“We had planned to strike north from Yakutat.”
26“You will find rough country that way. I should say you would have tough traveling all the way. If you can get the Gold Diggers to open up, they will undoubtedly be able to give you some useful information that would enable you to lay your course to the best advantage. But I think I know the Diggers. You may not be able to get a civil word out of them.”
“They’ll talk to me,” answered the fat boy confidently.
“Please don’t permit yourself to be overcome,” warned Rector. “Remember your most excellent opinion of yourself has been the cause of some mighty falls already.”
“Well, I fell in soft spots anyhow,” retorted Stacy.
“Ordinarily on your head, I believe,” answered Ned quickly.
Again thanking the Captain for his kindness, the lads returned to the deck. Tad leaned against the rail thinking over the story related by the skipper. The romance of the quest of the Diggers appealed to Butler’s adventure-loving nature. He declared to himself that he would draw them into conversation and satisfy his further curiosity. Looking them over in the light of what he had heard, Tad saw that the four were determined-looking men, were men who would do and dare, no matter how great 27the obstacles or the perils. He could not but feel a keen admiration for them. They were real men, even if they were surly and reticent.
“Tad, how would you like to belong to that party of prospectors?” asked Ned, nodding toward the four.
“I can’t imagine anything more exciting. I wish we might. I wonder if they are going our way?”
“Why don’t you ask them?”