The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-25

Up N Ainsna.
We were up In Aisska
Aproapccting party Of I'VE,
Up In the Arcti, ciruis,
Up near the North Poiei
And you couldn't guess what We saw there.
IT'S the hardest country on earth,
Mountains and eorges.
Everlasting snow.
Bleak and cold,
Blank solitude from sky 70 sky.
The old Yukon was behind.
The old Rockies ahead.
We struck for the ChilkkhA,
Bound for the mines,
Tho gold country. placer mining. Klondiks.
We didn't run across any population,
Black bcars we heard,
And the Arctic owl.
And once q ptarmigan.
Canada stands out against America up there.
We were q pretty rough gangt
Five good men in II.
The Oldest was toughest
And led tho gang;
We hadn't q gun.
When out forty days,
And about half dead,
Getting short on rations,
sthf in every Joint,
We knew what kind Of q country II wna
Our gang had to push on,
We couldn't 70 back;
There's gold out at Klondike,
And we'd die for the stunt
We agreed to keep up the racket for ten days more.
We were o thousand miles from anybody,
30 far a. we knew,
We hadn't seen n live man,
Two men We passed. both deadt
Tho dead men seemed like company.
Then, In three days moro,
Young Rubdub broke down.
Asked II his mother WINS there.
And dubbed about her;
Though he ought TO have known different
We brsced him up for days,
Passed him the whiakey,
Gave him . cholera mixture,
And helped him along
We were half crazy TO roach the mines.
Sometimes We had to carry him.
The -four Of us, two ct q tims.
oned day We heard q shout;
II came from . camp;
We had got near tho city Of Dawson.
The mines rot sight Of us,
We heard them yell;
One of them rushed up;
my mothers Gomez chirpd Ruodub.
He might have known better than thaA
when the Klondiker saw what we carried.
He said. speaking low. "He's done for"
AM guess Rubdub was near his last,
For he breathed hard.
Next thing q lot o. miners camo Nd
One whispered to me;
"Take him to Forty Nile oampt
There's . chance for him thoro."
We agreed. for we heard back a. juneau,
There's q hospital out there, somewhere.
AZ last We heard Forty Nile Camp.
And Rubdub was pretty near gone.
Though We took him along on Q board,
He had ohills when we got TO the plaoe.
Now you couldn't tell what We then cav.
There. mp in the Arctic circle,
Aman wearing black said. .Heres the hospftair"
But that didn't strike US much
What struck us was two women In white.
And the man in black said. They re Sister, Of Mercy. :"
Up there in the toughest part OF this earth,
where the snow IL everywhere forever,
Whore it's cold as tho North Polls.
where hardly o bear can live.
We saw o settlement Of Sister, OF Mercy.
And they took In Rubdub,
Who was Just about gone;
And they nursed him. and had Q doctor.
Weeks he stayed there.
An this time we raked in dust at Klondfko.
Rubdub got through all right;
And he turned up one day .. our d~iggings,
And he worked for q month in the plaoer,
And he made q big strike. rich nuggets;
Every dollar cause OF the nursing he
Got from the Sisters OF Mercy In the
Hospital At Forty Mile Camp.
True a. you're alive.
There are Sister, OF Mercy
Out in that part OF Alaska.
And in other parts OF It;
And Il was q good thing for Rubdub that We
heard OF them.