 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 Monarch Police in his relentless pursuit of lawbreakers. On King, on you huskies! 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 meet the challenge of the Yukon. David Mellow had gone to the Yukon to make his fortune, taking with him his young wife and little son George. They had staked a small claim a few miles from Selkirk where they hoped to make a strike within the year and then return to the States. But two years had gone by and though the claim had shown promise, the small amount of gold David and Helen Mellow received from their claim was barely enough to keep them in food. One day, David entered the cabin disconsolently. Hello, honey. Helen, we... we can't go on like this. We just can't. Now, David, don't worry so. We've managed up to now and sooner or later I'm sure you'll make a strike. Oh, honey, it's no use trying to kid ourselves. The summer will soon be over and another hard winter will be here. The past two years have been bad enough. Well, I admit it has been trying for all of us, especially George. It's very lonesome during the winter for an eight-year-old boy. Helen, I... I've decided to sell out and take you and George back to Seattle before the winter comes. Oh, David, after all we've gone through, it seems that you're ashamed to have to give it up. I guess it is the only way. I'll go to Selkirk right now and see what I can get for the mine. Where's George now? He's taking a nap in the other room. Well, I... I guess a little fellow will be glad to get away from this country. I'll go saddle my horse and go to town. I'll be back as soon as I can. That afternoon, after George had awakened from his nap, he and his mother heard someone rain to a stop outside. Oh, Mom! I'm with that Sergeant Preston and King! Hello, George! Hello, King! I'm glad to see you. It seems to be glad to see you, too, George. Sergeant Preston, I'm so glad you stopped by. Two commands. Thanks, Mrs. Mellow. Come on, King. What are you holding under your jacket, Sergeant Preston? It's a surprise, isn't it? Well, I guess you might call it that, George. Something I brought for you. That is, if your mother and dad will let you keep it. Oh, golly, what is it? Let me see. There it is. Easy, King. Oh, Mom, look! A kitten! A little yellow kitten! Isn't it cute? May I keep it, Mom? May I? Well... Yes, of course, George. Let me hold it. Will you, Sergeant? Please? Sure. Here it is. Oh, gosh! I'll take it in the other room and see if it'll play with me. Come on, King! You, uh... you're hesitated about letting George keep the kitten, Mrs. Mellow. If you'd rather he didn't have it, I can take it into town. Oh, no, no, no, it's all right, Sergeant. It's just that, well... David wants to sell out and go back to the States as soon as possible. Oh? Oh, of course I want George to have the kitten. If we go, we can take it with us. Listen to him in there. It's the first time I've heard him laugh so happily in a long time. Well, I guess the boy's been rather lonely out here. But, uh, tell me about David's plans. Why does he want to leave so suddenly? Because we just can't face another winter, Sergeant. At first, it looked as if the claim would really pay off. We've been here two years. We're getting less and less from the claim. We owe a big bill at the trading post that must be paid. I'm sorry to hear things aren't working out for you and David. Don't mind. In spite of the hardships we've grown to like for you, Cunny. I can't stand to see David so discouraged. If he can get a fairly good price for everything, we'll go back to Seattle and start over. Well, where is David now? He went to town to make a sale. I see. Well, I'll probably see him in town. I'll go along now, but I'll come back to see you before you leave for the States. King, come along, fella. I can't have to leave now. King and I were having fun with the king. He's not a bit afraid of King either. The king wouldn't harm him, George. Oh, uh, I got the kitten at the cabin way down the trail. Thought you'd like to have it. Collie, yes. I'm gonna call him Nugget because he looks like a nugget of gold. Nugget, eh? That's a good name. Nugget as big as that kitten would really be worth a lot. Yes, it would. Hey, David, in town, tell him to hurry home. I'm anxious to know how he made out. Oh, I'll tell him, Mrs. Melo. Goodbye. Have a long day. Bye, Snarkin. Good day, blocky. Easy enough. Get up there. Meantime, in town, David entered the trading post and approached the owner, Mike Casey. Well, now, how's everything up your way, Dave? That's so good, Mike. Fact is, I've decided to sell out and go back to the States. So that's it, eh? Have you had an offer? No, I haven't. The bank isn't interested, and I was hoping that maybe you'd give me an offer, Mike. Now, look, me boy. There's many a no-good claim I've taken just to settle a bill. And without meaning to be mentioned it, you understand? There's a great large account you have on me. Books yourself? I know, I know, Mike, but... Besides the claim, I have the horse in the cabin. Sure, and the horse isn't much to look at. But up here, a horse is a horse, eh? And as for the cabin, every claim has some kind of a cabin on it. And I can't sell a cabin when a claim is no good. Then you mean you won't... Now, look, lad, I'll wipe out your account and give you $150 to boot. Which is all I can offer at the most. But $150 won't even pay the fare for one person back to Seattle. Maybe not, which is the best I can offer, David. I might decide. Maybe someone will make you a better one. But then you'll have close to $250 to pay me on your account. That means I'll have to get better than $350 to top your offer. Yep, that's right. Well, I'll let me offer a stand-off, if you want to look around. I don't know what to do. I have to get enough money to get back to Seattle somehow. Eh, are you sure your claim's given out in time? Well, maybe if you stayed another season... No, no, it wouldn't be any use, Mike. I just go deeper in debt. I'll consider your offer and come back later to let you know. So long for now. After David left the trading post, a man who had been lodging with an earshot came over to speak to Mike Casey. Say, isn't that fellow's name Dave Mello? Yep, that's right. From what I overheard, it seems like he's having a little hard luck. That he is, mister. Poor chap, he thinks he's going to get someone to buy that. No good claim he is. But he won't find anyone around here that's fooling up to do it, Suzai. Well, I thought I heard you make him an offer. Oh, that. I offered to wape out his account, which is running close to $250, which I won't be able to collect anyway. And along with that, I offered $150 cash, just so the poor laddard have something in his pocket to help him out his short time. Oh, I see. Oh, sure. And the whole business, including that horse of his, isn't worth a hundred. Oh, it's as bad as that, huh? It's a mighty poor claim. You can take my word for it. Where's Mello's claim located? Well, now, you go out the main trail, north of here as far as the branch trail that leads towards the foothills. Mello has one of them claims on that off trail near the ridge. Oh, yeah, I think I know where it's located. Nobody else is working any claims over that way now. That's right. They aren't. They all give up long ago. But Dave Mello was determined to make his pay. I could have told him he wouldn't do long before this. Well, that's too bad he wasted his time like he did. I don't suppose he's got a partner in with him. No, he's working it all. Of course, he's got his way from little boy out there. Oh, I see. Well, I'll be getting along. See you later. Sure. Come in again, mister. A short time later, the man who had left the trading post entered a cabin on the edge of town. Hi, Lou. Where you been? Got some planning to do. Remember? I remember. All right, Jake. Don't worry. It's a matter of fact. I think we got our plans just about complete. That is, they will be complete after we have a talk with a young fellow who's running around town trying to sell a worked-out claim. Who is he? What's he got to do with our plans? Name is Dave Mello. I'll tell you how he fits into things after we have a talk with him. Where is he now? When do we see him? I saw him heading over to the cafe a while ago after he left Mike's store. We'll wait a while. And we'll mosey over and introduce ourselves to him. I don't get what this is all about. You will, Jake. Just leave it to me. I got my reasons. And I think you'll agree later that Dave Mello is going to be a big help to us. Yes, a great big help. David made the rounds, trying to get a better offer for his claim, but without success. Finally, as the day drew to a close, he sat alone and despondent at a table in the cafe, hesitant about taking Mike's meager offer and dreading to go home to face Helen with the bad news. Two men approached the table. One of them spoke to David. Mind if we sit down? No. You're ahead if you want to. My name's Lou. This is my friend here, Jake. Glad to meet you. I'm Dave Mello. Yeah, we know. You're the fellow who's been trying to raise some money to go back to the States, aren't you? That's right. I guess everybody in town knows that by now. Yeah, we heard you asking around, looking for someone to buy out your no good claim. Anybody'd be a fool to buy a claim like that. I had one offer, but it isn't enough. Maybe we might be interested if we could inspect the place first, Mello. At least. You mean maybe you might want to buy me out? Yeah. But like I said, we want to look it over first. Now wait a minute, Lou. Shut up, Jake. I know what I'm doing. You can write out there within a night if you want to. Fine. Meet us in back of the hotel in about half an hour and we'll go with you. Come on, Jake. We've got business to settle before we go. Be sure to be ready and waiting when we come out back of the hotel. I'll be there. Good. Keep going, Jake. Let him do it. As the two men walked down the street from the cafe, Jake questioned Lou about his sudden desire to go out and inspect David Mello's claim. I don't get it, Lou. Why do you want to go out there? You know we haven't any idea buying that no good claim? Or any other for that matter? Look, Jake. We got everything planned for Rob and the express office, haven't we? Sure. We got a figure that just about now, the express clerk is home having his supper. One thing we didn't plan is where we'd hide out till everything dies down. When I heard Mello talking about his place, I figured we could fool him into taking us out there and letting us hang around a while. Nobody will be going out to look at a worked out claim like his. And it's off the beaten trail too. So that's the angle. Yeah. Now let's get over to the express office and get the gold out of the safe while we get the chance. A half hour later, Lou and Jake step from the rear door of the hotel carrying a carpet bag and approached their horses which were waiting. David was also waiting. Well, I see you're ready to leave, Mello. Yeah. What's in the bag? Oh, it's just something important. I don't want to leave in the hotel room. Let's get going. I'm ready. Let's go then. Get up there. Get up. Meantime, after leaving David's cabin, Sergeant Preston and King had taken a cross trail to the main one and then had made other stops along the way. Because he had left the trail that led to David's place, he missed meeting the three men. And he and King arrived at the constable's office a short time after David and the other two had left town. Hello, old blackie. Hello, old fella. Come on, King. Well, Sergeant Preston, glad to see you. How are you, King, old fella? I hope to get to town earlier, Frank. I wanted to see David Mello. His wife told me he was here trying to sell his claim. Yeah, poor guy. He didn't have much luck. I hear he's feeling pretty low. I suppose he's gone back home by this time. How's the ball? Right. Is something wrong at the express office, Jim? Well, I was just up for somebody to rob the safe. Huh? Took three bags of gold worth about $6,000. Hello. That's bad. Can we help, Frank? Yes, Sergeant. Lucky you're here with King. Maybe he can pick up the trail. Let's go to the express office right now when the trail is warm. Come on, King. It was a simple thing for the intelligent dog King to pick up the trail of Lou and Jake. After tracing them to the hotel room, King then led Preston and the constable out the back door, where he stood sniffing the air for the scent. Look there, Frank. Both marks. Looks like the marks have three horses. That's right. I'll get our horses and then come back here and let King take the trail. We ought to catch up with them before morning. In the meantime, David rode along the branch trail with his two newfound friends. Yeah. You sure have your claim well off the beaten path, Melo? Yes, it is. But it's fairly close to town. Don't suppose many people ever go by your cabin, do they? Oh, they don't. I guess it'd be kind of lonesome for one man out here, but the two of your thing, you're buying it together. You won't mind it being away from the main trail, huh? That's right. Matter of fact, I think we'll like being off when nobody will come bothering us, huh, Jake? Yeah, that's right, Lou. It suits me fine. I'm not much of a one-to-one visitor dropping in bothering us like they would if we were in a cabin on the main trail. I hope you like the cabin on the claim well enough to buy. With two of you to work the claim, you might make a strike. It's been a little tough trying to work it alone. We don't want to make any hasty decision about buying, do we, Jake? No. We want to have a chance to look it over close, try to figure out if we really could make a goal of it before we decide. Oh, that's all right with me. After you looked it over and thought about it a while, then we can talk, too. Yeah, that's the best idea. Say, you have an extra room with your cabin? Sure. We have room to put you both up if you want to take longer to decide. That's fine, fine. We'd better get a move on now. I was thinking that, too. All right, let's hurry a bit, then. We ought to get the cabin just in time for supper. Come on, get up, get up, get up. Arriving at the mellow place, David and the two crooks put their horses in a lean-to at the back. Then entered the cabin. David, I didn't expect... These are two friends of mine, Helen. Lou and Jake. Howdy, ma'am. Hello, ma'am. They came out to look over the claim with the idea that they might be interested in buying. Oh, see, it was supper's waiting. I'll get two more, please. All right, honey. Dad, look what I have to play with. Well, a yellow kitten. Where did you get that, George? Sergeant Preston brought it to me this afternoon. Isn't she a beauty? I call him Nugget. Uh, Sergeant Preston did the boy say? Hey, I don't like that, Lou. Shut up. Is that Mountie Preston stopped by here often? Oh, whenever he's in this territory. He's a good friend of ours. Sergeant Preston said he'd come back when he leaves Soaker to see how the kitten is getting along. Oh, when do you expect that'll be? A few days, I guess. Maybe a week. Now, we were intended to stay overnight to really inspect the claim, but, uh... I reckon we'll push along tonight right after we eat. Oh, but if you intend to buy it, we can put you up as long as you want to stay, Lou. No, we... The claim is on the side of the hill behind the cabin. I can show you the shaft tonight right after supper. I'll go away. All right, George. We're ready for supper in a few minutes. He's right out front, honey. He's so tickled with that kitten, he's forgotten about eating, I guess. As David and the Crooks talked after supper, they were interrupted by George, who entered the cabin excitedly. Hey, Dad, somebody's come along to think it's Sergeant Preskin. I didn't expect anything like this. Wait a minute. What's the matter? We're going out the back way to the mine shaft, and we're taking the kitten along with us to show us the way. Oh, no. Now, hold on. What's this all about? Don't mind that. Just get rid of that money, and don't mention us being here. I'll come along, kid. And don't either want to be in their fair seat. But I don't want to go. I want to stay and play with the kitten. Bring the kitten along with you. I'll come along like I said to you here. Dad, don't let them take me with them. It's all right, son. You'll be all right. David, what's this all about? They both have guns, and they've taken George out to the shaft with them. I'm frightened. I don't know what's wrong yet, honey. But for George's sake, we'll have to keep quiet in front of Preskin and try to get him to leave soon. There they are now. Someone's with the Sergeant. I'll open the door. Hello there, David. We want to talk to you. Let's go inside. Come in. Hello, Sergeant. Hello, Mrs. Melo. David. I'll come right to the point. The express office was robbed in town a short time ago. What do you know about it? The express office robbed? Oh, no. You can't suspect David of that. We trailed the crooks to this cabin, Mrs. Melo. At least King did. But we could easily see the tracks of three horses. That's right. What's more, David, it's a known fact that you were in town saying how broke you were. And folks could see you were kind of desperate for money. But I wouldn't steal to get it. You can't believe that. Oh, David. Now, Mrs. Melo, we haven't accused David yet. All we ask so far is that he tell us what he knows. Attracts the three horses. Stop here, David. Who rode those horses? I... I don't know. There's some mistake. I came home alone. Maybe you're dead, but that doesn't account for the trail of the crooks leading to this cabin, David. By the way, uh, where's your son, George? George? David? We've got to tell the truth. While the Sergeant and the Constable are here to help. Oh, Helen, please keep quiet. You don't know what you're saying. No use, David. For some reason you're covering up for someone, and your wife is worried about your boy. If you didn't have anything to do with the robbery, you'd better talk freely or you'll be in trouble. I'm going to tell them, David. It's the only way. No, I'll tell them. Sergeant two men came to me at the cafe. Said they might buy our claim and wanted to come here to see it. Go on. I met them later like they told me to behind the hotel and we rode here. When George came in and said you were coming up the trail, they pulled guns, took George with them and went to the mineshaft. I see. They said not to tell you. Don't go out after them, Sergeant, please. They might harm little George. Just what are we going to do, Sergeant? We'll figure out a way to get to them and to get George safely away from them. Well, I have to plan carefully, though. They have guns and they'll use them. Back in a small cave-like shaft behind the cabin, Lou and Jake stood just inside the entrance. The boy, George, was between them, holding his yellow kitten. As Jake peeked off toward the rear of the cabin, he spoke. Hey, Lou, there's one thing we forgot. What's that? Even if that fellow and his wife are too scared to talk, the Mondays might snoop around. And if they do, they'll find their horses in the lean tomb. Oh, I forgot about the horses. I better hide this bag with the evidence in it. Be careful where you hide it. Here's the crevice bag here, which is kind of dark. I'll put it in there. Oh. What's the matter? That split in the rock is deeper than I thought. Hey, the kitten's getting away. Grab it. Don't let it get out. Get back in there, you! Hey, you shoved that kitten right into the crevice where the bag is. My kitten, where is he? Shut up, kitten. The kitten fell down in there. My kitten can't get out. He's away down there. Never mind the kitten. Stop that crying. If you don't, we'll tie something over your mouth, understand? Yes, but I... And keep quiet or you'll get hurt. Holy smoke, Lou. Is that where you threw the bag? Yeah, I didn't think it was so deep, like I said. But how do we get it out? It's too narrow to get down in there. We'll find some way. Right now, our worry is having these Mounties in that cabin asking questions. Let's go back there to the entrance and keep watch. You stay back in here, kitten, understand? Yes. There's no noise out of you either. Let's go, Jake. Two Mounties. Riding up the trail away from the cabin. Yes, Mellow and his wife convinced him. Yeah, it looks like it. And we're scared we'd hurt the kid. You wait here. I'll go to the lean-to and get the horses and bring them back. And we'll get that bag out of the crevice somehow and get on our way. All right. Leaving the shaft, Lou walked toward the lean-to. Feeling sure he was safe from the Mounties for the time being, he relaxed his vigilance. As he rounded the corner of the lean-to, a figure moved out of the twilight's shadows and pressed a gun against Lou's side. Don't move. Hey, what? How'd you get here? He rode away. I saw two Mounties. One of them, the one on the side away from you, was Mellow wearing my hat and tunic. I thought you might be watching. That dog, I forgot about him. What him, fella? I'll take your gun. I'll tie and gag you and leave you here with the horses. Working swiftly as King stood guard, Preston tied and gagged Lou and put him in the lean-to. Then calling softly to King, he prepared to carry out the rest of his plan. All right, King, come along, fella. By this time, the constable and Mellow circled back toward the mine shaft. We'll see if we can reach it without the other crook seeing us. Come on, King. Meanwhile, at the shaft entrance, Jake waited for Lou to return. Suddenly, he saw a shadow move behind a nearby tree. Drawing his gun, he watched intently. The next moment, the figure of Sergeant Preston moved cautiously from behind the tree and started toward the shaft entrance. Jake realized it wasn't Lou and raised his gun to fire. It was them that a shadowy form sprang toward him from one side of the entrance. It was the great dog King who knew the boy had gun-met death with a snarl of rage the dog bleached, grabbing Jake's gun arm. Oh, get away! Help! Easy, fella. That dog, I didn't see him. No, you were too busy watching me. And that gave King his chance. He'll plan work, Sergeant. George, where is he? They hurt him. Oh, no. The kid's right over there. George, are you all right, son? What's that crook, Frank? The other one's an lean-to. I'll watch him. Don't worry. George, all right? Yes, thanks to you and the constable and King. They threw a bag down the crack in the shaft back there. They put my yellow kitten down there, too. That bag's the evidence we need to prove they robbed the bank, Elbet. Come on. This is the crevice. Rather deep and narrow. I want my kitten. How can we get the kitten in the bag, Sergeant? Too narrow for one of us. Get that rope. All right, I'll get it. George, would you be afraid to go down there after you're kitten if I tie the rope around you and lower you into the crevice? Oh, no, Sergeant. I know you wouldn't let me get hurt. This is the rope, Sergeant. All right. I'll tie one end of it around George under his arms. He's small enough to get down and get the bag and the kitten. Here, George, I'll tie the rope on you. Quickly, Sergeant Preston tied the rope to George. Then he and David eased George over the edge of the opening in the rocky floor and carefully lowered him. That ought to be far enough. I'm down. I got the kitten. Can you hold the bag, too, George? All right, David, we'll pull him up now. In a few moments, George was safely pulled up carrying the carpet bag and the kitten. Preston opened the carpet bag, then spoke. This is it, all right. The bags of gold from the express office. Let's go. There ought to be enough evidence against them. Yes, it is, Frank. Golly, I wouldn't have known where they hid it, except when he threw the kitten down and went in that big crack. That's when I heard him say where the bag was. Then, in a way, we're indebted to your kitten for getting this evidence. What about me, Sergeant? You believe me when I say I didn't have anything to do with that robbery, don't you? Yes, David, I do. You can appear against them and tell your story. Ah, swell. Here's your jacket and pants, Sergeant. Oh, thanks. Oh, gosh. I have pebbles in one of my shoes. I'll have to take it off. When I went down into that big crack, I scraped the side wall in my foot and it knocks on a little bit the rockers. I'll untie your shoe, George. There. Now, I'll take your shoe off and shake out the pebbles. Wait a minute. I thought I saw a tiny gleam as one of those pebbles fell. Huh? A striking match. I wonder. Let's have a close look at one of those pebbles. What is it, Sergeant? Why are you looking in those pebbles? Well, just a thought, Dave. Strike another match. Sure. Look. Look here. Before I've scraped those pebbles, my fingernail. See the gleam? Holy mackerel, it looks like gold. Yes. Do you have a lantern in the shaft? Yes. Come on. I'll light it. Here it is. I'll lower the lantern into that crevice. Come on. Going back to the crevice, Sergeant Preston tied the rope to the lantern and lowered it into the crevice. For a moment, all of them stared downward. Then David spoke. Gold. There's gold there. Yes. Looks like you can make this claim pay after all, David. Say, that's great. Oh, if my kitten nugget hadn't fallen in there, maybe we wouldn't have found her with gold down there. That's true, George. Anyway, I'm glad everything's turning out all right. Oh, I was lucky for as you came along and gave George that kitten. Thanks to you, Sergeant, we got George back safely and captured those crooks and found gold. King's trying to tell us he did his part, I guess. Maybe he is, Constable, but I think he's trying to show us he's glad this case is closed. Now, here's Sergeant Preston with a preview of our next adventure, the case of the minister's missing money. My investigation of a minister's murder and the search for a large sum of cash he'd been carrying led King and me to Dawson, where we were ordered to look out for a young boy named Bob Kelly. When the unknown killers learned that Bob Kelly had the minister's money, the case took a turn that brought danger to all of us. Be sure to listen to this exciting adventure next Wednesday. These radio dramas, the feature of the challenge of the Yukon Incorporated, are created and produced by George W. Trandall, 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 Wednesday until September when we shall resume our regular Monday, Wednesday and Friday broadcasts. This is Hal Neil, wishing you goodbye and good luck till next Wednesday.