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THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE YUKON
By RALPH VICTOR
Author of "Comrades Series"
Illustrated by RUDOLF MENCL
New York
HURST & COMPANY
Publishers.
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THE BOY SCOUTS
By RALPH VICTOR
The Boy Scout Movement has secured a hold on the American boy that is
remarkable in its far-reaching effects. It is doing a great work in the
development of manliness, self-confidence and physical perfection and is
making better citizens out of the members of the organization.
This series will foster interest in the Boy Scout Organization. There is
excitement such as every boy's book should contain. There are many and
varied experiences, and much worth-while information about out-door sports
and camp life, in which the youths take part.
1. The Boy Scouts' Patrol
2. The Boy Scouts' Motor-Cycles
3. The Boy Scouts' Canoe Trip
4. The Boy Scouts in the Canadian Rockies
5. The Boy Scouts' Air Craft
6. The Boy Scouts on the Yukon
7. The Boy Scouts in the North Woods
8. The Boy Scouts in the Black Hills
Illustrated, 12mo, Cloth
Price per Volume, 40 Cents
Copyright, 1912, By
The Platt & Peck Co.
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The "Inside Passage." 9
II. "Swiftwater Jim." 21
III. Into Rough Waters. 34
IV. On Alaskan Soil. 46
V. A New Mode of Travel. 58
VI. The Biggest Bear in the World. 70
VII. Into the Wilderness. 83
VIII. Colonel Snow's Ranch. 96
IX. An Heirloom Returned. 108
X. Building the Camp. 121
XI. At the Mercy of the Pest. 136
XII. Alaska's First Airship. 150
XIII. Down the River to Nome. 158
XIV. On the Seward Peninsula. 168
XV. The Mammoth's Tusks. 179
XVI. Homeward Bound. 189
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BOY SCOUTS ON
THE YUKON
CHAPTER I.
THE "INSIDE PASSAGE."
"Ar-r-rouse ye--r-r-rouse ye, me merry, merry men," boomed the voice of
Gerald Moore, with a slightly Celtic roll of the "r's," as he drummed
impatiently on the shutter of the cabin window, while his companion, Jack
Blake, performed a similar tattoo on the adjoining window. "Faith, and it
was daylight hours ago, and ye don't know what ye're missing."
The shutter slid back, and the pleasant, if rather drowsy face of Randolph
Peyton peered forth, and behind his shoulder that of Donald Graeme.
"Daylight, did ye say?" remarked the latter. "It's my opinion it's been
daylight all night, for it surely wasn't dark when we retired, and we've
only been in bed a few minutes."
The scene was the outside cabin deck of the well-appointed steamer "Queen"
of the Alaska Steamship Company, which was plowing her way through the
quiet waters of the "Inside Passage," on her way to the land of the Yukon
and the Klondike.
The hour was only four in the morning, but the sun was high, and the day
in those high latitudes was well begun.
"No regrets, Don, you sleepyhead," said Gerald. "You've already had seven
hours' sleep, and on this trip one ought not to go to bed at all."
By this time, Jack had succeeded in arousing his brother, Pepper Blake,
and the latter's bunk mate, Dick Wilson, who gazed out a little
resentfully, as they threw back the sash, but whose faces quickly
brightened at the scene that met their eyes.
"Yes," said Jack, "there's mighty little darkness up here at this time of
year, and I suppose Don thinks it's an awful waste of good daylight
turning it on while we sleep."
"Ye'll see more than this 'wasted' when ye get further north, and I
suppose Don will sit up all night to save it," replied Gerald.
This reference to be cautious and prudent, not to say economical, nature
of the canny Scot, raised a laugh, and the four who had been routed out of
their bunks, through the energy of Jack, who, brought up in a newspaper
office and atmosphere, hated to let anything unusual get away from him,
hastily dressed and joined their two chums on the deck.
"I couldn't miss a yard of this scenery," said Jack, "and we've a few
things in that line, along our native Hudson, to brag about, too."
The steamer was treading her way through straits and channels among
hundreds of islands that fenced these almost lake-like waters from the
long swells of the North Pacific. Although it was the latter part of
April, early in the year for these latitudes, the influence of the warm
waters of the Japanese Gulf Stream could be seen in the bright green of
the islands.
On the other side of the ship, the dark green forests that clothed the
mountains of British Columbia came down to the very water's edge, and
swept by in one majestic panorama.
"There's certainly lots of scenery to the mile," said Rand, drawing a long
breath, as he gazed in admiration.
"My grandfather said that is what makes Scotland such a great country,"
remarked Don, catching at Rand's half-humorous comment, "standing the land
up on end."
"Let's give it the Scout's salute," suggested Pepper, with enthusiasm as
the laugh over Don's serious remark died away. "There ought to be a great
echo in those hills."
"Hold on," cried Jack, catching Pepper's arm as he unshipped his bugle. "I
had a talk with the purser last night, and I'm afraid we'll have to 'cut
out' the bugle calls on this trip. He says they have an official bugler
aboard, for the call to meals and for the salute at landings, and we would
interfere with him and perhaps affect the comfort of other passengers who
may not be so keen on the early morning hunt for scenery as we."
The Scout discipline and what might be called the Scout ritual, to which
the boys had been subjecting themselves for several years, was immediately
apparent in the murmurs of approval which greeted Jack's suggestion. To
those who have followed the career of the Boy Scouts of Creston on the
Hudson, in the preceding volumes of this series, it is scarcely necessary
to introduce the young men with whom this narrative starts.
The formation of the Patrol of Boy Scouts, at the suggestion of Colonel
Snow, a retired officer of the United States army; a mysterious robbery,
and a gallant rescue from the waters of the Hudson, are told in the first
volume, "Boy Scouts' Patrol." The second volume leads them into adventures
and difficulties incident to an excursion on motor cycles that have come
to each of them as a reward for their aid in the rescue referred to which
are told under the title of "Boy Scouts' Motorcycles," in the course of
which Jack is captured by moonshiners on whom the boys turn the tables.
"Boy Scouts' Canoe Trip," brings the chums into conflict with Sound
pirates, during a canoe trip along the Long Island shore, and give Pepper
and Dick, who are lost in a fog, a chance to help a foghorn operator of
the United States Lighthouse Service, out of a very serious state of
affairs. "Boy Scouts in the Rockies," the fourth volume, tells of the
perils attending a trip into the Canadian Northwest, in search of a lost
mine in which they have been given each an interest by the owner, Mr.
Royce; their rescue of the latter from enemies who are also hunting the
same mine; of hunting among the Indians, and of the rediscovery of the
lost mine which has been named Uncas, in honor of their patrol.
The fifth volume, under the caption, "Boy Scouts' Aircraft," relates how
their interest in aviation is aroused by the evolutions of a military
aviator viewed during a visit to an army post; of the building by
themselves of a glider with which they win a contest of these elementary
aircraft, the prize being complete airship motors of the highest
efficiency. With these engines they equip two aeroplanes and meet with
various adventures of a thrilling nature, including an aerial kidnapping
and pursuit in aeroplanes, the winning of an aeroplane meet, and the
discovery and deciphering of the Narwhal's Tusk, which starts them on
their way to Alaska.
The preceding February, the boys had graduated from Highcrest Academy, and
some weeks before that event Colonel Snow, who had been for several years
on friendly terms with the boys; had been the means of inducing them to
form the Scouts' Patrol, and had looked after their promotion to be first
grade Scouts, had been in consultation with their parents over a
mysterious matter of which they had as yet learned nothing.
One day in March, as the boys were gathered in the club room in Mr.
Scott's house, discussing plans for a Scout encampment, of the Patrols of
the nearby towns, Colonel Snow entered the gate, and they crowded out on
the porch to greet him.
"We were just planning to extend our Scout knowledge and experience by an
actual encampment, this summer--sort of 'Spring maneuvres' you know, like
the regulars and National Guard," said Rand.
"Perhaps I can offer you something of actual field experience," said
Colonel Snow. "That's what I'm here for, and if you have time I've a
proposition to make ... rather a cold one, however."
"I-i-ce c-c-cream soda?" inquired Pepper, flippantly, amid reproving
frowns from the other Scouts.
"Why, you can't even think of that without shivering in your speech," said
Jack, with scorn.
"Don't mind him, Colonel Snow, his appetite is like the poor, it's always
with us," apologized Rand.
The army officer smiled indulgently upon the somewhat abashed Pepper.
"Don't lose it, Pepper," said he. "That appetite may prove one of the best
of assets in this proposition of mine. How would you all like a trip to
Alaska?"
The patrol came to "attention," every member on his feet and for the
moment speechless.
"What! the North Pole?" gasped Rand, whose former residence in the Sunny
South inclined him to look upon all high latitudes with suspicion.
"Not exactly," replied Colonel Snow, with a laugh, in which all joined as
a kind of relief to their feelings. "We shall need neither sleeping bags
nor furs nor pemmican. Let me explain the situation. Like all retired army
officers, I am subject to call, at times by the government, for services
of various kinds, and I am now intrusted with a mission in the Controller
Bay region of Alaska, in connection with certain coal deposits and
reservations. In our trip to the Canadian Rockies, I secured personally,
as an investment, certain timber lands in British Columbia at the
headwaters of the Yukon watershed, and my purpose is to cut the timber on
these lands, to be eventually floated down the rivers and used in the
various mines and mining camps, now being developed in both the Yukon and
Alaska territories.
"On my way to my mission, this Spring, I intend to take in my sawmill
plant and set it up and get ready for next winter's cutting. I shall be
obliged to employ about a dozen men to establish the plant, and my
experience with you Scouts in the field, in the Northwest, indicates to me
that you can be as useful to me as anyone I could pick up. It will also
give you a chance to see for the first time a new and growing country, by
which you are bound by all the ties of government and flag. I will say at
once that I have talked with your parents and your experience with me in
Canada has given them sufficient confidence to furnish their consent. The
decision rests with you."
The magnitude of the suggestion stunned the boys for the time, but they
soon regained their self-possession, and promised an early decision. So it
came about that after discussing the matter with their parents they had
another talk with the Colonel when final arrangements were made. The boys,
who had already banked three dividends from the Uncas mine, now a well
paying property, were to outfit themselves, Colonel Snow paying all other
expenses to, in and from Alaska, and allowing them fair wages while
actually engaged on the sawmill work. Their outfits were selected by
Colonel Snow, who had to veto many highly colored and fanciful suggestions
of snowshoes, tents, sleeping bags and heavy furs.
"I have an idea," said the Colonel, "that there will be many days when you
boys will be satisfied with a thin suit of khaki and even yearn for linen.
Even if we should reach the Arctic Circle in winter, you will remember
that our latest Arctic and Antarctic explorers have about discarded furs
for thick woolens. Above all things, don't forget the mosquito nettings."
The night before the Scouts were to leave Creston they were holding a
final meeting at the club-rooms, when Pepper burst forth excitedly:
"N-n-now we c-c-an s-solve it."
"What, your appetite?" asked Jack.
"N-n-no, the ivory mystery."
"What's that; your head?" put in Rand.
"N-n-no," yelped Pepper, whose face now rivaled his locks in color and
whose fists were doubled up. "I mean that ivory--that narwhal's horn.
We're going to Alaska and we can find that cave."
"Faith, that's so. We might get all that ivory," put in Gerald, with
interest.
"I think I heard somewhere, but I'll not be sure about it," suggested the
cautious Don, "that there's more than five hundred and ninety thousand
square miles in Alaska, and I ha'e me doots that we find it the verra
first day."
Despite these gibes, their interest was aroused and the cave, whose mouth
was shaped like the ace of clubs, figured not a little in the imaginations
of the boys, when, followed by the good wishes of relatives, neighbors and
friends, they entrained the next morning like true soldiers in their
patrol uniforms, and from the rear platform of the train, sounded the
Scout salute to their native town upon their bugles.
Four days later they joined Colonel Snow, who had preceded them, in
Seattle, and, after two days of sightseeing in the Washington metropolis,
boarded the "Queen," and at ten o'clock at night, steamed out upon Puget's
Sound, for their long trip of nearly a thousand miles on the water.
Among the cases of machinery and other freight, traveling in the vessel's
hold under Colonel Snow's name, was a long box shaped like an
old-fashioned piano case, which had nothing to do with Colonel Snow's
enterprises. Despite the fact that it weighed more than half a ton, the
boys had clubbed together to pay the rather exorbitant freight charges
upon it. Superfluous as it appeared at one time to the Colonel, it was
destined to play an important part in the Scouts' adventures in the land
of gold and glaciers.
An hour of gazing on the scenic wonders that sped past on the right and
left the morning after their departure from Seattle, aroused the boys'
appetites, and they were beginning to long for the breakfast bugle call,
when Colonel Snow came from his stateroom and bade them a hearty good
morning. He had just redrawn their attention to the magnificent land and
waterscape, with the remark that Major General Greeley, of Arctic fame,
had made ten voyages to Alaska, and on each trip found some new wonder in
the "Inside Passage" when there arose a chorus of yells, curses and
vituperation from the deck below, and leaning over the railing, the boys
saw a man with a pistol in his hand backing away from two who were
striking at him with handspikes that they had grabbed from the side of the
vessel.
At the same time a youth of about their own age dashed in behind the man
with the pistol, and dived between his legs, tripping him up. He doubled
up like a jackknife, fell back against the gangway gate, which had not
been properly fastened, and shot through it into the tideway, here very
swift, and disappeared. The quickly raised cry of "Man Overboard," reached
the pilot house, the engine room gong boomed, the screw stopped and the
"Queen" gradually lost headway.