 It's King, swiftest and strongest lead dog of the North country, blazing the trail for Sergeant Preston of the Northwest Monod Police in his relentless pursuit of lawbreakers. And King, I'm your husband. Gold, gold discovered in the Yukon, a stampede to the Klondike in the greedy race for riches. Now back to the days of the gold rush when Sergeant Preston and his wonder dog King battled through storm and snow to preserve law and order as they met the challenge of the Yukon. Zeke Taylor was in his late 50s, but like thousands of others had come to the Klondike to seek his fortune. He had filed a claim on Wolf Creek in rather an isolated section. It wasn't a rich claim and Zeke had to work hard for the little gold he took out of it. Two other prospectors lived near him and one day when he and Jake Wrath, his neighbor, were taking a shortcut to their cabins from the trail to Dawson, they learned about another. We should save about two or three miles this way, Jake. It sure is shorter than the trail we've been using. Hope we don't get lost. Someone's been gone this way. Maybe Bill Kramer found this shortcut before we did. Ah, Bill would have told us about it. He takes the same trail we've been taking, I know. Say, Jake, look. There's a little carpet over there behind them trees. You see it? There's smoke coming out of the chimney. Golly, you're right. I didn't know there was another living soul within miles of here besides you and Bill Kramer. Let's go and see who lives there. He sure is far away from everything. He's probably an old trapper. I don't see why he'd pick this spot to live if he's a prospector. He'll be glad to see us. Nobody would find him except by accident. I could use something hot to drink. I'm cold. I'm sure glad we came this way. He'll save us miles. There's this cabin at a halfway point between us and the trading post. It'll make it pretty nice. Look, someone's opening the door to Kevin. Where's the scene that's coming through the window? Hello, there. You get out of here. What'd he say, Jake? I thought he said, get out of here, but I guess I heard wrong. Get away from here, I tell you. Hey, look. He's putting a gun at you. Well, I'll be... if that ain't a welcome for you. Get away from here, I tell you. Hello, the old walrus. We're going past your house. We ain't bothering you. Why, you dirty... where's my gun? Don't shoot him, Jake. Don't shoot him. He just shot his gun in the air. He's a little crazy, I guess. A little. He's just bad. He's a belfry. Oh, they'll put him out of his misery. Nobody'd ever find it out. Well, Jake, no, Jake. Now come on, we'll have to circle this place so he'll know we aren't going near this cabin. When we tell Bill Cramer about this shortcut we found, we better warn him about old Santa Claus. Say, let's stop at Bill's on the way home. Maybe he's heard about this old duck. All right. I'll sure be glad to get the warm cabin. I hope Bill has some warm food. Well, come on in, boy. We are freezing. I'll fix you some hot soup. Thanks, dear. This pack sure is heavy. Wish we hadn't have money to buy a dog. I sure hate this business of packing our own grub. Wait. I'm taking gold out of that plain of mine. I'll be packing it on my back the rest of my life. See, here. Well, at least we found a shortcut today. Saved us about three miles. Except there's a little obstacle in the path. A crazy old galoot with long white hair and a beard. He lives in a cabin, hid away behind some trees, and when we come along he took a pot shot at us to keep us from calling on him. I wonder if that's the old keys they were asking me about the last time I was in Dawson. What did they say about him? They said there was a crazy man lived back in the hills around here somewhere. He has to go to Dawson once in a while for supplies. They call him Scorpion Sam. Scorpion Sam, huh? Well, it sure is a perfect name for him. Poor old fella. He's crazy, all right. So fool. You should have let me plug him, Zeke. I had a perfect right to after he took that shot at us. Oh, he didn't shoot at us. He fired in the air. You better not try that with me. I'll hang him up by the whiskers. Me neither. Zeke, you're too soft-hearted. Dillard been with me today. We wouldn't have to worry about taking that shortcut anymore. I don't hanker to get a load of buckshot in every time I pass that lunatic's cabin. But you can't kill people. You ain't been up here as long as we have, Zeke. Sometimes people have to take along their own hands. Well, I guess I'd be kind of sorry for Scorpion Sam. Maybe the loneliness made him that way. Do you mind living alone? Well, sometime. Got any family, Zeke? Yeah, back in Seattle. I got a married daughter and a little granddaughter. Why'd you come way up here? I lost all my money, and I didn't want to be a burden on my family. I thought maybe I'd strike it rich up here. Well, Zeke, I sure hope you don't turn out like Scorpion Sam. Zeke Taylor was very curious about Scorpion Sam. When he took the shortcut to the Dawson Trail, he made a wide detour around the old man's cabin, but he still tried to catch a glimpse of him. Then one day, as he neared Sam's cabin, he noticed that no smoke came out of the chimney. And then he saw the door swinging back and forth in the wind. Partiously, he drew near. He thought he heard a faint drone from within and peered inside. Scorpion Sam's voice whipped out at him. Well, I'm with neighbors. I didn't see any smoke coming out of your chimney, and your door was open. Why are you in bed with no fire? Are you sick? I don't think I'd be late. What's wrong with you? I got a gun under this blanket trying to rob me, and I'll shoot at you. Now, I'm not going to rob you, you old crackpot. If I don't build up your fire, you're going to freeze to death. What happened to you? Felt my leg. Maybe it's broke, but that don't mean that I'm helpless. I can protect myself and my property. I'm not interested in your property. Yeah, buddy, let me look at your leg. Not till you build a fire in that stove. Think I'm going to put my leg out in this cold? All right, I'll build a fire first. There is the smoke. Well, that's not why I'm staying here. You want me to go away and let you die of starvation? Well, from the top of the stove. I suppose that's another reason you've come. You want to be fair. You're the most contentious old cockroach I ever saw. I don't want any of your food. I've got plenty of food in my package. You have? What you've got? Oh, so now you're interested, huh? What did you eat last? I don't see you as anybody's business, but mine. Well, would you do me the favor of telling me when you fell down? Well, since you're so curious, it was yesterday. But I ain't helpless. I've had this gun on you ever since you come in. Well, now that's just damned it. You keep that gun on me while I fix you some food. This fire will be gone in a minute. And be sure you keep holding that gun on me while I fix your leg. Shucks, you ain't fooling me with that fancy talk. You're done toting out to keep the gun held on you. I don't trust nobody, you hear? I don't trust nobody. Zeke Taylor stayed with Scorpion Sam until he was well, but got nothing but abuse for his trouble. Sam often seemed as if he wanted to be friendly, but just couldn't bring himself to do it. After he was better, Zeke saw him occasionally, but Scorpion Sam was always the same. It was late in the following spring when Bill and Jake were returning from Dawson with Zeke when they suddenly saw black smoke coming up through the trees near Sam's cabin. They hurried to it. Hey, boys, that Sam's cabin is burned. Ain't no use hurrying. It's burned to the ground. It sure is. Nothing left but the floor. I wonder where Scorpion Sam is. Maybe he was in it. I hope he wasn't burned. Why you like that old car that beats me? He was the sound... Look, right there in the middle of the floor. He was burned. It's Scorpion Sam's body. He must have suffocated before he could get out. Poor old fella. Well, come on, we'd better bury him. Look out. Don't walk on that floor, Zeke. Those boards are burned. They won't hold you. See what I tell you. Hey, man, I'm not hurt. My foot just went through the floor. What's his? What are you looking at? In this hole where my foot went through. Something shiny. Let's see. Why are there nuggets? One of the bags is busted. And there's more bags. Wait till I get one. Scorpion Sam with gold hidden under his floor. Look at these. That loony old miser. Living way out here like this when he had enough money to live wherever he wanted to. It's a fortune. Nobody knew he had it. That's why he was always worried when strangers came around. There's no sign of a claim around here anywhere. I bet he had a claim somewhere else and brought the gold here and hid it. Divided three ways. We'd have enough money to be wrong for quite a while. Good idea, Zeke. Nobody dreamed he had this. But maybe he has some relative somewhere with that inquire. Don't be a fool, Zeke. He never said anything to you about relatives, did he? He'd never tell me anything about himself. I don't even know his right name. I doubt anybody does. Anyway, we ain't bothering to find out. Are you with us, Zeke? Or do we divide this two ways instead of three? No, it isn't right. We ought to find out if you... Ah, wake up, grandpa. With this money, you could buy yourself a trading poster store. You'd be better than panning gold, especially on claims like ours. We're dividing this money whether you like it or not. You're taking your share so you can't squawk about it, Zeke. I suppose if nobody cleaned it, the gold might go to the government. If we hadn't found it, it wouldn't go anywhere. But I know where it's going now. Maybe I could buy a trading post for a general store. Now you're talking, Zeke. Come on, let's get this gold out of here. It was three years later, and Zeke Taylor's trading post did a thriving business in a small settlement of Miners Creek, far south of Dawson City. Sergeant Preston of the Northwest Monod Police liked Zeke, but he never failed to stop there for the night whenever he patrolled the district. One summer evening, when the Monty entered Zeke's store, he found the old man very upset. Sergeant Taylor, I just got a letter from Seattle. My...my daughter and her husband were in a fatal accident. Oh, I'm sorry, Zeke. I'm...I'm the only one left to take care of Sally. She's my little granddaughter. She's only seven. Well, do you think you'll go back to Seattle? I...I don't know what I could do to support her there. Do you think it's out of the question to have her here in the Yukon? Why, no, Zeke. It's possible to get her up here. She...a friend of mine in Seattle is coming up to the Yukon. He...he isn't coming up this far, but he says he could bring it as far as Whitehorse. He'll be there in about a month. I'll be in Whitehorse about that time. Would you like to have me meet her and bring her back here for him? Would you do that for me, Preston? I could trust you to take good care of her. You see, I'm getting pretty old to take a trip like that. She...she probably won't remember me at all. Well, she couldn't have picked a finer man for her grandfather. I'm not as good as you think I am, Sergeant. Well, I never found anything wrong with you. You're kind and honest, and everybody trusts you. Sergeant is something I have got to tell you. Yes? It's about... Good evening, Zeke. Hello, Sergeant. Hello, Jim. How are you, Jim? I brought some gold for you to put in your safe for me, Zeke. There they are. Well, that claim of yours is really paying off, Jim. You're going to turn two today. I'm sure glad Zeke got himself that big iron safe. And we all let him keep our gold in until we're ready to take it into Selkirk. Oh, do all the miners around here do that? Most of them do. This is a good place for it. Nobody could open it without knowing the combination, unless they blasted it open, and I doubt that there are any expert Zeke crackers in this country. It's quite a responsibility for you, though. Oh, everybody knows Zeke's honest. We never worry about our gold when it's in Zeke's safe, and nobody knows the combination except him. Safe enough with Zeke, all right? Well, yes, I better get going. Come on, King. It was almost two months later, and Zeke was nervous and excited as he took two bags of gold nuggets from Jim Peters for storage in his safe. Well, Jim, you're getting rich. You've got more gold stored in his safe than any prospect around here. That claim of mine is sure producing. Well, wait now. I'll give you every seed. You're handshaking. You're so excited about that granddaughter of yours coming. You can hardly write. I thought Sergeant Pristin would get here today. I hope they didn't strike any bad weather. You know, having a granddaughter to look after, really, it scares me a little. I'm glad I was able to get that cabin at the edge of the town. It wouldn't be right to put her here in that little back room we used to save. She'll like the cabin. I hope I can raise her right. I'll tell you the truth. I envy you a little. Maybe I can help you. Do you know any fairy tales, Jim? I see. It seems there was one about Cinderella and the three bears. No, that was Goldilocks, wasn't it? I see. I guess it was. And then there was the one about Red Riding Hood. Well, we better not tell her that one. She's liable to try talking to one of these Timberwolves up here. Here we are. That's Pristin now. She's here, Jim. She's here. Hello. That's you, Sergeant. Hey, now hurry in. It's cold. King's coming in with us. Well, see, there's your grandchild. Sure is. Sure, this is sunny. Come here, child. Ain't she pretty? You're my grandpa. Yep, I'm your grandpa. And you sure have grown since that last show, yes? I didn't remember your nice white whisk. It was special for you. You were too little to remember much about this. Here, I'll give you a nice big hug. Stop it, King. Stop it. Sally's all right. Zeke's not hurting her. King and Sally got to be very good friends on the way up here, and he's afraid you're going to hurt her, Zeke. No, I can't blame her much for worrying. Seen a hug of whiskery old warriors like Zeke. He's my grandpa, King, and I haven't seen him for years and years. Sally, you haven't met Jim here. He's no friend of mine. I guess you better call him Uncle Jim. Hello, Uncle Jim. Welcome to Miner's Creek, Sally. Well, yes, we better get you home right now. Where is home? I used to stay in the back room here at the store, but when I heard you was coming, I got a little cabin at the edge of town. I bought you a dog sled too. Maybe the sergeant will help you find a dog to pull you around. I sure will. Oh, the sergeant, if you could just get me a dog like King. Well, there aren't many like him around, but I'll tell you what I will do, Sally. Now, I'm going to be around here for a while tomorrow and we'll hitch King to the sled. Let him give you a ride to try it out. Oh, that'll be wonderful. Her baggage is all on my sled, Zeke. I'll take it over to your cabin now if you're ready. Would you like to bunk in with me for the night, sergeant? Well, yes, Jim, I would. I'll come right over as soon as I take Sally and Zeke home. There, come on, Sally. Let's go. The following morning, Sally was aglow with excitement as she sat on her sled. Sergeant Preston had hitched King to it and the great dog seemed to enjoy it as much as a child. He started off carefully at her command. I'm King. Be careful, honey. I will. I'm King. Don't worry about it, Zeke. King will be careful. Come on in, Sergeant. I want to talk to you about something. I thought you looked worried, Zeke. I got something I want to tell you. I had to see you alone. You should dump it. What's wrong? I want to pay back some money that I owe somebody and I don't know how to find them. Maybe I can help you. Who are they? Did you ever hear of an old man they called Scorpion Sam? Scorpion Sam? Seems to me I heard something about him in Dawson a long time ago. You probably heard he burned the dead in Shkepin. Oh, yes. That was it. I heard some men talking about him one time and I was in a trading post in Dawson. The only one who knew him was the owner of the store. He used to come in there for supplies. Did they say anything about him having any airs? I can't remember now. Seems to me there was something about a letter of his at the trading post. They were laughing about it. Said Sam was crazy and imagined he had a lot of gold or something. Would you be going up to Dawson soon? Well, yes. As a matter of fact, I'm leaving for there tomorrow morning. I'll be back in about a week. Would you mind finding out about it for me? Be glad to, Zeke. You see, I owe the airs some money and I want to pay it back. Oh, did you borrow it from Scorpion Sam? You might call it that. I'll tell you the whole story, Sergeant, when you get back from Dawson. It's a nice trading post you got here with Scorpion Sam's money. Please don't talk about Scorpion Sam with any customers to me. You think we're crazy? That's why we waited till the store was empty. You look pretty prosperous, Zeke. I'm making a good living. Jake and I lost our money. Yes, we should have bought a claim or a store instead of trying to double it fast on a roulette wheel. I'm sorry you lost your money. We thought maybe you'd lend us some. I've seen it how you're doing so well. I hear you've got a safe fall in gold. It isn't my gold. It belongs to the miners around here. I just keep it in a safe form. I'm sorry, but I can't let you have any money. I just bought a cabinet. It'd be too bad if the story leaked out about how you got enough to get a stock. It might not let you keep that granddaughter of yours. Get out of here. That gold belongs to friends of mine, people who trust me. You're not getting any of it. There's your customer. I'll get out. We're going, Zeke, but you better think it over. It was evening, almost a week later, when Jake and Bill stood across the street from Zeke's trading post. The temperature was dropping rapidly and Bill's face was getting numb. He swung his arms to keep the blood circulating. Gosh, Zeke, I can't stand here much longer. The temperature's dropping fast. I'm getting numb all over. You won't have to wait much longer. Everybody's getting home as quick as they can. This is the weather I've been waiting for. There goes the last customer out of Zeke's store. He's alone. Come on, he'll be closing the place. If he won't give us the combination of the safe, maybe we could blow it up. The place next door is too close. Don't worry, he'll give it to us. I hope this plan of yours works. There's only one way to find out. Guys, I have to get home right away. Would you like to? Yeah, it's us. We want to see you for a minute, Zeke. Hey, come back tomorrow. I've got to get home this Saturday. Yeah, the temperature is about 50 below right now and it's falling fast. That cabin of yours better have a big fire in it or it'll be mighty uncomfortable. What do you want? Get in the back room, Zeke. Bring that ladder and Bill so there won't be any light in the store. We don't want any customers disturbing us. I won't get in the back room. I have to get home. Maybe you need persuading. This is a hole up. I'll tell you when we get in the back room. All right, I'll go with you. I've got the ladder. Shut the door, Bill, so there's a light that won't show out there. I'll put something over that window, Bill, just in case someone gets curious. Sure. Here's a blanket. I have to get back to Sally. Sure you do, Zeke. We dropped in your cabin before it came. She was all alone and the fire in that store was getting low. Let me go, Zeke. I'll give you money. All you have to do is to give us a combination of your safe. What? Are you crazy? I won't give it to you. You won't, eh? Remember, Zeke, it's 50 below zero. The mercury is dropping fast. And we've got plenty of time to wait. Maybe it'll take an hour or two for that cabin to get there. But as I said, we've got plenty of time. You dirty cowards using Sally. You wouldn't. All freezing ain't a bad death. She'll just go to sleep. She'll probably climb in the bed to keep warm and then go to sleep. But without a fire, she'll never wake up. You dirty rats. All you have to do is give us that combination. I won't give it to you. All the men is close to me with their savings. They're all my friends. I won't give it to you. Sergeant Preston, returning to Miner's Creek from Dawson, had to pass Zeke's cabin on the trail. The temperature had dropped to 60 below, and the Mountie hurried his team and trotted behind a sled to keep warm. King, running ahead, turned off the trail and started toward the cabin where he knew he'd find a little girl he liked so well. Sergeant Preston stopped the team. Hey, King. Come back here, King. We can't stop now. Well, I suppose I'd better go in or you won't be happy. Sally, what's wrong? How are you going? Oh, you poor child. You're freezing here. Hop into bed. I'll put King up here beside you. He'll keep you warm till I get a fire going and we'll find your grandfather. Come close to me, King. He feels nice and warm. Now, I'll put these covers over you. Now, you stay there. I'll have this cabin warm but something must be wrong at the store. Don't worry, Sally. I'll find him. Leaving his dog team at Zeke's cabin, Sergeant Preston took King and walked to the trading post. There was no light in the store but the Mountie entered quietly with his big dog walking silently beside him. And then he saw the streak of light under the door of the back room. Quietly, he crept over to it and listened. Inside the room, Zeke sat facing Jake who held a gun in his hand. It's getting cold in here even with the fire going. The cabin is almost as cold as it is outside by this time. His granddaughter is half frozen. Please, let me go, Zeke. I'll give you all my own money. Everything in the cash box. We ain't innocent in chicken feed. We want the combination of that safe. If I give it to you, you'll probably kill me anyway so I couldn't tell who robbed me. Not necessarily, Zeke. Because if you did and we were caught, all about the time, we all split Scorpion Sam's money three ways. You wouldn't dare tell. So now come on, what's that combination? A mountain gun by one or the other. A mountain gun by one or the other. A mountain gun by one or the other. I'll take that gun. You just got here in town. You ain't got a thing on us, Mountie. We were just sitting here talking. Zeke won't make a charge against us. Will you, Zeke? Yes, I will. There's no need of that, Zeke. I overheard the conversation. You men were holding Zeke here against his will with the intention of robbing him while his granddaughter froze to death. I've got to get to it. She's all right, Zeke. I just left her in the cabin's warm. So you heard the conversation. And if you arrest us, you have to arrest Zeke, too. You men admitted taking Scorpion Sam's gold. So did Zeke. If you don't arrest him, we will testify that you're protecting him. He got his third of it. That's what I was going to tell you when you came back from Dawson. Unless you want to arrest Zeke, maybe you'd be smart to let us go. Even he's a friend of yours. Zeke hasn't committed a crime. He certainly has. Zeke asked me to find out about Scorpion Sam when I went to Dawson. He said he wanted to pay back some money. Yeah, he was just talking. I talked to Andy Mason who owns a trading post where Scorpion Sam used to get his supplies. He left a letter with Andy for his dad. Andy opened it and it said that everything he owned was to go to a man named Zeke. He didn't even know your last name, Zeke. How do you mean Scorpion Sam really liked me? Oh, as much as he liked anybody. Andy said they looked for you, but you'd left the country. To see there was nothing of Scorpion Sam's left since the cabinet burned down, but he didn't bother trying to trace you. In that gold there, I didn't steal it. It was mine. All you did was divide your own fortune three ways. Zeke, please don't press charges against us. We promise to leave the country. That's enough out of you. You're both under arrest. Watson King, the case of Scorpion Sam is closed. The challenge of the Yukon, the copyrighted feature, is brought to you each week at this time and all characters, names and incidents used are fictitious. Listen again next week to another exciting adventure during the days of the Gold Rush. El Prou speaking. This program came to you from Detroit. How tough can a guy get? If you're speaking of Ross Dolan, he's one of the toughest private eyes on the market when it comes to handling a denizen of the underworld. But Dolan, who's the hero of ABC's exciting Saturday Night Thriller, Ideal in Crime, doesn't rely entirely on Braun to smash a crime case. Dolan's IQ is way up there in the A1 category. He's smarter and shrewder than the cleverest gang leader. William Gargan, popular stage and screen actor who plays the role of Detective Ross Dolan, fits the part like a glove. You've probably seen Gargan do some pretty fancy celluloid sleuthing. Well, Gargan is just as good on the air and makes Ross Dolan come alive as he should. An easygoing guy who can turn hard as nails. Be sure to join Ross Dolan when he takes a crack at another crime case on Ideal in Crime. It will be heard tonight over most of these ABC stations. This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.