Part 26 (1/2)
SNOWED IN
Although everything in the gulch was frozen up, itthere ca could be done that season, there was dirt, gravel, and sand to be heaped in convenient spots, ready for the first run of water in the spring
At one end of the claims there was a bank which had been examined by Foster Portney and found to contain very rich pay dirt, and this bank was now attacked by all hands and the dirt brought out to the nearest sluice box To thaw the ground a fire was built up against the bank every night and allowed to burn untilEven in extremely cold weather this thawed the bank to a depth of several feet, and when they had scooped out a hole which rese-out process was still more effectual
But it was hard and bitter work at the best, and as the cold increased, Fred found he could not stand it, and had to re out only during the ets into the marrow of a fellow's bones,” he said to Randy
”I don't see how you can put up with it”
”Earl and I were used to pretty tough weather up in the Maine woods, as you know,” replied Randy ”I guess an out-and-out city chap would freeze stiff before he had been here a week The ther”
The cold had cut off their water supply, and every drop for drinking or cooking had to be obtained byice on the stove To keep the timber, which was allowed to dry out for teeks, and was then hauled over to the edge of the cliff and tumbled down to a spot between their cabin and that of their nearest neighbor, two hundred feet away
By Foster Portney's advice another trip was made by him and Earl to the Yukon River in search of fish for winter use, for fish could now be kept by si frozen in a chunk of ice and laid away The two found the ice on the Yukon over two feet thick, and had to cut fishi+ng-holes with an axe they had brought along for that purpose They spent a day on the river, fishi+ng and spearing, and were rewarded with a catch of over fifty pounds Earl had brought the shot-gun, and to the fish were added a dozen s southward
”We had better be getting back,” observed Foster Portney, early on the following reatly ht”
As they did not wish to be caught in a storulch as rapidly as their loads would peran to fall With the co the bare li a lively tumble of dead branches on every side Not to beco the lower end of the gulch by six o'clock in the evening They could hardly see before them, so thickly did the flakes co struck faround By the time the cabin was reached the snoas six inches deep
”We thought you'd be snowed under!” cried Randy, as he opened the door to let thean to fall ”It's going to be an awful night”
He was right; it was an awful night--more so than any of them had anticipated After a hot supper they retired to their bunks to sleep, only to be aroused about h the woods and along the gulch with the force of a hurricane The snoas coled with it were tree branches, small brush, and dried tundra In one corner of the cabin the wind had found a crack about six inches long and less than a sixteenth of an inch wide, and through this crack the snow had sifted over the entire floor
”Jerusale down!” cried Earl, when they had been up a fewa piece of cloth in the crack reat noise overhead as the hurricane tore away the top joint of the stovepipe Through the opening poured a lot of snohich, falling on the hot stove, sent up a cloud of stea in, Foster Portney climbed up on the top of the table and nailed a bit of a board over the hole
”We can't have that stovepipe up there, that's certain,” he said ”We'll have to stick it out of the sideIt won't look very elegant, but I reckon we're not keeping house on looks up here” And by their united efforts the stove ung around in front of the little , and the upper end of as left of the pipe isted around and pointed outside, after one of the smallpanes had been taken out
Around the pipe Mr Portney fitted a square sheet of tin, obtained from an empty tomato can Then the floor was cleared of snow and the fire started up afresh
The hurricane, or blizzard, lasted until six o'clock in theto sleep again The cabin shook and rocked, and had it not been for the shelter of the cliff would have gone to pieces The snow kept piling higher and higher until it threatened to cut off the s the stove around to the front,” said Foster Portney ”We can let the pipe out near the roof, and build a little hood over it, so that the snow froulch” And later on this was done
”This will stop work in the gulch,” said Randy ”It's too bad! What on earth are we going to do with ourselves fro?”
”We'll try to keep alive and well, Randy,” returned Mr Portney, seriously ”Reoes”
But as not over, as Randy had surmised To be sure, when the storm ceased at noon it was found the snoas nearly three feet deep on the level But a day's labor sufficed to beat down a path to the bank in the gulch, and once again the fires were started and the work of getting the dirt to the sluice boxes resu cold, and all were glad enough to hustle lively in order to keep warm They worked with their overcoats on and with their feet encased in several pairs of woollen socks, and even then spentout,” to use Randy's words
The work in the bank, however, paid them well Four days after the fall of snow, Foster Portney struck several rocks to one side of the rise and located another pocket of nuggets They were all sest about the size of a hickory nut, but the nuggets nuood deal of excitement
”It's another fifteen hundred or two thousand dollars to our credit,”
said Mr Portney ”And not only that, but this dirt is as rich as that taken from the pocket over yonder We haven't struck aremarkably well”