The trader nodded: “There is. But how about dogs? You didn’t bring dogs, did you? An’ as fer the rest, I know all I need to know about you. That’s what the Company pays me fer--to size up men. This here will run you till Christmas, then you can come back fer more. An’ remember this, Gordon, the Koyukuk diggin’s is spotted. You might strike it lucky the first crack out of the box, an’ you might prod around fer a long while ’fore you strike it, but it’s here, an’ sooner or later you’ll win.” “How about MacShane?” inquired Gordon, “Has he struck it, yet?” “MacShane,” the other smiled, “You can’t never tell nothin’ about Burr MacShane. I know’d him, it’s years ago on the Lower Yukon. He might of mushed five hundred mile to get that grub. MacShane ain’t on Myrtle. It’s a way I’ve got--not tellin’ a party where another party is, till I’ve got the party sized up. But, fact is, I don’t know where MacShane come from, nor where he went. Wisht I did.” “Why?” asked Gordon. “Well, it’s like this. I’ve knocked around quite a bit, take it first an’ last, tradin’ on my own hook, an’ tradin’ fer the Company, an’ I kin most generally always tell from the gold in the blower where it come from. You’ve noticed the difference. Take the gold from the middle Yukon--Circle, an’ Fortymile, an’ around the Chandalar, it’s light colored gold. The up-river gold is darker, an’ the Koyukuk gold is light colored again. But, MacShane’s gold--it was red--reddest I ever seen. It wasn’t no Myrtle Creek gold, nor yet gold from anywheres that’s ever be’n prospected before.” “But, he must of got it along the river, or some crick that runs into it,” argued Gordon. “He couldn’t pack no supplies off the river in summer.” The trader laughed: “MacShane can, an’ he did. He’s be’n in the country long enough to be onto all its curves. He was Siwashin’ it. Said it was the first time he’d seen a camp fer a year an’ a half. Didn’t know there was a camp here even. He was hittin’ fer Bettles. Yes, sir, MacShane comes nearer to livin’ off the country than any white man I ever seen. Why the stuff he got wouldn’t last an ordinary man three months, an’ I bet he can make it do fer two years.” “But how did he get the stuff off the river?” persisted Gordon. “Back-packin’, him an’ his dogs both. Yes, sir, he had fourteen dogs, an’ he’d ripped up an old tent, or a tarp an’ rigged pack sacks for ’em--that’s Siwashin’ for you!” “Aye, he’s a man!” agreed Gordon. “If he comes in again, tell him Old Man Gordon wants to see him.” “I’ll tell him,” answered the trader, “But I ain’t lookin’ for him back. Leastways, not fer a year or two.” CHAPTER IX ON THE KOYUKUK