"Wait—hell!" cried Claw, "What's the use waitin'? The b'rom'ter's up, an' you know damn well we ain't in fer no more storm fer a week er two. What we want to do is to git over to Bloody Falls before Ace-In-The-Hole takes a notion to break camp. An' what's the use of packin' more grub? We'll have his won't we?"
"He ain't goin' to break camp till we come along with the hooch," argued the other, "Couple days more an' this snow will be settled an' the goin'll be easier."
"If you don't want to go, you kin stay here," retorted Claw, "Me—I ain't goin' to take no chances. I an' the Dog Rib kin handle them two, if you don't want none of it. An' then we'll shove on to the Injun camp an' git the girl, an' I'll jest slip on over to Dawson with her—a thousan' dollars is too cheap, anyhow. If I hadn't of b'n lit up I'd never offered her to you fer no such figger."
"A trade's a trade," interrupted the Captain. "If yer so hell-bent on goin', I'll go along." He shouted the necessary orders to the sailors who were clearing the snow from the doorways of the igloos, and the two turned to the cabin.
"I'll take that five hundred now, before we start, an' you kin give me the balance when we git back with the girl," suggested Claw.
"Ye said there'd be five hundred apiece in Ace-In-The-Hole's sack," reminded the Captain, "I'll pay the first installment with that."
"You will, like hell! You'll pay me now. We ain't got that sack yet. Come acrost."
"I'll give ye an order on——"
"You'll give me an order on no one! You'll count out five hundred, cash money—dust, er bills, right here in this cabin, 'fore we budge an inch. You've got it—come acrost!"
After much grumbling the Captain produced a roll of bills and counting off five hundred dollars, passed the money reluctantly across the table to Claw, who immediately stowed it away. "Don't forget to have 'em put a keg of rum on the sled," he reminded, "We'll need it when we get to the Injuns. Not half water, neither. What we want this trip is the strong stuff that'll set 'em afire."