Show af e X C lo 10 r r on 4 coper ahk gh 1914 by the wheeler cat cats CHAPTER V the stampede to squaw creek 0 mouths months after smoke bel be I 1 tl lew jew and tent erit after otter n noose for a grubstake they were back in the p it bot n sa so loon at do dalsun ason the nui hot ting was dole doze the meat hauled in and sod for rr a pound and between them then they possessed in gold dust and a good team of d fes AS they had played in luk luta despite the fact that the gold rush bud had driven the gin gine e a hundred miles or more into the n oun tallis they bad had calf balf that dibtan e bia bibbed ed tour ma be u in tit a narrow canyon I 1 lie I 1 e mystify if f the strayed animals was no DO greater tl it an the lu in k of their killers for ithan within the day four fain dished indian famil families iLs no game in three days couri ey back ramped romped beside them melt was trad ed for doga dogs and after a week of feeding smoke and harness ss ed the animals and began the meat to the eager edger dawson market rhe problem of the two men now was to turn their jold dust into food the current price for flour and beana beaus was 1 50 a pound but the difficulty was to fled a seller dawson was in tie throes of ot famine of men with money but no food bad been corn com belled to leave the country smoke met shorty in tiie toe warm sa so loon and found the latter jubilant life ain sin t no pumpkins without whisky an sweetening swee sweet enla was shorty s greeting as he be pulled lumps of ice from his thawing mustache and flung them rattling on to the floor an I 1 sure just got eighteen pounds of that sweet elain the geezer only charged 3 a pound for it what luck did you have I 1 too have not been idle smoke answered with pride I 1 bought fifty pounds of flour and there a s a man up on adam creek who says hell be 11 let die lie have bave fifty pw pot 1 ds more tomorrow greata X well ell sure live till the river opens come po ID an have a drink I 1 just got to celebrate them eighteen pour pout da ds of sweet uin beveral several minutes later late as be weighed bed in on the gold scales for the drinks he bei gave a start of recollection I 1 plumb forgot tint man I 1 was to meet in the tivoli ile lies s got some spoiled bacon hell he II 11 sell for a dollar an a half halt a pound we can feed it to the dogs so long hardly bid shorty left the place when ben a fui fut clid man entered through the double storm doors his ills face ilat ed at sight of smoke who recognized bini him as breck the man whose boat they had run through the box lanyon and the white horse rapids I 1 beard you were in town breck mid hurriedly been looking tor for you for hilf half an hour come outside I 1 want to with you As bey they emerged smoke drew off one mitten lighted a match math and glanc glane ed at the thermometer tint thit bing bi ng taide I 1 the door lie remi tUned ins his nak ed band hand hastily as if tie frost hid burned him na ahat bat did it say bre Is asked sixty below an horn bow ago it was only 52 don t tell tel I 1 me it its s a stampede it Is breck whispered back BU an piously you know squaw reek empties in on the other side the I 1 a ton kon thirty miles up tip 9 nothing doing there was smoke a judgment jt it was prospected years yea re ago 1 so were all the other rich creeks listen it 9 big only eight to twenty feet to bedrock k there vi on t be a claim that doean t run to halt half a million its a dead secret two or three of my close friends let me in on it I 1 told my wife right away that I 1 was going to find you before I 1 started now so long rong my pack packs d hidden down the bank in fact when they told tie n e they made me promise not to pull out until dawson was asleep ion ou anoa what it means if you re seen with a stam stain beding outfit get byoir yo ir partner and follow you ought to stake fourth or fifth claim from D don dori t for get sq law creek its the third after you pass swede creek I 1 when smoke entered the little cabin on the hillside back of dawson be heard beard a heavy familiar breathing aw A w go to bed shorty mumbled as smoke shook his shoulder kick rick into your clothes smoke said weve we ve got to stake a couple of claims I 1 shorty sat up and started to explode ash smoke w arned its a big strike squaw creek breck gave me the tip up shallow bedrock gold from the grass roots down lome on we 11 aling a couple of light packs together and pull out I 1 with wilb small stampeding packs on their backs they closed the door behind them and started down the bill hill shorty I 1 floundered foundered off a turn of the trail trall into jeep enow and ra raised ased his voice in ii bleis blessing shig f the da date fe ma ol 01 the weel a aid i d month and ear con cant t ou oil hep still a be he CI lil 11 ed vonel hive dive ill all kansou and after us bull see the leht in that dittin an in ot e ovel tl re an ali net lie that d ir r slain 0 u b Z sire bivs i s asleep I 1 cheni hell lights list their I 1 hey lu in t saimi buricin e I 1 n beobet lift ur they ain in t I 1 by I 1 be till tine e tl 11 f e re rei I 1 led I 1 ed lue the lu ni ill tit street a 13 indred i en were it 11 I 1 e n r hind them u aid i ct AN bile they su so i il 1 I 1 lu in the deceptive fo ro the trill that dipped down hie the I t it 11 k t tt e nver over m re men coul chull I 1 ce he he tie r I 1 arrid g shorty slipped an ani I 1 bit t I 1 n file thirty foot chute into the tt it si bi w chuoke ten oke followed kuo kno kins king biliti 1 ovet as be tie was i 1 his big tet ale 1 e ni ar dmn ent they were berandt in ili bilth wil 11 out of the me w ly jf if the 13 hulling bud bod es of those th it fo tot 1 a met 1 its a uie tuie t st impede sh ish rt d died el led ur or might all them be site walkers t i 1 e re at the head of the eion sion at any rate wai was S i oke s till ewer on ob I 1 don dont t know debbe taits a firefly ahead there febbe they re a al fireflies aba that t one an thavone that one loo at deml em believe me they Is a while string of processions ahead it waa was a mile across the J jmj ims to the west tank or the toe lukon anu ana catia es ft flickered the full 11 of the twist ng trail behind thein clear to the top of the bank a they bad descended were more candies smoke quickened and was soon at the rear of the nearest bunch of peders he ile counted eight men and two women in thia this party and before the way across the jam ice was won be and shorty had bad passed another par ty twenty strong within a few feet of the west bank the trail swenerd to the south eberg ing from the jim jiro upon smooth ice the ice fee however was buried un lei several feet of fine snow through this the sled trill rin rill a unrow rib bon of packed footing baiely two feet in width on either bile site one sank to his knees and deeper in the snow fhe stam peders they overtook were reluctant to give way and often fern sin ke and shorty had bad to plunge into the de dep p MOW snow and find by sos gut reme efforts noun ler ter past the average pice of the stam pedera peders J nn on the smooth going was three it I 1 es and a half an I 1 lour our smoke and sh shirt rth were doing four and a it hilt bilt th tb ib sometimes some tims they broke into short n ns and went faster half ho ir ur by half hour they altern altermat rit ed in setting pace nor did they t nik ilk much their exertions kept etem a r get outa the way stranger let some body stampede that knows how to stampede warm though their breath froze on their faces from lips to chin so in tense waa was the cold that they almo J t continually rubbed their noses i nd lid cheeks with their mittens often they thought they had reached the lead but always they overtook more stam peders who had started be fore them occasionally groups of men attempted to swing in behind to their pace but invariably they were die dig cou raged after a mile or two and dia dis appeared in the birkness dir knese kness to the rear we ve been out on trail all winter was shorty a comment an them geysers guv gee vins sers 6 soft ft from kayin around their thel i a i cabins ha I 1 he t ier jr e 1 ll 11 i ih tl 11 eyman ey man keap p oar stride no 0 o v it th 3 w is reil 1 so ir dough it d be ie diffee et it once sn le lighted a ra in wl and alani d ut at ills his vati batth h he ile teila re pe pelted cited it roi tot h b I 1 I 1 k 1 w 9 the 1 I 1 te ot of the f flu i u t on I 1 Us Is I 1 ind it ads tint thit h lull III an bo no ir jr i assed before more they ai u in ib e pout bejo do k be lie said 4 lie i on ills his in atel a and eve pa sed three hundred and thirty eight orlecter ted G get et 0 t thi V kiy ly strat ner er letsome I 1 vt boly stall u P de that knows how to bt impe le this litter vitter wis ag to a man evidently exhausted who ho could no more than stumble along ind ho ito blo ked tte trail trait this a ani id it other the i iv lv played 0 it 11 allt hey en 0 to o roi tot tie eit very n i t to abl I 1 eld of the fetal stai pede NO dil ill J beirn till d tie tte h b irois trois of tint thit F axll X 11 i 1 ted i I 1 sat sit d wu a to re t I 1 the t lie ty i 1 ilot 1 tal ed to get ur aaa 0 s ren were fi ft zei to de th tit AN while bile is ore ores of a i i t do 9 ot of to s feet iid tid big hi rs were mere pert in c in the D i son host ho atals on the burla ra rs TI e other placed ed 0 it ro in it chev f und lind a few tew 4 1 I 1 r sitting on a I 1 diee ivo f t I 1 e beside the trill hop t 10 lo to s g sister NI rv sh tt ran g aly I 1 ly greeted mm jim keep i I 1 vin rill it v i 1 s t ther 0 o u 1 11 fredye tiff tift I 1 tit the it n it ide I 1 re pon pone e an aul I 1 the thes storied tort ed t in incest rest ate I 1 e if I 1 ea i e eitl ii it 1411 iu to I 1 e ac us ms b bir ir d hand he tie ul i tl r t 1 f tin na ar I 1 coders bolet 9 f r the i n g t it 11 1 1 arty lifted 0 air mi oil nd I 1 i to t ti e I 1 e li 11 3 arv irv br itte I 1 e re rt pul puit ta 0 N r t a ld 1 ke I 1 he lie mittet ed I 1 H ia t t d i a i d t r t it col viol nth foi rut a mil mit te lefore exi ei ir it g it to the tbt host to str ke a in t it it was it in id man t I 1 IN dad in the f r ament of ulu nin ill a ta tier et saw a loi lot g grav hearl bear t a ed will ice fee to the n se cheeks th t mete white with fio t ind closed e ees es with frost frosi rimmed lashes fr zen r con cone e on oil lhorty said rut bag hh hn ear decant e cant d bothin for tre tte old geezer A few minutes later when a flaat s g ribbon spilled pulsating pul bating fire over the heikens chev saw on the ice fee i quartel quartet of a mile ahead two forms beyond for a mile nothing mored mey re leacia ane 1 roces roes slon sion smoke said as darkness fell asale come on lets let s get them then at the end of half an hour not yet biven hiving overtaken the two in front fron t sh rt arty broke into a run if we e catch em well never pass em he be panted lord what a pace they re hittig hit tie ahey r the real sour do agh variety sou can black on that smoke was leading when they final ly caught up and lis be was glad to ease to a walk at their heels almost in I 1 n med mediately lately be got the in preb slon that the one nearer him was a worn wom n flow this ingression in i came be he coill ll 11 1 nut not tell hooded and furred the lirk form N was as as US any JIDY form yet there was a h luat n sense of I 1 about it how do you do miss aliss Gab gantell tell smoke addressed her how do you do she answered with a turn of the head and a qu ck glance it its a too dark to see ho ye re youa smoke sl SI e laughed laufe hed in the fro t ai at d he wis wig cert certion tin it N was as the pi prettiest pettiest iest la A 1 tei tel he had ever heard how many bet I 1 k acs s are there behind sever ll 11 thois tho asin lill 1 I 1 imigine V A e passed oer 30 its the old story she slid bitterly the newcomers get in on the rt h creeks at aid d the old timers who dared and suffered ered ard aid nude mide this country get nothing old timers made this dis dig covery on SI S i aw crek how ft it failed out Is the mystery aid at d chev sent air rd ip to all the old timers on sa I 1 I 1 n B bit it it its a ten miles farther tt tann rin D diw tw son and when they arrive the 11 tind flud the creek staled tot ed to the sky line nv bv the dawson chevako che kukos kako it Is too h d smoke sympathized but I 1 in hanged if I 1 know wl wt at you are fire going to do about it I 1 wish I 1 could do so she flashed back at him I 1 d like to see them all freeze on the trail or it ive ivo everything terrible happen to them so long as the sea lion stampede first and now if you 11 forgive my tirade I 1 II 11 save my breath for I 1 don t know when you and all tie tl e rest may try to piss dad and me ro no further talk passed between joy a and d smoke for an hour or so tho though agh he noticed that for a time she and her father talked in low tones I 1 know em now told smoke hes iles old louis loun gastell an the real goods that must 1 e his big kl ki I 1 he fie come into this country so long ao 90 they aln amt t nobody can recollect an he brought the girl with him she only a baby I 1 don t think we 11 II try to pass them smoke said were we re at the h ad of 0 the stampede and there are only four tour of us another hour of silence followed during which they swung steidley dlly tilon along at 7 clock the slickness blick ness neRs ws wis I 1 rok en by a last display of the ai at r ra borealis bore alls which showed shoed to the west a broad opening between snow clad enot squaw creek joy exclaimed in ili some shorty exulted it was at this p int hit thit the dyen dyea trail lamed by ice jams berged ab I 1 rt artly r fly net across bosq the N kon to if tie e east bink and here they must lene the bar I 1 picked main tra traveled meled t r il it no n 0 it the jims and nd follow a dai trail bit slightly packed that hovered the bank loila lotts gastell gartell leading slipped in the darkness on the ro agh lc and find sit up tip holding his inkle gulle in b th hib his hinds tie ile struggled to his hi fett NO i I 1 went on but bul at a blower pace Vace and bilth ft ich aati a joei j cil ce tible 11 after a few min 1 ites I 1 abruptly halted it a D use tie said to hi III doull ter I 1 ve sprained i let don it ou oil go at 1 tad cod and stake fur for me as well as v v itself idt in t we ve do something asked louis gastell shook his head sh can stake tw claims as 1 nell I ell as me ole I 1 II 11 trawl crawl over to the bank fire and bindiger mv inkle i III be all right gro go on joy ouri ours above the Di discovery bovery claim its richer bigeh er up heres beres some birch bark smoke eald said his supply equally we N e 11 tike care of your daughter louie louis gastell hughee h thank you just the eime 1 me he be still but she ciu cin take cat caie e of hertelt herself pol pot low herand her and watch her ilow do you mil d if I 1 lead she abac I 1 smoke is qs she beaded on I 1 know hiloa this t intra better thin you I 1 eld eid n answered billant ly th iab I 1 agree with you it a a dim darn shime all us as che chakalos choka kalos koa ire agolig goli v to heat beat that sea lion bunch to it asti isn t there ome way to shile them she ah sh ok her held we t in t hide bide our trail and they 11 follow it sheep after a qu arter of a mile she turned sharply to the debt smoke noticed th chit it chev were go ng through ui in p pick let ml pit sn w b it neither he nor sh arty ob served thit the dim trill they hid been on oil still led south hid tl 11 ey cy wit ne sed the subsequent pi cedore of I 1 0 its gastell astell jr the history of the kl KI n dike would hive been written differ foi rot they would hive hire seen gen that 0 d timer no longer liml allm ing g with his big nose to the trail HI ili e 9 h in I 1 following them also they AN w d have seen u him him and find widen tie t irn to the fresh trail they hi lit I 1 n de to the west and find finally they woul I 1 have s en him film keep on the old dim trill hit still |