Tierra del Fuego Read Online Free

the eggs, the other had to use a whip or a stick to defend himself from the birds, which threw themselves at the robbers in angry groups. There were thousands of birds, and the sky was full of their squawking and the beating of their wings. They sometimes became such a threat that the two men had to stop collecting eggs and stand together, shoulder to shoulder, to defend themselves with their whips against the birds’ beaks.
    But the bustards and wild geese were ample replacement for the seagulls. They also arrived by the thousands, and the tussock grasslands were soon strewn with nests, with twenty or more eggs in each one. The wild goose eggs were the same size as ordinary goose eggs, the bustard eggs the size of hen’s eggs, and the taste was the same. The wild geese were easy to hunt—they let you get close to them if you were on horseback, but not if you were on foot.
    A piece of jerky shared by the fire, the horse they both used . . . everything was drawing the two men closer together. At other times, they wandered the shores and cliffs, keeping their eyes peeled, with that instinct that never leaves a gold prospector, on the rocks and the clay and the sand.
    â€œThe other day I saw a whale’s skeleton on the beach near the cape,” Schaeffer said, slowly. “It struck me I could fetch a few of the ribs and make a shelter from the wind in front of this cave. We could even put them inside the entrance, with a few hides on top, to keep out the wind and rain.”
    â€œNot a bad idea,” Novak said. “But are you planning to spend your whole life in this cave?”
    â€œAs long as there’s something to eat, I think we’re better off here . . .”
    â€œI don’t want to end up like an Ona Indian in a sealskin tent.”
    â€œI think we have to stay here.”
    â€œAnd do what?”
    â€œLook for gold.”
    Novak looked up. It was the first time the word “gold” had been mentioned since they had arrived, and it struck him as odd that Schaeffer had uttered it.
    â€œWell, maybe, but in another part of the island. Popper has taken over the whole of this coast and is planning another expedition further south . . . To think that, ever since we first crossed the island together, killing Indians, I’ve been watching his back! And now I’m hiding out like a cornered rat, hoping he won’t find me and hang me from a post!”
    â€œWe should never have gone against him,” Schaeffer said, poking the few coals still alight among the ashes. “You have to howl with the wolf, never against the wolf.”
    â€œI howled plenty with the wolf. I commanded his army so that other men could wash his gold. Almost half a ton of gold in two years, in nuggets and dust! And in the end he said, ‘This is what I owe you for being my commander,’ and threw me a few coins he’d minted himself!”
    â€œAt least they were solid gold and were worth what they weighed, not like those the governments make.”
    â€œBut who authorized him to mint his own coins and pay his men with them? And put his portrait on the postage stamps he invented? And make arbitrary laws and have a private army as if he were a real king? Who gave him that authority?”
    â€œYou did . . .” Schaeffer said, smiling sarcastically. “You liked being in command, just like when you were a sergeant. You liked putting men in uniform and hearing them call you commander. You felt like a general.”
    â€œI did it to make the Indians respect us.”
    â€œAnd after the Indians, we were next, so that we’d work for him without making demands. You helped him in that damned business because you thought he was going to give you a good cut, and then when you didn’t get it, you went against him—and got me caught up in it, too. And to think he duped us with the same rag dolls you invented! . . .”
    Schaeffer was referring to the colorful ruse