 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 Mounted Police in his relentless pursuit of lawbreakers 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 It was late one winter afternoon Sergeant Preston was strolling along Front Street in Dawson City with the great dog Yukon King at his side A man was standing on the boardwalk looking around Uncertainly He was a young man with a swarthy complexion and a black mustache But what made him particularly noticeable was his towering height Though more slenderly built than the Mounted. He was several inches taller than sergeant Preston As a sergeant approached the stranger stopped him. Pardon me, Marty. I I wonder if you can give me some information. Well joy What is it you want to know? Is there any place in town where I can hire a dog team? Well, yes try Frenchy Duquesne's canals follow the next street to the outskirts of town. You can't miss it Thanks very much. You're welcome Come along The tall stranger followed the sergeant's directions and soon arrived Duquesne's canals Frenchy was busy attending to one of his huskies in a wire-enclosed run outside his cabin. Pardon me Your Frenchy Duquesne, my name is Lee Gonzalez. Very happy to meet you. What can I do for you? I uh Understand you ran out dog teams. We that is so You wish for higher team. Yes, I'd like to hire an outfit for uh, oh a couple of days I'm not sure exactly how long the trip will take You know how to handle team take care of dog. No, sure sure That is I haven't done any dog driving myself, but I came up to Dawson with a freight outfit I've seen how the drivers handle their huskies. I'm sure I'll make out all right My huskies. They are fine well-trained dogs. Just treat them right. You will find them very easy to handle Uh, how much you charge for renting a team 50 dollar a day 50 dollars. Oh, wait, that is reasonable price Well, all right, I I want to leave tomorrow morning Can you have a team hitched up for me at uh, say eight o'clock? Sure thing my friend You'll be here tomorrow at eight and Frenchy Duquesne will have one fine team of huskies all harness up ready to mush After leaving duquesne's kennels the young man returned to the center of town and went to the victoria hotel He went up to his room where his wife was waiting for him Hello darling. Were you able to hire a team? Yes, uh, monnie directed me to a place on the outskirts of town The owner charges 50 dollars a day. So it'll cost us at least a hundred dollars a hundred dollars Goodness, that's rather expensive. Isn't it? It is for us dear Especially considering that we've sunk every penny we've got into this venture I even had to borrow money from Clyde Tappen to finance our trip up here to the Yukon. Yes, I know If we don't find those rubies, we'll sure be in a hole. We'll find them darling. I'm sure we will. I don't know The odds are against us Think how many years it's been. That doesn't matter Lee I can't explain it, but I Well, I just have a feeling that the rubies will still be there A woman's intuition, huh? Call it that if you like, but I really mean it. Well, let's hope you're right there By tomorrow evening. We ought to know for sure The following morning two men entered the Monte Carlo cafe and sat down at a corner table One was a youngest sharp featured man with crafty looking light colored eyes His companion who was somewhat older was a burly fellow with heavy sideburns and a flashy diamond ring on one finger After they had ordered and paid for their drinks the older man spoke will tap him if here we are in Dawson city But we still haven't cut up to Gonzalez So what's the next move hang it out brody? I wish I knew we trailed Gonzalez all the way up here from Skagway Yeah, but he kept one jump ahead of us all the way Now it looks like we've lost him. We're good. We don't even know for sure that he's in Dawson Yeah, we know he was heading this way. Yeah, but that doesn't prove that Dawson was his final destination Maybe he was just planning to pass through here on his way farther north. Maybe he turned east of the Klondike for that matter Trying to pick up his trail here is like trying to find a needle in a haystack Wait a minute. I think I have an idea. Well, let's hear it Instead of us trying to pick up Gonzalez trail by ourselves. Why don't we get some experts to do the job for us? Experts What are you talking about? I'm referring to the northwest mounted police. Are you crazy far from it? Now listen brody Suppose you go to the Mountie headquarters and tell them some cock and bull story about being robbed Say you were held up yesterday evening on your way into town When I ask you what the holdup man looked like you give them Gonzalez description you catch up Yeah, nice, honey We make the Mounties think he's committed a crime and they'll start hunting for him That's right If those red coats are half as good as they're cracked up to be they ought to run him down in short order Yes, but what happens when they ask me to identify him nothing Gonzalez doesn't know you Just look him over and say sorry. This isn't the right man after which the Mounties will have to turn him loose From that point on we won't let him out of our sight till we get our hands on those rubies Tapping my boy, I love me to congratulate you. That is what I call a mighty smart plan A short time later the man called brody came to Mounted Police headquarters Sergeant Preston and costable Ross were seated in the office morning I came here to report the robbery. Oh What and where did it happen with it happened last night? I was camped on the trail a few miles south of town Fellow showed up pulling a gun on me and swiped every centerhead. What'd he look like? But he was a young fellow Real tall in fact, he was just about the tallest gender I've seen since I hit the territory He must have been about two six feet six. I reckon anything else Well, he had a mustache. He was dark complexed He looked as though he might be spanish or italian, baby. I see how they make his getaway. He was driving a team My own dogs were all unhitched so I couldn't take out after him Besides, I didn't have a gun and I wasn't anchoring to stop a bullet. I have your name brody. Sloan brody Sloan brody. What do you live? Well, I'm stopping at the royal lab at hotel. All right Do you think you'll be able to catch his fellow who robbed me? Yes On the description you've given me we should be able to find him though. It may take a little time Soon as we have anything to report we'll get in touch with him. Well, that's good enough It's a long and thanks. Bye Alex yes, sergeant take over the office for the time being when you're going out Yes, I saw a man yesterday who answered the description that brody just gave me I'm going to check on him come along king Oh Sergeant Preston left headquarters and went to frenchie to kane's kennels Sergeant Preston and king is good for see you. Hello frenchie king old fella You will one fine dog if sergeant ever wants to sell you I pay any price he named not today frenchie Came to see you for a different reason. Oh police business, huh? That's right Yesterday afternoon a man asked me where he could hire a dog team and I directed him here to your kennels Young fellas for the darkness stage very tall say no more sergeant I know the man you mean he's tall like pantry that one. Did you ready my team? We he made the arrange yesterday afternoon call for team this morning this morning Didn't he use the team last night? I know Did you find out anything about him? I find out his name It is lee gonzalez lee gonzalez. We Is stranger in dorsen. He tell me he come up with a freight outfit from scag windowed out How long ago did he leave? He come to kennels around eight o'clock Leave with team maybe 10 15 minutes later in other words a little over two hours ago. We You plan to go after him. Yes, I do You mean he is wanted for some crime He is unless there are two men in the territory who answer to the same description Well, thanks for the information don't mention it sergeant, but I hope he has not stolen my team Don't worry frenchie. I'll see you get your team back. Come on king After returning to headquarters the sergeant harnessed his own team and headed for the trail leading northward out of dorsen The huskies strained at the traces and the sled fairly flew over the hard packed snow It was shortly after one o'clock in the afternoon when the sergeant finally overhauled his quarry He found gonzalez and his attractive young wife seated beside a campfire just finishing their midday meal Well, hello there Say you're the Marty I spoke to at dorsen yesterday. That's right. I'm sergeant Preston. How do you do? I'm uh league gonzalez and this is my wife Elaine. How do you do sergeant? How to do If you're not the right man gonzalez, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to ask you both to put up your hands Put up our hands What is this? Do as I say All right Going to search you to see if you're carrying a gun watch him king All right, let me put your hands down now. Do you mind telling us what this is all about? I'll ask the questions if you don't mind Where you from san francisco usa what's your business in the territory? Personal What'd you go yesterday after leaving the canals back to the victoria hotel? Did you leave town during the evening? No, I was in dorsen all evening and all night. All right Now I'll explain what this is all about Last night a man was held up and robbed on the trail south of town According to the victim the robber was a young man with a swarthy complexion and a black moustache And exceptionally tall somewhere around six feet six But that's impossible. It's a coincidence. That's all perhaps and if so I apologize again But in order to make sure I'll have to insist on your returning to dorsen Dusk was falling and the oil lamp on sergeant prustin's desk had already been lighted as constable Ross and slone brody arrived at mounted police headquarters The sergeant and mr. And mrs. Gonzalez were waiting in the office Well, how do you sergeant the constable says you brought it up a suspect. That's right Will you stand up please? Gonzalez come over here toward the light Well, I'll be hanged This fellow answers the description right enough sergeant, but no, he's not the man You're quite sure of that yet positive looks a lot like him, but I'm sure he's not the same man the Robber had more of a square jaw and let me see He had a mole on the left side of his face. You didn't mention a mole in your description. Oh, didn't I? Well, I reckon I must have forgotten about that Anyway, I figured his height would be enough to tag him But it sure looks like it was mistaken. Yes, it certainly does Well, are you satisfied now sergeant? Yes, and I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience I'd caused you because anything I can do you've done enough already You brought us 10 miles back to town and you've cost us a day of valuable time But now you can't blame the sergeant. I can and do blame him Come on Elaine. Let's get our coat on. All right Well, I may as well be going too if you get any more leads sergeant be sure and let me know You'll be stopping at the royal albert for some time. Yeah, that's right Well, so long good night As brody left mounted police headquarters, he paused for a moment and looked around Is no expecting to see someone A man was standing in the shadows across the street brody walked toward him It was his partner clad tappin Well, how about it brody was it gonzala's they nap? Yeah, it was gonzala's right in there It is why we're still in the office. Where'd they find him? So we're about 10 miles from town. I don't know which direction See there they are now. They'll be made courted by thunder. It's them. All right Come on get back in the shadows more so they won't start I heard him tell his wife they'd have to check back into the hotel and get a fresh start in the morning His wife's on the sled. He's getting ready to drive away Come on, we'll follow them and find out which hotel they Lee gonzala's drove his team along the street at an easy pace And the two crooks were able to keep his sled inside without difficulty He drew up before a hotel on front street Victoria hotel. So that's where they're gonna put up. They'll probably be leaving the first thing in the morning They will come back here early and keep watch on them When they start out we'll see which direction they take out of town Then we'll get our own team check out of the hotel and start at Sergeant Preston had been puzzled by the evening's events But it wasn't until the following day that he voiced his suspicions to constable ross Alex, what do you make of slone brody? Offhand he strikes me as a slippery sort of a customer. He strikes me the same way Judging from the cut of his clothes and that diamond ring on his finger. I'd say he was a professional gambler Why I can't help thinking there was something odd about what happened here last night. What do you mean? How many men have you ever seen as tall as lee gonzalez? Mighty few exactly On the odds against the being too many of that height here in the ucon both having identical descriptions And it seems almost incredible It does seem odd when you start to think of it What are you getting at sergeant? Well, maybe I'm wrong but when brody gave us that line about the mole on the robbers phase didn't sound very convincing Somehow I had the feeling that gonzalez really was the man he wanted us to find in that case Who I should brody deny it. That's what I can't understand unless Unless what unless the whole story of the robbery was just a trick to get us to track down gonzalez I don't get it. Now frankly neither do I but if brody's up to something I'd like to know what it is Do you want me to check up on him? Yes, that wouldn't do any harm Suppose you go over the royal albert hotel and keep an eye on brody's movements See if you can find out what his business is here in dawson, right? Less than 20 minutes later the constable returned to headquarters with an excited look on his face back so soon Alex didn't brody say last night that he'd be stopping at the royal albert for some time That's right. Well, he was lying He's left town. Oh, you're staying at the hotel with a fellow named clad tappan According to the desk clerk. They checked out early this morning and drove off on their sled without notifying us Yep In other words since we found gonzalez Brody has suddenly lost all interest in recovering his stolen money that business about the robbery must have been a fake Yes, and we know that gonzalez was planning to leave town this morning too What are you going to do sergeant going to take king over to brody's hotel room and see if he can pick up his scent Come on boy Meanwhile lee gonzalez and his wife were traveling along the trail north of dawson It was mid-afternoon when lee glanced behind them and remarked to elaine in a worried voice Can't get all that sled is still following us But lee just because they're traveling behind us doesn't mean they're following us That's just your imagination Imagination my eye When we stopped to eat they dropped out of sight We hit the trail again there. They were behind us and the same thing happened when we stopped to rest They weren't trailing as they'd have passed as long ago But why should anyone be trailing off? I don't know But don't forget we're on our way to find a ruby necklace. It's worth a fortune Darling, you're just getting nervous and worked up about nothing. Maybe but Just the same i'm going to make sure what are you going to do as soon as we get around that bend up ahead I'm going to turn off the trail get on there The trail wound around the foot of a rocky hillside After rounding the bend lee swung his team off the trail and headed up the slope About a hundred feet up the slope he hauled the sled behind a group of large boulders Now what wait here and give them a chance to pass us these boulders will hide us from people It was about 20 minutes later that the two travelers who had been following them came around the bend and the trail Now we'll see what happens Lee they're stopping yeah They're puzzling They're wondering what's happened to us. We'll see our sled tracks leading up the hillside. Wait a minute There's something familiar about those two Lee you're right that one man is Clyde tappan Holy mackerel and the other one is that fellow brody. They've seen us so much the better I'm gonna get to the bottom of this right now Are you looking for us tappan? Well if you have something to say to us come on up and say it The two crooks trudged up the slope to the spot where lee and elaine were waiting So you followed us all the way up here from san francisco, ain't tappan, right? I landed at skagway two days after you did Oh by the way, you've both met brody, haven't you? Yes, we met last night at mountie head Well, i'm sorry it had to be under such unpleasant circumstances Brody was working in a gambling house down in skagway He convinced me that he could be a big help to me in my little venture Especially since I was new to the north Chichaco as they say and just what is your little venture? I didn't intend to reveal myself just yet Not until you and elaine had laid hands on those rubies Since you've spotted us it looks like I'll have to lay my cards on the table. Well We want those rubies lee. Oh And I suppose you expect me to tell you where to find them. I not only expect it I'm going to insist on it. Lee here's a gun get your hands up both of you You think that gun's gonna scare us into talking you're crazy I think you'll talk all right with a little persuasion Going back to the sled brody and get some of that rope we brought A few moments later brody returned with a rope Under the threat of tappin's leveled gun lee was forced to submit while brody tied his hands behind him Now comes the persuasion grab the girl brody. Don't you dare come near me? You lay a hand on her and I'll kill you. All right, I've got it Now then gonzales, are you going to tell us where to find those rubies? Or are we going to have to do a little arm twisting It was some time later that sergeant Preston and costable Ross approached along the trail Hey, what's the matter with king sergeant? He's going up the hillside yes There are sled tracks leading up there toward those boulders. Come on Alex. Let's have a look The bounties started up the slope a few moments later They found lee in a lane lying bound and gagged in the snow behind the boulder sergeant. Look It's gonzales and his wife help me untie them Alex. Yes It wasn't long before the prisoners had been freed. Oh, thanks Thanks a thousand times that goes double for me. How did you ever happen to find us? We were afraid that brody and his friend might be up to something so we trailed him from town They were up to something all right. They're the ones who tied us up You saw how they had those ropes anchored that tree root That was to make sure we didn't roll out from behind these boulders and work our way down to the trail They figured we'd freeze to death before anyone ever found us. Tell me the whole story I hardly know how to begin Supposed to begin by telling me why you came to the uconn all right sergeant We came to recover a valuable ruby necklace that was left here by my grandfather about 60 years ago ruby necklace. That's right It was like this My grandfather came from a spanish family that settled in california a long time ago In 1839 he sailed to alaska on a trading schooner in those days. Alaska was a russian colony. Yes, i know Well the ship put in at sitka And there my grandfather fell in love with the daughter of the russian governor In fact, he stayed behind when the ship sailed She fell in love with him too, but the governor opposed the match because my grandfather had no money What happened? Laelope one night and were married by a missionary priest She had a valuable ruby necklace and she took it along with her Thinking they could sell it and raise enough money to make a start in life Where'd they go? They headed north into the interior till they came to the uconn river Then they started following the river hoping to to reach a hudson's bay company post Did they make it? No, his wife came down with fever and root So they took shelter in a cave Grandfather did everything he could to save her life, but It was no use. She died Apparently grandfather just about went out of his head with grief He cursed the necklace and threw it away somewhere in back of the cave. I see Now eventually he got back to civilization And later on he married again But he never made any effort to recover the necklace And when he told me this story, I was just a boy at the time He said he never wanted to lay eyes on the necklace again But I made up my mind that someday I was going to recover it So now you've come to the uconn to try to find it? That's right siren I was hoping it would give us a start in life How did Brody come into the picture? Brody is working with Tappen I thought Tappen was a friend of ours I even borrowed money from him to finance the trip up here But instead he followed us hoping to get the rubies for himself Where is the cave? From what my grandfather told me it's located about 20 miles down river from the mouth of the Klondike And it's marked by a carn of stones near the cave entrance where he buried his wife I've seen that carn Hi golly, so have I sergeant I sure never knew the story connected with it Is that where Brody and Tappen have gone? That's right They forced me to talk by threatening to harm Elaine. They took our sled with them Alex, I want you to take Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalez back to town What about you sergeant? I'm going after Brody and Tappen Dusk was falling when the two crooks finally reached the cave which Lee Gonzalez had described to them It was located in the face of a hillside overlooking the Yukon River This must be the place right here Yeah, there's the carn of stones Gonzalez told us about Yeah Let me get a lantern off the sled. We'll need it to search inside the cave That's a good idea After lighting the lantern the two crooks advanced into the cave Sure is a big place It was a way in the hillside Yeah, looks like we'll have our work cut out for us Well, let's get busy and search Right The floor of the cave was covered with a rocky debris And the two men realized they would have no easy job in searching the cave floor The job was tedious and exhausting Night closed in outside the cave and still they hadn't found what they were looking for Finally Brody straightened up exclaimed and disgust Blessing all my knees are killing me I'm beginning to think we went to all this trouble for nothing You've always been 60 years since Brody I found it Who leads you up in Jupiter? Yeah, let me have a look at it Bring the lantern up close Yeah, sure Did you ever see anything like it in your life? I'll bet the stones in this knickers are worth a hundred thousand So you found the rubies How about it? Listen, I'll get him Oh, you don't As Brody fell tapping its swung and smashed the lantern Plunging the cave into darkness At the same time, he died for cover behind a big rock Knowing himself protected, he drew his gun And fired in the gentle direction of the Mountie But the sergeant had flung himself face down in the shot mist As he hit the ground, Preston had given King a slight nudge Trusting the great dog to do what was needed Now the Mountie lay motionless Scarcely daring to breathe for fear of giving his position away Again tapping fired And again the bullet went high I know where you are Preston I haven't hit you so far Must be because you're lying flat on the ground For this time, I'll aim lower And I won't miss King had understood his master He knew what to do He charged knocking, tapping off balance The shot went wild Attention focused on the sergeant The crook hadn't been aware of King's approach Help me, help me, call up your dog Put him, King I still tap him if you don't want to get hurt All right, all right, I will move Striking a match, sergeant Preston made out the figure of Brody Lying unconscious where he had fallen The Mountie groped his way through the darkness And after striking several more matches Located the guns of both crooks Then he left King to guard Tappan Went outside the cave to the spot where he had left his sled A few moments later, he returned with a lantern All right, King, let him up, boy On your feet, Tappan You're under arrest in the name of the crown Never mind the post mortems Just turn around while I snap on these handcuffs And we'll see you about managing your partner Late the following day, sergeant Preston Knocked on the door of Lee's and Elaine's hotel room Sergeant Preston, come on in Thanks You got back, sergeant Tell me, did you catch Tappan and Brody? Yes, they're occupying cells at the jail The reason I came here was to turn this over to you Lee, it's the rubies Holy mackerel, just look at them But they're like frozen fire I'm going to try them on Oh, Lee, aren't they gorgeous? And to think they're worth a fortune How can we ever thank you, sergeant? I'll show you how Bring them here, honey What are you going to do? I'm going to pry one of these rubles out of its setting And give it to Sergeant Preston Hold it, Lee, don't be foolish Foolish? Nothing It's the least I can do after all you've done for us Lee's right, sergeant We want you to have it Well, thanks to us the same, but I'm not allowed to accept rewards Listen, sergeant Yesterday afternoon, Elaine and I were in the worst danger we've ever been in We might have frozen to death You saved our lives and now you're handing a fortune over to us A fortune which is rightfully yours as your grandfather's heir Your folks have gone through a lot to find these rubies Now that you have them, this case is closed In our next adventure, Sergeant Preston reports to Inspector Conrad at Mounted Police Headquarters Sergeant Preston reporting, sir Sergeant, there have been three robberies and a murder in Selkirk all within 10 days There are no clues Constable Higgins is telegraphed for help I see Higgins is a good man, sir If he's stumped, clever people must be operating down that way That's right I want you to go down there at once, sergeant I'm counting on you to clear up those cases Right, sir, I'll leave it once and take King with me Fine, goodbye and good luck Bye, sir Come along, King The unsolved robberies and murder in Selkirk has the whole town talking When Sergeant Preston and his great dog, Yukon King, try to solve the mysterious cases It may be that the Mountie will walk right into a death trap Be sure to hear this next exciting adventure These radio dramas are a feature of the challenge of the Yukon Incorporated Are created by George W. Trendle Produced by Trendle Campbell Enterprises Directed by Fred Flower Day And supervised by Charles D. Livingston The part of Sergeant Preston is played by Paul Sutton This is J. Michael wishing you goodbye and good luck Until our next adventure This program came from Detroit Today's most popular heroes of outdoor adventure Are heard every weekday afternoon from five to six o'clock Monday, Wednesday and Friday Mark Trail roams the wilderness Clyde Beatty defies the beasts of the jungle And Victor Borga entertains with five minutes of musical lapse Tuesday and Thursday There are the Indian hero, Straight Arrow, riding to uphold justice Sky King zooming to supersonic action And Bobby Benson, the cowboy kid in Tales of Western Daring Listen to Mutual's Hour for Fun with Mark Trail, Clyde Beatty, Victor Borga Straight Arrow, Sky King and Bobby Benson Over most of these stations Every weekday afternoon This is the Mutual Broadcasting System