found them limping among the bald hills of the river's source. Here
timber was sparse and the snows, too, had thinned; so to avoid the
convolutions of the stream they cut across points, floundering among
"niggerheads"--quaint, wobbly hummocks of grass--being thrown repeatedly
by their packs which had developed a malicious deviltry. This footing
was infinitely worse than the reeking ice, but it saved time, so they
took it.

Now, under their stiff mackinaws they perspired freely as the sun
mounted, until their heavy garments chafed them beneath arms and legs.
Moreover, mosquitoes, which in this latitude breed within arm's-length
of snow-drifts, continually whined in a vicious cloud before their
features.

Human nerves will weather great strains, but wearing, maddening,
unending trivialities will break them down, and so, although their
journey in miles had been inconsiderable, the dragging packs, the
driving panic, the lack of food and firm footing, had trebled it.

Scaling the moss-capped saddle, they labored painfully, a hundred yards
at a time. Back of them the valley unrolled, its stream winding away
like a gleaming ribbon, stretching, through dark banks of fir, down to
the Yukon. After incredible effort they reached the crest and gazed
dully out to the southward over a limitless jangle of peaks, on, on, to
a blue-veiled valley leagues and leagues across. Many square miles lay
under them in the black of unbroken forests. It was their first glimpse
of the Tanana. Far beyond, from a groveling group of foot-hills, a
solitary, giant peak soared grandly, standing aloof, serene, terrible in
its proportions. Even in their fatigue they exclaimed aloud:

"It's Mount McKinley!"

"Yep! Tallest wart on the face of the continent. There's the creek we go
down--see!" Crowley indicated a watercourse which meandered away through
canons and broad reaches. "We foller it to yonder cross valley; then
east to there."

To Buck's mind, his gesture included a tinted realm as far-reaching as a
state.

Stretched upon the bare schist, commanding the back stretch, they
munched slices of raw bacon.

Directly, out toward the mountain's foot two figures crawled.

"There they come!" and Crowley led, stumbling, sliding, into the strange
valley.

As this was the south and early side of the range, they found the hills
more barren of snow. Water seeped into the gulches till the creek ice
was worn and rotted.

"This 'll be fierce," the Iris