 The challenge of the Yukon. Our king, our new host king! The Wonder Dog King, swiftest and strongest of estimate 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. The Palace Cafe in Dolphin City was owned by Belle Brady, a woman as beautiful as she was through and beautiful women were not seen often in the Yukon in 1898. She sat listening to a well-dressed man, the light of the oil lamp shining on her flawless skin and catching the glitter of the diamond sparkling at her throat and wrist. At intervals, her eyes moved to the door of the cafe, sweeping over the tables where men were playing pharaoh and chuckle-uck for fabulous stakes. Belle, you're not listening to me. Sure, I heard what you said, mate. I've heard that story so often I could steal it off myself. Almost word for word. No, no, no. This time it's different, Belle. I'd tell you this claim is the richest that's ever been found on the Yukon. It'll turn up so much pay, Dirt. It'll make your investment the best thing that ever happened to you. What investment? Your investment in the claim. Why, with you to grub-stake me, honey? No, wait a minute. You're putting the cart before the horse. I'm not grub-staking you this time. Belle, you're kidding. Well, you could sell that rocky gun on your little finger and never miss it. I don't need much. Now, last time I staked you, you lost the money in poker. Time before that, you met some friends of yours. Celebrating in Dawson ain't my idea of digging for K-Dirt, Nate. I'm interested in charity, but... Charity? Why, you... Maybe if the money had come to you asking to be staked, it'd be a different thing, huh? Sergeant Preston is a gentleman, and what's more, he's honest. A two-year-old could see your sweet on him, Belle. The Belle of the Palace. Throwing her heart away on a Mountie that won't even look at it. Yeah? Well, let's know my business date. You open your mouth around here once more, and I'll see that you're thrown out of the place. You're going to be sorry for this, Belle. I'm not forgetting it. See that you don't. You better have dust in your pocket. Those drinks aren't on the house. See anything of Sergeant Preston, Charity? They're not yet. Thanks. Harry is now. Glad you could come, Sergeant. We'd have been here sooner, but Padre couldn't get away. How are you, Belle? Can't complain, Padre. Come on over here. I want to talk to both of you. See, it's like this. I've made a lot of money up here, and by your books, Padre, I guess I haven't been any sane. The way I feel, this country's done a lot for me, and I want to, well, do something for it. What do you mean, Belle? Don't know how to go about it or what to do. I've sent for you two because I figured you'd know what's needed. I got the cash and I'll put it in any charity or improvement you agree on. That's a marvelous gesture, child. And if I might suggest something... Go ahead, Padre. I was hoping you'd have something to say. I have known of countless hundreds of men and women who've died of starvation on the remote trails up here. On the more traveled routes, of course, their cases are rare. But if we could establish points along those remote trails where men and women could find food, it would be a great thing. We could save a lot of lives. You're right, Padre. You both agree on it, and that's what I'll do. I'll give you the money and you can go ahead. Well, it costs quite a bit. I don't care how much it costs. You and the sergeant here can kind of map out the places where it'd be best to put the food. I'll worry about the rest. Your unselfishness is very commendable, Belle. Not much, Padre. Us Brady's never forget a good turn. You can't have been good to me. Well, sergeant, I think the best thing to do would be for us to set up the food cashews together. You're more familiar with the trails than I am. I can be ready to start whenever you are. I'd like to get going on it immediately. All right. King and I can be set to march tomorrow morning if it's convenient with you. Fine. I'll see you in the morning at about 7 o'clock. Right. Well, I've got to get back to McCavin. Good night, Padre. Good night, both of you. Well, I think I'll be leaving, too. King and I are going to help on that job of yours, Belle. We have a lot of preparations to make. Oh, can't they wait? Doesn't often I have the chance to talk to you. Besides, I didn't get all dolled up tonight just to show my new dress to the boys. Well, there's one of them over there who seems very impressed with it. Nate? He doesn't matter. We'll stop by to see you before leaving in the morning. Come on, fella. All right, sergeant. Good night. Good night, Belle. I wasn't very impressed with your generosity. I'd call that a brush off. Yeah? Well, nobody's asking your opinion. Well, I'm giving it to you. You're willing to feed the hungry lady bountiful, but you won't grubs take me. Now remember that. You can take it from me. The Mountie's going to regret the day he ever laid eyes on you. A week after Preston and the Padre left Dolphin City, the Mountie halted his dogs on the trail. Oh, King. Oh, you huggies. Well, Padre, I guess this is where I leave you. You'll be heading back to Dolphin City. That's right, sergeant. I'll miss your company in the return trip, but I suppose we'll meet in town soon again. Well, King, and I'll be there in about nine days, I think. We ought to have enough supplies, but at least we run low. We'll pick some up along the trail. Exactly what I plan to do. I'll cover ground faster if I don't load the sled with a lot of food. Well, goodbye, sergeant. Good luck to you. Thanks, Padre. Same to you. Oh, King. Oh, you huggies. The Padre turned his sled around and headed back along the trail, while Sergeant Preston, with King leading his dogs, continued toward the country of the Yukon Indians. Two days passed, and the Mountie retraced his way along the trail, unaware of the situation that the Padre was even that moment facing as he stopped at one of the places where supplies had been left the week before. I don't understand this. Every place I've stopped expecting to find food has been completely bare, almost as if someone were systematically looting the pl- Oh, no, no, couldn't be that. No, I would steal food every last bit of it. Yet I know it isn't possible for so much food to disappear in a few days. Well, I'll just keep going. Perhaps I'll find some at Logan's Rock. But at Logan's Rock, there was no food. Nothing had been left. The Padre strained his eyes over the glare of the snow and tried to ignore the hunger he felt. Dogs can't keep going much longer. They must reach the cabin. It can't be more than 50 miles from here. Surely there'll be something to eat there. With the courage born of an inner strength, he urged his dogs on. And then, as the cabin loomed before him, he saw a smoke coming from the chimney. Approaching, he recognized the supplies and stacked outside the door. Slowly, he walked past them. It ain't the Padre. Yes, but can kind of peek it too. Come on in and shut the door. Why are you holding a gun on me? Just a bit of self-protection, that's all. I'm not armed, Mr. Silvers. There's no need of that. I want to know what those supplies are doing stacked outside the cabin. Yeah, I figured you'd ask that question. I'm kind of set on a personal grudge. Soon as the ice breaks, I'll put them in a boat and take them down the river. Make some money on a deal. No. That's what I'm gonna do, Padre. Neither you nor the money will stop me. For second, the Padre thought of the men he'd known who died of starvation on long and bitter trails. And his heart was filled with a fury against the man whose selfishness might deprive others of their lives. His first impulse was to disarm him. Moving quickly caught Nate Silvers by surprise. Boy, you... I'll show you where you can. The lamp was busted. The place will be on fire. Now I'll bring you with this chair, you menlin' fool. Now to get out of here before I'm burned alive. A few moments later, King, running far ahead of Sergeant Preston's pack of dogs, saw Nate Silvers come from the burning cabin. The man carried the gun he had picked up from the floor after he struck the Padre. King jumped, locking the gun from his hand, realizing that the mountain was near the cabin, Nate Silvers ran to where his dogs and sled were waiting. Much, you huskies! Much! And as King hesitated, the sled disappeared through the timber. The great dog sensed that the man who had carried the gun was trying to evade Preston. Oh, you huskies! Oh! King, did you hear that? That's the Padre. We've got to get him out of there. King felt that Preston should know about the man who had just fled through the trees, but he sensed too that his master's first concern was for his friend trapped inside the blazing cabin. Instantly, he raced toward the building. The smoke was suffocating. The great dog's eyes blurred momentarily, and in the fury of the fire, he stopped, trying to locate the Padre. Help! In all his days on the trail, King had never faced such an experience. His feet were scorched as he made his way over to where the trapped man lay on the floor, pulling himself through the smoke. Just as the dog reached him, the man's strength seemed exhausted. And the dog's heart sank with the heavy fear that this friend of his master's might be dead. Slowly, with his feet in the Padre's coat, King pulled him back toward the door. It was a half hour later. The cabin was his smoldering ruin, but the mountain, the Padre, and the great dog were safe outside. He saved my life, Sergeant. I know Padre. Good fellow, King. But, Silvers, where'd he go? I bombed trucks and his gun at the back of the cabin. He's managed to make a getaway, but we're going after him. And the supplies? The fire never touched him. As soon as we find Silvers, we'll put them back on the trail. And what you've told me, Padre, that man has a lot to answer for. King, with soon leading Preston's pack of huskies over the trail, Silvers had taken. But Padre traveled in the sled while the mouth he rode the runners. Four days passed, and at a point where the trail turned sharply, King stopped over the body of a man who'd fallen in the snow. Silvers, Padre. Yes, he's dead. No sign of his sled or dogs. He was on the trail a long time, but it wasn't the cold that killed him. The mills grind slow, but they grind exceeding small. Slow? Yes, it was a slow death of starvation for Nate Silvers. When he looted the supplies along the trail, he cut himself off from all food. He was too weak to go any farther. And the cold finished what his grave began. It was a week later that Padre and the mountain had made their way back along the trail, restocking the places they had set up for hungry travelers. And at the Palace Cafe in Dolphin City, Bell Brady listened to their story. I'd never have asked you to do it if I'd known you might have been killed because of the little food. Little food child. Remember, a bit of food might have saved Nate Silvers' life. He was only one man, Bell. Others will need food just as much, but they'll be different. They'll bless your generosity. And the Padre was right. Around the warmth of pot-bellied stoves throughout the great North Country, the story was told and retold of how a valiant dog saved the life of one of the men who'd made Bell Brady's unselfish wish a reality. And though the story grew until it became almost a legend, the dog with the devoted heart was depth to the praise of all men. Save one. Yes, King Old Boy. You did a great job. These copyrighted dramas originate in the studios of WXY's The Detroit, and all characters, names, places and incidents used are fictitious. They're sent to you each week at the same time.