m our cabin
window or from the higher bank above, to see the people on the decks of
the out-going boats. How the name of each tug and even freight-carrier
became a familiar household word, and how many were the conjectures as
to whether "she" would get through to White Horse Rapids in the low
water before a freeze-up!

[Illustration: A KLONDYKE CLAIM.]

One day our own steamer came. She was a magnificently equipped river
boat called the "Hannah," belonging to the Alaska Commercial Company,
and had cost one hundred thousand dollars. This was to be her last trip
for the season, and with us it was "home now, or here all winter," and
we made ready to leave. My kodak had been emptied and filled again,
calls on acquaintances made, and good-byes said. My battered and broken
trunk, which, at the hands of the English customs officials had suffered
much, had now to be repaired and put to a good long test. This box was
in a state of total collapse; rollers all gone, covering torn and bent,
screws and nails lost, sides split, bottom entirely dropped out, but it
must go; so my big brother was wheedled into putting it into some kind
of shape again, and it came out stronger than before.

No lunches were needed. The cuisine of the Hannah was said to be as
perfect as could be in this far away corner of the globe, and we trusted
to that.

On September sixteenth the Hannah sounded her whistle--all was hurry and
bustle, and such a sight! If hundreds had stood on the docks to welcome
us as we entered the city, there were thousands now. It was pleasant. We
felt flattered, especially as the band struck up our own national airs,
giving us a medley of "Yankee Doodle," "America," "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp,"
and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." They felt constrained, however,
to wind up with "Sweet Marie," and rag-time dances, one old fellow in
slouch hat and with a few drinks too many, stepping the jigs off in
lively and comical fashion.

Our pride was perceptibly lessened afterward, when we learned that we
had on board a dance hall outfit, and the band belonged to the Monte
Carlo saloon!

We were now in the midst of a group, cosmopolitan beyond our wildest
dreams. Pushing their way through the crowd to the gangplank came men,
women and dogs, carrying grips, kodaks, tin cash boxes, musical
instruments, army sacks, fur robes, and rolls of blankets. Struggling
under the weight of canvas tents, poles, Yukon stoves and sleds, as well
as every c