 the challenge of the Yukon. Un King, Un New Husky! The Wonder Dog King's, just 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 the small band of Northwest-mounted police, who preserved law and order in the 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. Being a mounted policeman in the North country isn't exactly the life of Riley. I had just completed a northern patrol and we'd mushed almost 30 miles a day before. I fell into bed and didn't move for 15 hours and wouldn't have then, except for the cold nose and warm tongue of King, my lead dog. When King decides it's time to get up, he won't accept any arguments. I'll go away, King. I don't want to get up. Take that big paw. My chest, quit it. I'll wash my own face. I'll not pull those covers off. All right, I'll get up. What type is it? Well, no wonder you woke me up. You must have thought I'd died. All right, boy, bring me my boots, come on. King not only leads my dog, Dean. He's an ex-bessing to a personal valid. He brings my clothes to me in the morning, not in a proper sequence, of course, but he brings them. First a sock, then maybe a boot. But he takes great pride in being it, and when we have time, I let him. This morning, however, he didn't have time to complete the ritual. We were alone in the barracks, and King dropped the boot he was wearing when Pat Sweeney, an old friend of mine, came hurrying in. Well, hello, Pat. What are you doing in town? Oh, hello, Preston. How are you, King, old boy? Preston, I've got some bad news. Zeke Bailey's been killed. Zeke Bailey killed? Yes. He lives so far from town that nobody would have known it for weeks. I was going hunting with him. We planted two weeks ago. That's how I happened to find him. And Preston, he was murdered. Murdered? Shot in the back. He sprawled in his face on the floor of his cabin. I'll get the rest of my clothes on right away. I thought you'd rather handle the case because Zeke was an old friend of yours. Glad you came to me first, Pat. They'd probably have put another man on the case. I just got back from patrol. I'll permission to handle it. Are there any tracks around the cabin? Yep, plenty of them. Huh? Whoever done it headed north on the trail with the dog team. They robbed Zeke. Everything in his cabin was torn apart. Bring us gold in the tower and it'll be safely. Never listen to me. You didn't disturb anything, did you, Pat? Not a thing. I left it just as I found it. Didn't even put Zeke on the bed. Good. I'll run over and see the inspector and get my supplier. We'll go right out to Zeke's cabin. Look at that dog. He knows something's up. There weren't many hours of daylight left. So, when we got to Zeke's cabin, just as darkness was falling, I examined the tracks while I could still see them because it had started to snow. And I knew they'd soon be covered. Tracks of three men here at Pat. You're right, Preston. I hadn't stopped to examine the tracks closely. I made no attempt to cover them. They probably figured it would snow before anyone found for Zeke. Well, they were almost right. Well, they've taken the trail north, all right. Yes, they headed for 40 miles. It's a shame it had to snow. Now, you won't be able to trail them. Well, this trail is used so much, Pat. It doesn't really matter about the track being covered. Come on, let's go in the cabin. Munking. I light a lamp. It's getting dark in here. There we are. This place is sure as shambles. And where's Zeke? He was shot at close range. Oh, that he was. The modern rats, I'd like to get my hands off of. So would I. Give me a lift, Pat, and put Zeke on the bed. True. It's not so heavy. Shall I be starting a fire, do you think? No, we won't be here that long. What is it, King? He's got something in his mouth. Give it to me, fella. That's a boy. What is it? It's a mitten, Pat. Red woolen mitten. The king must have found it on the floor somewhere. What if it belonged to Zeke? Did he wear red mittens under his furwands? I never seen him wear anything like that. Well, keep this. It may help. Hey, Sergeant, there's a million mittens like that here in the Yukon. That's true. Well, let's look around and we may find another clue. Is this where he kept his gold? Well, Zeke never told me where he kept it. We went over the cabin thoroughly, but found nothing more. I started out on the trail in spite of the darkness. I didn't want to push my teams too hard the next day. It was late the following day when I stopped the team to rest at the top of the hill. I was sitting on the sled and King was a few yards away. Suddenly, he whined. His ears pricked forward and he looked down into the valley. What's wrong, fella? See something? That is clear. It's awful. Oh, yeah, boy. I see him, too. It's a man. How to get off the trail, I wonder. Come on, King. He's in trouble. We're going after him. Hello, there. Wait. We're coming. Oh, fella, he's harmless. Back, King. It's all right. Oh, I can't see him. Don't worry, fella. You'll be all right. You were smart to keep moving. You'd have frozen if you hadn't. I'm tired. I can hardly stand. Well, it's all right now. We can rest a minute. And I'll help you back to my dog team. All right. Is that a dog? Yes, it's mine. What's wrong with you, King? Who are you? Sergeant Preston, Northwest Mountain Police. I'm on the... Yeah, here. Let me tie the scarf around your eyes. How'd you happen to leave the trail? Where's your pack? I lost my pack. I guess I just wandered around. I'm sorry. I lost my pack. I guess I just wandered off the trail. Were you all alone? Yeah. Yeah, I was alone. How about your feet? They feel numb. Not frozen, are they? No, but I think one of my hands is... Oh, let's have a look. Take off your coat. This one's all right. It's the other one. Let's see. Then I knew why King had growled at him. He recognized the scent of a man who had lost a red mitten in Zeke's cabin, and King connected it with death. This man was wearing only one red mitten under his fur gauntlets. Cautiously, I drew the other one from my pocket, and it matched. This hand isn't seriously frozen yet, but it's going to need attention. We'd better get back to my dog team as soon as possible. Think you can make it if you lean on me? Yeah. Yeah, I can make it. I know a trapper near here. I'll take you to his cabin. You, uh, on your way to Dawson? I know. I've got to get to Forty Mile. I've got some business to take care of. My name was... I didn't say. You can call me Red. All right, Red. Let's get going. I drove Red back to Pierre La Rue's cabin. Pierre helped me fix his eyes and hand. All right, 80 air that came outside with me. What's the hand with my dogs, will you, Pierre? Jesus! You can feed yourself alone, Red. Sure. I can find my mouth. Go ahead. Your eyes will be better by tomorrow morning. All right. Sure hope so. I'll tie the dogs up while you feed them, Pierre. This is first time you asked me to help with dogs. I, uh, wanted to get to a lawn to tell you something. The man I brought to your cabin is a murderer, I think. Oh, dear. And you do not handcuff him? Come. He will get my gun. Why do you not tell me this before? Because he doesn't know that I suspect him. But why, for, don't you arrest him? Because there are two more men I want. I don't know just exactly what happened to Red, but he hasn't any money on him. He's not carrying any gold. These men, you're after. They steal some gold. Yes, plenty of it. And I think Red will find it for me. Now tomorrow morning I'll leave early. You tell Red that I've gone on to Dawson. Give him all the supplies he needs to get to Forty Mile. You will leave me alone with this murderer? He won't hurt you and I won't be far away. Now you must do this, Pierre. Mm-hmm. Oui, Sergeant. If you say so. Now go on back into the cabin. I'll take care of the dogs. I got up before daylight the following morning and left Pierre's cabin. I made sure that I left a clear trail going south toward Dawson. But about a quarter of a mile from Pierre's I stopped the team. And taking King with me went to the top of a small hill, where I could get a clear view of the cabin to my field glasses. It was a long, cold wait. But soon after daylight Red came out carrying a pack. I watched him through my glasses. His eyes were better. They weren't bandaged. And he inspected my tracks closely before he started in the other direction toward Forty Mile. I let him get well out of sight and went back to Pierre's cabin. Pierre met me at the door, his face frightened. Sergeant, he is gone. Yes, I saw him go, Pierre. Going to let him get a good start and then follow him. But Sergeant, you must be careful. Me, I don't know how to tell you. Well, what's wrong, Pierre? It is all my fault. I should have hated you. Right, what? What are you talking about? My gun. His arm. His take my gun and bullets. Oh, I'm so sorry. I was more than annoyed at Pierre, but there was nothing. We waited a few hours and then I took Red's mitten out of my pocket and shipped to King. Are you all right, King? We're going after him, boy. He knows you should follow him. Yes. He probably thinks I'm crazy, Pierre, having him here and letting him go again. King, I know it doesn't make sense to you, but that's the way it has to be, fella. And you won't understand why we have to take a very slow trip to Forty Mile, either. You see, King, Red has to get there before we catch up to him. We managed to keep about a mile behind Red all the way to Forty Mile. It was hard to hold King back, but I did it. It was the end of the second day and pitched dark when we neared the town and I let King have his head and speeded up the team. I wanted Red's trail through town to be fresh and easy for King to follow, but I needn't have worried. Red didn't go through town at all. He went around it. And I knew then that he was headed for a pre-arranged hideout. It was a cabin tucked neatly in the hills back of town. I left my team, taking King, perhaps silently to one of the lighted windows. Just as I looked in, the gun went off. One of the men flopped forward on his face. Red turned the gun on the other one and stood with his hands in the air, babbling with fear. Don't shoot, Red. I promise I'll give you all the gold we got from Zeke. It wasn't my idea to lose you after you once no-bind. Honest! It was Hank! Stop your open-yellow rat! Hank, you're gonna get it just like Hank. You let me do all the dirty work, kill him, you old geezer. Then you run off with the gold. Well, it didn't work. Now you're gonna... Stop that gun, Red! Stop it! Oh, no, you don't... Get him, King! Hank, take him off now! Stay right where you are, Mike. Don't move. All right, King, back for now. I've got his gun. Get up, Red. Get that dog away! He wouldn't have hurt you if you hadn't tried to shoot me. You're both under arrest for the murder of Zeke Bailey. Watch some, King. Please copyrighted dramas originate in the studios of WXYZ Detroit and all names, characters and incidents used are fictitious. Here is a special announcement. Consult your local newspaper regarding the challenge of the Yukon starting Thursday, June 12th. Your announcer, Larry McCann.