusty town will
spring here in the wilderness. We’ll
build a house on this point when we
return from the little jaunt, — our
honeymoon.”
Poets and Writers Honored
Late in January, the Author’s Society
°f Iceland honored two poets and
writers with an honor scroll announc-
‘ng that they had been made honorary
members of the society. These poets
are Guttormur J. Guttormsson, of
Riverton, most distinguished among
Icelandic poets on this continent, at
Icelandic poets on this continent,
and DaviS Stefansson, the most
popular poet in Iceland. This honor
was conferred on DaviS Stefansson
January 21st, on his 60th birthday.
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