Transcriber Note Text emphasis is denoted as _Italics_. Gold Hunting in Alaska _AS TOLD BY_ [Illustration] Joseph Grinnell [Illustration] Edited by Elizabeth Grinnell Author of "How John and I Brought Up the Child," "John and I and the Church," "Our Feathered Friends," "For the Sake of a Name," etc. Dedicated to Disappointed gold=hunters the world over David C. Cook Publishing Company ELGIN, ILL., AND 36 WASHINGTON STREET, CHICAGO ALASKA. The New World brings her daughter out With fuss and bluster now; Adorers seek her snow-white hand, And at her beauty bow. Each strives her favor first to gain, And rudely steps upon her train. They court her while they call her "cold" And "distant" to her face; The heiress smiles, while quick breaths lift Her frills of ancient lace-- The eyes of all her suitors rest On glint of gold upon her breast.--E. G. Copyright, 1901, By David C. Cook Publishing Company. Gold Hunting in Alaska. PREFACE. The following story was originally written in pencil on any sort of paper at hand, and intended merely for "the folks at home." It is only by a prior claim to the manuscript that the young gold-hunter's mother has obtained his consent to publish it. The diary has been changed but little, nor has much been added to make it as it stands. The narrative is true from beginning to end, including the proper names of persons and vessels and mining companies. It is offered to the David C. Cook Publishing Company with no further apologies for its sometimes boyish style of construction. It will give the reader, be he man or boy, a hint as to how a young fellow may spend his time in the long Arctic winter, or in the whole year, even though he be a disappointed gold-hunter. It may afford suggestion to mining companies continually going to Alaska as to their responsibility to each other and to the natives of the "frozen North." It may give "the folks at home" some intimation as to possible "good times" under trying circumstances. Blue fingers may not necessarily denote a blue heart. ELIZABETH GRINNELL. Pasadena, Cal., Jan. 15, 1901. CHAPTER I. We are a company of twenty men bound for Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. It is needless to say we are gold-hunters. In this year of our Lord 1898, men are flying northward like geese in the springtime. That not more than one of us has ever set eyes on a real, live nugget passes for nothing; we shall naturally recognize "the yellow" when we see it. It is our intention to ransack Mother Nature's store-houses, provided we can unlock or pry open the doors without losing our lingers by freezing.