CHAPTER XVI PAWNS
Johnny Thompson and Scott Ramsey were disheartened by the news thatSandy's pitchblende was of no value.
"It's the end of one glorious dream." Ramsey stared into space.
"Yes," Johnny agreed, "that's gone."
"Not a bit of it!" Sandy's keen old eyes snapped. "There's pitchblende inthese rocky old ledges such as the world has never known.
"Look here. Do you know that in 1922 a pocket of several hundred poundsof remarkably rich pitchblende was mined in the Belgian Congo, that ityielded two or three million dollars worth of radium, and that thisdiscovery actually caused a drop in the price of radium? If they can dothat in South Africa, we can do it in northern Canada!" He banged thetable with his huge fist.
"And now look at this!" He drew forth an enlarged photograph to spread iton the table. To the average person this would have seemed a snap-shotthat had gone wrong. It showed only dull stretches of rock, intermixedwith rough ledges and narrow stretches of snow.
"See that!" Sandy's long finger trembled as he pointed. "Taken sixtymiles from here, this was. Looks like the real thing to me. Pitchblende.Radium." He said these last words almost reverently.
"There's no stopping him," Johnny told himself. "All the same, if he'llpermit me, I'll go out and look those ledges over for him. With thespecimens we have now, it would not be hard to gather others. Only ananalysis could give the final touch to such a find anyway. I'll suggestit when the right time comes."
Scott and Sandy were ardent chess fans. As Sandy was spreading his menover the board a little later, he looked up at Johnny.
"Ever play chess?" he demanded.
"A little."
"You should. You should play much. Tell you why." He allowed his powerfulhand to rest upon the board. Between his thumb and finger was thesmallest man of all, a pawn. "Chess," he went on, "makes you think. Andthinking is always good for your soul. That's why the study ofmathematics is worth while.
"But there's a more important reason why you should play chess." Hisexpressive eyes gleamed. "Chess is the game of life. Oh, yes, it's thegame of war, too; but life for most of us is one long battle, so it's thegame of life, too.
"See that little fellow?" He held up the pawn.
Johnny nodded.
"That's you and me. All my life I've been a pawn. Nothing much to beashamed of. Out of every hundred people born in the world, ninety-nineare pawns and always will be. So you've plenty of company.
"A pawn," he went on, "is very much handicapped in his movements. If hechooses, at the beginning of the game he may move forward two squares.After that he must cover only one square at a time, and that straightahead.
"Knights, bishops, castles, queen, these have far greater freedom ofmovement. These, in life, are the highly successful ones, the greatscientists and other scholars, successful lawyers, merchant princes.
"But you and I, Johnny--" He put the pawn on its spot. Very carefullyplacing it in the exact center, he went on: "You and I are like thislittle round-headed pawn.
"Oh, yes, he has one other chance; he may move to one side as well asforward, but only to destroy some other pawn who happens to be on thespot at the wrong time."
"Poor old pawn," Johnny sighed.
"Not so fast!" the canny old man exclaimed. "The pawn moves forwardslowly. He is insignificant, his movements unimportant. Often he isneither noticed nor missed. But there may come a time in this battle ofthe board, as in the battle of life, when knights and bishops, castlesand queens have fallen, when the poor little pawn in a single move takeson a position of tremendous importance. All the time, with his snail-likepace, he has been coming closer and closer to the king-row. When the timecomes, when he is prepared to glide across that last black line into theking-row, if there is no knight, bishop or queen to stop him, then he maylook back from the king-row and say: 'I am about to make a wish. My wishmust be granted, for I have made my long and laborious way to theking-row. Now I wish to be a knight. I wish to be a bishop. I demand theright to become a queen.' And behold, his wish must be granted!
"And that, too!" he exclaimed in a booming voice, "That, too, is life!All these long years I have been a pawn. Now, very soon, with God's helpand for the good of my fellow men, I shall step over into the king-row.Then I shall choose what I am to be, knight, bishop or queen.
"And you, too, my good friends," he placed one hand on Scott's shoulder,the other on Johnny's, "you shall go into the king-row with me.
"But mind you," his tone became solemn, "when a man becomes a knight or abishop in this life we are living now, he assumes as great aresponsibility as did knight or bishop in those brave days of good KingArthur and his Round Table.
"Come, Scott, boy." His tone changed. "The men are placed. Who winsto-night?"
Johnny smiled as the two settled down to their game. His smile was veryfriendly. He was coming to love this brave old prospector more and more.
"He believes in himself and in God," he told himself.
"'Trust thyself. Every heart vibrates to that iron chord.'" Where had heheard that? He could not recall. He liked it all the same.
"It's like Sandy," he told himself. "He did not say, 'Let those fellowswho stole our films find gold or radium, then we'll step in and get ourshare.' He said, 'We'll go out and find it.' And by all that's good, wewill!"
No Knight of the Round Table ever went forth with higher resolve than didJohnny as he ventured forth on the long trail that would take him tothose rocky ledges that showed so plainly on the enlarged photograph. Andno knight of any land faced more dangers nor dreamed of higher adventuresthan did he. Nor were his dreams to be in vain.