to bend along with a hundred pounds in the straps, fifteen or twenty
more lying loosely on top the pack and against his neck, an axe or a
pair of oars in one hand, and in the other the nested cooking-pails
of the camp.

But work as they would, the toil increased. The trail grew more
rugged; their packs grew heavier; and each day saw the snow-line
dropping down the mountains, while freight jumped to sixty cents.
No word came from the cousins beyond, so they knew they must be at
work chopping down the standing trees, and whipsawing them into
boat-planks. John Bellew grew anxious. Capturing a bunch of
Indians back-tripping from Lake Linderman, he persuaded them to put
their straps on the outfit. They charged thirty cents a pound to
carry it to the summit of Chilcoot, and it nearly broke him. As it
was, some four hundred pounds of clothes-bags and camp outfit was
not handled. He remained behind to move it along, dispatching Kit
with the Indians. At the summit Kit was to remain, slowly moving
his ton until overtaken by the four hundred pounds with which his
uncle guaranteed to catch him.



V.

Kit plodded along the trail with his Indian packers. In recognition
of the fact that it was to be a long pack, straight to the top of
Chilcoot, his own load was only eighty pounds. The Indians plodded
under their loads, but it was a quicker gait than he had practised.
Yet he felt no apprehension, and by now had come to deem himself
almost the equal of an Indian.