"You're goin' up in the first boat, I s'pose?"
"Yes."
"Looks like I'll be the only person left in Minóok."
"I don't imagine you'll be quite alone."
"No? Why, there's only between five and six hundred expectin' to board a boat that'll be crowded before she gets here."
"Does everybody want to go to Dawson?"
"Everybody except a few boomers who mean to stay long enough to play off their misery on someone else before they move on."
The Colonel looked a trifle anxious.
"I hadn't thought of that. I suppose there will be a race for the boat."
"There'll be a race all the way up the river for all the early boats. Ain't half enough to carry the people. But you look to me like you'll stand as good a chance as most, and anyhow, you're the one man I know, I'll trust my dough to."