"Oh, that's it!" exclaimed another of the men. "You're afraid of the storm, are you?"
"We're not much afraid, but we ain't in love with the same. Won't ye come in—that is, one or two at a time?"
"Thanks for your invitation, but we haven't the time to spare. We're afeared they'll get all the gold in the Klondike country if we don't hurry. You're foolish to loiter along the road like this."
"We're willing to lose a bit of the goold for sake of the comfort. If ye are bound to go on, we wish ye good luck."
"The same to yourselves," the plucky and hopeful miners called as they plodded forward.
For two dreary days the party was storm-stayed in camp.
"Here," said Jeff Graham, when making ready to resume their voyage, "we leave our Yukon sleds."
"Shall we not need them on our return?" asked Roswell.
"We should if we returned by this route, but I wouldn't work my way against these streams and through the passes again for all the gold in the Klondike country. We shall take the steamer down the Yukon to St. Michael's, and so on to Seattle."
"That is a long voyage," suggested Hardman.