130 
THE RED MOUNTAIN OF ALASKA. 
, The travelling now became so difficult that Lieutenant 
Button was in serious doubt whether it was practicable 
for ladies to advance farther into the wilderness. He 
accordingly summoned a council of war. 
" Ella/' said he, addressing Mrs. Button, " the trail is 
decidedly rough — much rougher than I expected, I must 
say. There seem to be thousands of acres of these 
fallen trees — " 
"We can climb over them," interpolated Mrs. Button, 
with energy. 
"There are boggy places between — " 
" We will wade through them." 
" There are numerous bears in the neighborhood, Sol- 
omon informs me." 
" So much the better for the commissariat." 
" The Ayans have got wind of our approach — " 
" Let them come." 
"In short," shouted Bick, in desperation, "it's going 
to be a mighty hard road to travel. The question is. 
Shall we return, or go on ? " 
Mrs. Button rose to the occasion. She did not argue 
or discuss. She pointed to the mountain pass before 
them, and said just two words : — 
" Go ON ! " 
It was on the evening of this same day that they 
reached a wild and desolate district, known to the Ind- 
ians as the " stone houses." These consisted merely of 
huge boulders piled pell-mell in great heaps, with crev- 
