422 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



the places of the miners on strike. We met them, alone, in 

 parties of two or three, or in large parties of as many as about 

 a hundred men, but most of them with their foot gear torn, badly 

 dressed, freezing and half-starved. There were road-houses 

 enough, some permanent, but also some made of canvas and 

 constructed only for the season. There were always people in 

 them, and laughter and song would mock the poor "mushers" 

 who could not afford to pay two dollars, or even more, for a 

 meal. 



The second day after we had left Fairbanks we travelled sixty- 

 two miles, an enormous advance upon dog-driving ! 



We left Sullivan's road-house at 6 A.M. on March 6 and made 

 splendid progress over the trail, which now was frozen as hard 

 as ice after the warm weather of yesterday. But the weather 

 was still rather cloudy, and we much regretted the fact that we 

 should probably miss seeing some of the finest scenery along 

 the trail. At n o'clock, however, the fog suddenly cleared, 

 and, as if a curtain had been lifted, we saw the ragged mountain 

 line in all its grandeur, the lofty white peaks sharply silhouetted 

 against the blue sky, while clouds were still hanging over some 

 of the summits or in the deep gullies, where the rays of the sun 

 had not yet been able to disperse them. Weird and solemn 

 was the effect produced, and we enjoyed it greatly, driving 

 along at our ease, well wrapped up in furs, smoking and talking 

 while watching the rapidly changing scenery. 



Our driver, John, a fine young fellow, sent us along at a 

 reckless speed. Down steep hills we flew, with a gulch yawn- 

 ing on one side, but nothing happened to disturb our ride, and 

 we stopped at Rabid's road-house at 4.30 P.M., having made 

 forty-five miles that day. 



The next day the weather was bad and we could not make 

 connection with the stage on the other side of the summit. We 

 used double-enders (sledges for a single horse, low, with a rail 

 round it), and six of these were required to move our outfit. 

 We passengers each had one sledge ; on the others the mail was 

 placed. 



The upper Delta River is famous for its storms, and the storm 

 which surprised us that day was one of its worst. But we 

 could crawl down under the ropes and let the wind roar above us, 

 though the snow was drifting so hard as almost to blind the two 



