INTO THE INTERIOR
With all the assurance of an old campaigner Mr. Baxter made his way
through the throng of miners and others, down the single street of the
settlement which ran along the river until he saw a hotel he thought
would answer. On making inquiries he found that there was only one room
left.
"We'll take it," he said promptly.
"But, dad, can we four sleep in one room?" objected Jerry.
"We'll have to, son, and we ought to be glad to get it. Many persons
will have to sleep in tents while this rush is on. How much is the
room?" he asked the clerk.
"Thirty dollars a day."
"Thirty dollars a day!" exclaimed Fred.
"Yes, and if you don't want it say so," snapped the clerk. "There are
plenty that do."
"Oh, we'll take it," said Mr. Baxter quickly. "That's cheap, according
to some prices they're asking," he added. "When ordinary meals are five
dollars each, the cost of living soon runs up."
"But if our expenses are going to be so high, how can we stand it until
we discover the----" began Jerry.
"Hush!" interrupted Mr. Baxter. "Don't say a word about what we're
after. There are too many rascals in this locality. I'll manage about
the expenses."
"But meals at five dollars each!"
"Don't worry. We'll not pay that long. The prices are high because there
is a big crowd just in off the steamer, and the dealers want to make hay
while the sun shines. Things will go down in a day or so, when the
miners begin to travel into the interior."
"But won't it cost a lot to buy our provisions at that rate?"
"It would if we had to buy them, but I brought them along with me. We
will have to buy very little. The principal things we will need are
dogs, sledges and guides for a certain distance. We will stay here a day
or so until I can arrange about them, and then we will start for the
interior."
Mr. Baxter had signed his own name and those of the two boys on the
hotel register, and had taken them into a comparatively quiet corner to
impart this information.
"Now, Jerry," he said, "if you and Fred will go help Johnson get our
stuff up here to our room, I'll go see if I can hire some guides and
sledges. Pile the stuff right in our room. That's the only place it will
be safe. We'll have to rough it for a night or so, but we can stand it,
I guess. My, but it's getting cold out," he added as he glanced from the
window at a thermometer hanging on the side of the hotel.
"How much?" asked Fred.
"Twenty-two degrees below zero."
"Twenty-two below!"
"That's nothing. Wait until it goes to forty and fifty below. Then the
mercury in the ordinary thermometer freezes solid, and only spirit
gauges are of any use. Then you'll feel the cold. There is no wind,
fortunately, or you'd notice it even in here, with the big stove going."
They had taken off their fur garments while in the warm hotel, but, as
Fred and Jerry had to go out to see about their goods, they donned them
again.
It was getting dark, for, though it was early, the winter season had
begun, when the sun would shine but for a little time each day, and
farther north not at all for six long months.
"I should say it was cold!" exclaimed Fred when he and Jerry were
outside. The keen air cut his face like a knife, and he was thankful for
the thick fur garments, the heavy fleece-lined boots, and the big
mittens he wore. Burying his face down below the collar of his coat, an
example which Jerry followed, Fred started back to the steamer dock,
while Mr. Baxter went off to see about getting guides and sledges.
The boys found Johnson still on guard, but the colored man was racing up
and down to get warm, and whipping his long arms about his body to keep
up the circulation.
"What's the matter?" asked Jerry with a laugh.
"Matter, Massa Jerry? Why, it feel laik somebody done gone an' stick a
icicle down mah back, that's what it do, fo' suah! It suttinly am
terrible cold."
"Well, you'll soon be warm," spoke Fred. "We're going to take the things
to a hotel."
"A real hotel, where dey has real things t' eat, Massa Fred?"
"Yes, real things to eat. They charge five dollars a meal."
"Five dollars a meal! Den I reckon dis coon'll git a small po'tion ob
dessert fo' his share," and the colored man laughed so heartily that he
felt no necessity of whipping his arms about.
"Well, come on, let's see if we can't hire a small truck and wheel our
stuff up," suggested Jerry. They were able to, but they had to pay a
good price for the little vehicle, which they got from one of the men on
the dock. Indeed, it seemed that you had almost to pay the weight of
anything in gold in Alaska, as there were so many who wanted the same
article.
It took several trips by the boys and Johnson to get all the things to
the hotel. There was quite a quantity of canned stuff, plenty of bacon,
sugar and tea, for those are staple articles of diet in cold countries,
arms and ammunition for all four, an extra supply of fur garments and
sleeping bags, a heavy tent, a portable alcohol stove, cans of alcohol
for fuel, and other needful supplies.
It was quite dark when they had everything in their room, and there was
little space left to lie down. There were four cots in the apartment,
and no bedclothes of any kind, but they expected to sleep in most of
their clothes because of the cold. Mr. Baxter came back in time for
supper, and it must be said, in spite of the high prices for meals, they
were not very good. There was no use of finding fault, however, as there
were others only too anxious to get the accommodations our travelers had
secured at the hotel.
"Did you get the dogs, sleds and guides, dad?" asked Jerry when they had
gathered to look over their supplies that night in their room.
"Yes, but I had to pay higher than I calculated on. It seems there has
been a new strike made, and there is a great rush of miners to it.
Guides can get whatever pay they ask, and as for dogs and sleds, you
might almost as well buy them as hire them, only no one will sell. But I
guess we'll get along."
"When do we start for the for----" began Fred.
"Fred, you must be more careful," cautioned Mr. Baxter in a whisper.
"Don't mention the word treasure," he added in a low voice. "These
hotels are constructed in a very flimsy manner, and what is said in one
room can be heard in another. If any one gets an idea we are after a
store of hidden gold we may be followed by some rascals who would try to
steal it from us. There is practically no law in this country yet. We'll
have to wage our own battles, and I don't want to get into a fight with
any desperadoes, of whom there are many here, only too anxious to take
advantage of any one who has gold."
"I'll be more careful," Fred promised. "When are we to start for the
interior?"
"To-morrow afternoon. It will take us until then to get the dogs and
sleds here and have our stuff packed for the trip. I have also to buy a
few more supplies. Now I advise you three to stay in the room until I
return. I have to go out to transact a little business, and this
settlement is not a nice place for boys after dark. I'll leave you in
Johnson's care."
"An' if anybody tries t' do any funny work, I'll squeeze 'em laik a
grizzly bear!" threatened the colored man, stretching out his long,
powerful arms.
The cold to which they had been exposed made the boys sleepy, and they
soon dozed off. Johnson likewise fell into a slumber, from which he was
awakened by a pounding on the door.
"Who's dat?" he asked suspiciously.
"It's me. Mr. Baxter," answered the old gold hunter. "I guess I'll turn
in now. Everything is all ready for to-morrow."
They all slept soundly, though there was much noise and excitement all
night, for a lawless element was abroad, and there were several shooting
affrays among the gamblers and miners, but fortunately no one was
seriously hurt.
Soon after breakfast, which was not much of an improvement on the
supper, a sled arrived with some supplies which Mr. Baxter had purchased
at one of the stores. The things were piled up outside the hotel,
together with the goods they had brought from San Francisco, and a
little later several Alaskan Indians, driving four dog teams, attached
to long, low wooden sleds, came down the snow-covered street.
"That's our outfit," announced Mr. Baxter. "I see Holfax is on time."
"Who's Holfax?" asked Fred.
"He's the chief guide, and seems a fairly decent chap. I can't say as
much for the others."
Certainly none of them would have taken a prize in a beauty contest.
They were typical Alaskan Indians, short and stout, not too clean, but
of that one could not judge very well, for they were so wrapped up in
furs that only their noses and eyes were visible.
There were eight Indians, two in charge of each sled, to each of which
was fastened eight dogs by thongs of reindeer hide. The animals were
snarling and snapping in an ugly manner, and the Indian drivers called
harsh words to them, or struck them with the long lash of the whip,
which they used with great skill, being able to touch a particular dog
on any available spot from the farthest end of the sled.
"Load up, Holfax," ordered Mr. Baxter, indicating the goods.
"We load. Pretty soon go quick," replied the head Indian. Then he called
something to his companions in the native tongue, and they began to lash
the supplies on the sleds.
"Are we going to ride or walk?" asked Fred.
"Ride," answered Mr. Baxter. "There are only four Indians going with us.
The rest came merely to help load, as that is a matter which must be
carefully attended to. The dogs will be able to pull two persons on each
sled, in addition to the load. I am afraid we are going to be in for
some cold weather. The thermometer is still going down. It's thirty
below zero now. Be careful not to expose your fingers, boys, or they'll
be frozen inside of five minutes. And look out for the end of your
nose."
The loading was rapidly proceeded with, quite a crowd of men gathering
to see the expedition leave. It was no great novelty, but one so well
equipped and so large did not often start from that settlement. When the
last package had been lashed on the sleds, and when Mr. Baxter, Johnson
and the boys, with their rifles under their arms, were ready to get on,
a man came strolling up the street. He was the man with a glass eye,
though his face was so deep down in his fur collar that this defect
could hardly be seen.
"Off for the gold region?" he asked Mr. Baxter, and at the sound of the
voice Fred knew the man was the same one who had questioned him on the
ship--Jake Callack.
"Yes, we're off prospecting, stranger."
"Well, good luck."
"Thank you."
"Get on, boys," said Mr. Baxter, taking his place.
Fred, Jerry and Johnson sat on the big sleds in little hollows left at
the rear when the goods were packed on. Mr. Baxter did likewise. The
Indian drivers sitting in front yelled to the dogs and cracked their
long whips. At that moment the man with the glass eye leaned over and
said something in a whisper to Zank, one of the guides, the one on the
leading sled, on which rode Johnson.
The Indian looked up, nodded, and then, with a louder yell to his dogs,
set them off at a fast pace. The treasure hunters were on their way to
the interior after the store of buried gold.