San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-12-01
A COURSE OF TRAINING.
The object Is to Fit Mr.. Sirius Bsrher
for a Trip to Alaska.

for a Trip to Alaska.
An expression of dreary disgust over
spread over Mr.. Sirius Barker's face az
he looked over the dinner table and as
claimed:
Late again!"
"What you mean is that you're hoIaS
on time for the first day in weeks"
Nobody asked you to shift the scheg-
ule. did he?"
"No. simply tried to accommodate
myself to circumstances. 1t isn't as Il
we were rich and could employ ret
inue of servants to keep meals going al
all hours"
"That settles it," he almost shouted
"I had my mind made up that if it hsr-
pened again I'd make the plunge. !
am tired of having the fact that I'm no
millionaire flung in my face day aft
er day. 1t is becoming wearisome to
the point where fatigue develops into
desperation. You can get my old clothes
out and pack 'em in telescope trunk
and put some cold chicken and dough-
nuts in a paper box so that can have
some lunch to eat on the. train"
'What are you going to do?"
SIN going to Alaska to sacrifice my
self on the altar of woman's discon-
tent! I'm going to stand up to my
armpits in ice water delving for pay
dirt; I'm going to eat canned food three
times day and take chance of being
used as the entree of course dinner
by polar bears, so that may one day
stand before you as Armand stood be-
fore Camille, and, after throwing gold
by the valise-full at your feet, say:
Woman. behold your work. You can
keep the money. You can buy os-
trich feathers and passementerie trim
ming to your hearts content. All
will want then is mere pittance; just
enough to buy pepsin and catarTh cure,
and now and then bottle of rheuma-
tism iniment."
Mrs. Barker had turned her head
away, and her husband heard some
thing which might be either sob or a
smoker.
"Ha!" he exclaimed. "You weep in
| Will. hCluOl sc SOAAlCo wv Aoo~' Az
mind is irrevocably made up!"
There were no tears in her eyes as
she turned her face toward him, al
though an effort to control the express
sion of her face was apparent.
"Pm not going to try to restrain you,
Sirius" she answered. 81 know your
immovable determination too well to
undertake to shake it. 1 ask only one
thing."
'What is that?"
Postpone your perilous venture till
next spring"
"Never. I'm afraid might change my
mind"
81 promise that / shall not say a
word to alter your purpose. On the
contrary, 1 viii do everything I can to
encourage you in getting ready for the
trip. But if you go now you will get
there just as winter opens, and you
will have to wait till the cold weather
is over in order to get started in the
actual labor of mining"
"'There is something in that"
''There are lots of ways to prepare
yourself for the enterprise that could
suggest, and 1 assure you that / will
leave nothing undone to assist in
the preparation for your hardships. 1t
would be folly for you to plunge into
the mining business without any pre-
vious training"
81 shouldn't be surprised if that were
true. But how am going to get the
discipline?"
"rll tell you. You'll have to learn to
handle pick AK Now, your biceps are
not developed for that sort of thing.
Our garden is terribly run down and
you might take hoe and use it awhile
just for the sake of the exercise. Then
I'll let you get up every morning in the
winter before the servant comes and
you can go down in the cellar and
handle shovel at the coal bin so as to
get into practice. While you are build
ing the kitchen fire you will greatly in
ure yourself to withstand the arctic
climate. know the programme seems
hard, but it won't be nearly as dis
couraging as what you will have to &c
through in Alaska. After you have
put in the winter that way at home, if
you are prepared to go through the
same experiences, only worse, at the
mines, I'll bid you good-by and stay at
home and take boarders and hope for
the best."-Detroit Free Press.