Chapter XXV: “bill” Returns

“Rusty, my child,” said Red McGee, springing aboard the _Krazy Kat_ as soon as the Orientals were gone, “are you all right?”

“Never better,” Rusty laughed. “And never half so excited. I—I’m all right,” she added, “except that I’ll have to grow a new crop of curls.”

“Curls,” Red chuckled. “They’re not very necessary. Not even for a girl.

“Going back with us in the speed boat?” he asked.

“No-o, if you don’t mind,” she hesitated. “We’ve been together so long, the three of us, MacGregor, Johnny, and I, that I—I think we’d like to follow you back in the _Krazy Kat_.”

“O.K.,” Red agreed. “Kopkina, suppose you come with me. I want to thank you for what you’ve done for us. Now let’s get going.”

Already the Oriental ship that had never been welcome was slipping out into the night.

On the way back Johnny and Rusty spent most of their time studying the stars and the moon. Just what they read there only they will ever know.

The secret of the Shadow was found to be quite simple, as most secrets are. It was a long, low craft without deck, cabins, rails or riggings. Powered by large storage batteries, it was able to slip in close to shore, set a three-mile-long net at night and lift it in the morning. The fish were rushed to other motor-boats outside the three-mile zone and were then carried to the floating cannery.

After installing a gasoline motor, Blackie used the Shadow for sea patrol. No demand for the return of the craft was made. Needless to say, the duties of Blackie, MacGregor, Johnny and Lawrence were exceedingly light for the remainder of the season.

The small blue bear throve on fish-cleanings and other scraps. He was fat and friendly when at last the boys headed for Seward and Matanuska Valley. At Seward they left him in the care of a friend until they could come in a small truck and cart him home.

At the cabin in the valley Johnny and Lawrence were given an uproarious welcome.

One thing surprised them—the Professor was back. “I am waiting for Bill,” he explained.

“Bill! Who’s he?” Lawrence asked. “Oh!” he exclaimed. “He’s the man who built the shelter and left a note saying he was coming back. Let me see—”

“Today,” said the Professor. “And here he is now.” A smiling young giant with a full red beard came tramping down the road.

“Bill, did you get one?” the Professor demanded.

“No,” Bill’s smile faded. “I did my best. I got the head and hide of one, that’s all. Had to kill him, or lose him. I—I’m sorry.”

“A whole year,” the Professor groaned. “And never a bear.”

“A bear!” Johnny exclaimed. “Surely there are bears a-plenty.”

“Not that kind,” the Professor corrected. “I want the kind we talked about once, a glacier bear. Nothing else counts.”

“Oh, a glacier bear!” Lawrence laughed happily. “Is that all you want? I have one coming up on a truck from Seward. It should be here any time.”

“Just like that!” Bill dropped weakly down upon a stump. “A whole year. Ice, snow, blizzards, glaciers, hunger, a whole year. Never a bear. And now this boy calmly says, ‘I’ve got one coming up.’”

“Such,” said the professor, “is the luck of the chase.”

There was time for Bill to satisfy his craving for a “real feed.” Then the truck arrived.

The Professor and Bill gave one look at the little blue glacier bear. Then, for sheer joy, they fell into each other’s arms.

“What do you want for him?” the Professor demanded at last.

“A tractor,” said Lawrence.

“The best in the settlement!”

“The Titan.”

“Agreed and for good measure, a gang plow, a harrow, two drums of gas and three log chains.”

Lawrence could not say a word. He could only stand and stare. All his dreams had come true in a moment.

“I only wish we might do better,” the Professor half apologized. “But we’ve spent a great deal of money in the search. So-o, I—”

“I think,” said Lawrence, “that you’re a very good sport. And—and we thank you.”

Three days later Johnny and Lawrence were in Seward for a day with Blackie when a trim power boat glided up to the dock.

“Hello, Johnny!” came in a girl’s voice. It was Rusty.

“Come on down to Seattle with us,” Red McGee boomed.

“We’ll show you a roarin’ good time, just to celebrate the finest salmon season ever known.”

“What do you say?” Johnny turned to Lawrence.

“You go,” said Lawrence. “I’m a farmer now. I’ve got to stay with my crops, and I’m anxious to get started with the new tractor.”

Johnny went. If there were further adventures awaiting him at the end of that short journey you may find them recorded in a book called, _Sign of the Green Arrow_.

Transcriber’s Notes

--Copyright notice provided as in the original printed text—this e-text
is public domain in the country of publication.

--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and
dialect unchanged.

--In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML
version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)

--Marked with ellipses the end of page 129, where the printed edition
apparently dropped a page or two from the manuscript.