CHAPTER III.
MR. DACRE EXPLAINS.
Both Mr. Dacre and his companion, Colton Chillingworth, regarded theboys smilingly as the latter filed into the charthouse, wide-eyed withexpectation at the news they were confident they were to hear.
"Well," began Mr. Dacre, "I suppose you young men are anxious to knowa good deal more about this voyage than you have yet been told?"
"Anxious is no word for it," rejoined Tom. "Sandy has even forgottenseasickness so that he can hear what you have to tell us."
"It will not take long. Mr. Chillingworth, here, is my partner in theenterprise on which we are bound. We are going to Alaska in search offoxes."
Had Mr. Dacre said that they were going to the moon in search ofgreen cheese, the boys could not have looked more astonished.
"Foxes!" exclaimed Tom. "Just common foxes?"
"By no means. The kind we are after are silver grays and blacks. Mr.Chillingworth and I have decided to start raising them on his ranch.When I tell you that a good skin of a silver fox is worth anywherefrom twenty-five hundred dollars upward, you will see why we havespent so much in equipping this expedition and chartering thissteamer. You will wonder why we did not embark on a regular passengersteamer. For many reasons. One was that we could not care properly forsuch valuable and timid animals on a regular craft. Another was thatwe do not want any details of our plans to leak out till the businessis well established. Such creatures as silver foxes might well temptunscrupulous persons to steal or kill them, so that on allconsiderations, it was deemed best to charter this craft, which wemanaged to get cheap, and to form our own expedition."
"What country are we going to hunt for the foxes in?" asked Tom, hiseyes shining at the prospect before them. The other boys lookedequally excited and delighted.
"Along the Yukon River," was the reply. "That is why that lightdraught portable steam launch is on deck."
"How long shall we be gone?" came the next question.
"That is impossible to say. If we do not 'get out,' as they call it,before the winter sets in, we may have to remain in the north till thespring."
The boys exchanged delighted glances.
"The prospect appears to please you," said Mr. Chillingworth.
"Please us!" cried Tom. "We're tickled to death."
"Well, I think you will have an instructive and, I hope, a pleasanttime," said Mr. Dacre, "and at the same time be useful to us. Both Mr.Chillingworth and myself have been in the Yukon country before, and Ican assure you that it won't be all picnicking. It is a wild countrywe are going to. North of fifty-three lies one of the few really wildterritories left in the world. It's a great chance for you boys toshow what you are made of."
Soon afterward the boys left the charthouse, half wild withexcitement. The lure of the north was upon them. Each hastily wentover in his mind all that he could recall about the land for whichthey were bound. There was magic in the name of Yukon, that mightyriver of frozen lands, whose course winds through golden sands andsolitudes undisturbed by the foot of man.
"Fellows, it seems too good to be true," exclaimed Jack warmly. "It'sthe chance of a lifetime."
"We'll have lots of good hunting. I'm glad we brought our rifles,"said Jack.
"Maybe we'll find gold!" exclaimed Sandy.
"Well, at the market rate for silver and black foxes, a few of themwould be as good as a gold mine," declared Tom.
"But who ever heard of raising foxes to sell?" objected Jack.
"Foxes wi' siller coats, too!" added Sandy incredulously.
"Don't try to be funny, Sandy," struck in Tom. "It appeals to me as agreat business and one with lots of possibilities in it for thefuture."
"Well, it seems at any rate that we are going to get plenty of fun outof it," declared Jack. "I wouldn't much mind if we did get stuck upnorth for the winter. It would be a great experience."
The gong for dinner cut short their chat, and they hastened to theircabins to get ready for the meal. As the _Northerner_ had once been apassenger steamer, she was well provided with cabins, and each boyhad a well-equipped stateroom on the main deck. Their elders occupiedcabins forward of midships, and on the opposite side of thesuperstructure the captain, his two mates and the engineers had theirquarters.
They entered the dining saloon to find it a handsomely fitted whiteand gold affair, a relic of the passenger-carrying days of their ship.Electric lights gleamed down on the table and the boys, when joined bytheir elders, set to with sharp appetites on a meal excellently cookedand served by two Chinese stewards. As they ate, the object of thetrip was, of course, the main topic of conversation, and Mr. Dacregave them much valuable information concerning the country whitherthey were bound. As we shall accompany the boys in their ownexperiences "north of fifty-three," there is no need to set down hereall that the enthusiastic man told his eager young listeners.
Absorbed in the wonders which were being described, the two BungalowBoys and Sandy MacTavish sat late at the table, listening to accountsof the great river for which they were bound, of the flaming volcanoesof the Aleutian Archipelago, of the seal poachers, the midnight sunand the vast undeveloped riches of Uncle Sam's northerly possession.The thought that soon they would be up there themselves, participatingin the marvelous life of which they had heard, sent them to bed inanything but restful moods. It was long before they slept, and thentheir dreams were of the most jumbled description, in which huge bearsand other denizens of the wild figured, together with golden riversand snow-capped mountains.
When they awakened and hastily dressed, it was to find the_Northerner_ out of sight of land and rolling briskly along in a seaflecked with white-caps. Ahead of the ship flashed the wet backs of aschool of porpoises, seemingly intent on a race with the _Northerner_.The boys watched them with interest, although they were no novelty tothem, many such schools having been encountered during their cruise inthe tropics. But there was, nevertheless, a fascination in watchingthe sportive creatures as they rolled and tumbled along, from time totime leaping right out of the water and showing their black,glistening bodies.
"This is the life for me," exclaimed Jack. "How is the seasickness,Sandy?"
The sandy-haired youth gave him a reproachful look.
"I dinna ken what you mean," he said. "I wonder how soon breakfastwill be ready?"
"You're cured, all right," chuckled Tom. "But glorious as all this is,I can hardly wait till we get that steamer together and go chugging upthe Yukon into the heart of Alaska."
"I guess we all subscribe to that," echoed Jack with enthusiasm. Justthen the breakfast gong boomed out its summons.
"I'll beat you to the table!" shouted Jack. The challenge was acceptedand off they all dashed, while the long silent decks of the converted_Northerner_ rang with their shouts of merriment.