their
names were legion. They came from the east, west, north and south, all
sorry to know of her illness, and bringing presents with them.

Sometimes it was a little live bird or squirrel, a delicious salmon
trout or wild fowl for her supper; sometimes it was candy, nuts, or
fresh fruit from Nome, and with everything she was well pleased and
joyous. Friends soon came in from the outside, bringing city dolls
dressed in ribbons and laces; there were tiny dishes, chairs, tables,--a
hundred things dear to a little girl's heart, and all pleased her
immensely, but all were laid quickly aside for a basket of wild flowers
or mosses, for a fish, bird, animal or baby, showing plainly her taste
for the things of nature in preference to art. Her love for her
birthplace, with its hills, streams and ocean is a sincere one, and,
young as she is, and having seen the great city by the Golden Gate,
with many of its wonders, she is happiest in Chinik.

Here lives her dear, old grandmother, her cousins and aunts, not to
mention the little calico-capped baby belonging to Apuk, for which she
has a whole heartful of love, and the sight of which is better to her
than medicine.

During the month of July we eagerly watched the incoming steamers, and
welcomed all new comers who landed in Chinik. Many were simply passing
through on their way up Fish River to the mines, and praise of the land
of the "Ophir" gold was sung on all sides. A few remained for the
summer. Here men built boats, and rowed away to Keechawik and Neukluk,
carrying supplies for hunting or prospecting.

The captain's vegetable garden in the sand was growing rapidly, and was
watched with eager eyes by everyone. We ate lettuce and radishes, picked
fresh from the garden beds where they had been sown by the captain's own
hands, and we found Ageetuk and Mollie to be quite famous cooks. Nothing
so delicious as their salads (for the French cooks had long ago gone,
the hotel management being changed, and Mollie had a nice little kitchen
of her own), and with fresh salmon trout, wild fowl, fresh meats and
vegetables, we made up for many months of winter dieting.

All this time I longed to get away. I was going each day to the hill-top
to watch for the steamers which would bring the letters for which I
waited. Affairs connected with my gold claims were, with much anxiety
and trouble, arranged as well as possible, and when I boarded the
steamer, I would carry with me, at least, three