little about yet--and you will find them savage
enough, provided they think they have you in a pocket, and especially so
if you interfere with any of their religious customs or beliefs. In
these respects they are simply human."

"I should call them inhuman," observed the fat boy.

"I don't blame them," nodded Tad.

"Now, that is the story of the Gold Diggers, so far as I know it,"
continued the Captain. "As I have already said, not many persons up here
do know it. A veil of mystery surrounds the four silent men. They make
no other friends, confide in no one, and live in a little world all
their own. The story, as I have repeated it to you, was told to me by a
man from their part of the country who came up here to spend the summer
last season. That is how I came to know the details. It is possible,
though not probable, that you might get them to tell you something about
the country."

"I'll make them talk," answered Stacy pompously.

"What is their destination?" asked Butler quickly.

"Skagway. However, that undoubtedly is a blind. They may be going on
farther from that point, or they may be intending to work back along the
coast after they leave the ship, then strike into the hills at some
remote point. I can't say as to that, of course. They will disappear.
You may depend upon that, and nothing may be heard of them again for a
year."

"What do they do for provisions?" questioned Rector.

"The same as you will have to do if you penetrate far into the interior.
They hunt and fish, saving their canned supplies for the winter, for the
winter months are long and drear up in this far northern country."

"When does winter set in?" asked Ned.

"Very early. It seems to be most always winter up here."

"Thank you very much," said Tad. "This has been most interesting. I
should like to ask them something about the country where we are going.
Of course I shouldn't presume to question them about their own affairs.
That would be none of my business."

"Where are you going?"

"We had planned to strike north from Yakutat."

"You will find rough country that way. I should say you would have tough
traveling all the way. If you can get the Gold Diggers to open up, they
will undoubtedly be able to give you some useful information that would
enable you to lay your course to the best advantage. But I think I know
the Diggers. You may not be able to get a civil word out of them."

"They'll talk to me," answered the fat boy