14 THE UPPER YUKON 



were wandering afield and time with them 

 flew happily on. 



But now the vessel was moving the locks 

 were open, and we were fast leaving the en- 

 trance to the canal when the men and boy 

 came hurrying and running back, gesticulat- 

 ing for the ship to stop. "Stop! Stop! 

 Dinna leave us," shouted one of them, with 

 a strong Scottish accent. The captain rang 

 the bell for the engines to stop. Men were 

 sent to fasten a hawser to an iron post on the 

 side of the canal where the men had strayed 

 away. The vessel was warped slowly up to 

 the concrete walls, and the truants were gath- 

 ered in. There was much diversity of opinion 

 both among the crew and among the passen- 

 gers as to what the captain should have done, 

 the majority declaring he should have left 

 them on shore. One lady was asked by a man 

 what sort of people these men were who had 

 delayed us. She naively answered, "I would 

 much rather that you should say it, and I will 

 agree with you." And so he said it for her, 



and "it" sounded very much like "d 



fools." The captain could not have been 

 blamed if he had left them, but such an act 

 would hardly have been in harmony with the 

 way in which the C. P. R. Company treats 



