Klondike Nuggets | Page 7

never to be without his long-stemmed
meerschaum pipe between his lips:
"This gintleman isn't the burglar that ye would think from his looks. He
belongs to a good family, or ye wouldn't obsarve him in my company.
The young gintlemen are two princes that are travelling in cog. In
consideration of all of them having delicate appetites like mesilf, not
forgetting the honor of their company, ye will be glad to make a
reduction in your exorbitant rates, Baron Fritz, I am sure."
The phlegmatic German smiled, and in a guttural voice announced that
his terms were three dollars a day, including rooms and meals, which,
when all the circumstances are considered, was not extravagant. The
party carried their luggage to their rooms, where they prepared
themselves for the meal, which was satisfactory in every respect and
better than they expected.
It came out during the conversation that Tim McCabe had not a dollar
to his name, and he spoke the truth when he said that he had not eaten a
mouthful that day. It would have gone hard for him but for the arrival
of Jeff Graham, though there is such a lively demand for labor in
Juneau that he must have soon found means to provide himself with
food.
As for Jeff, he was glad in his heart that his old friend was in such sore
straits, inasmuch as it gave him the pleasure of providing for him. Tim
had taken out some five hundred dollars, but a companion whom he
fully trusted robbed him of it, and the small amount left barely kept the
Irishman afloat until the arrival of the old miner.
Jeff Graham showed prudence in bringing a plentiful supply of funds
with him, and since he expected to take back a hundredfold more than
he brought, he could well afford to do so. Stowed away in his safe
inside pocket was fully two thousand dollars, and inasmuch as gold is
the "coin of the realm" in California, as well as in Alaska, the funds
were in shining eagles and half eagles--rather bulky of themselves, but

not uncomfortably so.
The experience of McCabe and Jeff prevented any mistake in providing
their outfit. They had good, warm flannels, thick woollen garments,
strong shoes, and rubber boots. Those who press their mining
operations during the long and severe winter generally use the water
boot of seal and walrus, which costs from two dollars to five dollars a
pair, with trousers made from Siberian fawn-skins and the skin of the
marmot and ground squirrel, with the outer garment of marmot-skin.
Blankets and robes, of course, are indispensable. The best are of
wolf-skin, and Jeff paid one hundred dollars apiece for those furnished
to himself and each of his companions.
The matter of provisions was of the first importance. A man needs a
goodly supply of nourishing food to sustain him through the trying
journey from Juneau to Dawson City, the following being considered
necessary for an able-bodied person: Twenty pounds of flour, twelve of
bacon, twelve of beans, four of butter, five of vegetables, five of sugar,
three of coffee, five of corn-meal, one pound of tea, four cans of
condensed milk, one and one half pounds of salt, with a little pepper
and mustard.
Because of the weight and bulk, Jeff omitted from this list the tea, the
condensed milk and butter, and while the supply in other respects was
the same, respectively, for himself and McCabe, that of the boys was
cut down about one third; for besides the food, the party were
compelled to take with them a frying-pan, a water-kettle, a Yukon stove,
a bean-pot, a drinking-cup, knives and forks, and a large and small
frying-pan.
Since they would find a good raft necessary, axes, hatchets,
hunting-knives, nails, one hundred and fifty feet of rope, and two
Juneau sleds were purchased. To these were added snow-shoes, a
strong duck-tent, fishing-tackle, snow-glasses to protect themselves
against snow-blindness, rubber blankets, mosquito-netting, tobacco,
and a few minor articles.
The start from Juneau to the gold fields should not be made before the

beginning of April. Our friends had struck that date, but the headlong
rush did not begin until some time later. One of the principal routes is
from Seattle to St. Michael, on the western coast of Alaska, and then up
that mighty river whose mouth is near, for nearly two thousand more
miles to Dawson City. The river is open during the summer--sometimes
barely four months--and our friends took the shorter route to Juneau on
the southern coast, from which it is about a thousand miles to Dawson.
While this route is much shorter, it is a hundred times more difficult
and dangerous than by the Yukon.
From Juneau there are four different routes to the headwaters