When he gained his freedom his one obsession was to even the score with the Gordons. He would slip over onto Myrtle, would kill the old man, and then--alone on the deserted creek with the girl--his eyes flickered with bestial lust as he thought of the girl. After that, if they killed him on the Koyukuk, they would have something to kill him for! Dalzene was penniless. He needed an outfit, for the journey to Myrtle Creek. So he went to work on the dumps. It was there he met a fellow convict whose term had expired a month previous, and realizing that he might need help, cautiously sounded the man out. Satisfied, he laid stress upon the winnings of Gordon, and broached a scheme whereby they should visit Myrtle together, murder Gordon, divide whatever of loot there might be in the cabin. The two pooled their earnings for the venture, and toward the middle of January, pulled out of Nome. The utmost caution had been used in the ascent of the Koyukuk from the mouth of the Alatna. Dalzene knew every foot of the country, and he was careful to detour past all camps and native villages. Once on Myrtle caution was relaxed. The deep snows of the winter had rendered it extremely improbable that there would be any travel on the abandoned creek, and the outfit held to the creek bed. The two celebrated their safe arrival on Myrtle with liberal quantities of hooch, the fiery liquor acting upon Dalzene’s brain added fuel to his desire for revenge. Upon rounding a bend they had come face to face with MacShane. The rifle and heavy six gun with which they had provided themselves were lashed to the toboggan and the man was right upon them. To attempt to release the gun would invite disaster. With a sense of vast relief Dalzene noted that the man was using a toboggan. He was not a man of the Koyukuk, and in all probability would know nothing of the edict of the miners’ meeting. With elaborate heartiness, he tendered his bottle, but the other declined, and after a few words of commonplace conversation, he passed on and disappeared in the gloom.