Omaha daily bee., 1902-10-25


from bis feet. In the irst place. the en-
croachments OF a steady, sober and sternly
moral civilization had destroyed the pri-
meval status Of the western cattle ranges,
and refined society turned the cold eye Of
disfavor upon him and his ilk. In the sec
ond place, In one Of its eyolopedian mo
ments the race had arisen and showed back
its frontier several thousand miles. Thus
with unconscious foresight did mature So
ciety make room for its adolescent men,
bers. True the new territory was mostly
barren, but Its several hundred thousand
square miles OF ~frigidity at least gave
breathing space TO those who else would
have suffoeated at home.
Montana Kid was such a one. Heading
for the seacoast with a haste sev1al sher-
IFS posses might possibly have explained,
and with more nerve than coin Of the realm,
be succeeded in shipping from a Puget
sound port and managed to survive the con-
tlngent miseries Of steerage seasickness
and stesrage grub, He was rather sallow
and drawn, but still his own indomitable
self, when he landed on the Dyea one day
in the spring Of the year. Between the cost
OF dogs, grub and outfits, and the customs
exaetions Of the two c~lashing governments,
Il speedily penetrated to his understanding
that the northlsnd was anything save a
poor mans mecca. So he cast about him
in search Of quick harvests, Between the
beach and the passes we're scattered many
thousands OF passionate pilgrims. These
pilgrims Montana Kid proceeded to farm.
At FIRST he dealt faro in a pine board gam
bling shack. but disagreeable' necessity
forced him to drop a sudden period into a
mans life and to move on up trail, Then
he effected a corner in horseshoe nails, and
they circulated at par with legal tender,
four TO the dollar, till an unexpected con-
Segment Of a hundred barrels or so broke
the market and forced him to disgorge his
stock at a loss. After that he located at
Sheep Camp, organized the professional
packers and jumped the freight 10 cents a
pound in a single day. In token OF their
gratitude the packers patronized his faro
and roulette layouts and we're mulcted
cheerfully OF their earnings, But>his COM
merclaIism was Of too lusty a growth to
be long endured, SO they rushed him one
night, burned his shanty, divided the bank
and headed him UP the trail with empty
pockets.
Ill-luck was his running mate, He en-
gagged with responsible parties to run
whisky across the line by way Of precarious
and unknown trails, lost his Indian guides
and had the very FIRST outfit oonHscated by
tho mounted police. Numerous other mis-
fortunes tended to make him bitter Of heart
and wanton Of action, and he celebrated mis-
arrival at Lake Bennett by terroriEiug the
camp for twenty straight hours. Thea a
miners meeting took him in hand and com
manded him to make himself scarce. He
had a wholesome respect for such assem-
blages and he obyed in such haste that he
Inadvertently removed himself at the tall
end Of another mans dog team. This was
equivalent to horse stealing in a more mel
low cline, so hefhit only the high places
pcross Bennett and down Tagish, and made
bis nrst camp a full hundred miles to the
borth.
Now It happened that the break of spring
was at hand, and many Of the principal
eitizens OF Dawson we're travelling south on
the last ice. These he met aud talked with,
noted their names and possessions and
passed on. He had a good memory, also q
air imagination; NOR was veracity one OF bis
virtues.
Dawson. always eager for news, beheld
Montana Kids sled heading down the YukoT
Ind went out on the Ice to meet him. No
he hadn't any newspapers; didn't know
whether Durrant was hanged yet. nor whit
had won the Thanksgiving game; hadn'
heard whether the United States and SpaiT
had gone to hghting; didn't know whC
Dreyfus wasi but o'Brien2 Hadn't the!
heard2 o'Brien, why he was drowned II
the White Horse; sitka Charley the onl!
one Of the party who escaped, Joe Ladue
Both legs frozen and amputatad at the Fiv'
Fingers. And Jack Dalton1 Blown up oil
the Sea Lion with all hands, And BEETLES
Wrecked on the C~arthagina in Seymour
Yawsaua-ku..nt s,,rufuau. a,,N - am A..
saltwater Biil7 Gone through the rottel
Ice Of lake LeRarge with six female mem
bers Of the opera troupe he was conveying
Governor Walshf Lost with all hands an
sight slsds on the Thirty-Miie. DeVereaux
Who was Devereaux? o, the courier! sho
by Indians on Lake Marsh.
So Il went. The word was passed alone
Men shouldered II to ask after friends an
partners, and in turn were shouldered, bu
too stunned for blasphemy. By the tim
Montana Kid gained the bank he was sur
rounded by several hundred fur-clad min
ers. When he passed the barracks be wa
the center OF a procession. At the oper
house be was the nucleus Of an excite
mob. each member struggling for a chane
to ask after some absent comrade, o
every side he was being invited 70 drlnl
Never before had the Klondike thus opene
~ ~ W = AhNHAAaHNhas MI De"1Na Ne
humming. Such a series OF catastrophe
had never occurred in its history. Ever
man Of note who had gone south In III
spring had been wiped out. The cabins Won
tied forth their occupants. Wild-eyed me
hurried dow from the creeks and gulche
20 seek out this man who had told a tale
such disaster. The Russian half breed vii
Of BEETLES sought the fireplace, ineonso
able aud rocked back and forth and eve
and anon hung white wood ashes upon h'
raven hair. The nag at the barracks Hoppe
dismally at half-mast. Dawson mourned I
dead.
Why Montana Kid did this thing I
man may know, Nor beyond the fact TIL
the truth Was not in him, can explanatiC
be haphazarded. But for hve whole days |
plunged the land In wsiling and sorro'
and for I'VE whole days he was the on
man in the Kiondike, The country ga
him its best Of bed and board, The 81
looms granted him the freedom Of their bar
Men sought him continuously, The high OF
eials bowed dow TO him for further info
nation and ne was Toasted At the barrael
by Constantine and his brother ofioeI
And then one day Devereaux, the COVER
ment courier, halted his tired dogs befo
the gold commissioners once. Dead? w
said so? Give him a moose steak and he
show them how dead he was. Why, Go