“Fourteen days from Seattle to St. Michael,” chanted Helen, as though reciting a lesson. “And from there overland and by dog sled to the Yukon. Oh, Adventure, let me hasten to embrace thee before thou slippest from my grasp!”
“You’ve got your information mixed, Helen,” said her twin. “There won’t be any dog sled in this trip. We just keep right on steaming up the Yukon from St. Michael until we come to Knockout Point, which is the particular little jumping off place that’s been selected.”
“I hope there is a doctor on board,” said Chess, with a mock anxious glance at his fiancé. “Something tells me we may need his services!”
“Mighty glad you decided to go with us, Chess,” said Ruth, seeing a revengeful gleam in Helen’s eye and deciding to change the subject in a hurry. “I must admit the change in your plan is something of a shock—though of course a very joyful one.”
“Well for you that you added that postscript, woman,” laughed Chess. “You see, Ruthie, it’s this way. There is some important business to be attended to——”
“Up the Yukon?” asked Ruth, with a laugh.
“Up the Yukon, young lady, as well as in Seattle, though your very inflection is an insult,” returned the grinning Chess. “I was going to send some one else, and then I decided that this little matter called for really expert attention——”
“Ahem!” loudly from Helen.
“Had an awful time inventing this business in Alaska, didn’t you, Chess?” and Ruth’s eyes twinkled.
“And of course, under the circumstances, there was only one thing to do and that was to send myself to take care of the job. Simple, what?”