Show ajack LONDON r coper 1914 by the wheeler cat CHAPTER III the new Gent gentleman lemans s man 1 X I F V tie e time the wind blew a lie tie and hm bin ke bellew tag tag aed it a al ng t the he like beich in t the gray of da do in n a doben boits were heirs bell loaded with kith the precious 0 filp picked d across Chil chilcoot hoot chev biere ere cl el imay home made boats pit t gether by it en who were not boit b out of planks they hid sawed by hand from green spruce trees one boat already loaded was just start ng and kit paused to watch this and which was fair down the tile lake here blew in squarely on the beach kicking up a naty sea in the sh allows lows the men of the departing boat waded in high r ibber ribber boots aa as they shoved it out boin toward ird deeper wa ter twice they did this clambering aboard ind failen falling to row clear the boat was swept lack and grounded kit noticed that the cpr sany ay iy on the sides of the boat quickly turned to ice lee the third attempt was a partial success the last two men to climb in were wet to their waists but the tile boat was ado it they struggled awkwardly at the heavy oars and slowly worked off shore then they ho sted a sail sall made of blankets had it carried away in a gust and vi ere swept a d third time back on the freezing beich kit grinned to himself and went on this was what be must mast expect to en ed counter for he too in his new ro e of lintleman lent rent leman s man was to start from the teach each in a similar boat that very day everywhere men at work and at for the closing down ot of winter wis wag so 0 o imminent that it was a gamble whether or not they would get across the great chain of lakes before the freez eup yet when hit arrived at the tent of sprague and stine be did not find them stirring by a fire under the stelter of a tar paulin squatted a short thick man hello he said are you mr spragues sprague a new man kit nodded well I 1 in doc doe a man the other went on I 1 in five feet two inch es long iong an my namis S shorty jack short tor for short sit down an hive hane some grub the bosses fint flut turned out yet thomas stanley sprague was a bud ding mining engineer and the son of a millionaire dr adolph stine was also the son of a wealthy father ani an through their fathers both had been backed by an investing syndicate in the klondike adventure oh ob they re sure made of money shorty expounded when they hit bit the beach at dyea freight was 70 cents but no indians there was a party from eastern oregon real miners that d managed to get a team of in deans together at 70 cents when along comes sprague an stine they of 80 cents an 90 an at a dollar a pound the indians jumped the con tract an took off their straps stine an sprague came through abo though agh it cost them three thousand an the ore gon bunch Is still on the beach they won t t get through till next year I 1 have mother cup of ot coffee an take it from me that I 1 wouldn t travel with no such outfit if I 1 dida t want to get to E klondike so blamed bad they aint ain t heisted did you sign a contract kit shook his then I 1 in sorry for you pardner they ain t no trub grub in the country an they 11 II drop you cold as soon as they hit bit dawson men alen are going to starve there this v inter your name pardner call me smoke said hit kit well sn oke yon you 11 hive have a run for your verbal contract juba the same fiame they can sure shed rn azuma but they can t work or turn tum out of bed in the mot ala we should have been loaded an started an hour ago its you an for the big work V hat d ye know about boatin on the water I 1 in a cowman an a prospector but I 1 in sure tender footed on water an they don t know dunkins what d ye know search me kit mt answered it was 8 0 clock when the call for coffee came frona the tent and nearly 8 9 before the two employers emerged hello hella gald said sprague a rosy cheek ed well fed led voting man of twenty five time we made a start shorty you and here be glanced interrogative ly at kit KIL 1 I quite catch your name last evening smoke I 1 well shorty you jou and smoke had bad better begin loading the boat bents sprague strolled away among the atenta to be followed by dr belne a slender pallid young man 09 I 1 to move 3 pounds on the aera yards was no slight task and to 40 do it in half halt a gale was exhausting athen caeg the loil iding As boat 1 bett settled leti I 1 aaa to W hovee ed er and farther out increasing the 1114 tame tane they had bad to wade viade by fly i 0 clock it had bad all been P 11 bed and bit was weak attl the 1 faintness ot of hunger his knees were sinking under him film in predicament foraged through the pota pots and pans and drew forth a big pot of cold bollei beans lu in which were ein eat bedded large chunks of bacon there was only one spoon a long au bundled ittle ne and they dipped turn and turn about into the pot put alvra prague ue and belne arrived in the midst of this pleasant occupation the delav prague corn com aren t we ever going to get started 9 shorty dipped in turn and passed the poon to kit aar did either speak till the pot was empty and the but bottom toll raped of co arse we ain ald t been dot doln n noth in said wiping big 1 with the back of his hand we ain sill t been doln kotbin at all and of courie you ain sill t had bothin to eat it was sure careless of me tea yes yes bone stine said quickly vve we ate at one of the tents friends of ours but now that you re finished let us ills get started they waded out and the employer employers got on board while kit and shorty shoved clear when hen the waves lapped the tops ot of their boots they clambered in the other two men were not prepared with the oars and the tile boat went back and grounded half a dozen times with a great expenditure of energy this was repeated if it you 11 take tale my lay orders get her off sprague finally said the attempt was well intended but before he tie could clamber on board he was net w et to the we ve got to camp and build a fire ore he said as the boat grounded again 1 I in freezing boo don t t be afraid of a wetting stine sneered other men have gone off today wetter thin you isow now I 1 in go ing to take her out this time it was he who got the wetting and who announced with chat bering teeth the need of a fire it if you give me a shot at it I 1 think I 1 can get her off I 1 kit said how would you go about it stine 6 snapped napped at him sit down and get a good rest till a lull comes in the wind and then buck in for all we re worth simple as the idea was he be had bad been the first to evolve it the first time it 0 f ir 4 low before he could clamber on board he wa was wet to the want waist was applied it worked and they hoist holst ed a blanket to the mast and sped down the lake sprague struggled with the steering sweep for a quarter of an hour and then looked appealingly at kit nit who relieved him my arms are fairly broken with the strain ot of 1 it sprague muttered apolo getic ally kit steered the length ot of lindeman displaying an aptitude that caused both young men of money and bisin cli nation tor for work to name him boat between lindeman and lake ben den nett deft was a portage the boat lightly loaded was lined down the email small but violent connecting stream and here kit learned a vast deal more about boats and water but when it came to packing ahe outfit stine and drs ime disappeared disappear eU au ami la tbell iffe men n sp e hl two days ol 01 back breaking tou toll in getting the across they came to the rapids first the bos box 11 and then milea miles below the white bite horse the rot box canyon was adequately named it was a bo bor a trap on e in it the tile only way out was agh on either side arose ular walls of rock the river rowed to a fraction of its width ani roared through this gloomy massipe in a 8 mid ind nee of motion thit heaped the water in the center into a ridge fully eight feet higher than at the rock sides the wis wl well feared for it had collected it its toll of dead from the passing sold gold ri ushers her herx x tying to the I 1 ml int above where a a score scare t f ther ni tit 1 al I is IQ t 1 ats mt hit and bl his q c m went it ed pad on fot to Invest investing ig ate they to the I 1 rink ird azal az 1 dou doain a at the stirl an irl it A sprague diew b bi it it mv V god be exclaimed swim mei met barn t a chan e in it bildt it kit scarcely heird beird we te pot to ride tint thit ridge I 1 e slid it 11 vi we e gel off it we well if hit the callb and never enow wt stat at hit U us w wis t a verdict that R what I 1 siv sly a stranger stand standing ln g alongside and peering d MI nit into the cannon slid and I 1 wl it h I 1 were through it I 1 ve re been here for hours I 1 an r t a boat man and I 1 bare have with me oi 01 ly in net hew bew why who I 1 Is a komg VO ing b v and it IT v wife if it you get through afeld wil ia vou roll ruu run my boat 13 kit hit looked at who beldt beld I 1 to answer he 9 got his wife with him mt it suggested sure shorty affirmed it w just what I 1 was I 1 think about I 1 knew there was some I 1 ought to do it again they turned to go but sr and stine made no movement good luck sprague called to to him I 1 ill II 11 eri er I all it just aist bt u ay iy here and watch you we need three men in the boat two at of the oars and one at the ste steering erin sweep kit said quietly sprague looked at belne I 1 in cursed if I 1 do said that gen tieman we can do without them kit said to shorty you take the bow with a paddle and I 1 it handle the steering a Y beep all you 11 II have to do Is juba to liela keep her straight once we were re started you won t be able to hear me eo sc jutt keep on keeping her straight they cast off the boat and worked out to middle in the quickening cur rent from the canyon came the ever growing roar the river sucked in to the ent enhance iane with the smoothness of molten glass and here as the dirk dark d irk ening wall received them shorty took a bew chew of tobacco and dipped bla his pad die the boat leaped on the first crests of the ridge and they were deafened by the uproar of wild water that reverberated ver berated from the narrow walls and multiplied itself I 1 ahey hey were half mothered smothered with flying spray at times kit could not see his comrade at the bow it was only a matter of two min utes in which time they rode the ridge three quarters of a mile and emerged in safety and tied to the bank in the eddy below shorty emptied his mouth of tobacco juice he had forgotten to spit and spoke say we went a few d dil I 1 we smoke I 1 dont mind you in confidence that before we stilted I 1 was the gosh dang dest scar edest man tola this side of the rocky mountains now ow I 1 in a bear eater come on an well we 11 run that other boat through after running the stranger strangers s boat through kit and shorty met his wife a slender girlish woman whose blue eyes were moist with gratitude breck himself tried to hand band kit nit 50 and then attempted it on shorty stranger was the latter a rejection I 1 come into this country to make money outa the ground an not outa onto my fellow critters breck the stranger rummaged in his boat and produced a demijohn of whis ky shorty a s hand half halt went out to it and stopped abruptly he ile shook his head bead there a that blamed white horse right below an they say it its a worse than the box I 1 reckon I 1 don I 1 dast tackle any light lightning nin 0 several miles below they ran in to the bank and all four walked down to look at the bad water the river which was a succession of rapids was here deflected toward the right bank by a rocky reef the whole body of water rushing crookedly into the nar nor row passage accelerated its speed frightfully and waa was apfl ing into huge waves white and wrathful this was the dread mane of the white horse and here an even heavier toll of dead had been exacted on one side of the mane was a corkscrew cur curl over and suck under and on the opposite side was the big whirlpool to go the mane itself must be ridden As they watched a boat took the head of the rapids above abote it was wits a large boat boal fully thirty feet long laden with several tons of outfit and bandied handled by six men before it reached tie mine it was plunging and leaping at times almost bidden hidden by the foam and spray shorty shot a slow sidelong glance at kit wt and said shea fair an she chasn t hit bit the worst they ve hauled the oars in there she takes it now god she s gone 0 no o there she Is I 1 big as the boat waa was it had been burled buried from sight in the flying C between crests the nest next moment in the thick of the mane the boat leaped up a crest and into view to kits it a amazement he be saw the whole long hot torn tom clearly outlined the boot boat forsbe for the fraction of an instant was in the air the men sitting idly in their places all save 6 one n e in abe e s arrn wao saoul at he fhe steeling sweep then came the down plunge into the trough and a se oi 01 d cisal pea vilice three times the boat leaped aid b irlie itself then those on the bink saw b W its nose take the whirlpool as it slipped off the mane the steersman vainly opposing with fuli 0 the steering geir dued to tit tl shirli ool and helped the boat to tak tal the circle three times it went vent arkind e h b time so close to th the rocks on which aich kit and shorty stood that either co ild have leaped oil board the steersman a man luan with a reddi it beard of breont tit growth dived hia his hind to theta the only way war out of the out wi wt 4 by the mane and on the third round the bolt boit edderd the mine ob liquefy at its apper end I 1 h 0 I 1 of fear of the d aw of the I 1 the d d not dot attell t t straighten olt it quickly enoich enoi h hei het he be did it was too late alternately in the air and buried the boat angled the mane and w wis is bucked into tie mitt wall of the corkscrew on the opp bite side of the river A hundred feet below boxes and bales agan to float up then allear ed the bottom of the boat and the seat heads beads of six men two man manig ig td cd to mike the bint bink in the eddy te low the others were drawn lider and the general flotsam was lost to view borne on by the swift current around the bend CHAPTER IV the yukon surrenders H ERE was a long min he ite 0 of f tto silence shorty was tie birst to speak lome come on he be said ne e might as asell tackle it mv liv feet I 1 get cold it I 1 stay here any longet ionel ion el shorty and kit tramped I 1 lack ack ahr uti uh a foot of snow to the head of the ap lap ids and cast of off the beat bat you ve sure got to keep tie tl e t p ot of the ridge shorty shouted at blu bin as the boat quickened in the quick enli g current and took the tile head bead of the rip ids kit nodded swayed his ills strength and wetha tentatively on the steering geir and headed the boat tor for the plunge minutes later halt half swamped and lying against the bank in the ed dy belm the white horse ovit out a mouthful of tobacco jul JU e abild u shook kit a hand at the top of the bank they met breck his ills wife stood at a little dis tame tance kit shook his tits hand I 1 in afraid your boat can t make it he said it Is smaller than ours and a bit cranky the man pulled out a roll of bills give you each a bundled handled if you run it through kit looked out and up the tossing mane ot of the NN chite bite horse A long gray twilight was falling it was turn ing colder and the landscape seemed taking tali ing on a savage bleakness it ain sill t that shorty was mas saying raying we don t want your money but my pardner Is the real meat with bolts an when he says yourn am aln t safe I 1 reckon he knows what hes about kit nodded affirmation and chanced to glance at mrs breck her eyes were fixed upon him and he knew that if it ever he had seen prayer in a romans oman a eves he was seeing it then shorty 01 fol ol owed towed bis his gaze and saw |