out the
entire bottom of the gulch, only the deeper part was attacked and here a
runway for the water was made, a foot to two feet wide.

The water had just been turned along Mosquito Hollow and washing begun
when a party of prospectors from Forty Mile Post came along and espied
the claims. They at once wished to know the particulars of the find
made, and, assured that there was gold there, one of the men lost no
time in putting up his stakes below them, while two others went above.
Inside of a week after this the Hollow boasted of eight claims, and a
little settlement sprung up at the Fork, as the miners named the spot
where the Portney crowd had located.

"We'll have a town here before the summer is over," said Earl; but he
was not sorry to have company, especially as the newcomers were all
hail-fellows-well-met and apparently honest to the core. Among them was
a young lawyer from Dakota, and he and Dr. Barwaithe soon became the
warmest of friends.

The short Alaska summer was now reaching its height, and flowers and
berries were growing everywhere in the wildest profusion, while during
the middle of the day the sun beat down so fiercely that they were often
compelled to seek the shade for hours at a time.

"My gracious, the Hollow is like a pepper box!" said Randy one day, as
he came into camp with his shirt wet through with perspiration. "Not a
breath of air stirring."

"And the hotter it is, the worse the flies are," added Earl. "I declare,
they seem to bother me more than even the mosquitoes."

Usually it cooled off toward seven or eight o'clock, even though the sun
still shone well up in the sky, but this night proved as warm as the day
had been, and most of the party went to sleep outdoors, unable to stand
it inside of the close tents. Outside, they had to wind their heads and
necks in mosquito netting and cover up their hands, to keep from being
pestered to death. It was the most uncomfortable twenty-four hours they
had yet put in.

"The old Harry take Alaska!" burst out Dr. Barwaithe, finally. One
mosquito had alighted on his nose, and two others on his neck. "It's
worth all the gold you can get, and more, too, to stand these impudent
pests. Oh!" And making half a dozen wild slashes he finally scrambled up
and ran around the tents to throw his tormentors off.

The captain was suffering from a slight attack of scurvy, brought on by
eating so much salt food. The doctor had given him some medicine, but