The National tribune., 1902-04-24

was hard to persuade sane men that bust
ness sense demanded that they pile on
more fuel. But they did it; and as the
work went on, it became apparent to those
interested in such undertakings that all
the heroes of the White Pass were not in
the hills.
In addition to the elements, ever at war
with the builders. they had other worries
that Winter. Hawkins had a FIRE that
burned all the company's Offices and all
his maps and notes and records of sur
vey. Foy had : strike, melted largely by
jealous packers and freighters, and there
was hand-to hand fighting between the
strikers and their abettOrs and the real
builders who Sympathized with the COM
pany.
Brydone Jack, fine young fellow, who
had been sent out as Consulting Engineer,
TO look after the interests of the share
holders, clapped his hands to his fore
head and fell, face down, in the snow.
| His comrades carried him to his tent He
had been silent, had suffered, perhaps for
day or two, but had said nothing. The
next night he passed away. His wife was
waiting at Vancouver until he could finish
his work in Alaska and go home to her.
With sad and heavy hearts Hawkins
and HiSlop and Heney climbed back to
where Foy and his men were keeping up
the hight. Like so many big lightning bugs
they seemed, with their dim white lamps
rafting around in the storm. 1t was nearly
all night then. God and His sunlight
seemed to have forsaken Alaska. Once
every "A hours, little ball of fire, red,
round, and remote, swung across the can
yon, dimly lighted their lunch tables, and
then disappeared behind the great glacier
that guards the gateway to the Klondike.
As the road neared the summit, Heney
observed that Foy was growing nervous,
and that he coughed a great deal. He
watched the old fellow, and found that he
was not eating we'll and that he slept
very little. Heney asked FOy to rest,
but the latter shook his head. Hawkins
and Heney and HislOp talked the matter
over in HislOp's tent, called Foy in, and
demanded that he go down and out. FOy
was coughing constantly, but he choked
1t back long enough to tell the three men
what he thought of them. He had worked
hard and faithfully to complete the job,
and now that only one level mile remained
to be rallied, would they send the old man
down the hill? Il will not bulge" said
Foy, facing his friends, AN when you
glntlemen ARE silibratin' tn vict'ry at
the top o the hill aim Chuesday mkt,
Hugh Foy'll be wood ye. Do you moind
that, nOWi'
Foy steadied himself by a tent-pole and
cOughed violently. His eyes were CLASSY,
and his face flushed with the purplish flush
that fever gives.
Enough of this said the Chief Engi-
neer, trying to look severe. Take this
message, sign it, and send it at once"
Foy caught the bit of white clip and
read:
Captain O'Brien, Skaguay-Save a
berth for inc on the 'Rosalie'
They thought as they watched him that
the old road maker was about to crush
the paper i'll his rough right hand. but sud
denly his face frightened; he reached for
a pencil, saying: I'll do it." and when
he had added next trip" to the message,
he signed it, folded it, and took it over
to the operator.
So it happened that, when the last spike
was driven at the summit on Feb. 20,
1899, the old foreman, who had driven the
first, drove the last, and it was his last
spike as well. DR.. Whiting guessed it
was pneumonia.
When the road had been completed to
Lake Bennett the owners came over to
see it; and when they saw what had been
done, despite the prediction that Dawson
was dead and that the Cape Nome boom
would equal that of the Klondike, they
authorized the construction of another 100
miles of road which would connect with
the Yukon below the dreaded White
Horse Rapids When John Hislop passed
away, the West lost one of the most mod
est and unpretentious, yet one of the best
and bravest, one Of the purest-minded men
that ever saw the sun go down behind a
snowy range.-Success.