The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-01-31

pOIe -CTOSSWlSe III neT HdHuS CHdHCe sue
broke through. But she was light and
her shoes large, and she passed over.
Then she called the dogs. But they had
neither poles nor shoes, and they broke
through and were swept under by the
water. l held tight to the sled from re-
hind till the traces broke and the dogs
went on down under the ice. There was
little meat to them, but L had counted on
them Tor weeks grub, and they were
gone.
The next morning l divided all the
grub, which was little, into three por
tens And l told Long jeff that he
could keep up with us or not, as he saw
fit, Tor We were going to travel light and
fast. But he raised his voice and cried
over his sore feet and his troubles and
said harsh things against comradeship.
'Passuks feet were sore, and my feet
were sore-aye, sorer than his, tor VIC
had worked with the dogs; also, we
locked to see. Long jeff swore he would
dc before he hit the trail again; SO
Passuk took fur robe and I a cooking
pot and an ak, and we made ready to go.
But she looked on the mans portion
and said, 1t is wrong to waste good food
on baby. He is better dead I shook
once was a comrade always
Then she spoke OF the men of Forty
Mile; that they were many men and
good, and that they looked to me for
grub in the spring. But when l stiff said
no, she snatched the pistol from my belt
quick, and, as our brother BEETLES has
spoken, Long Jeff went to the bosom of
Abraham before his tine. l chided Pas
for bY1t ha Oh
nor was she sorrowful And in my heart
l knew she was right"
Sitka Charley paused and threw pieces
OF ice into the gold pan on the stove,
The men were silent, and their backs
chilled to the sobbing cries Of the dogs
as they gave tongue to their misery in
the outer cold.
and day by day we passed in the snow
the sleeping places of the two ghosts
Fassuk and land we knew we would
be glad for such ere we made Salt Water.
Then We came to the Indian, like another
ghost, with his face set toward Pely.
They had not whacked up fair the man
and the boy, he said, and he had had 10
-four for three days. Each night he
boiled pisces of his moccasins in CUP
and ate them He did not have much
moccasins left. And he was a coast In
dan, and told us these things through
Passuk, who talked his tongue. He was
stranger in the Yukon, and he knew
not the way, but his face was set to
Pelly. How far was it? Two sleeps?
Ten? A hundred? He did not know, but
he was going to Pelly. 1t was too far
turn back; he could only keep on.
well, we too, were hard put. Passuk
looked at the man and at me, as though
she were of two minds, like a mother
partridge whose young are IN trouble.
So turned to her and said This man
has been dealt unfair. Shall l give him
of our grub a portion"
Il saw her eyes light, as with quick
pleasure; but she looked long at the
man and at me, and her mouth drew close
and hard, and she said: No. The Salt
Water is afar off, and Death lies in wait.
it is that he take this stranger man AID
let my Charley pass So the man went
away in the silence toward Pelly. That
night she wept. Never had l seen her
weep before. Nor was it the smoke of the
fire, for the wood was dry wood.
Life is strange thing. Why this
| longing for life? 1t is game which no
man wins. To live is to toll hard, and
upon US and We throw down our hands
on the cold ashes of dead fires. 1t Is hard
to live. In pain the babe sucks his first
breath, in pan the old man grasps his
last, and all his days are full of trouble
and sorrow; yet he goes down to the
open arms of death, stumbling falling,
with head turned backward, fighting to
the last And death is kind. 1t is only
life and the things of life that hurt. Yet
we love life and we hate death. 1t IS
very strange.
I'VE spoke little, Passuk and /, in the
days which came. In the night We lay
in the snow like dead people, and in the
morning we went on our way, walking
like dead people. And all things were
dead. There were no ptarmigan, no SPUR
rels, no snowshoe understanding. The
river made no sound beneath It's white
robes. The sap was frozen in the forest.
And it became cold, as now; and in the
night the stars drew near and large, ami
eaped and danced; and in the day the
sun dogs Knocked us till we saw many
suns, and all the air flashed and sparkled,
and the snow was diamond dust. And
there was no heat, no sound, only the
bitter cold and the silence.
AS l Sal0, we walked IKE Qeau people,
as in a dream and we kept no count of
time. Only our faces were set to salt
water, our souls strained for salt water
and our feet carried us toward salt water.
'Our last grub went and we had
shared fair, Passuk and 1, but she fell
more often, and at Caribou Crossing her
strength left her. And in the morning
we lay beneath the one robe and did not
take the trail 1t was in my mind to
stay there and meet Death hand-in-hand
with Passuk; for L had grown old, and
had learned the love of woman. Also, it
W as eighty miles to Haines Mission, anu
the great Chilcoot, far above the timber
line, reared his storm-swept head be.
tween. But Passuk spoke to me, low,
with my car against her lips that I might
hear. And now, because she need not
fear my anger, she spoke her heart, and
told me her love, and of many things
which l did not understand
And she said: You are my man.
Charley, and / have been a good woman
to you. And in all the days l have made
your fire, and cooked your food, and fed
your dogs, and lifted paddle or broken