He was forced to skulk, dodging bullets while Roxey Vail was taken aboard the ice-coated hulk of the lost liner.
More Eskimos soon arrived. Keelhaul de Rosa was arming some of them with guns. The interpreter instructed the Innuits on how to operate the unfamiliar firearms.
The natives were far from effective marksmen. More than one greasy eater of blubber dropped a big pistol after it exploded in his hand and ran as though the worst tongak, or evil spirit, were hot on his trail. But the guns made them more dangerous, for wild shots were almost as liable to hit the elusive figure of Doc Savage as well- aimed ones. In fact, they were worse. Doc couldn't tell which way to dodge.
The heat of the hunt finally drove Doc to the remote reaches of the glacier and rock crest of the land.
There he replenished his vast reservoir of strength by dining on frozen, raw steaks he wrenched with his bare, steel-thewed fingers, from the polar bear he had slain.
The mighty bronze man might have been a terrible hunter of the wild as he crouched there at his primeval repast. But no such hunter ever possessed cunning and knowledge such as Doc Savage was bringing to bear upon the problem confronting him.
But caution remained uppermost in his mind. He had been crouching with an ear pressed to a pinnacle of rock. The stone acted as a sounding board for any footsteps on the surrounding glacier.
Noise of men passing in the blizzard reached Doc. There seemed to be four or five in the group.
Doc fell in behind them. He followed as close as was possible without discovery. Growled words told him they were white men.
'De skipper says for us to take de stern of de liner, mateys,' one said. 'Our pals will join us dere. Everybody's helpin' in dis party, even de cook.'
'We'd better throw out an anchor,' another grunted. 'Keelhaul an' his whole bloody crew, together wit' de Eskimos, is movin' bag an' baggage onto de liner. We wanta give 'em time to get settled.'
Doc Savage sought to get even closer. He was not three yards away as the group of men came to a stop in the shelter of a rock spire. There were five of them.
What he was hearing was most interesting!
ONE OF the five men laughed nastily.
'De bronze guy has just about got Keelhaul de Rosa's goat!' he chuckled. 'To say nothin' of de panic de Eskimos are in. Dat's why they're all movin' onto de liner. Dey figure dey can fight 'im off better.'
Another man swore.
'Don't forget, pal, dat we gotta smear de bronze guy ourselves before we leave here!' he growled.
'Time to begin worryin' about dat after we got Keelhaul an' all de others croaked!' another informed him.
'Yer sure Keelhaul an' his gang don't suspect we're around?'
'Dey sure don't. I crawled up close an' listened to 'em gabbin'. Here's what happened, pal — de bronze guy got de idea we had croaked. He tol' de skoit dat. De broad, she up an' told it to Keelhaul when they caught her. An' he believes her.'
Once more, an evil laugh gurgled in the blizzard.
'Well, Keelhaul is sure due to change his mind!' sneered the one who had laughed.
'Yeah — only he won't have the time to change 'is mind before we boin 'is insides out wit' Tommy lead.'
'How long yer figure we'd better wait here?'
'About an hour.'
A brief silence ensued.
'I don't like dis ting much,' muttered one of the five uneasily. 'We could light out wit'out all dis killin'.'
'Yah — an' have somebody from dis place show up in a few years an' spill de woiks to de law,' was the snarled reply. 'We gotta clean up de loose ends, pal. We ain't leavin' nothin' behind but stiffs. We're playin' safe.'
Once more there was quiet. One of the evil gang broke it with a startled ejaculation.
'What was dat?'
They peered at each other, turtling their vicious faces forward to see in the blizzard.
'I didn't hear nothin'!' muttered one.
'Sounded like de wind,' suggested another.
They got up and circled their shelter. They saw nothing. They heard only the hoot of the gale. They gathered behind the outthrust of stone once more, huddling close for warmth.
They had dismissed what they heard as a child of the storm.
Indeed, it almost could have been some vagrant creation of the wind — that strange, low, trilling note which had come into being for a moment, then trailed away into nothingness. However, it was Doc's sound which they had heard.
Doc was now scores of yards away. He had much to do for he had learned a great deal.
The five were Ben O'Gard's thugs. And Doc's listening ears had detected enough to tell him the submarine had not met disaster, as he had thought. Yet he had carried the all-important valve with him in the folding seaplane!
The survival of the Helldiver without the valve could be explained, though. Ben O'Gard's crew had simply fashioned a substitute valve. There was a small machine shop aboard the underseas craft which they could use for this purpose.
No doubt they had started work on the substitute shortly after they marooned Doc on the iceberg during the walrus hunt. It had not been finished in time to use when they were so nearly trapped in the ice. But they had completed it while Doc was locked in the compartment aboard the Helldiver.
This, Doc believed, was the true explanation of their presence on land.
Ben O'Gard was preparing to slay every one on this forlorn spot!
No blood-bathed Jolly Roger ever held more frightful ambitions.
Doc's great bronze form traveled like the wind. He had much to do — not much time in which to accomplish it.
Doc had formulated a plan of action which boded ill for his enemies.
Chapter 17
THE CAPTIVES
IT WAS midnight, but the sun shone brightly. The storm had abated as swiftly as it had arisen. Snow no longer swirled. Such drifts as had gathered glittered like tiny, ridged diamonds in the solar rays.
Around the uncharted arctic land, the short, terrific gale had made a startling change. It had pushed the ice pack away. For miles in every direction, comparatively open water could be seen. This was spotted with a few vicious-looking blue growlers, but no ice floes of any size.
In the main lounge of the lost liner Oceanic. Keelhaul de Rosa walked angry circles, kicking chairs out of his path.
'Keelhaul me!' he bellowed. 'The bloody treasure has gotta be somewhere!'
He came over and planted himself in front of pretty Roxey Vail. He glowered at the young woman. He had a face that mirrored indescribable evil.
Two rat-faced thugs held Roxey Vail. Their bony claws dug painfully into her shapely arms.
'Where's the swag?' Keelhaul de Rosa roared at her.
'I don't know anything about any treasure!' the girl replied scornfully.
It was perhaps the fiftieth time she had told her captors that.
'You an' your maw swiped the gold an' diamonds!' snarled Keelhaul de Rosa.
Roxey Vail made no answer.
'The Eskimos told me all about you an' your maw,' the hulking pirate chief informed her. 'Where's she
