in the morning, when the tide was out, the travellers crossed the long, level, sandy waste and rounded the northern point of the harbor. there lay the settlement on the farther shore at the foot of the mountains, but how changed! where the bradfords had pitched their first camp in march there was now an enormous tent with the word "hotel" in large black letters on its roof, while just beyond stood a commodious frame structure which, upon closer scrutiny, proved to be a stable for dalton's pack horses. the cannery was now in full blast, and the tall iron stacks belched forth columns of black smoke. a full-rigged ship lay at anchor in the bay. beyond the indian village stretched a row of frame buildings interspersed with tents, containing, as they soon discovered, a grocery, a storehouse, a post-office and store for general merchandise, and a saloon. the latter was already demoralizing the indians, who in their cups had more than once threatened to exterminate the whole white population.
thus, like a mushroom, had sprung into existence the nucleus of the future city of pyramid,—for even the name had undergone a change, growing shorter as the town grew longer.
"salmon by the thousand"
[349]
at the cannery scores of chinese laborers, brought from san francisco and other coast cities, were busily cutting up and packing the salmon, which were collected by the thousand from the indian villages of the neighborhood by the company's steamer.
a few days later the "farallon" entered the harbor on her way north, and the bradfords embarked, glad of the opportunity of seeing skagway and dyea, then only two years old, both of which were wonderful examples of american push and enterprise.
skagway owed its size and importance largely to the fact that the white pass trail, at the entrance to which it lay, had been completely blocked by the rush of klondikers, who, with pack animals and hundreds of tons of supplies, had crowded upon it in the previous year without any knowledge of its difficulties. balked in their purpose of taking up claims in the gold-fields, a great number of these people returned and staked out town lots instead, and built log cabins upon their claims. then enterprising merchants of seattle and tacoma, hearing of skagway's sudden boom, erected wooden storehouses and business buildings, and sent up complete stocks of merchandise of every description. saloons, dance-halls, and theatres sprang up as by magic. toughs and gamblers poured in, and united states troops were[350] quartered there to keep the peace. so the town grew, and mainly for the reason that the original settlers could not get out of it. finally, as if to hold their own against dyea, whose chilkoot trail, though rough, had remained all the while open, the skagwayans projected and immediately commenced a railroad which should make their town, after all, the gateway to the klondike.
skagway was almost deserted when the bradfords arrived, for gold had been discovered in the atlin region, distant only a few days' journey, and a stampede had taken place. they walked through the gravelly business streets and out into the suburbs, where log cabins alternated with tents. several streets, already lined with buildings, were thickly studded with stumps which the citizens had not yet found time to remove. mr. bradford bought a copy of the skagway newspaper, in which he presently discovered among the advertisements an announcement that the misses—— would give piano lessons at reasonable prices.
"look at that!" he exclaimed. "piano lessons in a place where a little more than a year ago there was nothing but a saw-mill and a few dirty indians."
"yes," said uncle will, "you can get anything here now from a first-class shave to a parlor stove. just look in at that fruit-store window,—peaches and apples and plums, and even roasted peanuts! we're in civilization[351] again, sure enough. why, i even noticed a bicycle on the wharf!"
dyea, which they visited next day, was similar in most respects to its sister town. it, too, lay in a narrow valley between rugged mountains at the head of a deep inlet. its wharf had not been completed to the high-tide line, which, owing to the flatness of the ground, was half a mile or more inland. the town itself was about a mile back from the landing.
"we shall have to make a flying visit or the tide will cut us off," observed mr. bradford, as they left the steamer. "it has turned already."
the sight-seers accordingly made all haste, and, having tramped through the sandy streets, taken a few pictures, and found the town to be somewhat smaller than skagway, they retraced their steps and none too soon. the water was already flowing around the uncompleted end of the wharf, but they jumped the rapidly widening stream. a young woman, a fellow-passenger on the "farallon," arrived soon after. she was obliged to wade through, but escaped a serious wetting by walking on her heels. ten minutes later the water-line was far up toward the town.
of the voyage to seattle, where they learned that spain had sued for peace; of how david delighted flora kingsley with one of the cub bear-skins, reserving the large one for his mother and the other for helen; of[352] the homeward journey by way of salt lake city, where the boys and their elders—for uncle will accompanied them—saw the old mormon tabernacle and the great new temple, and floated like corks in the buoyant brine of the lake,—space forbids an account.
suffice it to say that all four, bronzed and healthy and happy, alighted from the train at their home city one beautiful afternoon in september, and were received with open arms and great rejoicing by mrs. bradford and helen, who declared that they were bountifully rewarded for all their anxiety and loneliness by seeing their dear ones come back so strong and well.
"it has been a wonderful and profitable journey," said mr. bradford that evening, "in more ways than one. we are not millionaires, but we have gained in health and stored our memories with treasures."
"yes," put in uncle will, "and we've turned out two as fine lads as there are in the country. if there comes another war, here are soldiers ready-made."
"soldierly qualities," said mrs. bradford, with a pleased look in her eyes, "are useful also in peace."
