12 CAMP FIRES IN THE YUKON 



of which is majesty and power beyond words to 

 express. 



It was while sitting on the deck, oppressed by the 

 sense of the smallness of things artificial and the 

 majesty of the mountains through which our watery 

 trail was taking us, that I first heard the story of 

 the birth of the Golden Klondike from a man who 

 had mucked and delved for the gold in this country 

 of wonders long before the Klondike was discov- 

 ered; who knew the discoverers as comrades and 

 fellow toilers and sufferers in a land which has use 

 only for the strong in body and the stout of heart. 

 The story was so simply told that I must relate it 

 as it came to me, even though it is perchance outside 

 the big game field. It is, however, a real hunting 

 story, one that I have verified, and as such I submit 

 it to the reader's verdict as to whether or not it 

 should be included. 



" As far back as 1894 there had been a few pros- 

 pectors from Ogilvie trading post, who had been 

 doing some work in the vicinity of Klondike River 

 and Eldorado and Bonanza creeks, but the pay dirt 

 was scarce and the prospect of anything good 

 seemed to grow less as each party returned for grub 

 to Ogilvie to report failure. Bob Henderson, a 

 sailor from Nova Scotia, had come north to try his 

 fortune in the search for gold, and for several years, 

 in spite of poor luck, stuck to the Klondike country 

 in a belief that he would finally make a real strike. 



