136 THE RED MOUNTAIN OF ALASKA. 
" I wonder if there are really any ' blue foxes ' ? " asked 
Floss. " I had such a pretty boa last winter. It was 
just the color of a maltese kitten, only the fur was just 
as long and silky ! " 
" Oh, yes, thar's some islands whar the blue foxes are 
commoner than red. Thar's eight or ten thaousand pelts 
sent off every year. The Injuns on them islands kill off 
the red foxes all they kin, so's to leave only pure blue ones." 
" Poor little things ! " mused the girl. " How they 
must wish they didn't have any fur at all. I wouldn't 
like to be a blue fox." 
Wal, I d'no," said Solomon, "1 reckon they kind o' 
look daown on the red ones, an' git some comfort out 
o' that. It's astonishin' haow foxes — an' folks — do like 
to look daown ! " 
Day after day the raft surged onward, drawing con- 
stantly nearer its destination. On Friday noon, July 9, 
it was only forty-five miles from Fort Selkirk. The banks 
were now steep and forbidding, and the river full of dan- 
gerous rapids. More than once Florence and Chloe went 
ashore and walked over a " carry," while the rest of the 
party shot the swift water, or ''rips," as they were called. 
Mrs. Button never deserted the ship. 
All that Friday night they kept on, not daring to halt 
lest some unforeseen accident should cause them to miss 
their appointment. For Saturday, July 10, w^as the day 
set for the union of forces. 
Only twelve miles away ! Perhaps it was the effect of 
