A short time later, they were racing down the trail. It was a good day, and by nightfall they had covered another forty-five miles and overtaken the sled ahead of them. Its driver turned out to be a young uranium prospector. For five years he and his brother had been competing in the big race. Two years before, they had come in first and they were hoping to repeat this year. They were pleasant young men and spent the night with Charley and the boys at the last check point on the route.
That night, after a hearty supper, they sat around the fire talking to Sandy and Jerry. Tagish Charley went to bed as soon as he had the team fed and settled in the barn. About nine o’clock, another sled arrived at the check point, and the driver reported that still another team was camped at the side of the trail about an hour’s ride away.
“This is really going to be a photo finish,” one of the brothers said. He got to his feet and knocked the ash out of his pipe into the fireplace. “We better sack in, men. There’s going to be a mad scramble to get away first in the morning.”
Sandy and Jerry followed them to the big dormitory bedroom, where a dozen army cots were set up around a potbellied stove that glowed a dull cherry-red in the darkness. Charley was already snoring loudly as they slipped into their bedrolls.
“Now how are we supposed to get to sleep with that big lug sawing wood?” Jerry grumbled. “We may as well sit and ... and ... talk ... around ... the ... fire....” His voice trailed off into a pretty good imitation of a buzz saw of its own.
CHAPTER TEN
Down the Chilkoot Chute to Victory
It seemed to Sandy that he had just closed his eyes when he felt rough hands on his shoulders, shaking him. “Time to go,” Charley’s voice whispered.
“What time is it?” he mumbled, raising himself on his elbows.
“Four o’clock,” Charley said. “Other fellers hitching up already.”
Sandy struggled out of his sleeping bag and sat on the edge of the cot, stretching. It was still dark, but when Charley opened the stove door to throw on another log, he could see that the cots that the two brothers had slept on were empty. Yawning, he raised his left foot and kicked the cot where Jerry was still sleeping soundly.