Knockout Point was a straggling settlement, extending along the bank of the broad Yukon for a quarter of a mile or more. It had several docks, one about ready to fall apart, and a dusty, straggling main street of one and two story buildings. It had, in years gone by, gained its name from a fierce fight between a gold hunter and a desperado of that vicinity, in which the desperado had gotten the worst of the combat.
“Doesn’t look much like New York, does it?” remarked Chess.
“New York!” cried Helen. “Why, it can’t compare with—with Cheslow!”
“Some pretty high mountains in the background,” went on the young man.
“Yes, and they look grand, don’t they? I suppose we’ll do some mountain climbing while we are here.”
Ruth thought of and wondered about Mary and Ellen Chase. She wished she had asked Mr. Knowles more about them. The old gentleman had not said in just what part of Alaska their mine was located, except that it was near Snow Mountain.
However, he had known that her destination was Knockout Point and had mentioned the possibility of her meeting with these unfortunate girls. Was Snow Mountain and the property of Mary and Ellen Chase, then, somewhere in the neighborhood of Knockout Point?
Unable to answer the question to her satisfaction, Ruth was sorry that she had not found more time to spend with the old gentleman during the last days of the trip. He had seemed so lonesome and bewildered and troubled! If only she had found out definitely the location of the Chase mine, she or Tom or some of the rest of them might have found a way to help the girls and the old gentleman at the same time.
Well, it was too late now! They had reached the dock and from that time on other and more important duties claimed her attention.
Tom was bargaining with an evil-looking person, whose huge mustache and overhanging eyebrows seemed to Helen to proclaim him a desperado of the worst sort, an opinion she confided in an undertone to Ruth.