 the challenge of the Yukon. The Wonder Dog King, swift distance-hungest of Eskimo lead dogs, blazes the trail through storm and snow for Sergeant Preston as he meets the challenge of the Yukon. Sergeant Preston was typical of the small band of northwest-mounted police who preserved law and order in the new northwest country where the greed for wealth and power led to frequent violence and bloodshed. But in spite of the odds against them, Sergeant Preston and his Wonder Dog King met that challenge and justice ruled ployumphant. Sergeant Preston stretched his feet toward the fireplace in Father McLean's cabin in Dawson. King, his big lead dog, lay down close beside him and watched the flickering flames through half-closed eyes. Father McLean eased his portly figure into the chair- Giving is no excuse for eating as much as I did today. That dinner was too much of a temptation. Well, this is a wonderful meal, Father. That cook of yours is a prize. I feel like I'd swallowed a whole deer. It's a good thing Thanksgiving Day comes but once a year. You were awfully nice to let me share your dinner with you, Father. It's not often I get food like that. People in my church are very thoughtful of me on holidays. They bring food that one doesn't expect to get way up here in the North Country. You know, Father, two years ago I had dinner with another priest on Thanksgiving. Nothing like this one, though. His congregation was very bitter about him at the time. Bitter? Had he done something wrong? Well, they thought so. It's rather a long story, Father. Well, what could be better than a story sitting here before the fire after dinner? The priest was Father Haley. He left this part of the country before you arrived. He's the one who started the Mitten and Dawson. Oh, yes, I've heard of him. It was before they built the churches there now. At the time, Father Haley was busy raising funds for it. He was a lovable old man, a big fellow with twinkling blue eyes and a good sense of humor. He was very fond of dogs, too, and King was a big favorite of his. I'd been on a patrol north and was coming back to Dawson. Out ten miles from town, I was mushing along the trail, and suddenly I heard a dog. Hello, King! Hello, you muskies! Stay here, King. I'll see what's happening. Well, fellow, what's wrong? Oh, poor fellow, you stuck your foot right on my sled back to Dawson. He was a gentle dog, Father. Part Sutter and part Shepard. We never found out who owned him. Father Haley's cabin was on the trail near the outskirts of town. It was evening when I reached it. Father Haley held the door open while I carried the dog in. Take him over there by the fire sergeant. I'll bring a lamb so we can have a look at him. Well, lie down here, fellow. That's it. Well, you got that handy door, didn't you? Yeah, now we can see. There he's looking nice and clean, hasn't he? Yes, I guess he can take care of it better than we can. I'm afraid he's going to lose one or two toes, though. Well, I guess there's nothing more we can do for him, except for him. It'll heal up, Father, if he stays off it a while. You're going to leave him here with me, aren't you? What? That'll be fine if you want him. I have to leave town again tomorrow. I'd be glad to have him. He's a nice dog. If he is older, doesn't show up. I'll keep him permanently. Well, Shep, you're a lucky dog. He's wagging you still. Maybe that's his name. That's as good a name as any. I'll call him that. He seems to like it. Now, let me warm up a cup of tea. Oh, no, don't bother, Father Haley. You have enough to do taking care of Shep. Anyway, I'd better get into town. You say you're going away again tomorrow? Yes, I'll be away quite a few weeks, I think. Well, did you have Thanksgiving dinner with me, Sergeant? Oh. You think you'll be back by then? It's three weeks off. Well, that's nice of you, Father. I'll do my best to get back. We've been raising funds to build a new church. And I hope to have enough by then to war to special Thanksgiving celebration. Well, that's encouraging. This town can certainly use the church. I'll try and get back for it. Now I guess I'd better go. I have to make a few stops in town before bedtime. Hello, Sergeant. Glad to see you. Hello, boys. How are you? You're just in time, Sergeant. We're taking up a contribution for the new church that Father Haley is planning to build. Well, that's fine, boys. Butch started it by giving a whole bag of goldest. Gold nugget buys a funny place to be doing it, but I'm all for it. I think maybe you won't pry quite so long, I think. We're going to need another half. This one's full. Sergeant, you better take this money out to Father Haley. Sure, I'll be glad to. I'll take it out if you're too busy. I'll be going past his house tomorrow. I can drop it off. Can't you stand in town for a while, Sergeant? I have to make another patrol, Ben. I'll be leaving tomorrow or the next day. Well, there's the money. There's a lot of money here. That's not in the money he'll have in a week or two. This is just a started going. The whole town's chipped in. Yes, sir. I left the gold at Father Haley's cabin the next day. The collection had netted about $2,000. I was quite surprised that Butch Harvey had started such a thing. Butch was a newcomer in town, and I hadn't liked him from the first time we met. I see. There's nothing I could put my finger on, exactly. You monies must get quite good at judging men on site. Oh, I've been wrong about a lot of men, Father. My judgment isn't always right. We all make mistakes. I decided I'd been wrong about Butch, and maybe he was doing this to prove to the town that he was all right. And, uh, was he? No, Father. I left town the next day after leaving the money with Father Haley. My trip took me far south, and I wasn't around while the church fund built up. As I learned later, Butch and his partner, Ben, were very active getting collections printed. Three days before Thanksgiving, Father Haley had raised over $15,000. He was putting some gold into the box that evening when Shep scratched on the door. Father Haley put his park on. Well, you want to go after your workshop? I've been so busy today, I didn't take you for your walk. All right, boy, go on out. I'll put on my things right away. I'm coming, boys, as soon as I put this box away. Good evening. Hey, Butcher, I'm sorry. I didn't hear your knock. Hello, Ben. No, Father. Sit down, boys. I was just going for a walk with Shep. Wait till I put this box away. Don't put the box away. Did you bring another contribution? Not exactly, Father. This time, you're doing the contributing. What do you mean? Get the box, Ben. Sure. Butch, you? You don't mean you're taking with you. That's not all we're taking. You're coming with us. Here's the box. Come on, Father, before I get nervous and pull this trigger. Don't keep me waiting. Father Haley went with them out into the dark. They tied him to the sled and drove off. Nobody noticed, old Shep. The dog watched the sled disappear and then limped after it. The team outdistance him quickly, but he kept on through the night following the sight. Did they intend to murder Father Haley? Well, butch would have, but Ben wouldn't agree with it. They argued about... You're crazy, Ben. You can find his way back, I tell you. It's getting light and you can see the trail. We're going to turn off the trail, ain't we? Well, you can see landmarks. You can follow our tracks back, too. What's wrong with taking these glasses away from him? You can't see without him? All right. We'll turn off here and head for the mountains. I'll take his glasses off. We'll lose him in the hills. And I don't see the difference. You'll die of starvation or freeze to death. I got back to town the following day. The weather had been clear and I made a special effort to spend Thanksgiving with Father Haley. Had anyone discovered he was gone? Oh, yes. The whole town was in an uproar. Some of the people thought Father Haley had run off of the money. Pete Darcy met me just as I came into town. He was very excited. Sergeant Preston! Sergeant Preston! Okay. What's wrong, Pete? I'm sure glad you'll come back, Sergeant. Father Haley has disappeared with all the church money. Disappeared when? The day before yesterday. People think maybe he ran off with it. Maybe he wasn't a priest at all. That's ridiculous, Pete. He'd never go away unless someone forced him to. People have been in and out to see him. He lives near the trail that's well used. Yes, I know. Everybody's given a lot of money to that fund. Come along, Pete. We'll go to his cabin now and look it over. You see, Sergeant, his park is gone, his fire's out and the money's gone. I wonder what became of Shep? Shep? The dog he had. He certainly wouldn't try to travel. Nobody thought about the dog. He ain't had him very long. We can still find Shep's tracks. Your own dog has made tracks all over. Oh, here are Shep's. You see that front foot? He's lame. He doesn't put much weight on it, and it's crooked. Here, King. These tracks, boy. Can you find him? I'm afraid the trail is cold by this time, Sergeant. It hasn't snowed for two days. These tracks lead away from town. We could probably pick them up if the snow hasn't been trampled. I'm going to try it, Pete. Do you want me to come with you, Sergeant? Why, uh, no, I'll go alone. I'll take what supplies I can find in Father Haley's cabin here. Can't stop for more. Maybe a long trip. My team was tired, but we kept going. After a while, the trail of the dog was easier to follow. Shep's foot had started to bleed where the snow and ice had broken open the freshly healed cut. You mean that dog kept right on going in spite of it? He'd become very fond of Father Haley. When the tracks turned off the trail, it was easy to follow them. My team was going on three legs. When did you find Father Haley? Well, not until the next evening. Shep had found him the night before. They were huddled together in a clump of spruce trees at the base of the mountain. Father Haley had no idea where he was. Your father put this blanket around her. I'm glad you built a fire. It isn't much of a fire. I had some matches in the pocket of my pocket. Who did all this, Father? But you did. Oh. It took my glasses from me and I couldn't find enough wood. If Shep hadn't come that effusion, we'd kept each other warm. I found you by following Shep's tracks. Yes, poor fellow. To drop when he found me, he dragged himself to me his... his poor foot. All bloody. Feed him first, Sergeant. I will, Father. Now, you relax and don't worry about the church funds. I'll tell the Gravich and Ben's description of the border they're headed for Eagle City. And now I'll get some food ready. It's... it's not the Thanksgiving dinner we had planned. Is it, Sergeant? No, it isn't, Father, but it's funny to be thankful for. Were the two thieves Butch and Ben caught? They were caught at the border by one of our men. Most of the money was returned. As Father Haley said, that must have been a rather slim Thanksgiving dinner you had that night. But it's one I'll never forget. We sat at the bait of the towering modern. The moon glistened on the snow. It was deathly still. Father Haley sat beside the flickering fight in his lap. He hadn't eaten for two days. But when I put his food in front of him, he didn't eat it once. He bowed his head and gave thanks. It wasn't a short prayer. As he ended it, I, Father Lump, I thank the Lord for sending ship to me. Please grant me the faith and courage that is His and help me to follow Thee with an equal love and trust. These copyrighted dramas originate in the studios of WXYZ Detroit and all characters, names, places and incidents used are fictitious. They are sent to you each week at this time.