CHAPTER VIII.
ON THE WAY TO JUNEAU.
"Get up, Randy! Don't you know we are to start for Alaska to-day?" criedEarl, at six o'clock on the following morning. "Come now, turn out."
"Oh my, but I'm tired still!" grumbled Randy, as he stretched himself.Nevertheless, he hopped out of bed a moment later and was dressed almostas soon as his brother. They had barely finished when their uncle cameto summon them to breakfast.
"We'll hunt up those tools and then I have a little private business toattend to," announced Foster Portney. "So we must move lively."
Breakfast, the last meal to be eaten in San Francisco, was quicklydisposed of, and then followed a half-hour's inspection of variouspicks, shovels, and gold-washing pans at a hardware store that made aspecialty of miners' tools. The boys were greatly interested, and, asEarl said, it made them feel more like prospectors to own a pick and ashovel each. The final bundle was made and shipped to the steamboatdock, and Foster Portney left them.
"Meet me at the dock at eleven o'clock," he said, as he hurried away.
The boys had still several private matters to be settled. Their trunkswere to be sold, also some old clothing. At the hotel they obtained theaddresses of several dealers in second-hand goods, and they had one ofthe dealers call and look at the stuff. He offered ten dollars for thelot; and, as they did not see their way to doing better, they acceptedhis terms, and the goods were removed without delay.
"Let us take a walk around while we have the chance," said Earl. "It isonly ten o'clock."
Randy was willing, and off they started up Market Street to the CityHall, and then back and into Montgomery and Kearney streets, taking inall the sights as they went. Almost before they knew it, it was time togo to the wharf.
"We don't want to keep Uncle Foster waiting," said Earl; but when theyreached the wharf their uncle was nowhere in sight.
The crowd which had collected to see the gold seekers off was a largeone, and more people kept coming every moment. The almost magic name,Klondike, was on every tongue, and there were hundreds who expressed thewish that they were going along.
"Alaska is full of gold!" one man declared. "Full of gold! All you'vegot to do is to locate it."
"That's just it," said Earl to his brother. "If you can locate it you'reall right; if not--" and he finished by a shrug of his broad shoulders.
"You're not sorry we're going, are you?" demanded Randy, quickly.
"Sorry? Not a bit of it. But it doesn't pay to be too sanguine, Randy,my boy."
Quarter of an hour passed, and the jam on the dock began to becomeuncomfortable. Brawny men predominated, but there were also many othersthere,--wives to bid good-by to their husbands, girls to wish theirlovers good-luck, and children to catch a last embrace from theirparents. Many of the women were in tears, and a number of other eyeswere moist, and altogether the scene was rather a sober one.
"What can be keeping Uncle Foster?" asked Randy, as the minutes to thetime for sailing slipped by. "I don't see him anywhere, do you?"
Earl did not, and he was as anxious as his brother. Back and forth theypushed their way, but without success. Then Earl looked at the silverwatch he carried. "Ten minutes to twelve!" he ejaculated.
"Let us go on board and stand where Uncle Foster can see us," suggestedRandy, in a tone of voice which was far from steady. Supposing theiruncle should not turn up, what should they do? To go alone on that tripseemed out of the question.
Luckily they had their tickets, so getting on board was not difficult.A number of the passengers glanced at them curiously.
"Goin' ter Alaska?" asked one brawny fellow whose face was almostentirely concealed by his tangled beard. "Well, well! Ain't yer mostafraid ye'll git done up?"
"We'll try to keep on top," answered Earl. The fellow wished to continuethe conversation, but both Earl and Randy were too impatient just thento listen to him, and moved off to another part of the boat.
Five minutes more had passed and an officer was going around shouting:"All ashore that's going! We sail in five minutes!" Those to be leftbehind began to pass over the gang-plank--it was a hasty handshake and alast good-by on every side. The boys looked at each other doubtfully.
"If he doesn't come--" began Earl, when his quick eye caught sight inthe crowd of a hat that he recognized. "Uncle Foster! Uncle FosterPortney! Come on board!" he yelled, at the top of his sturdy lungs.
Mr. Portney, in the jam of people below, heard and looked up. In amoment he had caught sight of his nephews and he shook his hand at them.Soon he was mounting the gang-plank, the last of the passengers to comeon board. He was out of breath and gave the boys an odd smile.
"I suppose I gave you a scare," he said. "I didn't mean to be so late,but those business matters took longer than I intended, and then therewas a blockade of street cars and I had to walk it. But we're all rightnow, I reckon," he added, gazing around. "Good-by to San Francisco! Whenwe see her again may our pockets be lined with gold!" And he took offhis soft felt hat and waved it at the crowd on shore.
The boat was now swinging clear of the wharf and thousands of hats andhandkerchiefs were waving. "There she goes!" "Hurrah for Alaska!" "Ifyou strike it rich, let us know!" "God be with you!" These and a hundredother cries rang out, and they were kept up until the steamer was farout in the stream and on her way up the bay to the Golden Gate.
The run to the Gate did not take long, and by the middle of theafternoon the steamer was standing out boldly into the Pacific Ocean, onher way almost due north. It had been rather muggy, and now a heavy mistset in, and by evening the boys were glad enough to leave the deck andarrange their stateroom. It contained four berths, two for themselves,one for Mr. Portney, and the last for a stranger who was down on theship's list as Captain Luke Zoss.
"I wonder who Captain Zoss can be?" said Randy to Earl, when the door ofthe stateroom was suddenly flung open, and the bushy-bearded man who hadspoken to them on deck came in. He stared at them in surprise for asecond, then burst into a hearty fit of laughter.
"Wall! wall! So it's you as are goin' ter be my messmates on this yeretrip!" he exclaimed. "All right, lads, glad ter have ye." He held out abrawny hand. "My handle is Luke Zoss, but most of the boys know me asCap'n Luke. May I be so inquisitive as to ask your names?"
"My name is Earl Portney, and this is my brother Randy," answered Earl.The hearty way of the stranger pleased him, and he was sure he shouldlike Zoss.
"Portney, eh? I used ter know a man by thet name--Foster Portney, o'Colorady."
"Why, he's our uncle, and he is with us!" cried Randy, and just then hisuncle came in, and he and Captain Zoss shook hands. They had met inCreede, where Zoss had once been a mining superintendent, and knew eachother quite well.
"All bound fer the Klondike!" exclaimed the captain. "Hooray! We're sureto strike it, eh, Portney? I know you wouldn't be a-goin' thar unlessgold was to be picked up. Goin' over Chilkoot Pass, I take it." FosterPortney nodded. "Then we might as well stick together, eh? It will bebetter than pairing off with somebody as might be wuss nor a hoss thief,eh? O' course it would!"
Again the captain shook hands. Then he asked the boys where they camefrom and was pleased to learn they were used to a life in the open air.
"I was a lumberman myself onct--up in Michigan," he said. "But tharwasn't enough excitement, so I gave it up to seek gold and silver.Minin' and prospectin' just suit me--leas'wise so long as the grub holdsout. One thing is in our favor--scarcity o' men up in them new goldfields. Now, down in Colorady it's different--all overrun with men, eh,Portney?"
"Yes, we'll have rather an open field," answered Foster Portney. Andthen followed a long discussion about the new gold fields and what mightbe expected when Dyea was reached and the terrible climb over themountains began. The discussion lasted until ten o'clock, and the boyslistened with interest and picked up many stray bits of information.Both concluded that the overland trip to the mines would prove every bitas rough and dangerous as they had pictured it.
/> The distance from San Francisco to Juneau, Alaska, is, in round figures,one thousand miles. The _Golden Hope_ was not as large as a regularocean liner, yet she was a fast boat, and it was expected that she wouldcover the distance inside of four days. Much, of course, would dependupon the weather encountered, for she was heavily loaded with bothpassengers and freight. The freight had given even the owners concern,for much of it was piled high on the outer decks.
On the second day out, and some time after Cape Blanco had been sightedthrough the glass, the sky to the westward began to darken, and thesailors announced an approaching storm. Soon the sun went under a heavybank of clouds and a stiff breeze sprung up which threw the long, heavyswells of the ocean into millions of whitecaps, dancing and skipping onevery side as far as eye could reach.
"We are in for it now," was the announcement which went the rounds.Presently it began to rain, and all endeavored to seek the shelter ofthe cabin, which speedily became crowded to suffocation. The boys, theiruncle, and Captain Zoss were in the forward part of the boat, and theysaw the course changed, so that the _Golden Hope_ stood out straight tomeet the blow.
"We are going to have no fun of this," said Foster Portney, with a graveshake of his head. "If I know anything about matters, that storm will bean extra heavy one." And the events of the next hour proved that he wasright.