The Young Alaskans

"

Steamboat! Steamboat!"

Rob McIntyre had been angling for codfish at the top of Valdez dock for the past half-hour. Now, hearing the hoarse boom of the ocean vessel's whistle out in the fog-bank which covered the mouth of the harbor, he pulled in his fishing-line, hurriedly threw together his heap of flapping fish, and, turning, sent shoreward the cry always welcome to dwellers in Alaska coast towns.

"Steamboat! Steamboat!" Some one at the freight office on Valdez dock heard him and repeated the cry. Again and again it was passed from one to another along the half-mile of high sidewalk which led from the dock to the town. Soon in every corner of the streets of Valdez there resounded the call: "Steamboat! Steamboat!"

Now there came to the ears of all the low, hoarse boom of the steamer's whistle. The great vessel was lying out somewhere in the fog, nosing her way in carefully, taking care not to touch any of the hidden rocks which line the Alaskan shores. The residents of the town poured out from dwelling and shop alike, and soon the streets were full, almost the entire population hurrying over the long trestle to the dock where the boat must land. The whistle said to them that there were now at hand cargoes of goods for the merchants, machinery for the new railroad building inland, necessities and luxuries for every-day life, and, best of all, letters, books and papers from the outside world. "Outside" in an Alaskan coast town means the United States. Across the range of mountains which fence off the coast from the vast interior "outside" means the coast itself; just as to any town dweller of the Alaska coast "inside" means somewhere in the icy interior, vast and unexplored.

Among the first to hasten down the long walk from the main street of the town were two friends of Rob McIntyre-Jesse Wilcox and John Hardy, the former ten and the latter twelve years of age, each therefore a little younger than Rob, who himself was now nearly fourteen. These boys might be called young Alaskans, for although the town of Valdez itself was not more than a few years old, their fathers had helped found the town and were prominent in its business affairs. Mr. Hardy was engaged in railway contracts on the new railroad, and Mr. Wilcox was chief of engineers on the same road. Rob's father, Mr. McIntyre, owned the leading store, where all sorts of articles were sold, from shovels and picks to needles and pins. The three boys, it need not be said, were great cronies, and many was the hour of sport they had had here in far-away Alaska.

"Hello, Rob!" called John, as he hurried up; "how many fish did you get? What boat's that, do you think? Do you suppose my uncle Dick's on board?"

"Hope so," rejoined Rob, now rolling up his fishing-line, and again kicking his codfish out of the road of the gathering crowd. "He's probably got something for us if he is."

"How far is she out?" inquired Jesse. "She blows like the Yucatan, but maybe she's the old Portland coming in."

"If she's the Portland my father might be aboard," said John. "If it's the Yucatan, and Uncle Dick's coming, then we'll get my new rifle, sure."

"One apiece, then," said Rob. "If each of us had a gun we could all go hunting together."

"Pack-train just came across the divide yesterday," said Jesse, "and they had four bear-skins. They got 'em less than thirty miles inland. The fellow that killed them threw away two skins because they were so heavy he didn't want to bother to pack 'em. But I don't suppose they'd let us go bear-hunting yet," said Jesse, hesitatingly.

"The biggest bear in this whole country," began Rob, who was posted on such matters, "are over toward Kadiak Island. I heard a trader from Seldovia saying there were a few sea-otters over there, too."

"Wouldn't you like to go over to Kadiak-just once?" said John. "A big bear-skin or two, and maybe a sea-otter-we could cash in our fur for enough to buy a mining claim, like enough! My uncle Dick's due to go over there, too, before long," he ruminated. "You know he's employed on the government survey, and they're making soundings on that part of the coast."

Rob drew a long breath. "Well, maybe sometime we could get over there," he said; and the others nodded, because they had come to look on him as something of a leader in their out-door expeditions.

"Priddy soon dat fog shall lift," remarked Ole Petersen, an old sailor who was lounging about the dock. He nodded toward the mouth of the harbor, where now all could see the heavy veil of mist growing thinner. Little by little, even as the steady boom of the steamer's whistle came echoing in, the front of the fog-bank thinned and lifted, showing the white-capped waves rolling beneath. Suddenly a strong shift of wind descended from the ca?on between two of the many mountain-peaks which line the bay, and broke the fog into long ribbons of white vapor. The sun shone through, and its warmth sent the white mist up in twisting ropes, which faded away in the upper air. At last there came into view the red-topped smoke-stacks and the gaunt, dark hull of the great ocean steamer, whose funnels poured forth clouds of black smoke which drifted toward the farther shore of the bay.

"Yucatan!" sang out Rob-and Ole Petersen calmly seconded him with a nod-"Yucatan!"

The gathered population of Valdez-men, women, children, and dogs-greeted the vessel with a general outcry of welcome.

"In she comes," said Rob; and now, with two more long, hoarse roars from her giant whistle, the Yucatan slowly forged ahead, and within half an hour majestically swept up to her moorings at the front of Valdez dock.

* * *

As the deck-hands cast ashore the light lines attached to the cable-loops, our young friends were among the first to lay hold and aid in dragging ashore the heavy cables which made fast the steamer to the dock-posts. Then they ran back amidships where the gang-plank was put out. The jingling of the ship's bells and general outcry from those on the dock or crowding along the rail of the vessel made everything a scene of confusion. Greetings were passed from ship to shore and back again. Friends now would meet, cargo would be discharged; touch with the outer world once more would be had.

"But I don't see Uncle Dick anywhere," said John, ruefully, as he examined the throng of figures packed along the rail waiting for the gangway to be made fast.

"Maybe he didn't come," suggested Jesse.

"There he is!" shouted John; "he's waving to us, over there 'midships."

"He's got something under his arm," said Rob, judicially.

A tall, brown-faced man with a wide, white hat and loose gray clothing edged his way toward the head of the gangway. Catching sight of the boys, he called out a hearty greeting.

"Have you got it, Uncle Dick?" asked John, excitedly, as at last the latter reached the dock.

Uncle Dick's answer was to pass to his nephew a certain long package, which proved to be a fine rifle in a leather case. For the moment all three boys were so much engaged in examining this that they paid little attention to what was going on-hurry and confusion, shouting and laughing and excited talk, mingled with the creak of the hoists and the rattle of the donkey-engine as the ship's men now began the work of discharging the cargo of the Yucatan. It must be remembered that in Alaska few things are manufactured, and everything must be shipped in, fifteen hundred miles or more, from San Francisco, Seattle, and other points.

"Well, young gentlemen," said Uncle Dick, at last, "you seem gladder to see that gun than you are to see me."

"No, we're not, sir," rejoined Rob; "but we're pleased enough, even so, because now each of us has a rifle."

"And no place to use one," answered Uncle Dick.

"Well, we may be able to go inside, hunting, before long," said Jesse, stoutly. "My father doesn't care if I go with him."

"How would you like to go over to Kadiak with me?" asked Uncle Dick, directly, looking at them keenly from his gray eyes.

"You don't mean it!" exclaimed Rob. The three gathered round him.

"Are you going over there right away?" asked Jesse, staring up at him.

Uncle Dick nodded. "Same boat," he answered. "I'm going on with the Yucatan to Seward, and will take the Nora from there to Kadiak. Chance of your life to spend the summer, if your mothers will say the word. And not to hurry you any, you've got just about an hour and a quarter to get ready-that is to say, to get consent and get ready both."

The three boys hardly stopped to hear the last of his words. They were off, running at top speed across the long sidewalk toward the town. Uncle Dick followed them at his leisure, talking and telling the news to his acquaintances, of whom he had many in the town. He explained to these that the government work in soundings would be done by the revenue cutter Bennington, along the shores of Kadiak Island, for the next four months. Now, although to those unfamiliar with Alaska, Valdez may seem as far away as Kadiak, the latter really is some hundreds of miles farther to the northwest, and near the base of that long peninsula which tapers to a point in the Aleutian Islands. A dweller in a coast town in Alaska knows what goes on immediately about him. There were few in Valdez who knew more of Kadiak than they did of Kamchatka.

"G'long there, ye young rascals!" called out a hearty voice at the fleeing boys. Captain John Ryan waved a cap toward them as he came down the gang-plank. But the boys, usually ready enough to visit with him on his stops at Valdez, were now too much excited to more than wave their hands as they disappeared.

"So ye're plannin' to take the rascals along with us, west, are ye?" asked Captain John Ryan of Uncle Dick. "A summer out there would be the makin' of the youngsters."

Uncle Dick's eyes wrinkled in a smile as he and the sturdy sea-captain started on down and walked to the town. At the farther end they were met by the three boys and by three nice-looking ladies, each prosperous-looking and well dressed, and each bearing a very anxious expression of countenance.

"I tell you it's absolutely absurd, Richard," began one of these, as they approached-"your putting such notions into the heads of these boys."

"It's all utterly impossible, of course," said Rob's mother, in turn, her mouth closing tightly as she looked around at her son.

Mrs. Wilcox said less, but kept her hand on Jesse's shoulder. "What would you do at night with no one to see you safe in bed, my son?" said she, at length.

"Oh, mother!" began Jesse, shamefacedly.

"I'll take care of the boys," said Uncle Dick, at length. "I won't mollycoddle them, and they will have to shift for themselves, but I'll see that they get through all right. Think it over, good people. It will be the making of the kids."

"Oh, well now, Richard," began Mrs. Hardy, once more, "how do we know when you are coming back?"

"You don't know. I don't know myself."

"But these boys have to go to school."

"Oh, I'll get them back in time for the fall term. Boats are coming down from Kadiak every month or so."

"But they say the storms out that way are perfectly frightful," began Mrs. McIntyre.

"We'll not be in any storms. The cutter Bennington anchors in the harbors, and, besides, the boys will be ashore in town at Kadiak. You don't suppose that Uncle Sam will let me have them around underfoot all the time, do you? I'll have something else to do."

"But what could the boys do, then?" inquired Mrs. McIntyre.

"Nothing much. Hunt seals and otters and whales and bears, and a few little things like that-catch more codfish and salmon than they ever thought of around here-go boat-riding with the Aleuts-"

"In those tippy bidarkas?"

"Tippy bidarkas," nodded Uncle Dick; "and go egg-hunting on the gull rocks, and all sorts of things. Why, they'd have the time of their lives, that's all."

"But not one of the boys has a father at home now to advise in the matter," hesitated Jesse's mother. "They are all inside, and won't be back for a week."

"They'll all be back just a week too late," answered Uncle Dick. "In about three-quarters of an hour from now, as Captain Ryan here will advise you, we start; and these boys, I think, will be on board the Yucatan headed for Kadiak. You want to remember that this is Alaska, and that these are Alaskan boys. They've got to grow up knowing how to take care of themselves in this country. They're not sissies, with red morocco shoes and long yellow curls-they're the stuff we've got to make men out of up here. How'd Alaska ever have been found, in the first place, if there hadn't been real men raised from real boys?"

"Oh, well!" began Mrs. McIntyre; and each of the other ladies echoed, "Oh, well!"

"Oh, well!" echoed Uncle Dick. "I'll tell you what: you had better hurry back home and get their blankets rolled, and an extra pair of shirts and some spare socks thrown together. And, boys, the best thing you can do is to go down to the store and get some ammunition. We can get all the grub we want from the ship's stores out at Kadiak. Now, excuse me, ladies, but don't take my time arguing this matter, because I've got several things to do; and the boat's going to start inside of an hour, and we're going to start with her!"

Sure enough, when at last the heavy boom of the Yucatan's warning whistle caused the window glass along the main street to tremble, a little party once more wended its way down the sidewalk toward the wharf. Uncle Dick led the way, earnestly talking with three very grave and anxious mothers. Behind him, perfectly happy, and shouting excitedly to one another, came Rob, Jesse, and John. Each carried a rifle in its case, and each looked excitedly now and then at the wagon which was carrying their bundles of luggage to the wharf.

"All aboard!" called the mate at the head of the gang-plank, laying hold of the side lines and waiting to pull it in. Again came the heavy whistle of the ocean steamer. The little group now broke apart; and in a moment the boys, somewhat sobered now, were waving their farewells to the mothers, who stood, anxious and tearful, on the dock.

"Cast off, there!" came the hoarse order from the captain's bridge.

"Ay, ay, sir!" rejoined the mate, repeating the command to the dock hands. Slowly the great propeller began to churn the green water astern into white. The bow of the great vessel slowly swung, and majestically she headed on her way out to the mouth of the bay. Clouds of white gulls followed her, dipping and soaring. Once more her whistle saluted the town from which she departed, its note echoing deeply from the steep fronts of the adjacent mountains. The wheelsman laid the course straight for the mouth of the gap between the outer mountains which marked the mouth of the bay. In less than an hour the bold headlands were passed. Beyond rolled the white-topped swells of the sea, across which lay none might tell how much of adventure.

"Now," said Rob, turning to his friends, "maybe we'll see something of the world."

* * *

The good ship Yucatan steadily ploughed her way along the rock-bound Alaskan coast until, at noon of the second day, she nosed her way into the entrance of that great indentation of the coast known as Resurrection Bay, and finally concluded her own northbound journey at the docks of the town of Seward, which lies at the head of that harbor. Here the voyagers were to change to a smaller vessel, the sturdy little craft called the Nora, which was to carry them still farther northward and westward.

The young travellers, although before this they had known Alaska to be a great country, now began to think that they had not dreamed how large it really was, for Uncle Dick advised them that they would need to steam almost a week yet farther before they could arrive at Kadiak harbor.

Once out of Resurrection Bay on their journey to the farther north, they began to see sights strange even to them, long as they had been used to Alaska. Hundreds of sea-lions crowded some lofty rocks not far beyond the entrance to the bay, roaring and barking at the ship as she steamed close in to the rocks, and plunging off in scores as the whistles of the boat aroused and frightened them from their basking in the sun.

Rob's eyes proved keener than those of his friend, and he was always looking out across the sea in search of some strange object.

"What's that, Mr. Dick?" he exclaimed, after he had been gazing steadily at the far horizon for some moments.

Uncle Dick hastened to his state-room and returned with a pair of field-glasses.

"That," said he, "is a whale-in fact, more than one; indeed, I think there is a big school of whales on ahead. We'll run almost square into them at this rate."

Sure enough, within the hour they came within plain sight of a number of great black objects which at first seemed like giant logs rolling on the water. All at once there appeared splashes of white water among the whales, and the latter seemed to be much agitated, hastening hither and thither as though in fear. Captain Zim Jones, of the Nora, leaned down from his place on the bridge.

"School of killers in there!" he sang out.

"That's right," exclaimed Uncle Dick, handing the glasses to Rob. "Watch close now! Don't you see those smaller black things swimming along, with tall, upright fins? Those are killers, and they are fighting the whales right now!"

Eagerly the boys took turns with the glasses, watching the strange combat of the sea now going on. Evidently some of the whales were much distressed; one large one seemed to be the especial mark of the enemy, which pursued him in a body.

"Look, look!" cried John. "He jumped almost out of the water. He is as big as a house!"

"I didn't know anything could hurt a whale, he's so big!" commented Jesse. "How do they fight a whale?"

"Maybe they poke 'em with that big fin," said Uncle Dick. "But they do the damage with their jaws. One of them will bite a chunk out of a whale, and as quick as he lets go another will take his place. They come pretty near to eating the whale alive sometimes, although I don't know that they really kill them very often."

"Well, I don't know," said Rob, who was looking steadily ahead. "There is one right ahead of us who just came up, and he's acting mighty stupid. See, he's coming right across the bows. If we don't look out we'll hit him. There!"

Even as he spoke there came a heavy jar which almost stopped the ocean vessel. Her steel-shod bow had struck the whale full in the middle of the body.

"Caught him square amidships," sung out Captain Zim from his station. "I guess we finished what the killers began!"

The great creature lay for an instant stunned on the surface of the water, its vast body bent as though its back were broken. Then as the ship passed on it slowly sank from sight, even as the school of whales, diving and breaching, also fell astern, still pursued by their savage enemies.

"Well," said Captain Zim, "I've sailed these waters thirty years, but that's the first time I ever struck a whale."

"I've promised these boys plenty of exciting things," commented Uncle Dick. "But if you don't mind, I'd rather you wouldn't run over any more whales. You'll be taking the keel out of this ship the first thing you know."

"I see something else!" called Jesse, who was examining the rolling sea studiously with the field-glasses. "See it-right over there about two hundred yards! It looks like a man standing up in the water."

"Oh, that," said Uncle Dick, "it's only a seal."

"Couldn't I shoot it?" asked Rob. "I'd like to get its fur."

Uncle Dick laughed. "You wouldn't find its hide worth more than a dollar or so, if you got it," said he. "That's only a little hair seal. You won't find any fur seals until you get a good many hundred miles beyond Kadiak. And that's a good many hundred miles yet from here. Let the little fellow go, and turn the glasses on that big bunch of whale-birds over there. See them flying-there's a string nearly a mile long."

"I see them! I see them!" called out Rob. "There are thousands and thousands of them. I've seen them before, and one of the sailors told me that there is always most of them where there are whales around. They seem to feed on the same sort of things in the water, someway."

"There are plenty of things you see up in this country," said Uncle Dick, as he turned away. "You may have thought Valdez was pretty much all of Alaska, but I'll show you it is just the beginning."

"Do they have shipwrecks up here, Uncle Dick?" asked John. "It looks to me pretty rocky along these shores."

"Don't talk about shipwrecks!" replied his uncle. "This coast is full of them. I can show you the skeletons of four ships within two hours' sail of Kadiak, and how many small boats go ashore, never to be heard of, no man can tell. There are big ships lost, too, up and down this coast. Last year the natives below Kadiak brought in casks and boxes and all kinds of things bearing the name of the steamer Oregon. She was wrecked far to the south of Valdez, but the Japan Current carried her wreckage a thousand miles to the north and west, and threw it on the coast of Kadiak and the smaller islands west of there. It made the natives rich, they found so much in the way of supplies."

"Are there any bears out there?" asked Jesse, wonderingly.

"Biggest in the world!" replied Uncle Dick. "You'd better keep away from them. We're sailing now just south of the great Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. There's bears over there, but mostly black ones. Plenty of moose and caribou in these mountains, and once in a while a grizzly, but the biggest grizzlies are the brown bears of Kadiak and the peninsula on beyond."

Rob was silent for a time, but at last remarked: "From what I hear of this Kadiak country, I believe we're going to like it. When'll we get there?"

Uncle Dick smiled. "Oh, sometime within a week," he answered. "Distances are long up here, and wind and tide have something to do with even a steamer's speed."

* * *