FROM ONE CLUE TO ANOTHER
"What have you learned, Jack?"
"When did he leave here?"
"Is he all right?"
"I'm ready to go after him right now."
Such were the words that came from the Rover boys after Jack Wumble had
announced that he had located their missing brother.
"We ain't got no time to spare," cried the old miner. "Let us pay our
bill here an' git out, an' I'll tell ye all I know while we are on the
way."
The lads lost no time in packing up as directed, and Dick settled at
the hotel desk. Jack Wumble led the way down to the docks and ordered
them into a small river boat.
"This here ain't no regular boat," he explained. "But I've hired
passage on her, so it's all right. We'll save fourteen hours by not
waitin' fer the regular boat."
"But where are we going, Jack?" questioned Dick.
"To a jumpin'-off place called Lindy Falls. That is whar the party Tom
was with was goin' to start from."
Soon the boat, a large craft of its kind, was on the way up the river.
As they sped along, the boys and the old miner drew into a corner of
the cabin and Jack Wumble told his story.
"By the merest accident I fell in with a man named Rabig I used to know
in 'Frisco," said the old miner. "He's interested in the Golden Sunset
mine an' the Beggar's Chance. Well, I told Rabig about you an' Tom an'
he got interested an' asked me how Tom looked an' I told him. Then he
told about how he fell in with Tom on board thet steamer an' how Tom
had told him he was bound fer the Lion Head gold fields. He had it in
his head, so Rabig said, that he could pick up nuggets at the Lion
Head."
"The Lion Head?" repeated Dick. "Where is that?"
"It's a good distance from here, Dick, I can tell ye that. It's to the
northwest o' the Klondyke. A wild place. It's called the Lion Head
acause thar's a mountain thar thet looks like a lion's head. I was
thar onct, prospectin' around. But I didn't find any gold thar. But
some have found gold," added the old miner.
"How will Tom get there?" questioned Sam.
"Thet's the strangest part o' it," resumed Jack Wumble. "It appears as
how he fell in with a miner named Furner--Ike Furner. Rabig says
Furner is a bit touched here." Wumble tapped his forehead. "Well, the
two made up their minds to go to Lion Head. Furner told Tom he was
sure they could pick up nuggets, if only they could hit the right spot.
Furner had some kind o' an outfit an' he got Tom to buy some more
things, and away they started. Rabig thought they was both crazy."
"And so they must be!" murmured Dick. "Poor Tom! I hope we catch him
before he gets too far into the mountains."
"Did this man Rabig say what name Tom was traveling under?" asked Sam.
"Yes. A mighty queer name, too. Brill Thomas. How do ye account fer
that?"
"Brill Thomas!" repeated Dick. "Oh, that's easy. Brill is the name of
the college he attends and Thomas is his first name in full. He is out
of his mind, but he still retains snatches of names and things, I
suppose, and that's how he hit on Brill Thomas for a name."
"He told Rabig he was from the land of Hope--the Valley Brook of Hope,"
went on Jack Wumble. "Rabig never heard tell o' the location."
"Valley Brook is the farm we live on, and Hope is a school near Brill,"
said Sam. "Poor, poor Tom! Who would have imagined such a thing as
this could happen to him!"
"How far is Lion Head from here?" asked Dick.
"As the crow flies, about five hundred miles."
"Five hundred miles!" exclaimed Sam.
"Yes, an' it's nearly six hundred by the way they'll have to travel,"
went on Jack Wumble.
This news almost stunned the Rover boys. Was it possible that Tom was
undertaking a trip of six hundred miles into the little-known portion
of Alaska?
"He'd never do such a thing if he was in his right mind," said Dick.
"We must catch him just as soon as we can!"
"That is why I hired passage on this boat," said the old miner. "I'm
calkerlatin' we can head him off. Thet is, if the weather stays good."
"It looks like rain and is getting colder."
"Right ye are, Dick. An' when it gits cold up here, it gits cold, I
kin tell ye thet. Last winter I 'most froze to death up in my shack,"
added Jack Wumble.
The trip on the boat to Lindy Falls was without special incident.
There were about a dozen passengers, all miners and prospectors, who
did not care to wait for any of the regular boats. They were a rather
good-natured set, and whiled away the time by swapping stories and
arguing about the best way to locate paying claims and getting out the
gold.
Lindy Falls was reached one afternoon about two o'clock. It was little
more than a boat and trading station and here the Rover boys got their
first sight of Alaskan Indians, members of the Chilkoot tribe.
Immediately on landing they made inquiries concerning Tom and the miner
named Ike Furner. They soon learned that Furner was a well-known
character, and from a trader heard that this man and his young
companion had set off but a few hours before.
"I think they went to Dawson City," said a man standing nearby.
"Anyway, Furner told me he was goin' there first, an' then up to Lion
Head."
This put a new view on the matter, and the boys and Jack Wumble
questioned the stranger. The upshot was that they decided to go
directly to Dawson, that mecca of all gold hunters in Alaska.
"Now, the thing of it is, How can we get to Dawson from here?" said Sam.
"That's easy," replied Jack Wumble. "Just leave it to me."
Inside of an hour their arrangements were made and they were off.
Previous to going they made more inquiries concerning Tom and his
strange companion, and reached the conclusion that the pair had really
headed for Dawson.
"But there is no telling how soon they will change their minds and go
somewhere else," said Dick, with a sigh.
It is not my purpose to tell the particulars of the tedious journey to
Dawson City, about three hundred and fifty miles north of Skagway. At
that time all of the improvements that now exist had not been made and
the crowd suffered from many inconveniences.
But the boys were surprised when they reached Dawson to find it so "up
to date," as Sam expressed it. They had expected to see a rough mining
town--and that is what Dawson was but a handful of years ago. Instead,
they saw a built-up city, with many stores and not a few hotels.
"Goin' to be a reg'lar 'Frisco some day," said Jack Wumble. "Beats all
how the towns grow up here!"
The party had arrived in Dawson late at night and put up at the best
hotel to be found. Immediately after breakfast the search for Tom was
renewed.
It had rained the day before and now it was blustery and cold, with a
suggestion of snow in the air. The boys were glad enough to don their
sweaters under their coats.
"Ye'll have to git some heavy clothin' if ye go North," said the old
miner.
"I hope Tom is dressed warm enough," said Sam. "It would be too bad if
he took sick, along with his other troubles."
For two days the boys and the old miner hunted around Dawson for some
trace of the missing one. They visited all sorts of places, but all to
no purpose. During that time the weather grew suddenly colder and on
the second night came a light fall of snow.
"Won't be long now before winter will be on us," announced Jack Wumble.
"And winter up here is somethin' wuth rememberin', believe me!"
The next morning found Dick at a large trading store, where many miners
and prospectors purchased their supplies. Here he asked all newcomers
if they had seen or heard of Tom or Ike Furner.
"Sure, I see Furner!" cried one old prospector. "See him yesterday
afternoon."
"Where?" demanded Dick, eagerly.
"Over on the Lion Head trail."
"Alone?"
"No, he had a young feller with him."