Jason's Gold

Running a fever, Charlie fades in and out of consciousness. Later, once he is more lucid, Charlie says that he, his uncle, and the others left Chicago, arrived in Dawson City, and were trying to get back to Skagway. He reveals the sad, shocking truth about Dawson City: Lax regulations regarding food supplies as early prospectors arrived in Canada resulted in famine. Attempts to bring in food by ship failed. Rifle-bearing men guard warehouses. Mountie authorities stated that those in Dawson City should leave. Charlie’s group took a boat upriver, planning to cross the Chilkoot Pass and go home; when the ice crept in, they had to walk. Charlie’s foot went into the ice one day, and he neglected to dry his boot and sock, resulting in frostbite and gangrene.

Jason frets over the other parts of Charlie’s story: Charlie did not meet Jason’s brothers, and no one in Dawson City found any new gold while Charlie’s group was there. Jason insists that it is only a matter of time before someone strikes it rich again—“The Klondike is the richest goldfield in the world!” (146)—but Charlie is noncommittal. Jason reassures the boy about the food supply but secretly worries that they will not make it to spring.