ant throng was quickly gathered at the
landing.

Mr. Strengel fired several shots from his rifle as he drew near, and was
surprised that his salute was not answered in kind. He was, of course,
gratified to observe the sensation that his approach was creating, and
undertook to arouse some enthusiasm among the silent spectators by
yelling: "Hurrah for Forty Mile! Hurrah for the diggings! Hurrah for our
side!" Then, as his sledge reached the bank, and he sprang out, he
cried, in tones meant to convey hearty good-fellowship:

"How are you, boys? You bet I'm mighty glad to see white men again after
camping with a lot of low-lived Injuns for more than two months. You
see, I've just come down from Pierre's House in the Porcupine. My name's
Bradwick, and--"

Here the speaker's fluent words seemed suddenly to fail him, his face
turned pale, and his eyes were fixed in a bewildered stare. He had
caught sight of the Yukon Trading Company's sign.

"Ha, ha!" he laughed, recovering himself with an effort. "Seeing the
name of an old friend who's long since dead kinder give me a turn. But,
as I was saying--"

"Yes, you were just about to tell us what had become of Goldollar,"
interrupted Mr. Platt Riley, who had received word from Phil that the
new-comer was Strengel.

"Goldollar!" stammered the stranger, at the same time starting as though
he had been shot. "Goldollar!" he repeated, reflectively; "I don't know
the name; never heard it before in my life. I think I mentioned that I'd
just come down from Pierre's House on the Porcupine, and hadn't seen a
white man since leaving there. There wasn't no one of that name at
Pierre's House when I left. What do you mean? Who is Goldollar, anyhow?"

"He's a feller that we heard was coming up from below with a dog train,"
replied Mr. Riley, deliberately, at the same time gazing full in
Strengel's face. "And we didn't know but what you and him might have met
up and concluded to travel together."

"How could you hear of him?" inquired the new-comer. "I didn't know
there was any way for news to reach Forty Mile in the winter."

"Oh, we might have heard by mail, or telegraph, or seen it in the daily
papers, or a dozen other ways. Anyhow, we did hear it, and that another
feller was along with him. So of course when we saw you coming up the
river--"

"You didn't hear that the other fellow's name was Bradwick, did you?"
interrupted the stranger.

"No, that wasn't the name. It wasn't so goo