king's ransom. The watchmen's jobs depend upon their unbroken bond of
inhospitality, and the Indians dare not sell you anything, not even a
dogfish, under penalty of starvation, for they are dependent upon the
Companies' stores."

"So that is why you have established a trading-post of your own?"

"Oh dear, no. This isn't a store. This food is for my men."

"Your men?"

"Yes, I have a crew out in the hills on a grub-stake. This is our cache.
While they prospect for gold, I stand guard over the provisions."

Fraser chuckled softly. "Then you are bucking the Salmon Trust?"

"After a fashion, yes. I knew this country had never been gone over, so I
staked six men, chartered a schooner, and came down here from Nome in the
early spring. We stood off the watchmen, and when the supply-ships
arrived, we had these houses completed, and my men were out in the hills
where it was hard to follow them. I stayed behind, and stood the brunt of
things."

"But surely they didn't undertake to injure you?" said Emerson, now
thoroughly interested in this extraordinary young woman.

"Oh, didn't they!" she answered, with a peculiar laugh. "You don't
appreciate the character of these people. When a man fights for money,
just plain, sordid money, he loses all sense of honor, chivalry, and
decency, he employs any means that come handy. There is no real code of