 The challenge of the Yukon on King Wonder dog King swiftest and strongest of us holy dogs blaze 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 Monopolis who preserved law and order in the new Northwest country where the greed for well-in-power Led to frequent violence and bloodshed but in spite of the odds against them Sergeant Preston as Wonder dog King met that challenge and justice ruled triumphant Old Popperymen loved practical jokes one evening in the gold horseshoe bar in Dawson Jim the owner protected violently when he discovered pop sawing one of the chair to the table where two other men were seated Hey, you cook what's on the legs off that chair? What do you think you're doing? Keep your shirt on Jim. I'll fix it for you tomorrow. We just want to have a little fun You have to show up my chairs to have fun pop wants it to see how he picks his chair So it will fall apart when someone sits up You'll get a good laugh on it is Jim now set up some more drinks for Bill and Pete here All right, but you see if you fix that chair tomorrow ain't good enough on this it is You don't seem to like your jokes too well pop Jim's all right. He'll get a good laugh out of it when it happens Hey, it's ready Now we'll just let it stay right here at our table and when someone comes in we'll ask him to sit down with us Bill this is a pretty fine bar. I Don't know whether we better start one here in this town or not with all the competition We're gonna start one anyway, but these places are better gold mines than you'd find anyway You don't get cold taking the pay dirt out of them. Oh, you two gonna open the bar. You say we're planning to Know you can get the place to open one this town ain't nothing but bars Anyway, you'll have lots of competition. You get customers. Don't worry You won't get them away from Jimmy when this place is the most popular one in town Customers have been coming here ever since the town began and once they get used to a place Nothing outside a dynamite can get them to go anyplace else Huh, no say sit down and rest your feet a minute Jim That would have been a good one if you'd have sat down and busted it after watching me fix it And if I hadn't looked at your face this then I'd have done it pop Leave for looking your eye that you have every time you play one of those jokes Oh Say this sergeant Preston, he's a Monty boys. No, let's get him in here and sit down at this chair Hope he can take a joke sure we can he's alright. Oh a person. Hey sergeant. Come on over here I want you to meet some new boys that had just come to town This year is Bill Cummins and Pete Johnson. They're gonna open up a new bar here in town. Oh boy No, sit down sergeant right here in this chair with us. Why uh, thanks Bob I'd be glad to sit it to a table But I think I'll trade Right on this chair you had fixed Good for you Was fixed oh, I've seen your troops before pop and one look at that face of yours and you invited me to sit down And I knew something was up My face again. Well, I got to learn to control it. Oh, well everybody enjoyed it anyway, except me Now let's pull up a good chair and continue to Did I ever tell you about the time I put the pole cat and Jack under sleeping bag It was three weeks later and Bill and Pete stood in their empty bar room a glom look on their faces We're gonna lose all the money we put into this bill. I Don't see why we suck so much into it anyway. We're stuck with it now. We got to make it pay I ain't got another dime to put in it Don't see why we don't get more customers just because they're all going over to the gold horseshoe That's why places packed every night Even free drinks won't bring them here Well, we got one cut there's old Papa Raymond. Hello pop Hey, boys So I'd look in and see how he was getting along. Oh, we're doing all right The sharks don't look like it. Well, this place is as empty as folks say my head is we can't be busy all the time We've hardly got it started. Well as long as you've got plenty of capital Maybe you'll get some business buying by but just like I said you'll have to go something to get folks away from the gold horseshoe It's crowded all the time follow up any new jokes lately pop No, everybody's on the most of them ain't had a speck of fun. You know, I heard of a good one once Montreal You did What was it? Well, I don't think you could get away with it pop people know you play them all the time There's lots of I don't know very well and a brand new trick would fool. Well soon This one was done by sort of a crazy fella. Yeah, didn't have much money And he was always trying to bump drinks from the bar Finally they wouldn't give him any more Then one day he came in with a stick of dynamite in his mouth like a cigar And when he got in he lit it Lifted dynamite and what happened? Well, sir, everybody fell over each other getting out of the place even the bartenders They all ran as far away from there as they could get She blowed Everybody waited nothing happens. Well, finally someone got up nerve enough to peek in And here was old Nick sitting on the bar drinking out of every pot. He could get his hands Oh, but where was the dynamite burning on the bar beside him? It was just a candle. He'd fixed up with a fuse look just like dynamite Leave me. We sure felt silly coming back into that place. Well, now that's what I call a good joke Suffering snakes would I like to pull that one? That would catch everybody in the place Nobody thinks you're that crazy pop Now you just don't know how far I'd go to pull a good joke like that I can act crazy for a week or two. Can't I and you two boys could sort of tell folks I was getting a little bad Well, you wouldn't want to get a reputation. Oh, they don't know he was pretending for the sake of playing the joke Why sure that that would be half now you boys help me fix that fuse on a candle and I'll do the rest Sure, we'll fix it up for you pop. I'll take a few days to act funny and get them all wondering and then I'll do it Fine, we'll get the stuff ready. I'd start right now I'm going right over to the horseshoe bond start acting funny The idea bill Since when you've been interested in practical jokes, this is practical alright, but it won't be a joke to the horseshoe bar What do you mean? I mean we're gonna wreck our competition. I Still don't get it when pop goes in there smoking what he thinks is a candle the joke's gonna be on him The last one he'll ever play what we're gonna give pop a real stick of dynamite That of a fake one, but Billy without it blowing to peace and it'll also blow the gold horseshoe bar to pieces And we won't have to worry anymore about competition, but if someone finds out can they Pop won't be there to tell him who thought of it And if he's gonna act crazy Well It all fits in see Hey look at pop over there What you think he's doing looks look as if he's picking flowers only there ain't no flowers. What you doing pop? I made good buck with him daisies butter and sometimes I feed him to my off stretch our stretch He's going by me Look at pop coming down the stage He's got his park on backwards and carrying his cat. Oh, why is he doing that funny dance? Is he drunk? No, he never touches a drop anymore, but everybody says he's crazy's alone. Oh, I can't be out of his mind Hello there pop Pop you know it's sergeant the dog's name is king. Why don't you put your cap on pop? It's cold I have to keep my eggs warm your eggs see in my cat She's got fried eggs in this cabinet. Good night. Oh get off the track of that chain He's completely off his beam. No, that's an act all pops up to something again The following evening in the gold horseshoe bar there was the usual crowd of merry-makers as Sergeant Preston stood talking to Jim the owner with King at his side pop Raymond came in He wore a queer peaked hat his Parker was worn with the back in front and in his hand was a long stick that resembled a candle He put it into his mouth at a Johnny angle as if it's a large cigar Again Look he's acting crazy or never what's that in his mouth looks like a stick He's got a stick of dynamite look out. Well, I have to light it first. Then I'll give you all a pop All right pop, we know it's a joke I've got it back King pop wasn't trying to hurt me There the fuse is out Lucky I caught that candle pop. You might have burned King. He didn't hurt you did he nobody done this scared me to death I forgot all about him. Yes. He didn't know I was only He thought you're really gonna hit Preston with that candle. It's time. I play a joke. I'm gonna wait for your out of town Preston What I wait, what's the matter? What's wrong, Sergeant? He looks scared. I am scared We've been playing catch with a real stick of dynamite. This isn't a candle. Oh, what you mean? It's real it's a big stick of dynamite with a regular cap and fuse on it Oh, and I had it in my mouth and was pretending to smoke As soon as this chair pop your knees are given away my knees are a little wobbly too a few more seconds We'd all have been blown to bits Pop you'd better tell us something about this joke of yours It won't my idea. It was Pete and Bill. You mean the men who started that new bar down the street Yeah, they they fixed it for me. They they said it was just a candle made to look like dynamite Dirty Chicago's they were trying to wreck my bar. I'm going over there and turn them inside out. Wait a minute, Jim This wasn't just a plan to wreck the gold horseshoe. It was attempted murder I'll take care of Pete and Bill. Come on, King Tell you Bill something must have gone wrong. We could have heard the explosion Crazy old fool probably just waved it in their faces and scared them out Most likely waiting they come back in again 40 lights that figure you can scare them twice. Well, I don't like it listen Did you hear something at the back door? Oh, calm down. You're just nervous when I'm getting my park on and if anyone comes in I'm getting out fast. Why are you crazy? We run away now. They'll suspect us and we get oh What hi Sergeant Preston What do you mean I wouldn't go out that back door if I were you Pete All right, Bill get back there with him. I don't know what this is all about Yes, what I got one and King got the other all right King back Get up Pete. This scheme didn't work out. You're both under arrest keep this dog away from me If that dog hadn't jumped me when he did we wouldn't even be here to arrest your weasels. That's right, Bob And maybe this is cure-do of practical joking These copyrighted dramas originate in the studios of WXY Z Detroit and all characters names places and incidents used Are fictitious they are sent to you each week at the same time Hugh Holder speaking This is the Michigan radio network