| Show II 1 f T 11ff T i J 1UI1rTIIj Ir I 4 ji I t111T i FYIl 1iiv I I III ij I I THE YOUNG KLONDHCERS I Eow Two Boys Made the Hazardous I oourney tothe Eldorado and Brought 3aaka Fortune I BY EDWARD S ELLIS Jftuthm of HA Strange Craft and Its i Wonderful Voyage The Star of India In-dia Uncrowning the King etc j Copyright 1S97 b > S S McClure Co i CJi ER HI i UP N CANAL Kosw < IIjigffipEjfk were standing in front OT < nQ or the curio stores studying study-ing the interesting exhibits among which was a pan of Klondike gold but thej kept a watch of the stranger who Biquchfefl 4tt > Jo them and halted at the Bide pf 3MJic < A I say 1Whe said in the gruff wheedling ies of the professional tramp cant you do something for a chap th ts down on his luck As the lads turned to face him they saw an unclean touseled man very tall with stooping shoulders protruding protrud-ing black eyes spiky hair and a generally gen-erally repellant appearance Whats the trouble asked Frank I looking into the face that had not been shaven for several days Had the worst sort of luck got back from the Klondike two days ago with 30000 and robbed of every cent f Im derd broke i You seem to have had enough to buy whisky remarked Roswell who I had a whiff of his breath and placed no faith in his story The man looked angrily at them but restrained himself in hopes of receiving help Theres here youre mistaken my friends I havent had anything to eat for two days and when a stranger offered 4 of-fered me a shallow of whisky to keep up my strength I took it as a medicine medi-cine if it hadnt ben for that Id have flunked right in the streetsure as you live What are you doing if I may ask in Juneau We are listening to you just now but we are on our way to the gold fie ds replied Roswell Not alore Yl e are going with two men one of uhoni has been there before now Thats more sensible let me give you a little advice ftV really do not feel the need of it interposed Kosw ell who liked the nan less each minute You must ex i sf us as we wish to join the men at the hotel good dayS day-S e here said the fellow angrily as Le laid his hand on the arm of Frank nt jou going to stake me to a brThe The lad shook off his grasp Even if we wished to do so we could not for our friend at the hotel has all the funds that belong to our pa ty perhaps if you go there and he believes the storv Mr Graham may do scraf thing fcr ion but Tim McCabe das n Jt the means with which to help arvhodr Vt mention f the Irishmans name the felloe showd some agitation Then secirS that he vi as about to lose the expected ex-pected aid he uttered a savage ex prtcsion and exclaimed pn I dont oeliev a word you said It is no concern of ours whether you believe it or not replied Roswell as he and Frank started down the street toward to-ward their hotel The fellow was amazed at the defiance of the lads and stcod staring at them and muttering I angrilY to himself Could he have car he would have nod out hjc prrmptinFS rotib d both JUt was restrained by seeral rsapcns In Vic first place Juneau despite the irfitrt of miners is a lawabiding city and punishment and tho mans arrest More would have followed speedily ovr it would not have been an alto OV tVr sjrs thing for him to ttack the J0 nhs They were exceptionally tOP i < I ° and strong and wculd have < ven m trouble without appeal to the fhWrnv which they carried thr oolced round and smiled but he idiovr them When they reached did 1 f r rte i c 1 they related the incident r iid ye oblige ire with a descrip 7 said Tim Mc tir f tha sp peen alter they had finished Roswell C nt IT requested V the powers its him exclaimed Ttr I ppeeted it when ye told the rart vhirli Ive heerd he has been tell jn T iurd tcwn Yhn1 d > von mean asked Frank Hh vr err Iie Hardman hmsif Vli i is ho 7 Didnt 1 tell ye ke was the one that > > u c bbed me of my money Sure I did what is the matter wid ye You told us about being robbed I said Teff but didnt mention the name of the man who did it HI want to inthrodooce mesilf to I him exclaimed Tim flushed with indignation in-dignation axcoose me for a bit I He strode to the door with the intention in-tention of hunting up and chastising the rogue but with his hand on the I knob checked himself and then as his broad face lit up with his natural good 1 humor he came back to his chair paraphrasing para-phrasing Uncle Toby I The worlds big enough for the likes of him and me though he does crowd a bit let him get all the good out of I the theft he can say I Dyea is at the head of navigation I and is the timber line being 100 miles to the northwest of Juneau It is at i the upper fork of what is termed Lynn I canal the most extensive fiord on the coast It is in truth a continuation of Chatham strait the north and south passage being several hundred miles in extent the whole forming the trough of a glacier which disappeared ages agoOn the day following the incident described our friends boarded the little untidy steam launch bound for Dyea I There were 50 passengers besideH themselves them-selves double the number it was intended in-tended to carrythe destination of all being the gold fields The weather was keen and biting and the accommodations accommoda-tions on the boat poor They pushed here and there surveying with natural interest the bleak scenery along the shore the mountains white with snow and foretelling the more terrible regions re-gions that lay beyond Hundreds of miles remained to be traversed before they could expect to gather the yellow particles but neither of the sturdy lads felt any abatement of courage Well look at that suddenly exclaimed ex-claimed Roswell catching the arm of his companion as they were making their way toward the front of the boat Frank turned in the direction indi vated and his astonishment was as great as his companions Tim McCabe and the shabby scamp Ike Hardman I were sitting near each other on a bench and smoking their pipes like two aectionate brothers No one would II have suspected there had ever been a ripple between them Catching the eye of the amazed boys Tim winked and threw up his chin as an invitation for them to approach Frank shook his head and he and Roswell Ros-well went back to where Jeff was smoking his pipe They had hardly time to tell their story when the Irishman Irish-man joined them I obsarved by the exprission on your faces that ye were a bit surprised he said addressing theyouths Is that fellow the Hardman you told us about asked Roswell The same at your sarvice And the man who robbed you of your money Tim flung one of his muscular legs over the other and with a twinkle of the eyes said Hardman has made it all right the matter is fixed atween oursilves Then he gave you back your money was the inquiring remark of JeffNot Not precisely that though he said he would do the same if he only had it with him but he run up agin a game I at Juneau and was cleaned out Whin he told me that I was a bit sorry for him He further obsarved that it was his intintion if he won to stake me agin I and add something extra for interest on what he borrowed of me That spakes well for Hardman so we shook hands over it was the hearty conclusion of Tim The boys were too astonished to speak Jeff Grahams shoulders shook and he looked sideways at his friend ± S i S E bf111 S S I CATCH3ZCG rEHS EYE OF TRE AMAZED BOYS TEK WTWKED with a quizzical expression Unable to I i do justice to his feelings As for Tim his red face was the picture of blanfl I innocence but he was not through 1 Astounding as were the statements he I had just made he had a still more 1 I astounding one to submit II I I CHAPTER IV I THE AVALANCHE I It was late in the day that the little I steamer arrived at Dyea which was j found to be a village With one log store a number of movable tents and I without any wharf the beach beIng so flat that at high water the tide I reaches a half mile or more inland I To guard against losing any of their II I supplies Tim McCabe told his friends 1 that it would be necessary to unload I them themselves From this pint said he We must I hoe our own row under hiven we must I depind on oursilves Hardman had a hand there and step lively TO the astonishment of the youths the man took hold and wrought with I I right good will Jeff looked at Tim I queerly as he pointed out the different I articles he himself as may Lbc said i overlooking the job but tho conclusion I was that the Irishman had promised I i him a small amount for his help When however the task was finished Tim came to the group and while Hard man with shamefaced expression remained I re-mained in the background he said with 1 that simplicity which any one would find hard to resist j I You see poor Hardman is In bad s luck he haint any outfit and wants t6 go to the gold fields but will have to git some one to stake him obseivir the same I made bowld to remark that I it would give me frind Jiff the highest pisure to do it for him not forgetting 0 < to observe that I know his company I would be agreeable to the byes and he will be of great help to the same Well rm blessed exclaimed the old miner removing his hat and mopping mop-ping his forehead with his big red handkerchief Then he turned halfway half-way around and looked steadily at the fellow who was standing with his head down S Poor dog let him come along but if he makes any trouble Ill hold you responsible Tim And Ill be happy to take charge of the same sponsibihty and if he dont I toe the mark its mesilf that will make i hIm Do you hear that Ike he roared I turning fiercely toward the fellow who started and meekly replied that he heard though it was impossible for anything to reach him except the last thunderous demand It isnt for us to say anything remarked re-marked Roswell aside to his chum but that means trouble for us all It surely does we must be on our guard against him t The outfits were piled on a sandpit about a mile below the trading posts of Healy and Wilson In the foreground were the ranch and store Owned by them and beyond towered the coast mountains their tops gleamirig in the sunshine with enormous masses of snow while hundreds of niiles still beyond be-yond stretched the Immense YUkon country towards which the eyes of the civilized world are turned at the pfes ent time One of the strange facts connected with Alaska and the adjoining region is that in May the sun rises at3 oclock and sets at 9 while in Junelurisds at 130 and sets at 1030 Thiisthe summer sum-mer day is 20 hours long and it > has a diffuse twilight The change fiom winter I win-ter to summer is rapid winter setting in in September and in the Klondike region zero weather lasts from November No-vember to May though at times the weather moderates early in March but does not become settled until May The Yukon generally freezes shUt in the latter part of October and bleaks up about the middle of May when the western route to the gold fields by the river becomes practicable The hour was so late when our friends had finished carrying their odtfit beyond I be-yond reach of the high tide which rises 20 feet at Dyea that they lodged arid took their meals at the ranch trading post By arrangement an early breakfast break-fast was eaten the next morning and the goods were loaded upon the two Yukon sleighs with which they were provided These were seven feet long 16 inches wide and were shod with steel Other gold seekers were stopping like themselves at the ranch but they lagged so much that when themen and boys headed northward they were alone Jeff Graham and Ike Hardman passed the rope attached to ohe of the sleds over their shoulders the elder in advance and led off Tim took the lead with the boys behind him with the second sec-ond sled following the trail left of their I friends The deep snow was packed so hard that no use was made of the snowshoes snow-shoes which Jeff had provided From Dyea the trail led for five miles over the ice when they reached the mouth of the canyon This is two miles long with an average width of 50 feet i I The sleds were dragged over the strong I ice but later in the season when it i breaks up travelers are obliged to follow I fol-low the trail to the east of the can you yoThe party were so unaccustomed to this kind of labor that they found it exhausting Curiously enough Jeff bore the fatigue better than any His iron muscles were the last to yield and he was the first to resume the journey He chaffed the others and offered to let them mount his sled while he pulled them Beyond the woods is a strip of woods three miles in length which bears the name of Pleasant Camp though it has not the first claim to the name It does I not contain the ruins of even a cabin or shantynothIng in fact but trees through which the wintry winds sough and howl dismally There the party halted ate lunch rested for an hour and then set out with the determination determina-tion to make the next camping ground before night The ascent now became gradual and before the day was spent they arrived at Sheep Camp on the edge of the timber tim-ber This is the last snot where wood for fuel can be obtained until the other side of Chilkoot pass is reached The tent was pitched on top of the snow the poles and pins being shoved down into it All the men were good cooks but Jeff took it upon himself to cut what fuel was needed gathered at the same time a liberal quantity of hemlock brush upon which to spread their blankets for beds Since it was necessary to use the stove and it must rest upon the snow a simple arrangement provided against trouble from the melting of the latter Three polas eight feet in length were laid parallel on the snow and the stove placed upon them Although a hole was I soon dissolved beneath the length of the supports kept it upright By the time Jeff finished his work Tim had supper ready and the keen appetites made it enjoyable Then the hemlock branches were spread on top of the snow at the side of the tent a large square of canvas was placed over them upon which the blankets and robes were put the whole forming a springy comfortable bed Roswell and Fran were sure that in all their lives they were never so tired Leaving the three men to talk and smoke they stretched out on their blankets wrapping themselves in them and almost immediately sank into deep dreamless slumber The sleep had lasted perhaps acouple of hours when without any apparent cause Frank Mansley awoke in the full possession of his senses Lying motionless he listened to the soft breathing of his cousin beside him while the regular respiration of the men left l no doubt of their condition Everything around was in blank impenetrable im-penetrable darkness and all profoundly still i S Its strange that I should awake like this he thought slightly shifting his position Im tired and was so drowsy that I felt as if I could sleep a week but I was never wider awake than I am at this minute Amid the allpervading silence he was sensible of a low solemn murmur like that of the distant ocean At first it seemed to be the voice of silence it self but it steadily increased in volume vol-ume until its roar became overpowering overpower-ing Startled and frightened he lay still wondering what it could mean or whetther his senses were deceiving him Then he suddenly remembered the vast masses of ice and snow which towered above them all through the day he recalled the stories of the glaciers gla-ciers and avalanches he had read and to which Tim McCabe had referred as sometimes overtaking travelers in this part of the world He knew what it meant and leaping from his couch he shouted Wake up Quick An avalanche is upon us To be Continued |
