The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-02-18
Pete's Promised
Piano.

by HARVEY WICK


TO most Of its inhabitants, Icicle Pass
L is a hilarious and deviI-may-carc
mining camp in the far north. and
having come there they pride them
selves on their courage and endurance.
But to Pete it was a bit of paradise
set like a gem in the diadem of the
sunny south. Pete's childhood had
been spent in upper Siberia. tied to
the aprOn-strings of the Aurora Bore
ais, and the greater part of his youth
In driving for some Of the most unfor-
tunate parties that ever attempted
NOrdenskiOId's route to the higher
attitudes. SO. returning wiser if not
sadder, with nothing but one dog, a
meagre tramping outfit, an incongru-
Gus &ayety Of soul, and the sobriquet
OF North Pole" he thought himself
almost out w-en he stumbled upOn
Icicle Pass.
Hey" he shouted, bringing his
whistling and his dog to a simulta-
neous halt as d most surprising OBJ
iect caught his eye. Hey. What in
Satan's this?"
A WOman-mOre, a white woman
was advancing toward him from the
detiIe to the left, alternately waving
her handkerchief and wiping her eyes.
1t was an evening early in June. Just
after summer had burst Juno-like from
the head OF winter. The frost had re-
treated fully five inches underground,
leaving sIushy trails and trembling
mNP1SSpC bIf tho n,nCurifNoc bod D1E
yet come out in numbers. Though
nino O'Clock had passed, the sun was
still high, and there was not a cloud in
the heavens. Moreover, here vast
might as we'll have been a fairy, And
Pete, always hoping for the best, III
fearing nOthing-GOd. man. or devil
Pete. with sc pounds of his worldly
goods packed upon his shoulders and
the other 20 slung in a canvas bag,
pannier-Wise across the back of his
dog. came to a delighted standstill.
mighty, But yeh're a beaut," his
admiration ~inyOluntarily expressed
itself.
"And you-vou're a brute" came
the response. Cant you sec that my
old mans passed it up and that I want
H'ti I VI 1 " otIlulI l Dt ItIt "llS-
in at no such spindle-shank gawk?"
She began to cry. and North Pole drew
his offending length down to the most
apologetic stOOp Imaginable.
God bless meh soul. ma'am. but |
didn't mean nCthin' of tn sort. | was
Speakin' teh meh leader there-a lead
er'S all I've left sence tn melt caught
uS-See?"
If you're settin' up fer a gentleman.
stop starin and come help me put away
my rard.' The was Modified
somewhat by his lie. though neither
ComfOrted nor altogether treasured.
The pass up which she led him was
an almost im~pregnable sulch ending in
a tiny plateau. where, tradition afirms,
an ill-starred explorer of the country's
unbOTn days once cached a pack of pro-
visions. He was the first inhabitant.
But the scaffolding not being sufi-
ciently high and strong. it fell before
the onslaught Of a band of wretched
Alaskan wolverines which found and
the treasure before the
starving owner could get back to
claim it. This was the first invasion.
Then h plateau became au occa-
sional' s~topping-place for travellers
branching to the north of the trail
beyond Chilkoot. and finally a gold
discovery drew two or three shanties
to the vicinity. This was the first
OoOm. And now the owner of the lit
tie 'lcicle Nine had gone where his
wife n his wealth booted not; and of
his neighbors-one was away stocking
up, and the other heaven knows
where on the scent of a prospect. So
Pete was called to bury the dead. This
was the first amenity of civilization.
Afterwards he arranged with the
widow to work the claim on shares:
but as the weeks crawled by, though
the "1cicle' did itself proud, and by
the time Ii thermometer struck the
first zero of the early fall had quadru-
pied the settlement by the magnetism
Of its fame. yet Pete grew more and
more dissatisfied. The mine might
yieldf his yellowest dreams,
~ she yielded not at all.
and heightened
$3.50 out of shape
$500 I'll give yeh
this side
2zsEs er an a
xsx has in
out
#4 4ssE5 firm,
x~ and
RI duct