about four o'clock in the afternoon
The Indians were persistent peddlers , offering the handsome baskets , hats and blankets which they are peculiarly skilful in making , and the boys would have loaded themselves down with souvenirs had not Colonel Snow suggested that they would have plenty of time to supply themselves before they left for the south again . Two days later , Swiftwater Jim , having returned from White Horse , and the freight having been taken from the steamer 's hold , it was placed on cars of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad ; the `` piano case '' as it had come to be called having been put in storage until their return , and early in the morning of a June day the boys bade farewell to Colonel Snow and boarded the train for White Horse . The journey required nearly six hours , but the first half was a stiff climb to the top of the pass and through such magnificent scenery of mountain and gorge that the boys scarcely noticed the passage of time , beguiled , as it was , with thrilling tales by Swiftwater Jim , with the story of the fight of the Argonauts against the winter horrors of this same trail in the early days of the great gold rush . They arrived at White Horse about four o'clock in the afternoon , and were met by six halfbreed Indians headed by a well-known guide of that region known as Skookum Joe , who spoke good English and greeted Swiftwater as an old friend . He had been charged with securing the crews for the two boats that Swiftwater Jim was to use in the trip , and he introduced the men whom Jim greeted in the `` pigeon '' Siwash of that section , used as a means of communication with the natives who do not speak English . `` I send up river for um , '' said Skookum Joe , `` Dey know dat country . Good work when no rum ; rum , no work , '' referring to the prevalence of the liquor habit among the Indians since they have come into contact with the whites .