XIII ON THE HOMEWARD TRAIL 273 



this railway ever becomes an accomplished fact, then the 

 future prosperity of Valdez will be assured, since a very large 

 trade will be thrown open with the mining centres along the 

 valley of the Yukon. 



As we were standing on the wharf bidding final adieus to 

 a number of the residents at Valdez, an amusing incident 

 happened. I was talking to a friend, when suddenly Mr. 

 Sexton, the Marshal, walked up to me in front of a crowd 

 of spectators and fellow-passengers, most of whom knew our 

 story. Holding out his hand he said, " Well, captain, I have 

 come to shake hands, and wish you good-bye." As I had my 

 hands in my pockets, I did not trouble to remove them, and 

 said to him, " Well, sir, you may do one of those things, but 

 the other you never will do." He feigned immense surprise, 

 and said, " Do you mean to say that you bear me ill-will for 

 doing my duty?" "Certainly not," I rejoined, "but I do 

 blame you for the way in which you exceeded it in my case." 

 Once more he said, " Won't you shake hands with me as one 

 citizen with another?" and I replied, " No, sir, because you 

 never treated me as one citizen should another, much less as 

 you should have treated an English gentleman." This settled 

 him, and he turned away, saying that if he had only known 

 that, he would like to have the case tried over again, so as to 

 prosecute me in a different manner. This was rather good, 

 for, as I told him, he knew perfectly well that he had no 

 shadow of a case against me, and that if he wanted to hear 

 more of the case his wish might soon be gratified, as I 

 intended to carry the matter a little further than the petty 

 courts of Alaska. It was rather gratifying to hear the remarks 

 of the bystanders, who were almost entirely Americans, and 

 one of them remarked to the audience, as the Marshal turned 

 his back and walked away, " I guess he's got it in the neck," 



