THE CHILKOOT PASS. 
139 
the gloomy gorges through which they were shooting, or 
the heavy clouds which settled down over the river, be- 
tokening a coming storm ; but the party could not shake 
off a strange sensation of fear, of dread of some discovery 
to take place, of an actual shrinking terror, that gained 
on them momently as they swept onward. 
High noon, and the site of Fort Selkirk only five miles 
away, according to the confident assertion of Peeschee, 
the Fox. 
Three miles, — two, — one ! 
A clump of blackened, ruined chimneys comes into 
view, on a little raised plateaii ahead. 
Dick Dutton strained his eyes, Mrs. Button looked 
eagerly in the same direction, Flossie waved her hand- 
kerchief and Chloe her red bandanna ; but there was no 
response, though by all previous calculations the British- 
American party ought to have arrived several days in 
advance of the Sitkans. 
The raft grounded, and the Buttons, with hearts full of 
forebodings, hurried up to the ruined fort. Their worst 
dread was realized. The ground was trampled with the 
recent tread of many feet, but no other sign of the dear 
ones they longed for was to be seen. While they stood 
staring silently at the ground, the wind began to moan 
uneasily through the spruce tops, a few great drops of 
rain came splashing down, and in another minute, with a 
glittering flash of lightning, the storm burst upon them. 
