The Portland daily press., 1899-12-15
THE DUDES LUCK.
Harold Tremayne Found II Very
Advantageous In the
Klondike.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS,

poooOoooooOooo ooooooocooo0
Harold Tremayne was at eight and
twenty a favored clerk In large BUSH
ness house in Liverpool, the chum of all
his fellow clerks and something Of the
spoiled pet Of his employers. He was in
vited to the senior partners residence in
the Lake district, and there had the reck-
less audacity to fall in love with his
hosts youngest daughter, Mabel What
Is worse, the young lady was not slow In
recognizing his devotion or in allowing
him to see that she also cared for him.
The result was inevitable-an interview
with paterfamilias, In which be kindly
but firmly pointed out to the young man
the impossibility Of his pretensions to
anything but disappointment.
I'm sorry for you, Tremayne. 1t was
STRAIGHTFORWARD and manly Of you to
speak to me before matters had gone
further, but you will, Of course, under
stand that while l hope to see you stay
with the firm and rise in the office, any
question Of such n marriage is absolutely
not to be thought of. Mabel Is not lS
and will soon forget holiday fancy.
Poor Harold WINGED. Each Of my girls
will receive as dover the annual inter-
est Of 1000 provided she marries with
my consent, and also provided her hus-
band has an income Of similar or greater
amount"
Harold looked a young mans scorn OF
monetary considerations in such mat
ter, and the old man added, half sadly:
"You may think me mercenary, but
have seen too much misery brought about
by unequal marriages, where the income
has been all on the wife's side and where
misappied love has dictated that most
unhappy alliance-a runaway match.
Poor Harold returned next day to his
work In Liverpool, alternately bemoan-
ing his comparative poverty OF t2oo
year and sympathizing with the shrewd
wisdom of Mabers father. His soul re-
belled against the underhand courtship
of a rich mans daughter, and pride and
resolution struggled over the problems,
Can n man with 1900 year wed wo-
man with $500. and how can young
man most rapidly and certainly Quadru-
pie the former income? He did not de-
eide suddenly, but most people would
agree that he decided rashly, for few
DAYS later he resolved that the first step
toward gaining thousand year was to
resign the position which brought him In
nearly a quarter of that amount. Mr..
Bartlett demonstrated with him on the
subject and when he heard the one word.
"Klondike," came to the end of his pa
thence and termed Harold Tremayne "a
young fool" for thinking Of
making a fortune In such q place. AS
for Mabel" he added, "she was flirting
with another young visitor before you
had been gone four and twenty hours.
Harold was on the point of saying that
Mabel loved him or not his love
for her made staying with the firm i'm
possible, but restrained himself and only
his resignation.
"All right" said Mr.. Bartlett, "go IL
you must, but mind, II you come back,
as of course you will, we will give you
post in the Office, but you'll have to begin
as Junior again"
~ shall return with 100000 or not at
ALL" said Tremayne stoutly.
=
A strong, healthy young man, Harold
bad always been fond Of athletic exer-
cises; otherwise he had absolutely no 1T
ness for roughing it in a mining camp
and for the strenuous work of digging or
for gold. Stiff. fred by the
tales which appeared in the English pa
pers of quickly apassed wealth in and
about Dawson City, he determined to
place his whole future on the hazard of
the die. He had sufficient money fox the
outfit and<sxpenses for . few
months stay at the mines and hurried
across 4.nada and took the first boat
eaving Victoria for Fort Wrangel.
II was on the steamer that he first had
the name of "the EnEitsh dude" fastened
upon him, and for no better reason than
that he paid rather more attention to per-
sonal neatness than did his fellow voy-
ayers and treasure seekers. The long
journey was finally accomplished, and
Harold Tremayns found himself one Of
the latest and most ignorant Of the In
habitants Of the city which had sprung
up on the banks of the Yukon river, that
city crowded with citizens
all engaged In the feverish race for the
possession OF sufficient wealth to be able
to leave it. Allowing his ignorance to be
more than suspected, the English dude
found his stores and dollars rapidly d.
Vieumized by the crowd Of
idlers who lived ON newcomers. he was
not long before finding himself absolutely
penniless and with nothing but his mus
cles and a few tools to ward off actual
starvation. Thoughts of his old position
In the firm of Bartlett, Joyce & Co., and
Of his late employers offer of junior
on his return, braced him to
fresh efforts.
He had tried for weeks to pick up a
knowledge of the work and to
accustom himself to the long endurance
Of a miners labor. Sometimes he had
Joined with other newcomers and some
times had sought gold by himself, but al
ways with the most ludicrously insignia
cant results. 1.-The dudes luck" became
proverbial among the older miners, and
a Harold jQuEpeyed Of an evening to tho
tent which. he shszsd With spothsE tsp