 The challenge of the Yukon It's Yukon King Swiftest and strongest lead dog of the Northwest Placing the trail for Sergeant Preston of the Northwest Mountain Police in his relentless pursuit of lawbreakers on King Gold gold discovered in the Yukon a stampede to the Klondike in the wild race for riches Back to the days of the gold rush with Sergeant Preston and his wonder dog Yukon King As they beat the challenge of the Yukon One day in early winter Sergeant Preston was traveling north along the Yukon trail on his way to Dawson City As he neared his destination He sighted a boy trudging toward him from the direction of town The boy was accompanied by a big Newfoundland dog which carried a small bundle of supplies strapped to his back Sergeant Preston halted his team and hailed the boy For your heading I'm Sergeant Preston my name's Davey Martin where to know you Davey was your home Well, I don't really have a home at least not anymore. Oh relative just my mother She's in a charity hospital down in Seattle. How'd you get into the territory? Well, I worked my passage up to Skagway as cabin boy on a ship And I worked as a dishwasher for a couple of months until I earned enough money to get over the pass and go on to Dawson I suppose you wanted to get in on the gold. Yes, sir. I thought if I could strike it rich I could pay my mother's doctor bills and buy a home for us but Well, when I got to Dawson I found out I couldn't even get a miners license until I'm 18. How old are you? 16 What do you intend to do go back to the states? Oh, yes, sir This friend I'm going to visit. It's a dog freighter. He said I could travel with him on his next trip down to Skagway From there. I'm hoping I can work my way back to Seattle. Oh Well, you don't seem to have many supplies better. Let me give you a few things. Oh, no No, thanks sergeant when I when I run short I can work for my now. Don't argue son I'm just coming back from patrol. So I won't need the rest of these supplies Overriding the boys objection sergeant Preston took the rest of his own supplies and added them to the small bundle Which the Newfoundland dog was carrying gosh sergeant. I I don't know what to say. Well, don't say anything It's fine dog. You have David. Oh, yes, sir. I sure think so skipper and I are pals Aren't we skip old boy? Oh sure. We are boy Oh, but say sergeant if I didn't have skipper. I sure like to have that big lead dog of yours What's his name King he and I are pals to my tweaking Well, I'd better be pushing on to town Davey take care of yourself son. Best of luck. Thanks sergeant So long. Bye Davey line the team boy When sergeant Preston arrived in Dawson he drove to mounted police headquarters and unhitched his team Then he reported to inspector Conrad Sergeant Preston reporting back from patrol sir. Well, hello there sergeant. It's good to see you and King again. Thank you, sir pull up a chair Anything of importance happen while you're out on patrol. No, sir. Just the usual routine I'll make out a written report soon as I get back to my desk very well I'm glad to have you back at this time sergeant. Oh have another assignment for me, sir Yes, and I think it's the kind of assignment that you can handle better than anyone else Since you've been gone a number of robberies have occurred on the Yukon Trail any particular place Well, they've happened at various points between here in the Stewart River But apparently they've all been the work of the same men again three men to be exact any descriptions practically nothing Sergeant they always wear bandanas so none of the victims have seen their faces However, the people who have been robbed all agree that the leader is a heavy-set fellow Apparently quite a bit older than the other two robbers perhaps a man in his 60s. It's not much to go on sir No, it isn't but it's all we have I'll get you the file on the case and spend the rest of the afternoon reading over the reports on the robbers Tomorrow morning. We'll have another talk very well, sir At that same moment in a cabin on the Yukon Trail three men were seated around a table One was an elderly man while the other two were considerably younger But all were tough looking hard-bitten individuals In one corner of the room a tired-looking woman was peeling potatoes. Well, how about it for what's this job? He got planned for tonight. Yeah, you said you were gonna tell us about it What I'm planning to do is none of your business just 10 of those spuds you're peeling But it's your own good. I'm thinking of him yours are the boys Why it's hardly been a week since you pulled off that last row. Nobody's asking you what you think Yeah, you better keep out of this more But you mark my word you better not keep on this way You shut up Getting back to business tonight. We're gonna hold up Sullivan's Roadhouse Sullivan's Roadhouse That's four or five miles south of Dawson. That's right Frank not such a big place But they do plenty of business They've got bunks for about 20 men and on top of that There's usually a bunch of sourdough's hanging around the bar every night. We ought to be able to make a pretty good haul Yes, we'll do all right. Don't worry about that. Yeah, this ought to be a good night for two Looks at that sky out there. There'll be snow coming down before dark cover our tracks Yeah, it's just what I'm thinking but we'll take extra precautions just in case what do you mean? When we leave the Roadhouse we'll strike north so if anyone takes after us They'll think we're heading for Dawson. What's the idea that we want to get back here the cab will have to itself shut up We like explain We'll only head north for a mile or so and we'll come to a branch trail I know about it cuts off to the east. Yeah, I know that trail when we get there We'll turn off to the east and circle back here to the cab. Oh It's a pretty smart idea Paul what time you think we ought to get started to hit the trail right after supper That'll get us up to the Roadhouse around 10 o'clock Everything goes right. We ought to be back here with a swag about two o'clock in the morning Meanwhile Davey and his dog skipper continued steadily southward along the trail as the day wore on the sky grew More and more overcast by nightfall it had begun the snow quite heavily Davey left the trail and scrambled up to a sheltered spot among some big rocks on the hillside He was too tired to gather wood for a fire and so after feeding his dog He contended himself with a cold supper Snow's coming down harder than ever that winds awful strong, too Yeah, I wonder if we ought to turn around head back to that last cabin we passed. I Said it's a long way back Hey, someone's coming along the trail. Let's take a look Climbing out of his sheltered spot among the rocks Davey peered down to the snow-filled darkness Below him. He could make out three travelers with dog teams passing along the trail There's three of them skip. Maybe he can tell us how far it is to the next cabin Hey down there. Wait a minute. I want to talk to you But the north wind blew back the sound of Davey's voice and he couldn't make himself heard above the barking of the Huskies A moment later the three travelers had disappeared from view Didn't even hear me Well skip I suppose we may as well keep on the way we're going we've probably come to a cabin or a road house Come on The wind blew harder and harder before long the snowfall began to take on the aspects of a blizzard After pushing on through the darkness for some time Davey finally came to a cabin Good evening, ma'am What are you doing out on the trail in this kind of weather, sonny? I was on my way to visit a friend, but the trip's taking longer than I expected The snowstorm makes it hard going Reckon you'd better come in and warm up a bit. Oh, thank you. Would it be aren't if my dog came in, too? Thanks, come on Better take off your Parker and muckluck yes, ma'am a few moments later when Davey was seated by the fire the woman said I suppose you'd like me to fix your bite to eat. Oh, no, thanks, ma'am I stopped along the trail and had something to eat, but I would like to ask you a favor Oh What is it? Would you mind letting me stay here at your cabin overnight? I was afraid you were gonna ask me that well I could just stretch out here by the stove. Oh taint a question away. You'd sleep. We've got plenty of room as far as that goes The three men live here, sonny, and they don't like strangers Never affect your lucky. You didn't run into them. They just left here about an hour so ago But they're the ones that went by while I was eating supper were they heading north never you mine with Aheading the point is they're coming back if they were to find you here believe me there'd be trouble But golly, ma'am, you know what the weather's like outside a regular blizzard. I know that's sunny and I feel plumb Sorry for you. Are there any other cabins near here? Well, no not right close by Here's place. I know always about four or five miles from here Garcy that's a long way to go to my day long way Especially in weather like this. Well, don't you suppose those men you are telling me about would Well stretch your point and let me stay here seen what it's like outside Oh dad rat it on. I don't know what to say like it's not hammer flamey alive, but oh Well, I just haven't got the heart to turn you out on the night like this. Yeah, you mean you let me stay Yeah, I reckon so. Oh golly. Thanks a lot. Don't go thanking me just yet young fella The night's not over and those men folk of mine aren't back yet when they do get here You may be sorry you didn't clear out while you had the gents Later that night the three robbers arrived at Solomon's Roadhouse It's the first move first of all We'll get our bandanas tied over our faces The windows of the Roadhouse were a glow with light Several sleds have been left standing in front of the building with their teams still in hearts now what right? You get your gun out and cover the door in case anyone comes outside Okay, but you and me will cut these huskies out of their faces so no one can follow us when we make our getaway A short time later the three men prepared to enter the Roadhouse with drawn guns Alright, let's go Get your hands up all yet Anyone else Good work. Good work. All right, you sourdose line up against that wall and toss your pokes on the floor After collecting all the guns and valuables and forcing the owner to open the safe so they could clear out the contents the three crooks Prepared to make their getaway Frank was carrying the guns which they had taken from the customers in a big bag which the crooks have brought along for just that purpose All right boys. I reckon we've got everything. Let's march and don't anybody try stopping us Even in the snow right Get that stuff on the sled Bert then you get on hurry up now As the three crooks swung off down the trail the doors of the Roadhouse burst open and the customers came pouring out Sullivan the owner of the Roadhouse was in the lead They're heading for Dawson. They've cut loose all our huskies. Hey, look, there's a bag with all the guns in it Come on. Let's get them at least we can take a few shots. Sure. There's no use gents. They're out of range What are we gonna do Luke hurry up and get some more harness and Joe so we can get these teams hitched up again Then we'll see if we can't trail them to even skunk As soon as their teams were harnessed a group of men from the Roadhouse started after the crooks But they soon realized the pursuit was hopeless After giving up the chase Luke Sullivan sent his assistant Joe Hurley into Dawson to notify the Mounties in response to the summons Sergeant Preston and Constable Alex Ross arrived at the Roadhouse Accompanied by a police surgeon to attend to the man who had been shot during the hold up Luke Sullivan spoke to the Mounties. I suppose yours told you all about the hold up as he sergeant He's giving us the bear of facts Luke says the robbery was committed by three men Yep, that's right. And if he asked me it was them same three crooks They've been pulling off all the hold ups along the Yukon Trail these last couple of months What do you look like? Sure. We got no look at their faces. They were wearing bandanas Can't you give us any description of them? Well, they were wearing drill parkers and they were big fellas all three of them What about the leader? Stop to think of it. He seemed a quite bit older than the other two Almost an elderly Jen, you might say in case you're probably right Luke Corresponds to what we know about the three-minute committed the other hold up Yeah, me and some of the other boys took after him, but was no use whatsoever By the time we got our teams hitched up the snow had covered their trail We couldn't tell the fresh tracks for the hour. They certainly picked a good night for a hold up Do you think there's any chance of King training them sergeant? I doubt it in the snowstorm Especially without a scent guide of some kind. What do you mean by a scent guide? Something the robbers have worn or handled Say I may have something at that What hold on a minute, I'll show you Maybe this will be what you need a sack What'd you get this? Well when them three-spiled Peans held us up They collected all the customers guns in this sack, then they dumped it outside in the snow when they made their getaway I don't know Luke. I suppose the customers all handled a sack when they recovered their guns Sure, and quite a few of them did sergeant with that spoil it. I'm afraid so. However, we'll see here King Get the scent fella King sniffed the sack carefully it bore the scent of a number of different human beings And there was no way of knowing which one his master wanted him to follow the great dog was puzzled. How about it boy? What do you think sergeant doesn't look too promising Luke when King gets a definite scent? I can usually tell he acts eager to be on the trail It's not the way he's acting now probably Confused it didn't rouse it like I suppose. Oh, maybe maybe not We know that the scent of at least one of the robbers is on this sack If King should pick up that scent later on he'll remember it King my boy if he can track down them robbers I'll buy you the biggest steak he ever saw Joe Hurley said they hit a north toward Dawson when they made their getaway that they did constable All right, Alex. We may as well hit the trail right sergeant. Here's wishing you luck. Thanks Luke Up front King line the team Blizzard had somewhat abated by the time the three crooks arrived back at their cabin Oh Give me that lesson carrying a slip. Oh, no one hits the dog. All right. We like it for you Last and all I can't find the ladder. What do you got it? No, you were carrying it on your slate I remember that for sure just to fall it off somewhere along the trail No matter There's another lantern hanging in the woodshed go get that one. All right. Come on Bert. Help me carry the swag inside What in tarnation are you doing up at this time of night? Well, I told you before not to set up for us. We're pulling a job Go ahead and put the swag in the table Bert will count it up later on. Yeah, sure The reason I waited up for you is that we've got a visitor a visitor Don't go roaring so loud you wake him up. Who is he? Oh, just a boy sleeping in the back room in Frank's bus and I've told you a hundred times I don't want no strangers poking the noses around here I couldn't turn him away nothing weather like this. I don't give a hang what kind of weather it is He's not staying around here, but there's no place else. He could go. That's his lookout I'm gonna boot him out of here right now now. Wait a minute, Paul What's the matter with you? Don't you think it's kind of risky kicking him out this way? What are you talking about? Yeah, I mean if we kick him out now, he's not gonna forget about it Like as Nadia tell folks how us three came home in the middle of the night and turned him out in this blizzard Well, what if he does suppose the kid blabs to someone and then met someone here's how Sullivan's Roadhouse was robbed tonight by three men They might figure out that we did it Hey That's under I never thought of that Grab up the lamp and we'll go back and see if he's sleeping a good idea Davy had been awakened by the sound of Ham's angry voice and after hearing what Burt had said he huddled terrified under the blankets He decided to pretend that he was asleep His dog Skipper who was stretched out in the floor beside the bunk looked up with a growl as Ham and Burt appeared in the doorway He's asleep all right dead to the world. Come on go back out in the front room No, I'm not gonna turn him out, but we may have to get rid of you mean Yes, kill him. That's what I mean. Holy smoke party. You know what you're saying Certainly, I know what I'm saying Whether we kick him out or not He knows the three of us were gone somewhere for half the night like you say Could be mighty unhealthy for us if that news ever got circulated around You can't do it. Shut up and let me think If you hadn't been such a fool, he wouldn't be in this mess. I've gone it. I don't like the idea killing him We can get away with all these robberies, but murder is something else. What are you talking about? You plugged a man at the roadhouse tonight. I just winged him. It wasn't murder Besides if we did kill him, what do we do with his body? Buried somewhere. What do you suppose? Yeah What happens when he turns up missing? For all we know a dozen different people saw him head in this way. The Mounties might be able to trace him right here to this cabin Reckon they might at that. I don't think the kids likely to go shooting off his mouth Not if we don't turn him out or do anything to make him suspicious. That's right I'm not so sure about that. I say we better not do anything hasty Let's sleep on it first. The kid will still be here tomorrow morning Maybe you're right. I'll think it over But if I still feel the same way in the morning, I'm gonna do away with the kid whether the rest of you like it or not Meanwhile, Sergeant Preston and Constable Ross had arrived at the branch trail Where the three crooks it turned off in order to circle back to their cabin Brant's trail sergeant, I don't know Alex might be worthwhile to follow it and see if King can pick up that Scent this trail circles back to the south Wouldn't make sense for them to head toward Dawson if they wanted to go in the opposite direction I might have done it on purpose to mislead us Looks like he's found something just a second fella. I'll light a lantern. We'll go over and see what it is Moment later the sergeant and Constable Ross bent down to examine King's fire Yes The depth of the snow under it. I say it was dropped here sometime tonight Supposed to belong to the whole up man possible They did use this branch trail the lantern may have rolled off one of their sleds while they were making a turn Oh, wait a minute. What's the matter? There's a name painted on the bottom of the lantern. I'm Wally. You know who he is. I certainly do met him last summer He and his sons were rafting logs down River to Dawson before the freezer. How many signs does he have to know? Both grown men holy mackerel in that case. Yes, they could be the three men who held up the roadhouse Where do they live? Cabins over there. Come on Alex. We'll go there and check up on them Back at the cabin the crooks had routed Davy out of bed so that Frank Wiley could occupy his own bunk Mrs. Wiley fixed some blankets on the floor by the stove and Davy stretched out willingly with skipper decide He waited for over an hour until the sound of snoring from the back room told him that the family was asleep Then he whispered to his dog gosh skip. We gotta get out of here report to the police Those three men are crooks. I heard everything. They said we wake them morning. They may kill us Get quiet. Don't make any noise or they may wake up Getting out of the blankets Davy dressed himself as quietly as possible then he tiptoed toward the door. Come on skip Sometime later Bert Wiley was awakened by the sound of the door swinging open and shut Lasted all the wind must have blown the door up Better get up and fix it Robbing his way through the darkness Burt went out to the front room and shot the door as he did so He was struck by a sudden suspicion Looking around he saw by the red glow of the stove that Davy's blankets were empty. Holy mackerel the kid's gone Hey, Paul wake up Wake up for Pete's sake It's a kid. He's gone Go on. Yeah, that's what I said. He's run out on us. You must have heard us talking about killing him Holy smoke if he spreads that story around our goose is cooked. I told you we should have killed him Hell is no use griping about it now. We got to go after him and stop it. Yeah, you're right The snow is let up. We ought to be able to track him easy enough. You wake up Frank and we'll get started right After hitching up their teams the three crooks started out in pursuit of Davy The snow had stopped falling and the glow of the full moon combined with the flashing northern lights made it easy to follow his footprints Instinctively the boy had headed back toward Dawson the headquarters of the mounted police For nearly an hour the crooks followed his tracks and at last they caught sight of their quarry in the distance There he is up ahead and he's seen us to climb up the hillside A few minutes later the crooks reached the spot where Davy and his dog had started scrambling up the rocky hillside All right, kid better come down here if you know what's good for you In that case we'll come up and get you come on as the three men began climbing up the hillside Davy managed to dislodge a rock and send it rolling down toward them That's the play rough does he now fix that brat right now with a bullet. Hey, what's it? Look someone's coming around the bend can't plug the kid now Bert Shallow give us away gotta take care of him somehow looks like we're in trouble no matter what we do Get your gun out Frank you and me you'll keep our sights trained down there in the trail So we can spray lead the minute someone comes in sight in the meantime Maybe Bert can scare the kid into keeping quiet. I get your gun to me ready Frank As Frank and ham drew their guns Davy realized that whoever was coming would be heading straight into an ambush The crooks had turned momentarily and were looking down toward the bend in the trail Davy acted fast with a whispered command. He said skip charging down toward them Then he yelled out a shout of warning Bert shot with wild in the air as he toppled backward under skips attack at that moment while the crooks were still in confusion Sergeant Preston and Constable Ross came around the band with guns at the ready Holy Mackerel par them only got him down Frank The two Mounties had shot first and the two crooks tumbled face downward on the slope All right, baby, I have him covered These two we shot are both unconscious sergeant will attend to them later Alex. All right, mister on your feet Now turn around and hold out your hands and cover him Alex, right sergeant Who are these fellas? Are they the ones we were looking for? Yes, Alex This man's Bert Wiley the other two are his father and his brother guys sergeant You arrived just in time. They were going to kill me your shot of warning saved our lives, baby How'd you get mixed up with these men? Well, I I stopped off at their cabin tonight on account of the blizzard. Mrs. Wiley was there alone She let me stay but when these three men got back her husband was real mad at her for letting me in Oh, it seems he and his sons had just robbed a roadhouse or they were right. Yes Mr. Wiley wanted to kill me for fear I might give him away, but finally they decided to wait till morning They thought I was asleep sergeant, but I heard everything they said So I waited till he went to bed and then I sneaked away from the cabin I headed back to Dawson so I could get word to the police, but they came after me and Well, you know the rest well Davey you've had a bad time of it since you came to the Yukon But now I think your luck's turned What do you mean as a $5,000 reward posted for the capture of these crooks? I'm going to see that it's paid to you 5,000 Collie sergeant Oh, but gee you're the ones who captured them We might both have been killed if you hadn't shouted that warning and the skipper hadn't taken care of bird Wiley Besides the Northwest Mountain police doesn't accept your war as Davies of the 5,000 will be all yours Gee with that money. I'll pay mother's doctor bills and we'd be able to have a home of our own Gosh sergeant. I can hardly wait to see her and tell her the news. I imagine she'll be mighty happy just seeing you again, baby By that time these three will be behind bars where they belong in this case will be closed In our next adventure It was early in the morning when ace Martin owner of the cafe rushed in the sergeant Preston's cabin sergeant Sergeant Preston, what's wrong Martin? It's my partner. He's been murdered. His furniture is wrecked This is a smashed lambs are busted and blood all over his cabin. All right, King. Let's go boy Sergeant Preston doesn't realize that he is to oppose a crook of exceptional cunning One who lies in wait with a loaded gun to kill anyone who successfully follows his trail Be sure to hear this exciting adventure next Saturday These radio dramas a feature of the challenge of the Yukon Incorporated are created by George W. Trendall produced by Trendall Campbell Enterprises Directed by Fred flower day and supervised by Charles D. Livingston the part of sergeant Preston is played by Paul Sutton They are brought to you every Saturday and Sunday