220 THE BED MOUNTAIN OF ALASKA. 
the Chilkats, and copper is called by them the most pre- 
cious metal. Is that so, Fox ? " 
Peeschee nodded again. 
" Exactly so. And the most valuable trinket you can 
offer them is a brown bear carved in copper ! That's the 
very thing ! " 
Who shall take it to the tribe ? " asked Mr. Button, 
hastily. 
" Hadn't these Chilkats better go ? " 
But the packers hung back, and Peeschee explained, 
with a shrug of his shoulders, that they belonged to 
another and inferior clan, the Penguins, and did not 
relish meeting their superiors. 
Thereupon Mr. Button declared he would go himself, 
leaving Bick in command of the camp, and taking Pees- 
chee along as guide. Carlo should have been left at 
home, but managed to slip off just as they were starting, 
and only joined them when it was too late to send him 
back. The council of war had been held late at night ; 
the ransom party started early next morning. 
As they advanced, Mr. Button found that he was 
entering a tract of country strikingly different from any- 
thing he had yet seen. A fire seemed to have swept over 
it at some remote period, clearing off all the larger timber. 
In the valleys and along the water-courses, vegetation had 
sprung up and flourished luxuriantly ; but from the hills 
the very soil itself had been washed away by heavy rains, 
leaving only the bare ledges. These were composed 
