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[Illustration: "I File the Claim!" Shouted Tad. _Frontispiece._]
THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN ALASKA
OR
THE GOLD DIGGERS OF TAKU PASS
By
FRANK GEE PATCHIN
Author of The Pony Rider Boys in the Rockies, The Pony Rider Boys in
Texas, The Pony Rider Boys in Montana, The Pony Rider Boys in the
Ozarks, The Pony Rider Boys in the Alkali, The Pony Rider Boys in New
Mexico, The Pony Rider Boys in the Grand Canyon, The Pony Rider Boys
with the Texas Rangers, The Pony Rider Boys on the Blue Ridge, The
Pony Rider Boys in New England, The Pony Rider Boys in Louisiana,
etc., etc.
Illustrated
THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
Akron, Ohio--New York
Made in U. S. A.
Copyright MCMXXIV
By THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
PAGE
Chapter I--Through Enchanting Waters 11
The mystery of the Gold Diggers. The story of an
Indian capture. The skipper gives himself a hunch.
The lure of the yellow metal. The abode of an
angry spirit.
Chapter II--The Boys Scent a Plot 29
Ned Rector puts his foot in. The man with the
combustible whiskers. Tad overhears an exciting
conversation. His duty not clear to him. Attacked
by a desperado.
Chapter III--In Desperate Straits 40
Almost hurled overboard. Help comes in the nick
of time. Tad accuses his assailant. Whiskers as
evidence. Plotters are driven from the ship by
young Butler.
Chapter IV--On the Overland Trail 48
"You have neglected your horse education." Tad
amazes a horse trader. Chunky wants no "quick"
mules. Driving a keen bargain. The boys decide
to guide themselves.
Chapter V--Traveling a Dangerous Mountain Pass 59
The Professor tells the boys about the "great
country." When a fellow needs a bird's eye. A
toboggan slide that might reach to Asia. Pony
Rider Boys hear a terrifying sound.
Chapter VI--Caught in a Giant Slide 69
A pack mule swept from the ledge. Tad fires a
humane shot. Taking desperate chances to rescue
the pack. "I don't propose to lose my lasso."
Chapter VII--Going to Bed by Daylight 82
How the pack mule was buried. Heavy obstacles are
overcome. A cure for cold feet. The fat boy knows
his own capacity. Tents are swallowed up in the
gloom of an Alaskan night.
Chapter VIII--An Intruder in the Camp 91
The fat boy's singing brings disaster. Professor
Zepplin wields his stick. A wild scrimmage in
pajamas. The mystery of the lost ham. "There
has been a prowler in this camp while we slept!"
Chapter IX--A Mystery Unsolved 103
"It was an Indian who did this job." Stacy is
roped out of bed. Two fish on one hook. Suspicion
is directed toward Tad. Ned's head suffers the loss
of some hair.
Chapter X--In the Home of the Thlinkits 113
Ned Rector is full of fight. Stacy makes Tad Butler
dance. Chunky plans revenge. The fat boy finds a
food emporium. A mother squaw in a rage.
Chapter XI--The Guide Who Made a Hit 125
"Me heap big smart man." Anvik refuses to
"mush" because the spirits are abroad. "Him
kick like buck caribou." Tad Butler gets a new
title. Off for the wilds.
Chapter XII--In the Heart of Nature 136
From trail to trackless wilderness. A grilling hike.
Tad, in a fine shot, bags an antelope. "Hooray!
Maybe that was a chance shot!" A ducking in an
icy mountain stream.
Chapter XIII--A Pony Rider Boy's Pluck 146
Tad carries the dead doe to camp. "Him heap
big little man." Stacy knows how to "skin the
cat." The antelope dressed by the Indian guide.
Fresh meat in plenty now.
Chapter XIV--Stacy Bumps the Bumps 152
The difficulty of leading a mule. Chunky and the
animal go over the brink. Tin cans rattle down the
mountain side. The fat boy hung up by one foot.
Chapter XV--The Story in the Dead Fire 162
"White boy see almost like Indian." Campers had
left in a hurry. Stacy discovers something. Eating
ice cream with a pickle fork. Surrounded by
mysteries in the great mountains.
Chapter XVI--A Sign from the Mountain Top 167
"Him white man smoke." The wonders of mountain
signaling. Friends or enemies? Overwhelmed
by an avalanche of ice. A roar and an even more
terrifying silence.
Chapter XVII--An Unexpected Meeting 174
"Innua him mad." Heap big ice nearly wipes out
the Pony Rider Boys' camp. Tad makes a morning
excursion and meets an unpleasant surprise.
Chapter XVIII--An Unfriendly Reception 178
Tad boldly faces his accusers. Threats from the
prospectors. A man on Butler's trail. Tad takes a
pot shot and gets immediate results. "Stop that
shooting, you fool!" The fat boy draws a bead.
Chapter XIX--The Professor in a Rage 189
"It's a lie!" thunders Professor Zepplin. Ordered
out of the hills on penalty of being shot. "If you are
looking for trouble you may have all you want!"
A threat to punch the prospector's nose.
Chapter XX--Tad Discovers Something 198
Pony Rider Boys off for bear. The fat boy frightened
by a totem pole. In a place of many mysteries.
Tad makes a great find. A discovery that led
to sensational results.
Chapter XXI--Conclusion 203
Rifle shots fired into the Pony Rider Boys' camp.
Miners in a frenzy of joy. Butler makes a new find.
Their boundary markings found destroyed. Tad
starts on a desperate ride. His claim must be filed
ahead of that of the enemy at whatever cost. A
race through ice-clogged waters. A fight to the finish
before the clerk's desk. A triumph for the Gold
Diggers of Taku Pass. The end of the long, long trail.
THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN ALASKA
CHAPTER I
THROUGH ENCHANTING WATERS
"Captain, who are the four silent men leaning over the rail on the other
side of the boat?" asked Tad Butler. "I have been wondering about them
almost ever since we left Vancouver. They don't seem to speak to a
person, and seldom to each other, though somehow they appear to be
traveling in company. They act as if they were afraid someone would
recognize them. I am sure they aren't bad characters."
Captain Petersen, commander of the steamer "Corsair," which for some
days had been plowing its way through the ever-changing northern waters,
stroked his grizzled beard reflectively.
"Bad characters, eh?" he twinkled. "Well, no, I shouldn't say as they
were. They're fair-weather lads. I'll vouch for them if necessary, and I
guess I'm about the only person on board that knows who they are."
Tad waited expectantly until the skipper came to the point of the story
he was telling.
"They are the Gold Diggers of Taku Pass, lad."
"The Gold Diggers of Taku Pass?" repeated Tad Butler. "I don't think I
ever heard that name before. Where is this pass, sir?"
The skipper shook his head.
"No one knows," he said.
"That is strange," wondered Butler. "Does no one know where they dig for
gold?"
"No. They don't even know themselves," was the puzzling reply.
Tad fixed the weather-beaten face of the skipper with a questioning
gaze.
"I don't think I understand, sir."
"I'll tell you what I know about it some other time, lad. I haven't the
time to spin the yarn now. It's a long one. I've been sailing up and
down these waters, fair weather and foul, for a good many years, and
I've seen a fair cargo of strange things in my time, but this Digger
outfit is the most peculiar one I ever came across. They are a living
example of what the lure of gold means when it gets into a man's system.
Gold is all right. I wish I had more of it; but, my boy, don't ever let
the love of it get to the windward of you if you hope to enjoy peace of
mind afterwards," concluded the skipper with emphasis.
"What's that he says about gold?" interjected Stacy Brown, more commonly
known to his companions as Chunky, the fat boy.
Stacy, with Ned Rector and Walter Perkins, had been lounging against the
starboard rail of the "Corsair," observing Tad and the Captain as they
talked. A few paces forward sat Professor Zepplin, their traveling
companion, wholly absorbed in a scientific discussion with an engineer
who was on his way to an Alaskan mine, of which the latter was to assume
control. Many other passengers were strolling about the decks of the
"Corsair." There were seasoned miners with bearded faces; sharp-eyed,
sharp-featured men with shifty eyes; pale-faced prospectors on their way
to the land of promise, in quest of the yellow metal; capitalists going
to Alaska to look into this or that claim with a view to investment;
and, more in evidence than all the rest, a large list of tourists bound
up the coast on a merry holiday. The former, in most instances, were
quiet, reserved men, the latter talkative and boisterous.
"The Captain was speaking of the lure that gold holds for the human
race," replied Tad Butler in answer to Stacy Brown's question. "I guess
the Captain is right, too."
"Be warned in time, Chunky," added Rector.
"I've never seen enough gold to become lured by it," retorted the fat
boy. "I should like to see enough to excite me just once. I shouldn't
mind being lured that way. Would you, Walt?"
Walter Perkins shook his head and smiled.
"I fear you will have to shake yourself--get over your natural
laziness--before you can hope to," chuckled Ned. "I doubt if you would
know a lure if you met one on Main Street in Chillicothe."
"Try me and see," grinned Stacy.
"There must be a lot of gold up here, judging from what I have read, and
from the number of persons going after it," added Tad, with a sweeping
gesture that included the deckload of miners and prospectors. "But the
hardships and the heart-breakings must be terrible. I have read a lot
about the terrors that men have gone through in this country, especially
in the awful winters they have in Alaska."
"I shouldn't mind them if I had a sledge and a pack of dogs to tote me
around, the way they do up here," declared Chunky.
"That would be great fun," agreed young Perkins. "You wouldn't have far
to fall if you got bucked off from that kind of broncho, would you,
Stacy?"
"Not unless you fell off a mountain," answered Ned, glancing at the
distant towering cliffs of the coast range.
"I was asking the Captain about those four men yonder," said Tad.
"Oh, the fellows who don't speak to anyone?" nodded Rector.
"Yes."
"Who are they? I have wondered about them."
"I don't know their names, but the skipper tells me they are known as
the Gold Diggers of Taku Pass," replied Butler. "The queer part of it
is, he says, that no one, so far as he is aware, knows even that there
is such a place as Taku Pass. They don't know themselves," added Tad
with a smile.
"That's strange," wondered Rector. "Crazy?"
"No, I think not. They are prospecting for an unknown claim," replied
Tad.
"I--I don't know anything about that," spoke up Stacy Brown. "But I know
who those fellows are."
"You do?" exclaimed the boys in chorus.
"Yes. I asked them. That's the way to find out what you want to know,
isn't it?" chuckled Stacy.
"Who are they?" asked Butler laughingly.
"The minery-looking fellow is Sam Dawson. The one beside him is Curtis
Darwood. The tall, slim chap nearest to us is Dill Bruce. They call him
the Pickle for short."
"He looks sour enough to be one," laughed Walter.
"The other chap, the little one, is Curley Tinker. And there you have
the whole outfit. I'll introduce you to them if you like," volunteered
Chunky.
"No, thank you. I already have tried to talk with the men, but they
don't seem inclined to open their mouths," replied Butler.
"It strikes me that you have made more progress that anyone else on this
boat, so far as the four gold diggers are concerned," added Rector,
addressing Chunky.
"Yes, I am convinced that Chunky is rather forward," agreed Tad.
"Oh, no one can resist me," averred the fat boy. "Anything else you want
to know, Tad?"
"Yes, a great deal. But here is the Captain. He will tell me."
Captain Petersen had taken a fancy to the boys almost from the first. He
had learned who they were early on that voyage, and in the meantime they
had become very well acquainted with the commander of the "Corsair." He
had taken pains to explain to the lads many things about the country
past which they were sailing--things that otherwise they would not have
known, and the voyage was proving very interesting to them, as well as
to Professor Zepplin himself.
"Come below now and I'll tell you the story," invited Captain Petersen,
starting to descend the after companionway. "All of you come along. That
will save your asking questions later on," he smiled.
"You see, he invited you on my account," chuckled Stacy Brown, tapping
his breast with the tips of his fingers.
The lads filed down the companionway behind the Captain, and when they
had finally settled themselves in the skipper's cabin and he had lighted
his pipe, he began to speak.
"I always come below and put my feet on the table after we pass the
Shoal of Seals," he explained. "That is the time I take my 'watch
below,' as we call it, when we come down for a rest or a sleep. But you
are eager to hear the story. Very good. Here goes. A good many years ago
an expedition came up to this part of the world on an exploring mission.
In that party was a Dr. Darwood from some place in the East. I don't
believe I ever heard the name of the place, and if I knew the state I
have forgotten it. Well, to make a long story short, the party was
ambushed by the Kak-wan-tan Indians. Every man of the party was captured
and all were put to death, with the exception of Dr. Darwood. Somehow,
the Indians had learned that he was a big medicine man, so they made the
Doctor captive and took him over the mountains many miles from there.
They probably killed the others so as to make sure of the Doctor."
"What did they want with a medicine man?" interjected the fat boy.
"They wanted him professionally. Their chief was a very sick man. I
guess the old gentleman was about ready to die. At least he thought so.
The chief bore the name of Chief Anna-Hoots. Nice name, eh? No wonder he
got sick."
"He must have belonged to the owl family," observed Chunky.
Tad rebuked the fat boy with a look. The Captain regarded Stacy
quizzically, then proceeded with his story.
"Their own medicine man had been killed by a bear. You see his medicine
wasn't calculated to head off bears. The chief, therefore, was in a bad
way. Dr. Darwood was commanded to make the chief well, and, so the story
goes, after examining Hoots, he at once saw what was the trouble with
the old man. He set to work over the savage, not so much from a
professional interest as that he knew very well his life would be
forfeited did he not do something for the patient. It is a safe guess
that the Doctor never had worked more heroically over a patient. Well,
he saved the chief--had him on his feet and hopping around as lively as
a jack-rabbit in less than twenty-four hours. There was great rejoicing
among Anna's people, and Darwood was feasted and made much of. He was
almost as big a man as Old Hoots himself. Nothing was too good for him
in that camp."
"Why didn't he poison the whole tribe while he had the chance?"
questioned Rector.
"Perhaps it wasn't professional," smiled the Captain in reply. "But
Chief Anna-Hoots--precious old rascal that he was--was so grateful that
he made the Doctor chief medicine man over all the tribes and a tribal
chief of one of the subordinate tribes. And now we are coming to the
point of our story. Old Hoots, later on, let the Doctor into a great
secret. Having driven the evil spirits out of Anna and set him on his
feet almost as good as new, the patient evidently was of the opinion
that the medicine man was entitled to something more than the ordinary
fee for such a service. He took the Doctor to a place where a roaring
glacial stream of icy water was tearing down through a narrow gash in
the mountains on its way to the sea, and there he showed the
doctor-chief gold in great quantities, so the story runs, the pass being
guarded by the Bear Totem. It is not certain whether the vein from which
this gold had been washed was then known. I think Darwood must have
found it later on and located a claim. He at least took from the mouth
of the pass enough gold to make him a fairly rich man. This he hid away,
awaiting a favorable opportunity to get away with it. Such opportunity
presented itself while his tribe was away on a hunt in the fall for meat
for the winter, and made his escape. After some months of terrible
hardships he succeeded in reaching civilization, fairly staggering under
the weight of the gold he had brought away. He had the gold-madness
badly, you see."
"He was plucky," muttered Butler.
"Yes. It was Darwood's intention to return, at the head of a well-armed
party, properly equipped, and work the pay dirt to its limit. But he
died before he could do so. The hardships of that journey, loaded down
with dust and nuggets, led to his ultimate death. You see what avarice
will do to a fellow. It gets to windward of him every time."
"I'd be willing to stagger under all I could carry and take my chances
on the future," observed Chunky reflectively.
"So would we all," nodded the skipper. "That's the worst of us, our
greed. I am glad I am at sea, where I _can't_ dig. Nothing was done
in the matter of locating and working the claim for some years after the
Doctor's death. Then a grandson, Curtis Darwood, who is now aboard this
boat, found a paper or map or something of the sort, on which was a
description of the Doctor's find. It couldn't have been very definite or
they wouldn't have been so long in locating the place. Of course, the
younger man was fired with the desire to find this wonderful mine. The
lure had him fast and hard. He came up here alone the first time and
prospected all summer, but failed, and late that fall he went back home.
When he returned the three other men, who are his companions now, were
with him. They have been together ever since in their prospecting work.
Dawson is a pioneer prospector who knows the game thoroughly. The
others, who have been up here three years, might now be placed in the
same class, though Dawson is the real miner. One can't help but admire
their pluck and persistence, but I shouldn't want to be caught
interfering with them. When a fellow gets the gold madness he is a
dangerous customer to annoy."
"Have they found the gold?" asked Walter Perkins.
Captain Petersen shook his head.
"I think not. If they have, only they know it. They take no one into
their confidence. They went home for the winter last fall, and what
amazes me further is that they are getting up here so late this spring.
Here it is June. They should have been on the job six weeks ago, and in
order to do so they ought to have wintered in the hills. To me that
means something. It will be a wonder if this unusual move on their part
doesn't attract attention. You may believe they are watched. There are,
no doubt, those who are watching the Diggers, and who do not miss any of
their movements." The skipper hesitated, then brought a big fist down on
his cabin table with a bang that set the glassware jingling. "By George,
I begin to see a light!" he roared.
"What do you mean?" cried Chunky.
"What is it, sir?" chorused Tad and Ned in one voice.
"That accounts for Red Whiskers. That accounts for his presence on--"
The skipper checked himself suddenly. "But no matter. It isn't for me to
say." He lapsed into thoughtful silence. "Well, what do you think of the
story?" he asked a few moments later.
"It is all very remarkable," answered Butler. "Where are they
going--their destination, I mean?"
"You never can tell. They have explored pretty much all of the country
within a few hundred miles of here, and it wouldn't surprise me at all
if they had stumbled over the right place dozens of times and didn't
know it. But there is one significant fact. They have brought up a lot
of equipment this time. It looks as if they thought they had the place
pretty well located. It certainly does look that way. There's another
thing I forgot to tell you. This place, this pass where the gold is
supposed to lie, is the abode of a great and angry spirit."
"A really, truly spirit?" questioned Walter wonderingly.
"I can't say about the really-truly business," replied Captain Petersen,
with a grin. "I am telling you the story as I have heard it. Had Old
Hoots' tribe known that the Doctor went in there and dug out gold which
he salted away they would have put him to death. It's a sacred place. It
was then, and I'll wager it is now. You may believe that the
superstition has been handed down."
"But the Indians up here now are not at all savage, are they?" asked
Butler.
"Perhaps not where the white man has taken possession in force. But you
get into the far interior--there is a great deal of Alaska that the
white man knows very little about yet--and you will find them savage
enough, provided they think they have you in a pocket, and especially so
if you interfere with any of their religious customs or beliefs. In
these respects they are simply human."
"I should call them inhuman," observed the fat boy.
"I don't blame them," nodded Tad.
"Now, that is the story of the Gold Diggers, so far as I know it,"
continued the Captain. "As I have already said, not many persons up here
do know it. A veil of mystery surrounds the four silent men. They make
no other friends, confide in no one, and live in a little world all
their own. The story, as I have repeated it to you, was told to me by a
man from their part of the country who came up here to spend the summer
last season. That is how I came to know the details. It is possible,
though not probable, that you might get them to tell you something about
the country."
"I'll make them talk," answered Stacy pompously.
"What is their destination?" asked Butler quickly.
"Skagway. However, that undoubtedly is a blind. They may be going on
farther from that point, or they may be intending to work back along the
coast after they leave the ship, then strike into the hills at some
remote point. I can't say as to that, of course. They will disappear.
You may depend upon that, and nothing may be heard of them again for a
year."
"What do they do for provisions?" questioned Rector.
"The same as you will have to do if you penetrate far into the interior.
They hunt and fish, saving their canned supplies for the winter, for the
winter months are long and drear up in this far northern country."
"When does winter set in?" asked Ned.
"Very early. It seems to be most always winter up here."
"Thank you very much," said Tad. "This has been most interesting. I
should like to ask them something about the country where we are going.
Of course I shouldn't presume to question them about their own affairs.
That would be none of my business."
"Where are you going?"
"We had planned to strike north from Yakutat."
"You will find rough country that way. I should say you would have tough
traveling all the way. If you can get the Gold Diggers to open up, they
will undoubtedly be able to give you some useful information that would
enable you to lay your course to the best advantage. But I think I know
the Diggers. You may not be able to get a civil word out of them."
"They'll talk to me," answered the fat boy confidently.
"Please don't permit yourself to be overcome," warned Rector. "Remember
your most excellent opinion of yourself has been the cause of some
mighty falls already."
"Well, I fell in soft spots anyhow," retorted Stacy.
"Ordinarily on your head, I believe," answered Ned quickly.
Again thanking the Captain for his kindness, the lads returned to the
deck. Tad leaned against the rail thinking over the story related by the
skipper. The romance of the quest of the Diggers appealed to Butler's
adventure-loving nature. He declared to himself that he would draw them
into conversation and satisfy his further curiosity. Looking them over
in the light of what he had heard, Tad saw that the four were
determined-looking men, were men who would do and dare, no matter how
great the obstacles or the perils. He could not but feel a keen
admiration for them. They were real men, even if they were surly and
reticent.
"Tad, how would you like to belong to that party of prospectors?" asked
Ned, nodding toward the four.
"I can't imagine anything more exciting. I wish we might. I wonder if
they are going our way?"
"Why don't you ask them?"
"I intend to," answered Tad, rousing himself and starting towards the
prospectors who were lounging apart from the other passengers on the
deck of the steamer.
"Watch him get turned down," grinned Stacy. "I shall have to break the
ice for him. He never will be able to do it for himself."
"Better wait until you are asked," advised Ned Rector.
As Stacy had said, Tad did not succeed in getting into conversation with
the Diggers that day. Early on the following morning the boys were on
deck, being unwilling to miss a single moment of the scenery.
The "Corsair" was swinging majestically into Queen Charlotte Sound, a
splendid sweep of purple water, where great waves from the Pacific
rolled in, sending the steamer plunging desperately. There was a scurry
on the part of many of the early risers to get below decks, for the
change from the quiet waters through which the boat had been sailing to
this tumultuous sea was more than most of them were able to stand. Stacy
Brown was already on his back in the shadow of a life boat, groaning
miserably. Walter Perkins' face was pale, but he held himself together
by a strong effort of will, but Tad Butler and Ned Rector appeared not
in the least affected by the roll of the steamer. Both were lost in
admiration of the scene that was unfolding before them.
"They roll along with the lightness of thistledown across a green
field," declared Tad enthusiastically, speaking to himself. "It is
simply glorious."
He heard someone come to the rail at his side, but the lad was too fully
absorbed to look around.
"That wasn't bad for a sentiment, young fellow," said a voice at his
elbow. "If you stay up in this country long enough, however, you will
get all the sentiment frozen out of you. I know, for I've been all
through it. I'm lucky that my bones aren't up yonder somewhere."
"Yes, sir," answered Butler.
Glancing around he found himself gazing into the face of Curtis Darwood.