The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-12-06
a Race for Gold
A New E~nglander's r~~~~s1~~~~7
Adventures in Alaskan cset II 3 ROBINSON
copyrighted 1893. by S. S. Mcclure Co.

49, L u ldhS every DTGcdu-
ton. Before I admit anything, tell me
what the letter to John said, and what
it was signed"
Tom promptly complied, and appar-
entity convinced the other, for he ex-
tended his hand, exclaiming:
Its all right, and you shall have
Johns share If 1 can help you. Shall we
&c on together? 1 have been waiting
mere a week in hopes to run across Tar
box. He was coming down after sup
plies this month"
4 think we'd better start at once"
said Tom. 1--WE may meet him and be-
sides l feel sure the mate is there
somewhere"
would you know this man Tarbox If
you saw him?" added Tom.
NO" was the reply. He's a new
partner Taylor has picked up out here
do O know Taylor?"-
20, yes. We were all out together in
h California mines in the sos. Poor
John was one of us. Dick Taylor loved
him as though he'd been his brother,
too. It'll be sad news for him to hear
your story"
1t was late hat night when Tom and
] Green returned to their tent. 1t. had
been decided to make sure that the
man had not arrived from the mine,
and, should they be unable to hear of
him, they were to start on the day fol-
lowing.
The sailor threw himself down on his
bed Of boughS and was asleep almost
instantly, but Tom Scott could see a
pair Of blue eyes when his own We're
tightly shut. His dreams that night
were a sad tumble of gold mines and
fair damsels in distress, and he awoke
but little refreshed.
The day was spent in quiet but fruit
less inquiries for the man they sought,
and the following morning a little ara
van filed away from the harbOr to-
ward the wild northern country. Tom
led The way on his horse, the pack
horses came next, Avery and his
daughter followed and Green brought
up the rear.
The Dalton trail is owe an undulat-
ing country all the way to Fort Sell
kirk, and can easily be Travelled on
horseback the entire distance Of some
375 miles, which relieved our. travellers
Of the hardships attendant upon the
other trails, and it was with a light
heart that Tom looked back over the
well-fitted string of animals and ex-
claimed:
t"If we can only meet the man from
the mine we shall be in lucke We have
provisions enough for all hands,"
He would not nave felt SO happy
could he I'VE known that at that mo-
ment the man he mentioned was seated
by a camp fire with Rider and his COM
panion reading John Avery's will and
the letter written by Dick Taylor.
Leaving Tom and his party fairly on
their way, we must return to Obed
Rider and his new friend, who were
pushing forward as fast as possible.
Their undue haste the first day had
proved disastrous, for one OF their pack
horses had gone lame, and they were
1h1foo1 70 oIor1f.r II or pn into "a mn
They chose the former, dividing its
burden among the others as best they
could.
The second night found. them many
miles on their Journey, but as night
came on the weary beasts could hardly
be forced ahead, and Hank Bowers
cursed the delay roundly.
1--WE might as we'll stop here he
growled at last, after helping one of
the horses to regain It's feet after
stumbling. "Get them packs off, will
yer, While I see about the fire. I'm as
hungry as a shark"
The tent was soon set up, and after
supper was disposed of and pipes
lighted he said:
understanding bout his job. 'Spose we
meet this a Tarbox, then what?
We've got ter have our yarns so they'll
agree. I guess now is a good time ter
fl it up. You don't want ter forget
that yer name is Scott. I'll call you
Tom all right enuff. You see the young
chap jumped overheard and save the
old Teller, an you can tell that yarn all
right. Any darned fool can see you are
a salt water chap, an he'll swallow
that part Of it."
Rider nodded, and the other went on:
..I've been thinkin' this out an I've
come ter the conclusion that we must
pump him about how ter get ter the
place where the gold Is an let him go
on ter Dyea after his grub. He won't
hev enough stuff with him to. make 1t
with our while to stop him. See?"
After a pause he continued:
we'll keep on and find this other
Teller what sent the letter. They've got
a big pile all dug by this time, and We
must hev it. He'll drop out O sight"
Riders face showed that he did not
understand the others meaning, and
the miner repeated:
Hell git off the eartn! Understand?
Then when we hev the place all ter our
selves, MI. Tarbox will come back with
a lot Of grub. Well tell him his pard got
starved out after we reached the place
an took their stuff with him. He'll
never know the odds, and If he does
make any trouble, there's a mighty
quick way Of stopping his mouth"
AS he spoke he dropped his hand sig
%nfacantly to the butt OF the heavy re-
volver at his hip and his face took
on such an evil look that the mates
blood ran cold in his veins. He began
to feel decidedly Uneasy in this mans
company. What assurance had he that
this INSCRIPTIONS ruf1an would not
treat him in the same name after his
ends were served?
as If reading his thoughts Bowers
laughed hoarsely, n exclaimed:
whats the matter, Rider? 'Fraid
Til go back or yer?. Don't worry as
long as yer use me on the square. I'll
stick ter yer, W yer too chicken heart
ed for q job like this"
The day had been very warm and
sunny, for summer comes all at once
in this part of the country. They la
built a small fire to make their coffee,
and were lying in their tent where they
could command quite a view of the trail
ahead. IT. was still light, and as the
speaker glanced carelessly over the val
ley in which they had halted he uttered
a sharp exclamation and sprung to his
feet:
"iThar's something movin' over thar"
he said quickly, shading his eyes with
4 his hand as if to aid his vision. tits a
man an he's afoot, headin' fer our
fire, Jest as sure's yer born! Ten dollars
ter one it's u man! Remember you're