Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail: Being the Adventures of Two New England Boys in Alaska and the Northwest TerritoryThompson, Arthur R. (Arthur Ripley)
General
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
On examining their uncle's tent they found that it consisted of two
parts,--the main tent, really a complete tent in itself and rendered
mosquito-proof by having a floor of canvas continuous with the walls,
and an entrance which could be tightly closed by a puckering string;
and, secondly, the fly or extra roof above the tent proper. Ventilation
was obtained by openings covered with mosquito netting at the peak in
front and rear.
The tent stood on the beach between the line of snow and the high-tide
mark. Underneath it, on the stones, was a thick layer of small spruce
boughs. There was no possibility of driving stakes into the stony
ground, and the guy-ropes were tied around a prostrate tree-trunk on
each side, these side logs being about five inches in diameter and
fifteen feet long. There was a straight and slender ridgepole, to
which the roof-ropes were attached, and this ridgepole rested upon
two crotched poles at each end of the tent, set wide apart with the
crotched ends uppermost and interlocked.
After noting all these things, the boys sought out their tent from the
pile of goods and unrolled it to get some idea of its size. They found
that it was much smaller than their uncle's tent and had no walls, the
roof part sloping to the ground and connecting directly with the floor.
"We won't need such long poles as Uncle's tent has," said David, "nor
such heavy side logs either. Suppose you cut a lot of spruce boughs to
put underneath, and I'll cut the poles and logs."
Roly assented at once, and the two set off for the woods with their
hatchets. There was abundance of spruce, but David had considerable
difficulty in finding saplings or bushes which would afford crotched
poles of the proper size. He found it a slow and laborious task, too,
when he attempted to cut down two larger trees for the side or anchor
poles, and was finally obliged to return to the camp for an axe,--a
tool which Mr. Bradford let him have with some misgivings and many
words of caution. Having succeeded in cutting the poles and spruce
boughs, they were obliged to make several trips back and forth before
all the material was brought to the beach, the deep snow greatly
impeding their progress.
As they were starting out for the last time, a tall young Indian, with
cheeks more plump than an Indian's usually are, shuffled along toward
them on snow-shoes, drawing a long sled loaded with wood. He smiled
good-naturedly when he saw them.
"Me Long Peter," said he,--"Chilkat Injun. Go with Mr. B'adford. You go
with Mr. B'adford?"
"Yes," replied David, who concluded that this was the Indian his uncle
had mentioned. So the three returned to camp together.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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