 The challenge of the Yukon. One King, one new Husky. The Wonder Dog King, swiftest 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. At the mounted police headquarters in Dawson City, Inspector Grayson looked gravely at Sergeant Preston. The mount he stood before him is huge lead dog King at his side. The most unusual decision you've made, Sergeant Preston. I realize that, sir. But I think you'll agree with me when you hear the whole story. Maybe. Was Special Constable Kuik satisfactory? I couldn't have gotten along without him, sir. I can speak the Eskimo language a little, but with Kuik to translate things for me, I was able to come to a decision a lot faster. Well, sit down, Sergeant, and start at the beginning. Thank you, sir. I gave you the report of the murder of a white explorer by the Eskimo Orchital, and you started for the Arctic with Kuik, the Special Constable. Now, uh, you go on from there. It took us two months to get to this Eskimo village in the Arctic. When we got close enough, I instructed Kuik to go on without me to investigate the village before they became suspicious. He came back the next day. Well, Kuik, what did you find? Well, this is village where Okotok live. Him not there. Him gone for hunt. Did you hear anything about the murder? Oh, it is good. You do not go with me. The Eskimos in that village, they do not like white men. Well, that's why I sent you there alone. I thought that might be true. Okotok, him kill white men, they say. They say white man bad. And Okitok has gone hunting. Could you find out where? Well, some say him gone north. Others say him go west, where Kalibu is seen. Well, he may be protecting him. Are you sure he wasn't in the village? No, him gone. They not know police have heard of murder. Kuik, you take the dog team and circle to the west. I'll take King and go north. We'll meet right here in three days. Maybe I cannot get back in three days. Well, if you want to hear when I get back, King and I will trail you. And the same goes for you. If you return first, start after us at once. King and I circled the village inspector and went off alone to the north. On the second day, I thought I saw a speck of black that looked like a man on the plane below. So I rushed to a higher point to get a better look. I see. My eyes must have been on the man instead of my path ahead, because suddenly I felt the crust of snow beneath me give way and I was falling. I felt a terrific pain shoot up my right arm and I must have hit my head. The last thing I remembered was hearing King barking, but he seemed very far away. You fell into a crevasse? Yes, sir. It wasn't very deep. It was covered by a crust of snow. I don't know how long I lay there, but when I awoke I saw two heads peering at me from the edge of the crevasse. Both faces were framed in fur, and then as my vision cleared, I realized that one was King and the other was the ugliest Eskimo I've ever seen. I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in my right arm changed my mind. I called out, Help me! Get me out of here! You white man! Yes. Yes, I'm white. Get a rope down here. I think I can tie it around me. He's a slight white man. Oh, well, it's up to you. Don't him like you, him bark, and why I come. Well, maybe you'll get me out of here for him. I don't care why you do it. He didn't get a rope. I believe my fate hung in the balance for a moment, sir. But the Eskimo decided to save me because of King. He tied the rope to King's harness, and with my one good arm, I made a loop around my waist. Somehow, they pulled me up. My right arm was broken, and I almost fainted with pain as I lay on the snow. Good boy. It's alright, King. Well, thanks for pulling me up. What's your name? The Okituk. Okituk. You walk, Nico. Before you go, Okituk, would you help me once more? See, my arm, I can't move it. It's broken. You're like white man. Alright, Okituk. Thanks anyway. Goodbye. White man, bad. Oh, not too long ago. Well, King, a friend seems to think he's done enough. Hey, fella, where you going? Not no harm in me. Well, Okituk, did you change your mind? Me like dog. Me build a igloo, fix your arm, storm come. Oh, thanks, Okituk. Here, King, come here, fella. Let me hang on to you and get on my feet. Oh, my ankle. You hurt. Well, I'm really a true mercy, Okituk. Seems as if I've wrenched my ankle, too. Guess I'll have to sit down again. Rather a bad spot I was in, Inspector. See, with the broken arm or a wrenched ankle and the murderer who didn't like white man, I think you're putting it rather mildly, Sergeant. I know that everything Okituk did, he did for King and not for me. And strangest of all, King seemed to like him. Okituk had a way with dogs. He loved them and they seemed to sense it. And in spite of his animosity, as far as I was concerned, King and he became friends. Did he fix your arm? First he built an igloo. The temperature was dropping rapidly and I couldn't bear my arm in the cold. Then he set my arm, giving me the blackest of looks while he did it. He knew very little English, but with signs and by the tone of my voice he seemed to understand me. We'd finished eating after my arm was fixed and I lay on my furs. Was a lot of caribou meat left. You had your dinner, King. None of that meat for you. We need it for tomorrow, boy. Did King all that meat? Well, too late now he's gulped it down. We needed that for tomorrow. No, tonight you die. What? Tonight I die. Nico. Now what did he mean by that? King, old fella. Yeah, boy, close beside me. Tonight I die. Tonight I die. He didn't live, Inspector. I was frightened. I should think so. I've always felt safe with King beside me, but King trusted and liked Okituck distinctively and went to him when he called. In spite of my fear, my eyelids grew heavy and I slept. The igloo was dark except for the flicker of burning blubber that Okituck had lighted and that cast weird shadows on the wall. I don't know how long I slept. I lay on my left side with my face to the wall and when I opened my eyes there on the wall of the igloo, I saw the shadow of an arm and a knife. For a moment, I was... King, King, where are you? Dog, him go out. Okituck, you must not kill me. If you do, you'll be hanged. I saw the shadow of your knife. He not killed. But that knife... King, come here, fella. Now, Okituck, you can't come near me. My dog will protect me. Here. He killed Cabo. Him like me. You mean you've been hunting? White man die long time. Me fix me. I can't tell you how ashamed I was, Inspector. Why, Sergeant? Well, you see, sir, Okituck was cutting up meat for our breakfast. That explained the shadow of the knife on the wall. Oh, I see. Only then did I remember that Eskimos think they die each night every day as a new birth. For two more days, we stayed in the igloo, and then we heard the welcome sound of my dog team. Okituck had found us. Sergeant, you are hurt. I'll be able to travel on the sled, Okituck. This is Okituck. He saved my life. Okituck? This is Okituck, my Eskimo guide. Who's called a magic Okituck? Okituck, they came out to the sled and he'll help you get it ready. Tell him we want to go to his village. The Eskimo village. Kiwi and Okituck had long conversations in their native tongue. The second night, Okituck was sound asleep rolled up in his furs. Kiwi and I sat before the fire and he told me the story of Okituck's crime as Okituck had told it to him. You see, sir, a white man had arrived at their village. The first white man these Eskimos had ever seen. I see. He spoke their language and the tribe welcomed him as a friend. I suspect that the man called Hanson was taking advantage of that friendship. He spoke of it to the chief. Who is called Hanson? He leave us soon? He speak of going in three day. He want you to go with him as guide. I do not like him. Yesterday he take all of his skin from Ojack because he say Ojack still harness. Soon he will be gone, Okituck. We must keep peace with white man. My brother Manek he said my brother Manek his fur have been taken unfairly. I see white man laugh as he stack them on sled. It is best we say nothing. Soon he will go. He has gun that could kill my people. It is best we keep peace. I will not be his guide when he go. My first child will be born in six day. I stay with my wife, Ojack. So be it. Okituck, Okituck. Ojack, what is it? He will come quick. The white man he is killing your brother Manek. My brother? The white man was beating your dog because it snarl at him. Manek tried to stop him. You come. Beating my dog, come. There, there, see? He beat him with a whip. I will teach you your manners. I will teach you to know your manners. Stop, you kill him. That's what I want to do. Stop, stop I say. Stay back there you or you will be next. No, you do not hit my husband. My wife, my brother, you die. I said get back. Whip not stop me. You kill him. Brother lies dead. You check. Maybe die. Her face bleed. It is right, my son. Right to do this. You yourself will bear mark of lash. Across your face forever. The hatred of white man forever. I was ashamed of my race that night, Inspector. No wonder. And I knew that King's instinct about Okituck was right. He had every right to leave me at the bottom of the crevasse, but he's essentially a just man. A bigger man than many white men would have been under the circumstances. Did you go back to the village to check the story? With Kewick to interpret for me, I interviewed the chief. He told me the story as he himself had witnessed it. And as he finished, he said, That is true story. Mochek, the wife of Okituck, lived, but she was sick for many day when she was born. By our law, white man deserve to die. You are white man law. What is your decision? White men, like the Eskimos, are just and fair, chief. The mounted police are here to help you, not to persecute you. We, like you, would have decreed death to the white man for murder. Okituck is free. That was a wise and a just decision, sergeant, to make many friends for us among the Eskimos. I'm glad to know the whole story, so write it up in your report just as you've told it to me. And as for that dog of yours, we're very grateful to him for saving the life of one of the finest officers on our force. And I can see he shares my opinion of you. Thank you, sir. These copyrighted dramas originated in the U.S. and YZ Detroit. And all characters, names, places, and incidents used are fictitious. They are sent to you each week at the same time. This is Don Callan speaking. This is the Michigan Radio Network.