object in shipping aboard the steamer
_Norsk_ at San Francisco had been to make his way, by fair means or
foul, to the Yukon gold fields, of which he had gained extravagant
ideas. On the night before the _Norsk_ left St. Michaels he stole from
the chests of several of his shipmates such small sums of money as they
contained, slipped into a canoe, and deserted the ship. He remained in
hiding until she sailed, and then, claiming to have been discharged at
his own request, offered his services to Gerald Hamer in exchange for a
passage to Forty Mile. This proposition being accepted, and Strengel
regularly shipped as one of the _Chimo_'s crew, he made a secret
proposal to the old company through one of its clerks, who happened to
be Simon Goldollar, to so delay and cripple Gerald Hamer's expedition,
that he should be forced to abandon it. In attempting to carry out this
programme he was foiled by Phil Ryder's quick wit and prompt action.

Making his way back to St. Michaels, after Phil set him ashore at the
Pastolik wood-yard, Strengel fell in with Jalap Coombs, and, in company
with Goldollar, so managed the money affairs of that unsuspecting sailor
that he was unwittingly made to defray all their expenses to Forty Mile,
though he only expected to accompany them a short distance up the river.
Strengel's sole object was still to reach the gold fields; while
Goldollar was intent on winning a reputation for himself by forestalling
Gerald Hamer at Forty Mile, and at the same time inflicting what injury
he could on Phil Ryder. From the outset they agreed to rid themselves of
Jalap Coombs at some point so far up the river that he must necessarily
remain where they left him for the rest of the winter. They learned at
Nulato that the _Chimo_ was frozen in at Anvik, but took care that this
information should not reach Jalap Coombs, whom they soon afterwards so
cruelly deserted.

As they travelled beyond the point where they left him, the well-mated
pair had such frequent and bitter quarrels, that when Simon Goldollar
fell seriously ill, Strengel did not hesitate to rob him of what money
he carried and desert him at a native village near the abandoned
trading-post of Fort Yukon. Before doing this he discharged the Indians
who had come with them from Nulato, and sent them back, telling them
that he should remain with his sick friend until he recovered or died.
As soon as they were gone he engaged other natives, and set out for the
di