"have wheels."

As I watched Ladrone at his feed an old Indian woman came along and
smiled with amiable interest. At last she said, pointing to the other
side of the village, "Over there muck-a-muck, hy-u muck-a-muck." She
wished to see the horse eating the best grass there was to be had on
the island.

A little later three or four native children came down the hill and
were so amazed and so alarmed at the sight of this great beast
feeding beside the walk that they burst into loud outcry and ran
desperately away. They were not accustomed to horses. To them he was
quite as savage in appearance as a polar bear.

In a short time everybody in the town knew of the old gray horse and
his owner. I furnished a splendid topic for humorous conversation
during the dull hours of the day.

Here again I came upon other gaunt and rusty-coated men from the Long
Trail. They could be recognized at a glance by reason of their sombre
faces and their undecided action. They could scarcely bring
themselves to such ignominious return from a fruitless trip on which
they had started with so much elation, and yet they hesitated about
attempting any further adventure to the north, mainly because their
horses had sold for so little and their expenses had been so great.
Many of them were nearly broken. In the days that followed they
discussed the matter in subdued voices, sitting in the sun on the
great wharf, sombrely looking out upon the bay.

On the third day a steamer came in from the north, buzzing with the
news of another great strike not far from Skagway. Juneau, Dyea, as
well as Skagway itself, were said to be almost deserted. Men were
leaving the White Pass Railway in hundreds, and a number of the hands
on the steamer herself had deserted under the excitement. Mingling
with the passengers we eagerly extracted every drop of information
possible. No one knew much about it, but they said all they knew and
a good part of what they had heard, and when the boat swung round and
disappeared in the moonlight, she left the goldseekers exultant and
tremulous on the wharf.

They were now aflame with desire to take part in this new stampede,
which seemed to be within their slender means, and I, being one of
them and eager to see such a "stampede," took a final session with
the customs collector, and prepared to board the next boat.

I arranged with Duncan McKinnon to have my old horse taken care of in
his lot. I dug wells for him so that he sho