Page:London - Son of the Wolf, 1900.djvu/68

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
54
THE SON OF THE WOLF

through all yer blood, a-takin' new lease of life with ivery suck of it. 'T is then, me boy, the world grows small an' the wandther-lust lays ye by the heels.

"But it 's meself as wandthers. As I was sayin', we a-paddlin', with niver a sign of ice, barrin' that by the eddies, when the Injin lifts his paddle an' sings out, 'Lon McFane! Look ye below! So have I heard, but niver thought to see!' As ye know, Sitka Charley, like meself, niver drew first breath in the land; so the sight was new. Then we drifted, with a head over ayther side, peerin' down through the sparkly water. For the world like the days I spint with the pearlers, watchin' the coral banks a-growin' the same as so many gardens under the sea. There it was, the anchor-ice, clingin' an' clusterin' to ivery rock, after the manner of the white coral.

"But the best of the sight was to come. Just after clearin' the tail of the riffle, the water turns quick the color of milk, an' the top of it in wee circles, as when the graylin' rise in the spring or there's a splatter of wet from the sky. 'T was the anchor-ice comin' up. To the right, to the lift, as far as iver