This sledge party went north along the coast from St. Michaels to the mouth of the Unalaklik River, and followed up that stream for several days. Then, crossing a divide, they struck the Yukon at a point near Nulato. Here they were told that a steamer, supposed to be the _Chimo_, had passed on her way up the river several days before the close of navigation.
By this time the relations between poor Jalap and his companions had become so very unpleasant that he had hoped for an excuse to leave them, and go down the river from Nulato. As it was, he now felt obliged to continue in their company until the _Chimo_ should be overtaken.
At old Fort Adams, after conferring with the natives, his fellow-travellers informed him that the steamer was frozen in about one day’s march above that place, and with a lighter heart than he had known since beginning the weary journey, he again set forth with them, filled with eager anticipations. When just at dusk of that same day they discovered a steamer snugly moored to the bank, he read her name with a sinking heart, for, instead of _Chimo_, it was _St. Michaels_, which he knew to be the name of a boat belonging to a Catholic mission on the lower river. Moreover, she was boarded up and deserted.
As Jalap’s companions noted his expression of dismay, they uttered shouts of mocking laughter, and asked what else he had expected when the Fort Adams Indians had mentioned that very name so plainly that a deaf man ought to have understood it.
In camp that night the sailor announced his intention of starting back down the river at daybreak, at which the others only exchanged significant glances, but said nothing. In the morning, after the sledges were loaded and the dogs harnessed, it was discovered that the driver of his sledge was missing. Telling him that he was thus rightly served for chastising the poor man, the others cracked their whips and started off up the river, leaving poor Jalap standing on its bank helpless and alone. A few moments later, at the sound of a familiar whistle from the direction they had taken, his dogs started after their vanished companions, carrying with them his entire outfit.
[Illustration: A FEW MOMENTS LATER HIS DOGS STARTED AFTER THEIR VANISHED COMPANIONS]