AMID FROST AND ICE
The railroad journey to San Francisco did not occupy a great while, and that same day Fred and his friends went aboard the Sea Lion as she lay at her dock, waiting the stowing of the cargo before putting off for the frozen north.
There was a big crowd aboard, for the stories of gold being found in that wonderful northern land were wilder than ever, and many thought they had but to take a trip there, walk along the coast, stuff their pockets with yellow nuggets and return wealthy forever. How different it was from this they soon found to their sorrow.
But our young treasure hunter and his friends had no such delusions. Mr. Baxter was an old hand at the game, and, though he had been in Alaska but once before, he knew that any gold that was to be obtained by miners would be found only after hard work and much suffering. Hunting a treasure was different, and probably more hazardous and uncertain.
George Johnson proved to be a big jolly colored man, used to hardships of all sorts, though he had never been very far north. He was of immense strength, which was the principal reason why Mr. Baxter had selected him.
The ship was almost overcrowded, so great was the rush to the gold fields. On all sides was heard only talk of great "strikes," of finds of fabulous wealth, and of how men who barely had enough to buy an outfit and pay their way to Alaska had become millionaires in a night.
"Don't believe all you hear," cautioned Mr. Baxter to his son and Fred. "If you do you'll go half crazy dreaming of gold."
"Johnson is taking it all in," remarked Jerry.
"Yes! If his eyes get much bigger they'll fall out of his head," added Fred. "One miner told him the streets in Nome were paved with gold, and he thinks all he has to do is to take up a few of the yellow blocks to make him rich."
"That's the trouble with a new gold field," said Mr. Baxter. "They circulate wild stories about it. Of course there's lots of gold in Alaska. The thing is to find it. Fred, I hope you have that map safe?"
"Yes, sir."
"Better let me have it. I think I can take better care of it than you can. If some one should steal it and get ahead of us we'd be in a queer pickle."
"That's so, dad," spoke up Jerry. "I wonder how soon this steamer sails?"
"Early to-morrow morning. That's why we came on board to-day. I don't like to get up early to catch a boat and run the chances of getting left."
The four treasure hunters occupied one stateroom with four berths, as they wanted to be together.
Fred was awakened in his berth the next morning by an uneasy motion. At first he could not understand what it was, but he soon knew that it was caused by the action of the waves on the ship.
"Are we off?" he cried.
"That's what we are," replied Mr. Baxter.
Fred and Jerry dressed and hurried out on deck. They were out of sight of land, for the steamer had sailed before daybreak, and it was now about eight o'clock.
"We're headed for Alaska!" cried Fred enthusiastically.
"Aye, aye!" answered Jerry, sailor-fashion. "And there's no telling when we'll be coming back."
"I don't want to until we get that treasure," went on Fred.
"Hush! Don't speak about it," cautioned Jerry.
At that moment a man, who, from a peculiarity in his look, was seen to have one glass eye, passed the two lads. He glanced sharply at Fred, and the boy regretted he had mentioned the treasure.
"Do you think he heard me?" he asked Jerry in a low tone.
"I'm afraid so. But I guess it doesn't matter. He can't know what you meant, and there is any amount of treasure in Alaska. Still, it's better not to speak of it on the ship."
"I'll not after this. Say, this air makes me hungry."
"Same here. Let's go to breakfast."
Little happened on the days that followed. The Sea Lion steamed steadily north, and the boys were not the only ones counting the days until they should arrive on the Alaskan coast, for there were many who were taking the voyage in the hope of bettering their fortunes.
The man with the glass eye was frequently seen on deck, but, as Fred and Jerry were careful not to mention the treasure again, they paid little attention to him. Once the man, whose name Fred learned was Jacob Callack, tried to get into conversation with the lad.
"You and your friends going to prospect or buy up some claims?" asked Callack.
"Prospecting," replied Fred, for surely hunting for a buried treasure was "prospecting" for gold if anything was.
"Whereabouts?"
"The glittering pinnacles towered high in the air"
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"We haven't quite decided," said Fred, truthfully enough, and then, seeing Mr. Baxter coming, he went to join him.
"Oh, you think you'll throw me off the track," murmured the man with the glass eye as Fred left him. "But I'll find out yet. Jake Callack can see more with his one eye than some folks can with two. You can't lose me so easily as all that."
As the days passed there was a noticeable change in temperature. The winter was just setting in, and winter in the northern regions means something very different from what it does in the United States.
When Fred and Jerry came on deck one morning there was a sharper tang than usual in the air.
"We'll sight ice to-day," remarked one of the sailors.
"Do you mean an iceberg?" asked Fred.
"That's what. I can tell by the smell. We'll sight a big one before night."
The sailor proved a good prophet, and that afternoon the steamer passed an immense berg, the glittering pinnacles of which towered high into the air. The presence of it added to the cold, which was becoming sharper every hour.
"Time to get out our fur garments, I guess," said Mr. Baxter that night, and from the baggage he had Johnson take out thick fur coats, caps and mittens, while heavy fur-lined boots were gotten in readiness for the journey on land, which would soon begin.
If there had been confusion on the dock in San Francisco over the sailing of the ship, there was more when she arrived at her destination and proceeded to land the passengers and stores. The Sea Lion went up the Yukon River as far as it was navigable for her and there docked.
There was a settlement on shore, but even in the wildest mining region of California there was nothing to equal it.
A fierce snowstorm the day before the ship arrived had covered everything with a coat of white. The cold was bitter, and even in their fur garments the little party of adventurers felt it keenly.
On every side there was a rush and confusion. Almost as many as had come on the ship wanted to take passage back in her. Some had made their fortunes and were returning happy. Others had failed to find any gold, or had lost it by theft or gambling. Some had barely enough to pay their way home.
There were only the rudest kind of shacks, which served for houses, stores and hotels.
With the help of Johnson, whose great strength stood the travelers in good stead, the baggage of the four gold hunters was landed. It was piled up on the wharf, together with that of scores of other adventurers, for so great was the gold rush that there were no facilities for caring for freight as it should be.
"What are we going to do, dad?" asked Jerry as he and Fred gazed in wonder at the scene of confusion about them.
"Well, we'll see if we can't find quarters in some hotel, or what passes for one here. Then I'll have to see about getting guides and dog teams."
"Are we going to travel with dogs and sledges like the Eskimos?" asked Fred.
"That's about the only way we can travel where we're going," replied Mr. Baxter.
"Let's discover the north pole while we're at it," suggested Jerry jokingly.
"I'd rather discover a warm place where I could get something to eat," remarked Fred.
"Come along," invited Mr. Baxter. "If we don't hurry all the places in the hotels will be taken, and we'll have to camp out our first night here."
Fred was scarcely able to realize that he was really in Alaska; that wonderful land of gold, of which he had heard so much, and which might hold for him a great treasure. Would they find it? Would they get it safely home?
These were questions that came to the young treasure hunter, and he tried to find a hopeful answer to them as he followed Mr. Baxter and Jerry. As they turned away from the wharf, leaving Johnson in charge of their goods, the man with the glass eye arose from behind a pile of boxes.
"I must keep my one good optic on you," he muttered. "I think you're up to something besides prospecting."