E-text prepared by Barbara Kosker, David Edwards, and the Project
Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from
page images generously made available by Internet Archive
(http://www.archive.org)
Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
file which includes the original illustrations.
See 31989-h.htm or 31989-h.zip:
(https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/31989/pg31989-images.html)
or
(https://www.gutenberg.org/files/31989/31989-h.zip)
Images of the original pages are available through
Internet Archive. See
http://www.archive.org/details/toalaskaforgoldo00strarich
TO ALASKA FOR GOLD
* * * * * *
[Illustration: TO ALASKA FOR GOLD
EDWARD STRATEMEYER
BOUND TO SUCCEED SERIES]
EDWARD STRATEMEYER'S BOOKS
Old Glory Series
_Cloth Illustrated Price per volume $1.25._
UNDER DEWEY AT MANILA Or the War Fortunes of a Castaway.
A YOUNG VOLUNTEER IN CUBA Or Fighting for the Single Star.
FIGHTING IN CUBAN WATERS Or Under Schley on the Brooklyn.
UNDER OTIS IN THE PHILIPPINES Or A Young Officer in the Tropics. (_In
Press._)
The Bound to Succeed Series
_Three volumes Cloth Illustrated Price per volume $1.00._
RICHARD DARE'S VENTURE Or Striking Out for Himself.
OLIVER BRIGHT'S SEARCH Or The Mystery of a Mine.
TO ALASKA FOR GOLD Or The Fortune Hunters of the Yukon.
The Ship and Shore Series
_Three volumes Cloth Illustrated Price per volume $1.00._
THE LAST CRUISE OF THE SPITFIRE Or Larry Foster's Strange Voyage.
REUBEN STONE'S DISCOVERY Or The Young Miller of Torrent Bend.
TRUE TO HIMSELF Or Roger Strong's Struggle for Place. (_In Press._)
* * * * * *
[Illustration: "UNCLE FOSTER! EARL! LOOK AT THIS!"--_Page 170._]
TO ALASKA FOR GOLD
Or
The Fortune Hunters of the Yukon
by
EDWARD STRATEMEYER
Author of "Under Dewey at Manila," "A Young Volunteer in Cuba,"
"Fighting in Cuban Waters," "Richard Dare's Venture,"
"Oliver Bright's Search," Etc., Etc.
Illustrated by A. B. Shute
Boston
Lee and Shepard Publishers
1899
Copyright, 1899, by Lee and Shepard.
All Rights Reserved.
TO ALASKA FOR GOLD.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing & Co. Berwick & Smith
Norwood Mass. U.S.A.
PREFACE.
"TO ALASKA FOR GOLD" forms the third volume of the "Bound to
Succeed" Series. Like the preceding tales, this story is complete in
itself.
The rush to the far-away territory of Alaska, when gold in large
quantities was discovered upon Klondike Creek, was somewhat similar to
the rush to California in years gone by. The gold fever spread to even
the remotest of our hamlets, and men, young and old, poured forth, ready
to endure every hardship if only the much-coveted prize might be
secured. That many succeeded and that many more failed is now a matter
of history, although of recent date.
In this story are related the adventures of two Maine boys who leave
their home among the lumbermen, travel to California, there to join
their uncle, an experienced miner, and several other men, and start on
the long trip to the Klondike by way of Dyea, Chilkoot Pass, and the
lakes and streams forming the headwaters of the mighty Yukon River.
After many perils the gold district is reached, and here a summer and
winter are passed, the former in hunting for the precious metal and the
latter in a never ending struggle to sustain life until the advent of
spring.
In writing the description of this new El Dorado the author has
endeavored to be as accurate as possible, and has consulted, for this
purpose, the leading authorities on Alaska and its resources, as well as
digested the sometimes tedious, but, nevertheless, always interesting,
government reports covering this subject. Regarding the personal
experiences of his heroes he would add that nearly every incident cited
has been taken from life, as narrated by those who joined in the
frenzied rush to the new gold fields.
EDWARD STRATEMEYER.
NEWARK, N. J.,
April 1, 1899.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. A LETTER FROM THE WEST 1
II. THE BOYS REACH A DECISION 9
III. A FALSE IDENTIFICATION 18
IV. A SERIOUS SET-BACK 27
V. A NIGHT IN NEW YORK 36
VI. PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE 44
VII. BUYING THE OUTFITS 52
VIII. ON THE WAY TO JUNEAU 61
IX. THE FATE OF A STOWAWAY 69
X. UP THE LYNN CANAL 77
XI. THE START FROM DYEA 85
XII. EARL HAS AN ADVENTURE 93
XIII. AT THE SUMMIT OF CHILKOOT PASS 101
XIV. BOAT-BUILDING AT LAKE LINDERMAN 109
XV. ON TO LAKE BENNETT 118
XVI. AN EXCITING NIGHT IN CAMP 127
XVII. A HUNT FOR FOOD 134
XVIII. ON TO THE WHITE HORSE RAPIDS 141
XIX. NEARING THE END OF A LONG JOURNEY 149
XX. THE GOLD FIELDS AT LAST 157
XXI. A DAY IN DAWSON CITY 164
XXII. DIGGING FOR GOLD 172
XXIII. GOOD LUCK AND BAD 180
XXIV. AN UNLOOKED-FOR ARRIVAL 187
XXV. MORE WORK IN THE GULCHES 195
XXVI. SLUICE BOXES AND PREPARATIONS FOR WINTER 203
XXVII. THE END OF THE SUMMER SEASON 211
XXVIII. SNOWED IN 219
XXIX. WAITING AND WATCHING FOR SPRING 227
XXX. LAST WASHINGS FOR GOLD 235
XXXI. DOWN THE YUKON AND HOME 243
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"'Uncle Foster! Earl! look at this'" _Frontispiece_
PAGE
"With a final kick the stowaway was run off the gang-plank" 72
"The water was boiling on every side" 125
"'I would like to see the prisoner, please'" 196
TO ALASKA FOR GOLD.
CHAPTER I.
A LETTER FROM THE WEST.
"It is not a question of what we should like to do, Randy; it is a
question of what we must do."
"I know it, Earl. One thing is certain: the way matters stand we can't
pay the quarter's rent for this timber land to-morrow unless we borrow
the money, and where we are going for it I haven't the least idea."
"Nor I. It's a pity the Jackson Lumber Company had to go to pieces. I
wonder where Jackson is."
"In Canada most likely. They would put him in jail if they could catch
him, and he knows it."
"He ought to be put in jail!" burst out Earl, who was the elder of the
two Portney brothers. "That two hundred dollars he cheated us out of
would just put us on our feet. But without it we can't even pay bills
now owing; and Caleb Norcross is just aching to sell this land to Dan
Roland."
"If we have to get out, what are we to do?" questioned Randy, soberly.
"I don't believe we can get work, unless we go into the woods as mere
choppers."
"We shall have to do something," was Earl's unsatisfactory response.
The Portney brothers lived upon a small timber claim in the state of
Maine. Their parents had died three years before, from injuries received
in a terrible forest fire, which had at that time swept the locality.
The family had never been rich, and after the sad affair the boys were
left to shift for themselves. The father had owned an interest in a
timber claim, and this had been sold for three hundred dollars, and with
the proceeds the two brothers had rented another claim and gone to work
to get out lumber for a new company which had begun operations in the
vicinity.
Earl was now eighteen years of age, and Randolph, or Randy, as he was
always called, was nearly seventeen. Both lads were so tall, well-built,
and muscular, that they appeared older. Neither had had a real sickness
in his life, and the pair were admirably calculated, physically, to cope
with the hardships which came to them later.
The collapse of the new lumber combination, and the running away of its
head man, Aaron Jackson, had proved a serious blow to their prospects.
As has been intimated, the company owed them two hundred dollars for
timber, and, as not a cent was forthcoming, they found themselves in
debt, not only for the quarter's rent for the land they were working,
but also at the general supply store at the village of Basco, three
miles away. The boys had worked hard, early and late, to make both ends
meet, and it certainly looked as if they did not deserve the hard luck
which had befallen them.
It was supper time, and the pair had just finished a scanty meal of
beans, bread, and the remains of a brook trout Randy had been lucky
enough to catch before breakfast. Randy threw himself down on the
doorstep, while Earl washed and dried the few dishes.
"I wonder if we can't get something out of the lumber company," mused
the younger brother, as he gazed meditatively at his boots, which were
sadly in need of soling and heeling. "They've lots of timber on hand."
"All covered by a mortgage to some Boston concern," replied Earl. "I
asked Squire Dobson about it. He said we shouldn't get a penny."
"Humph!" Randy drew a deep breath. "By the way, has Squire Dobson
learned anything about Fred, yet?"
"He's pretty sure Fred ran away to New York."
"I can't understand why he should run away from such a good home, can
you? You wouldn't catch me doing it."
"He ran away because he didn't want to finish studying. Fred always was
a wild Dick. I shouldn't wonder if he ended up by going out West to hunt
Indians." Earl gave a short laugh. "He'll have his eye-teeth cut one of
these days. Hullo, here comes Caleb Norcross now!"
Earl was looking up the winding road through the woods, and, gazing in
the direction, Randy saw a tall, lean individual, astride a bony horse,
riding swiftly toward the cabin.
"Well, boys, what's the best word?" was the sharp greeting given by
Caleb Norcross, as he came to a halt at the cabin door.
"I don't know as there is any best word, Mr. Norcross," replied Earl,
quietly.
"I was over to Bill Stiger's place and thought if I could see you
to-night about the rent money, it would save you a three miles' trip
to-morrow."
"You know we can't pay you just at present, Mr. Norcross," went on Earl.
"The suspension of the lumber company has left us in the lurch."
The face of the tall, lean man darkened. "How much did they stick you
for?" he asked abruptly.
"Two hundred dollars."
"Two hundred dollars! You were fools to trust 'em that much. I wouldn't
have trusted 'em a cent--not a penny."
"They were well recommended," put in Randy. "Even Squire Dobson trusted
them."
"That don't make no difference. I don't trust folks unless I know what
I'm doing. Although I did trust you boys," added Caleb Norcross,
hastily. "Your father was always a straight man."
"And we are straight, too," burst out Randy, stung by the insinuation.
"You shall have your money, if only you will give us a little time."
"How are you going to get it?"
"We'll earn it," said Earl. "I am sure we can get out enough timber by
fall to square accounts."
"That won't do for me--not at all. If you can't pay up to-morrow, you
can consider your claim on the land at an end."
"You won't give us any time?"
"No. I can sell this whole section to Dan Roland, and I'm going to do
it."
"You are very hard-hearted, Mr. Norcross," began Randy, when a look from
his elder brother silenced him.
"I ain't hard-hearted--I'm only looking after my own," growled Caleb
Norcross. "If I let things run, I'd do as the lumber company did--bust
up. So you can't pay, nohow?"
"No, we can't pay," answered Earl.
"Then I'll expect you to quit by to-morrow noon."
Without waiting for another word, Caleb Norcross turned around his bony
steed and urged him forward. In less than a minute he had disappeared in
the direction whence he had come. With sinking hearts the boys watched
him out of sight.
The blow they had dreaded had fallen, and for several seconds neither
spoke. Then Randy, who had pulled off one boot, flung it across the
kitchen floor.
"I don't care, he can have his old place," he cried angrily. "We'll
never get rich here, if we stay a hundred years. I'm sick and tired of
cutting timber just for one's meals!"
"It's all well enough to talk so, Randy," was the elder brother's
cautious response. "But where are we to go if we leave here?"
"Oh, anywhere! We might try our luck down in Bangor, or maybe Boston."
Earl smiled faintly. "We'd cut pretty figures in a city, I'm thinking,
after a life in the backwoods."
"A backwoods boy became President."
"Do you wish to try for the presidency?"
"No; but it shows what can be done; and I'm tired of drudging in the
woods, without any excitement or anything new from one year's end to
another. Father and mother gave us pretty good educations, and we ought
to make the most of that."
"I knew he wanted to sell this land to Dan Roland," went on Earl, after
a pause. "I fancy he is going to get a good price, too."
"If Roland pays over five hundred dollars he will get cheated. The
timber at the south end is good for nothing."
The boys entered the cabin, lit the lamp, and sat down to discuss the
situation. It was far from promising, and, an hour later, each retired
to bed in a very uneasy frame of mind. They were up before daybreak, and
at breakfast Earl announced his intention to go to Basco and see what
could be done.
"You might as well stay at home," he continued. "It may be Norcross will
come back and reconsider matters."
"Not he!" exclaimed Randy; nevertheless, he promised to remain and look
over some clothing which needed mending, for these sturdy lads were in
the habit of doing everything for themselves, even to sewing up rents
and darning socks. Such are the necessities of real life in the
backwoods.
It was a bright sunny morning, well calculated to cheer any one's
spirits, yet Randy felt far from light-hearted when left alone. He could
not help but wonder what would happen next.
"We've got just twenty-eight dollars and a half in cash left," he mused,
as he set to work to replace some buttons on one of Earl's working
shirts. "And we owe about six dollars at the general store, three
dollars and a quarter for those new axes and the coffee mill, and twenty
to Norcross. Heigh-ho! but it's hard lines to be poor, with one's nose
continually to the grindstone. I wonder if we shouldn't have done better
if we had struck out, as Uncle Foster did six years ago? He has seen a
lot of the world and made money besides."
Earl had expected to be gone the best part of the forenoon, and Randy
was surprised, at half-past nine, to see his elder brother returning
from the village. Earl was walking along the road at the top of his
speed, and as he drew closer, he held up a letter.
"It's a letter from Uncle Foster!" he cried, as soon as he was within
speaking distance. "It's got such wonderful news in it that I thought I
ought to come home with it at once."
"Wonderful news?" repeated Randy. "What does he say?"
"He says he is going back to Alaska,--to some new gold field that has
just been discovered there,--and he wants to know if we will go with
him."