To Alaska for Gold; Or, The Fortune Hunters of the Yukon
Page 30
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE END OF THE SUMMER SEASON.
Mr. Portney and the boys had long since decided where the cabin shouldbe built, up against the side of a cliff, ten feet in height, whichoverlooked the head of the gulch. All the miners in the locality hadagreed that this would be the best spot, and six cabins were to beplaced there, for hospitality's sake if for no other reason. Mr. Portneyhad already ordered the dressed lumber needed from the saw-mill; but asthis was costly stuff, and expensive to transport, Earl and Randy haddeclared their intention to go into the timber back of the cliff and getout whatever of rough wood could be made to do.
"We're not going in for style," declared Earl. "You can get the windowframes and glass, and the door and the finishing boards, and we'll getout the rest, won't we, Randy?" And his brother agreed with him.
A week later found the party building in earnest. Over a hundreddollars' worth of lumber had been purchased, and it had cost as muchagain to bring it over. In the meantime Earl and Randy, aided by Fred,had brought out from the woods four sticks of timber for the cornerposts of the cabin and had whip-sawed two-score of rough boards. Withthis material they went to work, and four pairs of willing hands sooncaused the building to take definite shape. Seeing them at work, theother miners also got at it, and soon there was sawing and hammering allday long beneath the cliff.
Of necessity the cabin was a simple affair. It was set partly on theflat rock and partly on the hard ground, and was twenty feet wide bytwelve feet deep, the back resting almost against the cliff. In thefront was a door and a window, and there was another window at the endnearest to the door. Inside, a spare blanket divided the space into twocompartments, the first, the one having the door, being the generalliving-room, and the second being the sleeping-room. In the living-roomwas placed a cooking-stove, a rude table, and four home-made chairs,while the sleeping-room was provided with four bunks, ranged along therear and end walls. Later on a closet was built for thecooking-utensils, but for the present these were piled up in a corner.
Foster Portney was very particular that all the cracks in the side wallsof the cabin should be filled in with mud, and the top, which was nearlyon a level with the cliff, was also made water and wind tight, exceptingwhere a circular hole was left for the upper section of a stovepipe.
As soon as the cabin was in habitable shape, an account of all theprovisions on hand was taken. It was found that the canned vegetableshad run low and that they also needed more flour. A list of necessitieswas made out, and Earl and his uncle started away to Dawson City topurchase them, knowing that prices were advancing every day and that thegoods on hand at the store were liable to give out long before thedemand for them should cease.
Fred had asked to go out into the woods to see what he could shoot, hebeing a fairly good shot and thoroughly familiar with the use of a gun.It was thought best not to let him go alone, and he and Randy wenttogether, leaving the cabin in care of the miners who were buildingclose at hand.
The hunt in the woods was hardly a success. After tramping around fortwo hours they brought down several birds of a species unknown to themand one small deer, smaller than any Randy had ever seen in Maine.Otherwise the woods were bare of game, and by the middle of theafternoon they gave it up.
"When Earl comes back I'll ask my uncle to let the three of us go overto the river," said Randy. "I've heard there are good chances there forwild goose, snipe, and plover."
"Yes, and we might put in a day fishing. Even salt and smoked fishwouldn't go bad during the winter," added Fred. He was growing hardy andstrong and took a deep interest in all that was going on.
It was two days before Mr. Portney and Earl returned, bringing with themall they and two Indians could carry. The provisions included an extrahundred pounds of flour, for which they had paid fifty dollars, somecanned peas and tomatoes, fifteen pounds of dried apples and Californiaapricots, and some coffee, sugar, salt, and smoked bacon. In an extrapackage Earl also carried a beefsteak weighing two pounds and for whichhe had paid five dollars.
"It's Randy's birthday to-morrow," he said, "and we're going tocelebrate in a style I know you'll all admire." And every one laughedand agreed with him, for they had not had any fresh beef since leavingthe steamboat at Dyea.
Foster Portney was quite willing that the three boys should take a tripover to the Yukon to see what could be found in the way of fish andgame, and it was arranged that they should be gone three days. The startwas made on Monday morning.
They travelled altogether by compass through the woods, managing on theway to knock over enough birds to serve them for their meals. On themorning of the second day they struck the Yukon about midway betweenDawson City and Ogilvie. As they came in sight of the broad stream Earlhalted the crowd and pointed straight ahead.
"Look at the snipe!" he said. "Now is our chance. Let us all firetogether!"
Randy and Fred had borrowed shot-guns from their neighbors, and at thesignal three reports rang out, and eight of the birds came down. Asecond shot from Randy, whose gun had a double barrel, brought downthree more; and from that hour on the sport began, lasting until wellinto the evening, when they had twenty snipe, six plover, and eight wildgeese to their credit.
As late as it was, Earl determined to try his hand at fishing, and soonhad his line out. There were a few minutes of waiting, then the bait wastaken like a flash, and there followed a lively struggle between theyouth and a salmon which weighed over fifteen pounds. Several times Earlthought he had lost his catch, but each time he recovered, and finallythe salmon came in close enough to be swung on shore. Even then heflopped around so lively that Fred had to quiet him by a blow from thestock of his gun.
Earl's success had fired the others, and soon they were fishing in thepale-blue twilight of the night. They kept it up until after twelveo'clock, when they turned in with a catch of three salmon, severalwhitefish, and a burbot, which Randy at first took for a codfish. Theyslept soundly, and early in the morning tried the sport again, startingfor home at about noon, and arriving there with their burdens some timeafter midnight, worn out but happy.
It was found that Foster Portney had not been idle during theirabsence. From time to time, as the canned eatables were disposed of,they had saved the tins, and now he had cleaned them out and filled somewith such berries as still remained on the bushes about the gulch. Toseal the cans up he had brought from Dawson City a stick of lead, andfor an iron had used the end of a broken pick.
"That will give us some fresh berries," he said. "And along with cannedsalmon, and salted and smoked whitefish, burbot, and wild goose, Ireckon we'll get along fairly well, unless the winter proves an extralong one."
As much as they felt the necessity of preparing for winter, Randy andEarl hated to lose the time when there was the chance to make so muchmoney at the sluice boxes. So as soon as they were able, they got downto the gulch again, and never did two lads work harder. They wereaccompanied by Fred, and a day later their uncle also joined them.
The dirt from the pocket had been cleaned up, and it had yielded overtwenty ounces of gold. They were now working on the regular sand andgravel scraped from the bedrock of the gulch, and though this did notpay so well, yet it brought in enough to make them all satisfied. Therewas a good deal of excitement, too, when it came to cleaning out thesluice boxes, for almost every day one or another found a nugget,sometimes small, and then again as large as a walnut.
"How much do you think we are averaging?" asked Randy, one day, and hisuncle replied that he could not figure very closely, but he would put itdown as over a hundred dollars per day. This meant twenty-five dollars aday as the boy's share, and he felt more content than ever to slavealong in the gulch.
For it was slaving along, this constantly picking and digging andcarting the dirt, sand, and gravel to the sluice boxes and throwing itin. Every night Randy's back ached, and sometimes he would come in withfeet that were sopping wet, and covered up to his waist with mud andmuck. And then he took a touch of
the chills and fever, and was down onhis back for a week with only Fred to wait on him. The chills and feverwent the rounds, and Foster Portney and Earl were stricken at the sametime. Fred was the last to catch it; and by the time he had recovered,winter was at hand.
The first indication was a rawness in the air, which made them shiverwhen they turned out in the morning. Then the bushes and the treesquickly lost their leaves, and three days later ice formed in themarshes back of the gulch. The sun came up as usual, but it seemed tohave lost its warmth, and all were glad enough to keep on their coatseven when working.
"Two more weeks will fetch it," observed Foster Portney. "We had betterwash out as much dirt as possible before the water stops running."
Ten days later the thermometer went down with a rush, dropping fromfifty-six to but twenty above zero. Going down to the gulch, they foundthe stream covered with ice, which was half an inch thick. By the nextday there was no water to be found, only ice, and even the piles ofsand, gravel, and dirt were frozen stiff. A heavy dulness, whichoppressed them greatly, hung in the air. Winter had come, and goldwashing for that season was a thing of the past.