'tis much like old
Assiniboine she looks, isn't it? Just that I be doin' day by day, and
all the time be wantin' to see Alaska. And now here comes me friend
Leo from the Cache, and brings a lot of Alaskans ye'd be expectin'
annywhere else but here or there! 'Tis fine byes ye are, to come so
far, and I'll be hopin' to meet ye in Alaska one of these fine days,
for I'm a bit of a miner myself, as most of us are up here."

"She's good boy," said Moise, who took much pride in his young
friends. "She ain't scare' go anywhere on the _riviere_ with Moise and
his oncle, or even with Leo and George. I s'pose next year she'll come
see Moise again, maybe-so."

The boys laughed and looked at Uncle Dick. "I don't know about that,"
said Rob, "but we'll be wanting to go somewhere next summer."

"That's a long time off," said their uncle.

O'Brien, after they had spent some time in this manner of
conversation, began to look at his watch. "Carlson's pretty prompt,"
said he--"that's the skipper of the _Columbia_. We'll be hearin' her
whistle before long."

"Then this about ends our trip, doesn't it, Uncle Dick?" said John
once more; and his uncle nodded.

"I'm going to give O'Brien one of the boats," said he, "and I'll let
the title to the other and the cook outfit rest in Leo and
George--they may be coming through here again one way or the other
some day. As for us, we've been lucky, and I think we would better
wait here a day rather than go on with our boats."

They passed out into the bright sunlight to look about at the fine
mountain prospect which stretched before them from the top of the
bluff. They had not long to wait before they heard the boom of the
steamboat's whistle, and soon the _Columbia_, thrust forward by her
powerful engines, could be seen bucking the flood of the Columbia and
slowly churning her way up-stream. She landed opposite the wood-chute
of the wood-yard, where a crowd of jabbering Chinamen gathered. Soon
our party walked in that direction also, and so became acquainted with
Carlson, the skipper of the boat, who agreed to take them down to
Revelstoke the following day.

XXX

THE END OF THE TRAIL

Although O'Brien offered them beds in his house, and Carlson bunks on
board the _Columbia_, Rob, John, and Jesse all preferred to sleep
out-of-doors as long as they could, and so made their beds on the
grass-plot at the top of the bluff, not putting up any tent, as the
mosquitoes here were not bad.