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Having disposed of their letters, the miners crowded round the courier
to hear how the black business ended--matter of special interest to
Minóok, for the population here was composed chiefly of men who, by the
Canadian route, had managed to get to Dawson in the autumn, in the
early days of the famine scare, and who, ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
A few went up, over the way they had come, to die after all on the
Pass, and some went down, their white, despairing faces disappearing
round the Klondyke bend as they drifted with the grinding ice towards
the Arctic Circle, where the food was caught in the floes. And how one
came back, going by without ever turning h... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"I blowed out a lot o' dust for dat girl. She's wearin' my di'mon' now,
and won't look at me. Say, Butts, I'll give you twenty dollars if you
sneak dat ring."
"Done with you," says Butts, as calm as a summer's day. In two minutes
Maudie was twirling about with the handy gentleman, who seemed as
accomplished with his t... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Maudie stared at the princely offer. But instantly the commotion was
greater than ever. "Ev'body" did what was expected of them, especially
Mr. Butts. They flew about, looking in possible and impossible places,
laughing, screaming, tumbling over one another. In the midst of the
uproar French Charlie lurches up to Maud... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"This is a winter diggins y' see," observed the mackinaw man with
pride. "It's only while the ground is froze solid you can do this kind
o' minin'. I've had to burn the ground clean down to bed-rock. Yes,
sir, thawed my way inch by inch to the old channel."
"Well, and what have you found?"
"S'pose we pan some o' this ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The Colonel staked No. 1 Above the Discovery, and the Boy was in the
act of staking No. 1 Below when--
"No, no," says that kind mackinaw man, "the heavier gold will be found
further up the gulch--stake No. 2 Above"; and he told them natural
facts about placer-mining that no after expert knowledge could ever
better. Bu... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
By McGinty's advice, the strangers called a secret meeting, and elected
McGinty recorder. All the claim-holders registered their properties and
the dates of location. The Recorder gave everybody his receipt, and
everybody felt it was cheap at five dollars. Then the meeting proceeded
to frame a code of Laws for the new... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
So he had stayed away, having plenty to occupy him in helping to
organise the new district. He was strolling past the saloon the morning
after the Secret Meeting, when down into the street, like a kingfisher
into a stream, Maudie darted, and held up the Colonel.
"Ain't you had my letter?"
"Oh--a--yes--but I've been bu... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The Colonel pulled up his great figure with some pomposity. "I don't
understand."
"Any feller can see that. You're just the kind the McGintys are layin'
for." She looked round to see that nobody was within earshot. "Si's
been layin' round all winter waitin' for the spring crop o' suckers."
"If you mean there isn't gol... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The Colonel looked at her.
"Well, I'll do it," he said slowly, "and if you're right--"
"Oh, I'm all right," she laughed; "an' I know my McGinty backwards.
But"--she frowned with sudden anger--"it ain't Maudie's pretty way to
interfere with cheechalkos gettin' fooled. I ain't proud o' the trouble
I've taken, and I'll t... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Wait till the steamers begin to run," Maudie said; "McGinty'll play
that game with every new boat-load. Oh, McGinty'll make another
fortune. Then he'll go to Dawson and blow it in. Well, Colonel, sorry
you ain't cultivatin' rheumatism in a damp hole up at Glory
Hallelujah?"
"I--I am very much obliged to you for savin... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
They had heard a great deal about the dark, keen-looking young Oregon
lawyer, for Salaman was the most envied man in Minóok. "Come over to my
dump and get some nuggets," says Mr. Salaman, as in other parts of the
world a man will say, "Come into the smoking-room and have a cigar."
The snow was melted from the top of S... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"But," said Salaman, "there are few things more mysterious than its
whereabouts or why it should be where it is. Don't talk to me about
mining experts--we've had 'em here. But who can explain the mystery of
Minóok? There are six claims in all this country that pay to work. The
pay begins in No. 5; before that, nothing... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
They returned to Rampart.
It was decidedly inconvenient, considering the state of their finances,
to have thrown away that five hundred dollars on McGinty. They messed
with Keith, and paid their two-thirds of the household expenses; but
Dawson prices reigned, and it was plain there were no Dawson prizes.
"Well," said ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The Colonel had untied Nig, and the Leader, unmindful of the impending
change in his fortunes, dashed past the muddy man from the gulch with
such impetuosity that he knocked that gentleman off his legs. He picked
himself up scowling, and was feeling for his gold sack.
"Got scales here?"
"No need of scales." The Boy wh... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Nothin' doin'."
"Everything's at a standstill."
"Just keepin' body and soul together myself till the boats come in."
They splashed out to the gulch on the same errand.
Yes, wages were fifteen dollars a day when they were busy. Just now
they were waiting for the thorough thaw.
"Should think it was pretty thorough with... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Grudgingly he admitted to himself that, away from the unsavory
atmosphere of the Gold Nugget, there was nothing in Maudie positively
offensive. At this moment, with her shrewd little face peering pertly
out from her parki-hood, she looked more than ever like an audacious
child, or like some strange, new little Arctic ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"I wonder----" drawled the Colonel, recovering a little from his first
thrill.
"I wouldn't advise you to waste much time wonderin'," she said with
fire. "What I'm tellin' you is scientific. Pitcairn is straight as a
string. You won't get any hymns out o' Pitcairn, but you'll get fair
and square. His news is worth a lo... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
On the top of the divide that gave them their last glimpse of Rampart
she stopped an instant and looked back. The quick flash of anxiety
deepening to defiance made the others turn. The bit they could see of
the water-front thoroughfare was alive. The inhabitants were rushing
about like a swarm of agitated ants.
"What'... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Well, it is for me," he laughed breathlessly.
"That's 'cause you're an ex-Governor"; and steadily she tramped along.
In twenty minutes Maudie's party came upon those same young men who had
passed running. They sat in a row on a fallen spruce. One had no rubber
boots, the other had come off in such a hurry he had forg... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"What if this is the great day of my life!" thought the Boy. "Shall I
always look back to this? Why, it's Sunday. Wonder if Kentucky
remembers?" Never pausing, the Boy glanced back, vaguely amused, and
saw the Colonel plunging heavily along in front of half a dozen, who
were obviously out of condition for such an expe... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
When the Boy got to Pitcairn's prospect hole, there were already six
claims gone. He proceeded to stake the seventh, next to Maudie's. That
person, with flaming cheeks, was driving her last location-post into a
snow-drift with a piece of water-worn obsidian.
The Colonel came along in time to stake No. 14 Below, under ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Maudie was in towering spirits. She drank several cocktails, and in her
knee-length "stampedin' skirt" and her scarlet sweater she danced the
most audacious jig even Maudie had ever presented to the Gold Nugget
patrons. The miners yelled with delight. One of them caught her up and
put her on the counter of the bar, wh... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"No--no--she didn't die;" then half to himself, half to forestall
Maudie's crude probing, "but I lost her," he finished.
"Oh, you lost her!"
He stood, looking past the ugliness within to the morning majesty
without. But it was not either that he saw. Maudie studied him.
"Guess you ain't give up expectin' to find her s... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The first-comers had taken possession of the chairs and wooden stools
round the stove. All the later arrivals, including Keith and his
friends, sat on the floor.
"There's a good many here."
"They'll keep comin' as long as a lean man can scrouge in."
"Yes," said Keith, "everybody's got to come, even if it's only the
us... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"----in a country bigger than several of the nations of Europe put
together," responded that gentleman, with much public spirit.
"A Great Country!"
"Right!"
"You bet!"
"----a country that's paid for its purchase over and over again, even
before we discovered gold here."
"Did she? Good old 'laska."
"----and the worst t... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"No, sir! No funny business about our law! This tribunal's final."
"I ain't disputin' that it's final. I ain't talkin' about law. I was
mentionin' Justice."
"The feller that loses is always gassin' 'bout Justice. When you win
you don't think there's any flies on the Justice."
"Ain't had much experience with winnin'. W... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Didn't he tell you you could keep all the rest o' Lawrence's stuff?"
asked the Bonsorite.
McGinty disdained to answer this thrust.
"But I knows my dooty as City Marshal, and I says, 'No,' and Bonsor
says, says he, 'If you can't git the idee o' that fifteen hundred
dollars out o' your head, I'll git it out fur ye with... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Clutching Judge Corey by the arm, Maudie pulled him after her into the
narrow space behind the head-board and the wall.
"It was here--see?" She stooped down.
Some of the men pulled the bed farther out, so that they, too, could
pass round and see.
"This piece o' board goes down so slick you'd never know it lifted
out."... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"You just get out," Maudie cried in a fury. "Didn't I turn you out o'
this and tell you never----"
"Hol' on," said French Charlie in a conciliatory tone. "This true 'bout
your losin'----"
"Yes, it's true; but I ain't askin' your sympathy!"
He stopped short and frowned.
"Course not, when you can get his." Under his slo... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The Judge seemed to be taking down damning evidence on the dirty
envelope. Some were suggesting:
"Bring him over to the court."
"Yes, try him straight away."
No-Thumb-Jack was heard above the din, saying it was all gammon wasting
time over a trial, or even--in a plain case like this--for the Judge to
require the usual... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"No."
"Ha!" gasped Maudie, as though this were conclusive--"had business in
town, did you?"
Mr. Butts declined to answer.
"You thought the gold-mine out on the gulch could wait--and the
gold-mine in my cabin couldn't."
"You lie!" remarked Mr. Butts.
"What time did you get to Idaho Bar?" asked Corey.
"Didn't get there ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Say, if I make the boys let you go back to Circle, will you tell me
where you've hid my money?"
"Ain't got your money!"
"Look at 'im," whispered Charlie, still so terrified he could hardly
stand.
"Butts ain't borrowin' no trouble."
And this formulating of the general impression did Butts no good. As
they had watched ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Look here!" cried out the Colonel; "McGinty and Johnson haven't got
back!"
Nobody listened. Justice had been sufficiently served in sending them.
They had forced Butts out across the threshold, the crowd packed close
behind. The only men who had not pressed forward were Keith, the
Colonel, and the Boy, and No-Thumb-J... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Butts was making a good fight for his life, but he was becoming
exhausted. The leading spirits were running him down the bank to where
a crooked cotton-wood leaned cautiously over the Never-Know-What, as if
to spy out the river's secret.
But after arriving there, they were a little delayed for lack of what
they called... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Better take to the woods," he said, with a motion back towards the
window. The Colonel opened the half-closed door and looked out, as Jack
pushed aside the table, tore away the red curtain, hammered at the
sash, then, desperate, set his shoulder at it and forced the whole
thing out. He put his maimed hand on the sill... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Nobody looked at Butts, and yet he was a sight to see. His face and his
clothes were badly mauled. He was covered with mud and blood. When the
men were interrupted in trying to get the noose over his head, he had
stood quite still in the midst of the crowd till it broke and melted
away from him. He looked round, passe... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Verdict already?"
"Oh, that kind o' case don't take a feller like Corey long."
"What's the decision?"
"Prisoner discharged. Charlie Le Gros committed suicide."
"Suicide!"
"--by goin' with his gun to Butts' shack lookin' f trouble."
CHAPTER XIX
THE ICE GOES OUT
"I am apart of all that I have seen."
It had been thawi... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
And the strange thing had happened on the Yukon. The shore-edges of the
ice seemed sunken, and the water ran yet deeper there. But of a
certainty the middle part had risen! The cheechalkos thought it an
optical illusion. But old Brandt from Forty-Mile had seen the ice go
out for two-and-twenty years, and he said it we... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
For ages it had meant to the timid: Beware the fury of the shattered
ice-fields; beware the caprice of the flood. Watch! lest many lives go
out with the ice as aforetime. And for ages to the stout-hearted it had
meant: Make ready the kyaks and the birch canoes; see that tackle and
traps are strong--for plenty or famin... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"I want my dog."
"You'll git him sure."
"I'm glad you understand that much."
"I'll bring him up to Rampart in time for the first boat."
"Where's my dog?"
No answer. The Boy whistled. No Nig. Dread masked itself in choler. He
jumped on the fellow, forced him down, and hammered him till he cried
for mercy.
"Where's my d... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
When the business was ended, Minóok self-control gave way. The
cheechalkos found themselves the laughing-stock of the town. The
others, who had dared to build down on the bank, but who "hadn't scared
worth a cent," sauntered up to the Gold Nugget to enjoy the increased
esteem of the Sour-doughs, and the humiliation of... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Yes, it's awful to think how the life up here can take the stiffening
out of a fella."
He looked darkly at the two out there in the mud. Keith nodded.
"Strong men have lain down on the trail this winter and cried." But it
wasn't that sort of thing the other meant. Keith followed his new
friend's glowering looks.
"Yes... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"What time is it?"
"Half-past four."
"Mornin' or evenin'?" and no one thought the question strange.
Maudie lowered her voice.
"No need to mention it to pardners and people. You don't want every
feller to know you're goin' about loaded; but will you take my dust up
to Dawson and get it sent to 'Frisco on the first boat... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
In mid-channel a still unbroken sheet is bent yet more in the centre.
Every now and then a wide crack opens near the margin, and the water
rushes out with a roar. Once more the mass is nearly still, and now
all's silent. Not till the water, dammed and thrown back by the ice,
not until it rises many feet and comes down... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Birds are singing everywhere. Between the white snowdrifts the Arctic
moss shows green and yellow, white flowers star the hills.
Half the town is packed, ready to catch the boat at five minutes'
notice. With door barred and red curtain down, Maudie is doing up her
gold-dust for the Colonel to take to Dawson. The man w... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Dawson's 'It,' beyond a doubt."
The Colonel laughed a little ruefully.
"We used to say Minóok."
"I said Minóok, just to sound reasonable, but, of course, I meant
Dawson."
And they sat there thinking, watching the ice-blocks meet, crash, go
down in foam, and come up again on the lower reaches, the Boy idly
swinging th... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Something has happened," the Colonel said quite low. "We aren't the
same men who left the Big Chimney."
"Right!" said the Boy, with a laugh, unwilling as yet to accept his own
personal revelation, preferring to put a superficial interpretation on
his companion's words. He glanced at the Colonel, and his face changed
... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Only a lumberman's bateau, but two men were poling her down the current
with a skill that matched the speed. They swung her in. A dozen hands
caught at the painter and made fast. A young man stepped ashore and
introduced himself as Van Alen, Benham's "Upper River pardner, on the
way to Anvik."
His companion, Donovan, ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
More little boats going down, and still nothing going up. Men said
gloomily:
"We're done for! The fellows who go by the Canadian route will get
everything. The Dawson season will be half over before we're in the
field--if we ever are!"
The 28th of May! Still no steamer had come, but the mosquitoes
had--bloodthirsty be... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The canoe was moored, and while trying to restrain Nig's dripping
caresses, his master looked up, and saw something queer off there,
above the tops of the cottonwoods. As he looked he forgot the
dog--forgot everything in earth or heaven except that narrow cloud
wavering along the sky. He sat immovable in the round-sho... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Three cheers for the Oklahoma!"
At the sound of the Boy's voice a red face hanging over the stern broke
into a broad grin.
"Be the Siven! Air ye the little divvle himself, or air ye the divvle's
gran'fatherr?"
The apparition in the canoe was making fast and preparing to board the
ship.
"Can't take another passenger. ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Just my luck," said the Captain gloomily, going a little for'ard, as
though definitely giving up mining and returning to his own proper
business.
"But the rest o' the Mother Lode, the gold and magnetic iron, was too
heavy to travel. That's what's linin' the gold basins o' the
North--linin' Idaho Bar thick."
The Capta... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Indians?"
"No; seems to have been a bigger job than even white men could manage.
Instead o' stamp-mills, glaciers grindin' up the Mother Lode; instead
o' little sluice-boxes, rivers; instead o' riffles, gravel bottoms.
Work, work, wash, wash, day and night, every summer for a million
years. Never a clean-up since the... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Oh, is that so?" He seemed relieved on the whole.
"Eight and a half," from below.
"Eight and a half," from the Captain.
"Eight and a half," from the pilot-house.
"Concentrates, eh?"
Something arresting, rich-sounding, in the news--a triple essence of
the perfume of riches.
With the incantation of technical phrase ove... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"I regard it as a sure thing. Anyhow, it's recorded, and the
assessment's done. All the district wants now is capital to develop
it."
"Districts like that all over the map," said the old bird, with a final
flutter of caution. "Even if the capital's found--if everything's ready
for work, the summer's damn short. But if... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"I'll get into trouble for overloading as it is."
"You probably won't; people are too busy up here. If you do, I'm
offerin' you a good many thousand dollars for the risk."
"God bless my soul! where'd I put you? There ain't a bunk."
"I've slept by the week on the ice."
"There ain't room to lie down."
"Then we'll stand ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The Oklahoma was late, but she was not only the first boat--she might
conceivably be the last.
Potts and O'Flynn had spotted the man they were looking for, and called
out "Hello! Hello!" as the big fellow on the pile of gunnies got up and
waved his hat.
Mac leaned over the rail, saying gruffly, "That you, Colonel?" tr... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"But, sah----" It was no use.
A dozen more were pushing their claims, every one in vain. The Oklahoma
passengers, bent on having a look at Minóok, crowded after the Captain.
Among those who first left the ship, the Boy, talking to the purser,
hard upon Rainey's heels. The Colonel stood there as they passed, the
Captai... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Fetch him?"
"Fetch him!"
"Fetch him where?"
"Home!"
"When will that be?"
"Just as soon as I've put through the job up yonder." He jerked his
head up the river, indicating the common goal.
And now O'Flynn, roaring as usual, had broken away from those who had
obstructed his progress, and had flung himself upon the Colo... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"What? you were goin' to carry off my things too?" exclaimed the Boy.
"That's all you get," Maudie burst out indignantly--"all you get for
packin' his stuff down to the landin', to have it all ready for him,
and worryin' yourself into shoe-strings for fear he'd miss the boat."
Mac, O'Flynn, and Potts condoled with the... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
As the Oklahoma steams nearer, the town blossoms into flags; a great
murmur increases to a clamour; people come swarming down to the
water-front, waving Union Jacks and Stars and Stripes as well----What
does it all mean? A cannon booms, guns are fired, and as the Oklahoma
swings into the bank a band begins to play; a ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Meanwhile, many of those already there were wondering why they came and
how they could get home. In the tons of "mail matter" for Dawson,
stranded at Skaguay, must be those "instructions" from the Colonel's
bank, at home, to the Canadian Bank of Commerce, Dawson City. He agreed
with the Boy that if--very soon now--the... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Well, I didn't think you were that much of a coward--turnin' tail like
this just because a poor little Esquimaux--Besides, she may have got
over it. Even the higher races do." And he went on poking his fun till
suddenly the Boy said:
"You're in such high spirits, I suppose you must have heard Maudie's up
from Minóok.... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
On again, dipping to a little valley--Bonanza Creek! They stood and
looked.
"Well, here we are."
"Yes, this is what we came for."
And it was because of "this" that so vast a machinery of ships,
engines, and complicated human lives had been set in motion. What was
it? A dip in the hills where a little stream was caught... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Night shift on?"
"No."
"Then, damn you! shut the door."
As the never-resting sun "forced" the Dawson market-garden and the
wild-roses of the trail, so here on the creek men must follow the
strenuous example. No pause in the growing or the toiling of this
Northern world. The day-gang on No. 0 was hard at it down there... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The Boy did not like to suggest that the Colonel seemed little fit for
this kind of exercise. They had been in the Klondyke long enough to
know that to be in work was to be in luck.
"I'll tell you," the younger man said quickly, answering something
unspoken, but plain in the Colonel's face; "I'll go up the gulch and
s... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
And so they lived for a few days, the Boy chafing and wanting to move
on, the Colonel very earnest to have him stay.
"Something sure to turn up, and, anyhow, letters--my instruction----"
And he encouraged the acquaintance the Boy had struck up with the
Buckeyes, hoping against hope that to go over and smoke a pipe, an... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Then came the evening when the Boy was so late the Colonel got his own
breakfast; and when the recreant did get home, it was to announce that
a man over at the Buckeyes' had just offered him a job out on Indian
River. The Colonel set down his tea-cup and stared. His face took on
an odd, rigid look. But almost indiffer... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
On Sunday morning he ran a crooked, rusty nail into his foot. Clumsily
extracted, it left an ugly wound. Walking became a torture, and the
pain a banisher of sleep. It was during the next few days that he found
out how much the Colonel lay awake. Who could sleep in this blazing
sun? Black tents were not invented then,... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Vich von is gone?" asked the Silesian, who heard the end of the
conversation.
"Oh, the Chinese chore-boy is the one who's bettered himself," said the
Superintendent--"makin' more than all the others put together ever made
in their lives; runnin' a laundry up at Dawson."
The Boy, since this trouble with his foot, had ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The shovelling in was done for the time being. The water was to be
regulated, and then the clean-up as soon as the owner came down.
"Better not let Austin hear you say you're takin' stock. He'll run you
out o' the creek."
The Boy only smiled, and went on fillipping little stones at Nig.
"What did you mean?" the Colone... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Seymour had so regulated the stream that, in place of the gush and foam
of a few minutes before, there was now only a scant and gently falling
veil of water playing over the bright gravel caught in the riffle-lined
bottoms of the boxes.
As the Boy got up and reached for his stick, Austin stood there saying,
to nobody ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The Boy had turned away again, but stood an instant noticing how the
sun caught at the countless particles of gold still clinging to the
wood; for this was one of the old riffles, frayed by the action of much
water and the fret of many stones. Soon it would have to be burned, and
out of its ashes the careful Austin wo... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Scowl Austin's grim gratification was openly heightened with the rich
man's sense of superiority, but his visitor seemed to have forgotten
him.
"Colonel! here a minute. We thought it looked wonderful enough on the
Big Chimney table--but Lord! to see it like this, out o' doors, mixed
with sunshine and water!"
Still he ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
At sound of the strange voice Austin had wheeled about with a fierce
look, and heavily the strangers plodded by. The owner turned again to
the gold. "Yes," he said curtly, "there's something about that that
looks good to most men."
"What I was thinkin'," replied the Boy slowly, "was that it was the
only clean gold I'd... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"You'll come down to the sluice to-night, won't you?"
"Why shouldn't I?"
"No reason on earth, only I was afraid you were broodin' over what you
said to Austin."
"Austin? Oh, I'm not thinkin' about Austin."
"What, then? What makes you so quiet?"
"Well, I'm thinkin' I'd be better satisfied to stay here a little
longer i... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"It's always the same," the other went on. "Whenever I've come up
against something I'd hoped was goin' to make up, it's turned out to be
a thing I'd have to do anyway, and there was no make up about it. For
all that, I shouldn't mind stayin' on awhile since you want me to----"
The Colonel interrupted him, "That's rig... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
He had gone down on his hands and knees to see if Nig was asleep under
the camp-bed. The Colonel got up, went to the door, and let down the
flap. When he turned, the traveller and the dog were at his elbow. He
squared his big frame at the entrance, looking down at the two, tried
to speak, but the Boy broke in: "Don't ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"I looked round for my gun; if I'd found it I'd have left you behind."
And the Boy kept looking down at Nig, and the birds sang, and the
locust whirred, and the hot sun filled the tent as high-tide flushes a
sea-cave.
"You've been a little hard on me, Boy, bringin' it up like
this--remindin' me--I wouldn't have gone o... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Colonel gone down?" inquired the Silesian, passing by.
"Not yet."
"Anything I can do?" the gentleman inside was saying with a sound of
effort in his voice. The lady was not even at the pains to notice the
perfunctory civility.
"Well, Colonel, now you're here, what do you think o' the Klondyke?"
"Think? Well, there's ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Anything the matter with you, Colonel?"
"Well, my Bonanza headache ain't improved."
"I suppose you wouldn' like me to take over the job for two or three
days?"
"You? Crippled! Look here--" The Colonel flushed suddenly. "Austin been
sayin' anything?"
"Oh, I was just thinkin' about the sun."
"Well, when I want to go in... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Like so many on Bonanza, the Superintendent could not always sleep when
the time came. He was walking about "showing things" to a stranger, "a
newspaper woman," it was whispered--at all events, a lady who, armed
with letters from the highest British officials, had come to "write up
the Klondyke."
Seymour had left her ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Safe? I should think so!" she said steadily, comprehending all at
once, and not unwilling to create a diversion.
"This is no place for a woman, not if she's got twenty letters from the
Gold Commissioner."
Misunderstanding Austin's jibe at the official, the lady stood her
ground, smiling into the face of the excited K... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Three Indians accosted the cripple leading the procession. He started,
and raised his eyes. "Nicholas! Muckluck!" They shook hands, and all
went on together, the Boy saying the Colonel had a little sunstroke.
* * * * *
The next day Scowl Austin was found lying face down among the
cotton-w... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Hah!" said the constable, with some relief, "they both in there?"
"The Colonel is."
Now, it was the Colonel he had wanted till he heard he was there. As
the woman came out he looked in to make certain. Yes, there he was,
calmly sleeping, with the gray blanket of the screen thrown up for air.
It didn't look much like-... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"I know he is."
"And do you know what it costs to have a doctor come all the way out
here?"
"Yes, beasts! won't budge till you've handed over five hundred dollars.
Skunks!"
"Did your friend mention how he meant to raise the dust?"
"He's got it," she said curtly.
"Why, he was livin' off his pardner. Hadn't a red cent."... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
He stood there with the Buckeyes, the police, and the various day gangs
that were too excited to go to bed. And he asked them where Austin was
found, and other details of the murder, wearily conscious that the
friendliest there felt sure that the man who questioned could best fill
in the gaps in the story. When the do... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
But the sick man lay, looking out drowsily, peacefully, through
half-shut eyes, not greatly concerned, one would say, about anything.
The Boy went over and stood under the gray blanket canopy, looking down
with a choking sensation that delayed his question: "How you feelin'
now, Kentucky?"
"All right."
"Why, that's go... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
Nicholas of Pymeut had gone back as pilot of the Weare, but Princess
Muckluck was still about, now with Skookum Bill, son of the local
chief, now alone, trudging up and down Bonanza like one looking for
something lost. The Colonel heard her voice outside the tent and had
her in.
"You goin' to marry Skookum Bill, as th... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Well, what you think o' Dawson?" the low voice asked.
Kaviak understood the look at least, and smiled back, grew suddenly
grave, intent, looked sharply round, loosed his hold of the Colonel,
bent down, and retired behind the bed. That was where Nig was. Their
foregathering added nothing to the tranquility of the occa... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Don't go gassin', Colonel," admonished the nurse.
"It's pretty tough, I can tell you," he said irritably, "to be as weak
as a day-old baby, and to have to let other people----"
"Mustn't talk!" ordered Mac. The Colonel raised his head with sudden
anger. It did not mend matters that Maudie was there to hold him down
be... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"The Court found he'd done the killin' in self-defence, and sent him
back. Well, sir, that native had the time of his life bein' tried for
murder. He'd travelled on a railroad, seen a white man's city, lived
like a lord, and came home to be the most famous man of his tribe. Got
a taste for travel, too. Comes to the Kl... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"How soon?" he said, without raising his eyes.
"Oh, he holds on--it may be a day or two."
The Boy walked slowly away towards the ridge of the low hill. Maudie
turned and watched him. On the top of the divide he stopped, looking
over. Whatever it was he saw off there, he could not meet it yet. He
flung himself down wit... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Yes, you might just--a--start us as well as you can," says Potts.
The Colonel smiled a little. Each man still "starting"--forever
starting for somewhere or something, until he should come to this place
where the Colonel was. Even he, why, he was "starting" too. For him
this was no end other than a chapter's ending. B... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The Colonel seemed absorbed in that eternal interrogation of the
tent-top.
"Mine, you know"--Mac drew nearer still, and went on in the lowered
voice--"mine's a special case. A man's bound to do all he can for his
boys."
"I didn't know you had boys."
Mac jerked "Yes" with his square head. "Bobbie's goin' on six now."
"... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"I don't mean to."
"Go back to your own work; go back to your own people."
The Boy listened and looked away.
"It's good to go pioneering, but it's good to go home. Oh-h--!" the
face on the pillow was convulsed for that swift passing moment--"best
of all to go home. And if you leave your home too long, your home
leaves... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"Yes," agreed the Boy, "they'd find out--" And he stopped.
"Plenty o' use for Head Men, though." The faint voice rang with an echo
of the old authority. "No foolishness, but just plain: 'I'm the one
that's doin' the leadin'--like Nig here--and it's my business to lick
the hind dog if he shirks.'" He held out his hand ... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
The Boy had got a place for Muckluck in the A. C. Store. She was handy
at repairing and working in fur, and said she was "all right" on this
bright autumn morning when the Boy went in to say good-bye. With a
white woman and an Indian boy, in a little room overlooking the
water-front, Muckluck was working in the interv... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 | |
"You think you ain't comin' back? Just wait! Once you've lived up here,
the Outside ain't good enough fur yer."
"Right!" said an old Forty-miler, "you can try it; but Lord! how you'll
miss this goll-darn Yukon."
Among the hundreds running about, talking, bustling, hauling
heterogeneous luggage, sending last letters, d... | The Magnetic North | Robins, Elizabeth | 1862 | 1952 | ['en'] | 22 | {'Yukon -- Fiction'} | PG10038 |
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