They were indeed in a wild and desolate country. Below them
stretched a seemingly endless waste of snow and ice--great forests
interspersed with treeless patches, while now and then they sailed
over a frozen lake.
Once in a while they had glimpses of bands of Indians, dressed in
furs, hunting. At such times the natives would look up, on hearing
the noise made by the motor of the airship, and catching a glimpse
of what must have seemed to them like some supernatural object, they
would fall down prostrate in amazement and fear.
"Airships are pretty much of a novelty up here," remarked Abe with a
grim smile.
The weather was new very cold, and the gold-seekers had to get out
their heavy fur garments, of which they had brought along a goodly
supply. True, it was warm in the cabin of the airship, but at times,
they wanted to venture out on the deck to get fresh air, or to make
some adjustments to the wing planes, and, on such occasions the
keen, frosty air, as it was driven past them by the motion of the
craft, made even the thickest garments seem none too warm. Then,
too, it was colder at the elevation at which they flew than down on
the ground.
Another day found them in a still wilder and more desolate part of
Alaska. There were scarcely any signs of habitation now, and the
snow and ice seemed so thick that even a long summer of sunshine
could hardly have melted it.
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