120 
THE BED MOUNTAIN OF ALASKA. 
I'm so glad you've come/' he said, as they rowed 
ashore. " It was getting pretty late for a start, and 
we've a long journey before us. Bless me! how this 
little girl has grown ! " and he eyed Florence with a 
look of quizzical admiration, that made her laugh and 
blush and give his whiskers a pull at the same time. 
" You've grown — brown, yourself , uncle ! " she laughed. 
" You've tanned so, I didn't know as you'd know me ! " 
" I don't suppose you need to wait very long before 
starting ? " inquired the lieutenant, turning to Mrs. But- 
ton. 
" Oh, no, not more than a week — " 
" A week ! Why, Ella, that won't do at all. To-day 
is the fifteenth of June. We have agreed to meet at 
Fort Selkirk on July 10." 
" Well, how soon must we go ? " 
To-morrow." 
Mrs. Dutton, as we have already seen, was a woman of 
decision. 
" Very well, Dick, at two o'clock to-morrow afternoon 
my daughter and I will be ready." 
The lieutenant looked relieved, and the subject was 
dropped. 
The two ladies were lodged that night in an old house, 
formerly belonging to one of the wealthiest Russian resi- 
dents. It was built of big spruce logs, trimmed square, 
was three stories high and as long as a good-sized hotel. 
These large buildings were once divided into " flats," like 
