 The challenge of the Yukon. On Kate! On you Huskies! The Wonder Dog King, swiftest and strongest 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 a small band of Northwest mounted police who preserved law and order in a 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 triumphant. Were you ever out in the silent cold where the Yukon's snows lie deep, with the wailing howl of a timber wolf who lulled you off to sleep, with eyes like a circle of fiery coals the Huskies sit round in the snow and howl to the moon in the silent sky, their dismal wail of woe. Such was the setting when Sergeant Preston lay beside his campfire, his great dog King at his side. It was the hour just before dawn, suddenly the great dog raised his head, his ears pricked forward. What's the matter, boy? Is something coming? Hmm, it's not morning yet, I wonder. Oh yeah, boy, I hear it. Hello there! Who is it? It's me, Yatena! Yatena, hello! Dog King, quiet. What are you doing on the trail at this hour, Yatena? Sergeant Preston, howl. Let me leave my camp. Bad spirits come. Bad spirits? Come down with a fire here and tell me about it. We have to hurry. Leave on boat. Go far away this part country. God of mountain angry. Now listen, Yatena, you're one of the smartest young Indians in Yukon. You really don't believe that. Me hear him. Old Kuna, he know what God of mountain say. He tell me. Yatena, you shouldn't listen to Kuna. He must be a hundred years old. Your gold claim is one of the richest in Yukon. You can't leave it. Tell me what happened. Me go town three nights back. Away all night. Old Kuna, him live on mountain. Him say, that night God of mountain speak loud. Boom! Old mountain shake. Rock fall. Stream change course. Mountain sheep cheer. Kuna likes to exaggerate a bit. Remember, he likes to tell tales. Kuna not lie. I come back. God of mountain throw rocks. Stop passage where I dig. Now he cry out when I go in to dig. Say, not take gold from him. Someone may be trying to scare you away, Yatena. If you leave your claim for 72 hours, someone else can take it. No. Kuna, him come listen. Him tell what mountain God say. If man take gold, he die. Kuna has too good an imagination here. Roll up in that buffalo road. We'll go back to town in the morning and up to your claim. Perhaps a cut of the mountain will speak to me. Old Kuna! Old Kuna! I'm going in the golden age here, Yatena, and see if I can pick up some information. Me go store. All right, I'll meet you back here in about an hour. Come on, King. Captain, how are you? Hello, boys. How are you, Sam? How's business? Oh, everything's fine. What do you have, Sergeant? Oh, nothing for me, thanks. Any excitement around here since I left? Oh, nothing much. Jim Crothers had a ruckus the other night over a poker game. A couple of shots were fired, but nobody got hurt. That's about all. What started that? Well, he was playing with some guy by the name of Blackie Morton. Jim saw him cheating and called him on it. Blackie Morton? What's he doing around here? Well, he ain't here anymore. Checked out a town the next day. Guess he figured it wasn't healthy for him. You know him? We're not what you'd call friendly. He's been in trouble off and on for three or four years. But cheating at cars? Cheating at practically everything. Stealing gold from claims. Nobody knows exactly how he makes a living. Well, I'm glad he did stick around. Where'd he stay while he was here? I put him up in a little room behind the bar here. Nobody ever uses it. Kick him out right after the fight. Why? Are you looking for him? No, not exactly. Any other strangers been around? Yeah, some. Mostly prospectors bringing in their dust and having a little fun before going back to their claims. Nobody important. Sam, would you mind if King and I looked in that room where Blackie slept? Well, sure. Come on, I'll take you right now. Hey, Jim, watch the bar for a minute, will you? Sure, Sam. And don't give away too many drinks. All right. Come on, Sergeant, this way. Come on, King. I, uh, locked the room up after he left. Put some things of mine in it. I guess you'll find the kind of dirty ain't been cleaned for a while. No, that's all right. Here you are. Smells bad in here. Guess I should have added out after Blackie left. I wonder if Blackie left anything behind, anything personal. Well, help yourself if he did. He cleared out kind of sudden. Come here, King. Take a whiff of these blankets. You can take the blankets if you want, Sergeant. I ain't using them. No, that won't be necessary. Uh, do you suspect blankie or something? Can't tell yet. King, King Boy, what you find? Boy, he's got an old Markison. Where'd you get that boy? Give it to me, fella. Hmm. Does it belong to you, Sam? No. Never seen it before. Guess Blackie must have left it. King picked it up after he smelled the blankets. Belongs to the same person, may fella. Sometimes that dog seems to figure things out as good as a human. Well, take this Markison with us, Sam, if you don't mind. Well, uh, ain't you gonna stay around for a few days, Sergeant? Not this time, Sam. King and I have a little investigating to do, haven't we, fella? As Preston and the Indiana tainer approach the cave in the mountains where his tainer's flame was staked, King slowed the team and his ear is bricked forward. He stopped the dog just as Sergeant Preston was about to give the command. Listen, you hear that? Is that the noise you meant, your tainer? No. The noise's different. Look, smoke from cave. Yes, there is smoke coming out of it. See, God of Mountain, him mad. Him spit out fire soon. Come, we go. Well, this mountain isn't volcanic, your tainer. Somebody's in that cave. Chang, stop that hauling. Sergeant, I give up claim. God of Mountain, him kill me maybe. Now make smoke. Nonsense, your tainer. Just stay here, your tainer. King and I'll find out what it is. Come on, boy. Oh, Sergeant, do not go in cave. You'll watch the dogs, isn't it, boy? But I think you can tell the difference between a man and a spirit. Get easy, boy. Here we are. The smoke is bad. As Preston went into the dark smoke-filled cave he saw a strange sight. A weird wrinkled old figure huddled into a blanket crouched before a small fire. Long gray hair hung over the whiz and face in thin, skinny locks. Two small, piercing black eyes gleamed up at him, reflecting the firelight. The smoke smelled sweet, almost sickening. The chatting stopped, but suddenly the hair on King's back rose as from somewhere in the darkness of the cave came the weirdest sound Preston had ever heard. It was like a soul in torment. Him say go. Kuna no. Kuna understand. Kuna, I didn't recognize you. What are you doing? Me burn herbs. Stop breath of Yaku God of mountain. You go. Come on, Yatena. It's only Kuna. There's nothing here to hurt you. Hear what Yaku say. Come on, boy. We're going to look around in here and see what this is all about. Where did that smoke come from? It's only Kuna burning some herbs. Funny smelling ones. Wait, man, not no. Smoke and fire keep evil spirits away. Yaku like smoke and fire. Doesn't seem to be any opening anywhere. Here, King. Here's like his Marcus and see if you can find any sign of him. Ask the boy and get the scent. When the storm come up, Yaku turn too big wave to stone. Make mountains. Yaku take care of his children on mountain. Paint top of it like sky. So whale goose will strike it and fall dead. Food for Yaku cover mountain with snow blanket to keep warm in winter. Green blanket for summer. Yaku God of mountain. Him not want man hurt mountain with sharp axe and shovel. Sergeant, you hear? You hear God of mountain speak. Yes, Lieutenant. I'm going to find out why. White man, be sorry. Yaku say go. Say, look. Look at the way the smoke from the fire is going out of this cave. Is there an opening back there somewhere? No. No opening. That Yaku God of mountain breathing. Smoke, go out. Him angry. King, find something boy. King knows it's not a spirit talking. King in that loose rubble. That's where God of mountain throw rocks down. Passage there where gold is. Find something boy. Give it here. Look, Yatena, King's found a mitten. Is this yours? No. Mitten not mine. Come on, Yatena. We're following King's lead. Get your pickaxe and shovel. We're going to clear those rocks from that passage. No. Yaku not like. God of mountain kill you. Yatena, you must help me. Don't listen to Kuna. Look at King. If that were a spirit making that noise, he'd know it, wouldn't he? Yes. Spirit talked to him. And he'd run out of the cave if Yaku told him, wouldn't he? Him not afraid. Well, get your shovel and axe, Shatema. See, King's starting to dig by himself. I'll have an opening big enough for King. Only hell. The opening's big enough. Go through, King. Get in there, boy. Maybe him never come back. I'm not worried about King. He isn't growling, though. God of mountain take him. Hurry, Yatena. Help me make this old margin. There's a bunch of dark in here. Get a stick of wood from Kuna's fire. That'll give us some light. Here, burning stick. I'll go first. Come on. Look at that big crack in the wall of the cave. Was that there before? No. You may not see before. Well, that's where the noise is coming from. Something cracked that wall. And when the wind blows, the god of the mountain speaks. How does wall crack if not Yaku do it? Well, you got me there. This mountain isn't volcanic. Maybe it's just subtler. King, what's the matter, boy? He's found something out of Hebrew rubble. This light's so dim it. Well, Yatena, King's found it. Here's the explanation of everything. Oh, man. Him dead. Yes, Blacky Morton. He's half buried in these rocks. You think him tries to steal gold? He was out for a big haul this time. Remember what Kuna said about the mountain going boom? Blacky used dynamite. He waited until you left for the night and used that to get the gold in a hurry. Last break, mountain. May crack. Must have gone off too soon before Blacky could get out. God of mountain dropped rocks on him. Well, have it your way. You Indians are children of the mountain. Yaku protects you, too. So don't desert your claim, Yatena. Yes, old fella, you knew it was a man and not a spirit. 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 the same time and reach you from our trends.