A week and more had slipped by since leaving the Rink Rapids, and now all were on the watch for the first sight of the new gold fields. Every one was in a state of suppressed excitement. They had met half a dozen miners sailing back and forth on the river and from these had learned that everything was "booming," and that strikes were panning out big. The eyes of both Randy and Earl glistened when they heard these stories, and the hardships endured since leaving Dyea were forgotten. "Hurrah! there's a miner's tent!" suddenly shouted Randy, late one afternoon. "We've struck the diggings at last!" "There are half a dozen tents and a board cabin!" added Earl, pointing still further on. "I guess you're right, Randy. I wonder if that is the Klondike River over yonder. It looks mighty small." "That's only a creek," said Foster Portney. "We'll land and see how far we are from Dawson." The _Wild Goose_ was easily beached, and they lost no time in hunting up the miners to whom the tents and the cabin belonged. They were a party of Frenchmen from Canada and could speak but little English. Dr. Barwaithe spoke to them in their native tongue and soon learned that the place was Baker's Creek and that Dawson City was about six miles further on. The Frenchmen were very conservative, but admitted that they were doing very well at placer-mining, taking out an average of thirty dollars a day per man. "Thirty dollars a day!" cried Randy. "A fellow can get rich quick enough at that rate." "Hardly--with such a short season," answered his uncle. "Yet thirty dollars isn't bad by any means." "I'm up yere to strike a fortune," put in the captain. "No measly little thirty dollars a day fer me!" Both Randy and Earl wished to remain behind to see the Frenchmen wash out the gold dust, but the others were impatient to go on, and they were soon on the way once more. "If the claims are good around here, it won't be long before they are taken up," said Foster Portney. "For, as you can see, men are pouring in over the mountains every day, not to say anything of those who make the long trip by way of the ocean and up the Yukon." "Well, I'm just crazy to get to work," declared Randy. "Just think of the gold lying around ready to be picked up!" His uncle smiled. Poor Randy! Little did he dream of the many backaches and privations in store for him.