"Any new strikes?"
"No, none recently; but the people keep swarming in over the other trails."
"What are they paying in wages?"
"Seven to ten dollars a day."
"I've heard it was very unhealthy there."
"Yes, there's a good deal of scurvy and pneumonia."
"Any starvation last winter?"
"No, but it was a tight squeeze for some of them."
"Does a man stand much chance of a fortune who goes there now?"
"Not if he expects to dig gold. The paying ground is all taken up and a good deal more. There's a better chance now in trading. In fact, that's what my partner and I are going into. We've discovered that some things are mighty scarce in Dawson, and people will pay almost anything for them, so we're going out to the coast to bring in a stock of goods. We shall try to be back before cold weather."