Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail: Being the Adventures of Two New England Boys in Alaska and the Northwest TerritoryThompson, Arthur R. (Arthur Ripley)
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Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail: Being the Adventures of Two New England Boys in Alaska and the Northwest Territory
Thompson, Arthur R. (Arthur Ripley)
Klondike River Valley (Yukon) -- Gold discoveries -- Fiction
Hardly had the tents been pitched on a gravelly open space overlooking
the water, when a cold and drenching rainstorm came on. A fire was
kindled with difficulty, around which the shivering party gathered to
cook and eat their evening meal. Rubber blankets and oiled canvas were
pressed into service to protect them from the storm, but there was no
keeping entirely dry in such a downpour. Around the small tent which
had been assigned to David, the ground was so level that the water was
presently standing an inch deep, and only by hastily digging a ditch
was he able to prevent it from being flooded. As it was, he found a
comparatively dry spot along the centre of his blanket-bed when he
crawled in out of the rain, and having rolled up his damp coat for a
pillow, he went to sleep in a twinkling in spite of all discomforts.
By morning the sky cleared, tents were struck, provisions and goods of
all kinds were put aboard the little craft, and soon they were sailing
merrily northward before the wind, the captain at the helm, Champlain
holding the sheet in his hand that he might let it go instantly in
case of a squall, Mr. Dunn on the centre seat, and Greenwood and David
sitting forward near the slender mast. Occasionally they were obliged
to bail, but considering the fact that there was not a drop of paint
on the boat, she was remarkably seaworthy.
It was a glorious morning. A fresh, bracing wind blew from the south.
The cloud-flecked mountains loomed sharp and blue around the lake, and
the great range on the western shore was especially grand and imposing.
David discovered beneath one of its glaciers, several thousand feet
above the lake, what appeared to be a yawning cave as big as a house,
and the captain's glass brought it out more distinctly. Here was a
natural wonder fairly begging to be visited, and right well would David
have liked to explore its mysteries; but time was precious to the
voyagers, and they held their course steadily to the north, crossing
the mouth of a great bay which extended several miles eastward. There
was a similar bay to the west, but the lake narrowed again as they
approached the outlet. At noon they landed for dinner in a little cove,
which they named Shelter Bay, and there, the wind deserting them, they
had recourse to the oars and rowed the short distance to the river,
after which the current assisted them. The water was here so clear that
they could see the fish as they darted away from the shadow of the
oars. Several yellow-legged plover were shot along the banks, but no
attempt was made to bag ducks, as it was their breeding season.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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