Sandy laughed. “I know what you mean, Dad. My solemn word, I won’t mention it.”
“What’s on the agenda now, Dr. Steele?” Jerry inquired. “Are we going home?”
“Not for another few days, Jerry,” Dr. Steele said. “The professor and I want to fly up to Valdez and look over some old mining sites.”
“Where’s Valdez?” Jerry asked.
“The most northerly ice-free port in Alaska. It used to be the shipping point for copper ore until the Kennecott mines closed down in 1938. We had planned an exciting outing for you fellows—” he hesitated and looked wryly at Jerry—“but inasmuch as Jerry says he’s a city boy at heart, well, maybe we’d better forget it.”
“What kind of an outing, Dad?” Sandy asked.
Dr. Steele lit his pipe and blew a cloud of smoke at the ceiling. “We won’t be using the plane for several days, and we thought you might like to visit Kodiak Island. One of the instructors from the university will be spending a week there, hunting bear, and he said you boys would be welcome to join him.” He winked at Sandy. “But I’m not sure your city friend here would be up to it.”
“That’s all right,” Sandy said. “Jerry can stay here at the hotel until we come back.”
“Not on your life!” Jerry snorted. “I want to take one of those bearskins back to my mom.”
Tagish Charley looked up from his plate solemnly. “Kodiak bear plenty bad killer. Maybe he take your skin back to his mamma.”