Part 28 (1/2)

”More important than a gold mine?” demanded Jack Wumble, his eyes opening widely.

”Yes. We are on the trail of my brother Tom, who is out of his mind and has wandered away.”

”Hoss pistols an' rattlesnakes! Ye don't tell me! Well, if Tom is missin' count me in on the hunt fer him,” was the quick and earnest response.

CHAPTER XVIII

AT JUNEAU AND SKAGWAY

Jack Wumble was an old miner and prospector, a man the boys had met years before in Colorado, when they went to that section of our country to locate a mine belonging to their father. As related in detail in ”The Rover Boys Out West,” Wumble had been of great a.s.sistance to them and he knew them all well. He had, after numerous stirring adventures, located a claim for himself, which, at the time, paid very well.

Lately, however, the Rovers had not heard from him, and they had often wondered what had become of the man.

”You're a sight fer sore eyes, so ye are!” cried Jack Wumble, slapping each on the shoulder. ”I never dreamed o' seein' ye in this out o' the way corner o' the country.”

”We didn't expect to come here either, up to a few days ago,” answered Sam.

”Maybe ye better tell me the story,” suggested the old miner. ”If I kin help ye I will.”

”Come on to the cabin,” suggested d.i.c.k, and led the way. They sat down on a corner seat, and there the Rovers told their story, withholding nothing, for they knew they could trust Jack Wumble in every particular.

”Gosh all hemlock! Sounds like one of them theatre plays I see in 'Frisco,” was the old miner's comment. ”To think Tom would wander away in thet fas.h.i.+on! 'Tain't no wonder ye are scart to deth! I'd be scart myself, thinkin' he might jump overboard, or sumthin' like thet. He ought to be put in an asylum.”

After that Jack Wumble told his own story. He said his claim in Colorado had gradually petered out, and then he had tried his fortunes in various other places, gradually winding up in the Klond.y.k.e. There he had struck what he hoped would prove a bonanza.

”I've been down to the States buying some machinery an' some supplies,”

he added. ”They are coming up on a freight boat next week. I find I can do better to go to the States fer things than to buy in Alaska.”

”Have you taken any gold out of your claim yet?” questioned Sam, with interest.

Jack Wumble looked around, to make certain that n.o.body was listening but the Rovers.

”Don't ye tell n.o.body,” he whispered. ”I took out about two thousand dollars, in nuggets an' dust, in less'n ten days!”

”Fine!” returned d.i.c.k, and Sam nodded. ”I hope you keep it up.”

”It's the machinery is goin' to tell the tale,” returned Jack Wumble.

”I can't do much more by hand.”

”Are you working the mine alone?” asked Sam.

”Fer the present. When I came away I left the claim in charge o' a miner named Allison--Tim Allison. But I told him not to do any diggin'--just keep his eyes on things. When there is any diggin' to be done I want to be on hand.”

Wumble was bound for Skagway, where he said his machinery and supplies would be sent. He knew that section of Alaska thoroughly, and said he would show the lads where to go and what to do.

”Things is changin' mightily up there every day,” he remarked. ”They are dredgin' channels an' buildin' railroads, and making all kinds o'

roads. Go there one year an' the next ye won't 'most know the place, it will look so different.”

”Well, they are developing all parts of the country,” answered d.i.c.k.