Part 27 (2/2)

It took Foster Portney and Captain Zoss five full days to find their way to Dawson City and back again The return for the larger portion of the as es driven by Indians They had found provisions very scarce and high in price in Dawson City, but had brought back enough to last a ht provisions for the two h Mr

Portney, and the next day the miners set off for their own cabin with many sincere thanks for the assistance which had been rendered them

On the day the provisions ca what Dr

Barwaithe called ”a round, squarebut the plainest kind of food, but there was enough, and that was of prierly for the day to coain had been struck all around, whereby the doctor and the captain were to work the single sluice box on the upper clai to Foster Portney for keeping the as the pair were content to reulch!” was the welcome announcement made by Earl one day, and all went down to see the thin streaone now, and the sand, gravel, and dirt which was exposed to the sun was quite free froht out and cleaned up, and two days later found the the previous sued when once there was a start

Before the end of the month Mr Portney made another trip to Dawson City, and this time he took with him both Randy and Earl They had settled that they should reust, and now they took back, by Indian carriers, enough provisions to last the camp until that time

The stop in Dawson lasted two days, and the boys had a chance to walk about the town and see how it had is, and several of them were quite pretentious At the dock were two steamboats, both nearly free of the ice which had held them fast all winter

In the town there was much news to be heard of the many wonderful strikes which had been made Several had taken out over a hundred thousand dollars in dust and nuggets, and aiting for navigation to open on the Yukon, that they ht sail for home with their riches No one who had accumulated a pile cared to remain in that forsaken country

Just before they were to start for the gulch, Mr Portney brought news of Tom Roland The man had been captured at Circle City two old stolen from Cozzins taken from him He had escaped from his temporary jail and fled to the mountains, and now his dead body had been found at the foot of a lofty canon, dohich he hadIt was a sad ending to a misspent life, and the boys could not help but shudder as they heard the story They wondered what had beco further was ever heard of that cowardly rascal

By the first of June the gulch was as active as it had ever been during the previous summer, and the mosquitoes and flies were just as nue size were made, but the sluice boxes yielded heavy returns of dust, and all were very well content, and Dr Barwaithe and Captain Zoss gave up all thoughts of leaving

”We knoe have here,” said the doctor, ”and I a does not pay”

”An' besides, it's soenial,”

added the captain ”Over to the other claihbors about stake lines”

By the end of July the sand and gravel taken froulch had been disposed of, and now aup of the dirt taken from half a dozen little hollohich lay on either side It was terribly hot again, but the workers took their ti the middle of the day Three days before the first of September they were done

”There, that settles it!” cried Foster Portney, as he flung down his shovel ”No more work for me until I have paid a visit to the States”

”Hurrah!” shouted Randy, and he gave his pick a whirl which sent it thirty feet off ”I'ht of civilization”

”And for an old-fashi+oned listened, but he said nothing He ondering what sort of a reception he would receive when he got houlch, but no answer had co if the communications had reached their destination

The next day was spent in the delightful task of counting up the proceeds of their venture Of course it was impossible to calculate closely, yet they were conservative in their estiets and dust were turned over to the United States mint in San Francisco, they were not disappointed as to the check received in return

The upper clai the time it orked by Dr Barwaithe and Captain Zoss in the spring had yielded five thousand dollars Of this, as per agreement, two thousand dollars went to the doctor, a like sum to the captain, and one thousand dollars to Foster Portney Added to what they had made previously, the doctor and the captain now held a old between thes considered

The Portneys, of course, had fared old to them from start to finish footed up to fifty-two thousand dollars Of this aave the lads exactly thirteen thousand dollars apiece Twenty-six thousand dollars was Foster Portney's share, but out of this he had been co the party up and keeping theetting the the early summer of the present year, Earl, Randy, and Foster Portney had held a private talk concerning the aranted to Fred, and it had been decided that he should have an even thousand dollars, one half to come from the two boys' share and the other froh to Basco The lad, when told of this decision, said he was more than satisfied, as the amount of work he had been able to do had really been very small on account of frequent attacks of sickness