Call of the Klondike

Outside his cabin in northern Canada, a man catches an intruder and, after killing him during a struggle over a knife, carries the body to a deserted area and buries it. Later, Corporal Rod West of the Northwest Mounted Police is about to leave on vacation when he is summoned by Major James Robertson, who tells Rod about a letter from Andrew McKay, head of the trading post in Healy's Crossing, who reports that two men from the area have disappeared in the last few weeks. Robertson then introduces Rod to Nancy Craig, whose father is one of the missing men, and tells Rod that she will accompany him on his investigation. After days of traveling by canoe, Rod and Nancy have almost reached their destination when they are shot at by an unseen assailant. When they arrive at the trading post, Andrew tells them there is no one named Craig in the area, and arranges for Nancy to stay at the home of Emily Mallory and her brother Paul, a miner with an injured arm. Andrew then tells Rod that he is suspicious of Mencheck, a bad-tempered miner who settled in Healy's Crossing several months before. Rod questions Mencheck, and shortly after leaving his cabin, Rod and his dog Chinook discover a body in a shallow grave. Andrew identifies a cap found nearby as belonging to Blackie, one of the missing men. Meanwhile, Nancy hears about Mencheck and, recognizing his name, sets out to see him. Finding Mencheck's cabin empty, Nancy proceeds to search it and discovers her father's wallet in a suitcase under the bed just as Mencheck returns. Nancy escapes and goes to the trading post, where she tells her story to Andrew, his friend Billy and Fred Foley, who works for Paul. The men go to Mencheck's and try to capture him, but he shoots at them and wounds Billy before Rod arrives and disperses them. Mencheck tells Rod that he and Craig came up together to mine for gold, but that Craig disappeared the day they got to town. When Mencheck adds that Craig was the only man who trusted him even though he is an ex-convict, Rod apologizes to Mencheck for misjudging him. The next morning, Fred tells Paul that they should get away before Rod discovers they have dug a tunnel through to Mencheck's mine in order to steal his gold. Paul chides Fred for missing when he shot at Rod in the canoe, and he uses dynamite to rig a trap in the mine. When Rod arrives, Paul pushes him into the mine and lights the fuse, and he and Fred run away before the mine collapses, trapping Rod and Chinook and killing Luke, a member of Paul's crew. Chinook escapes from the mine and fetches Mencheck, who rescues Rod and then admits that he killed Blackie, who was one of Paul's gang, in self-defense when he caught him outside his cabin. Back at the Mallory place, Paul divides the gold, keeping Luke's share for himself despite Fred's protest that he should get more because he killed Craig. Nancy comes in as Paul, Fred and Emily are preparing to escape, and they take her hostage, but Rod and Mencheck rescue her and arrest the gang. As Rod prepares to depart with his prisoners, he promises to keep in touch with Nancy, who is staying behind as a partner in the mine.