Billy Blue intimated on the aside to his
companions.

"This meetin' will now come to order," called out the chairman of
dead-shot fame, giving two or three good, hard thumps on the table with
his heavy fist.

As the buzzing in the room ceased and each man gave his attention the
speaker continued.

"You fellers all know why we came here to-day. We have with us one of
Uncle Sam's men from Washington, D. C. He has been sent by our
government to look up the matter of the boundary line between us and the
Yukon territory, and see if we can't git things settled rightly."

At this a storm of applause greeted the speaker and along with the
clapping of hands was heard the thud of the miners' heavy hob-nailed
boots upon the floor in emphasis.

The chairman waited for silence. When it came he said:

"I have the great honor and pleasure, gentlemen, to introduce to you
Lieutenant Adams, our friend from Washington. The lieutenant will give
us a talk," and with that the chairman took his seat, while wiping away
the perspiration incident to the exertion of conducting a meeting in the
presence of a man from Washington.

The lieutenant rose quickly, and looking over the little band of miners,
briskly addressed them as one of their number.

"My friends," said he, "you have all had experience in locating mining
claims, but we want you to locate something else in order that you may
keep possession of the ground you have, and that is the old Russian
Boundary Line so long ago established by the first white settlers and
traders in Alaska. If we can verify the boundary now held by us as being
the one established and held by them, you will be left in the
undisturbed right of your property."

"Hear! Hear!" exclaimed his enthusiastic listeners, causing the officer
to smile.

"You probably all know that our government bought Alaska from Russia a
few years ago at what seemed at that time an enormous sum for a frozen
good-for-nothing country. The transaction was designated 'Seward's
Folly', and the country was said to be a fit residence only for polar
bears and Eskimos. The whale and seal industries were fast reaching
extinction when gold was discovered, and this, too, in such vast
quantities and widely separated districts as to enormously increase by
leaps and bounds the value of the whole of Alaska. For this reason the
matter of the boundary line has grown to be of immense importance, and
in justice to our neighbors as well as to oursel