The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-12-24
A Five Hundred Mile Trip Which
Proved to Be Worth
While.

stopping with us. In fact. he was so
far removed from the picture the an
nouncement conjured up in our minds
that doubt il any of them would have
suspected the truth if they had been
introduced without previously know
4 ing the fact that Bits occupation for
half score of years. To be definite.
he was an old college chum of Henry's,
and his presence at our house was due
TO an invitation aged six years now,
TO spend the best part of the winter
! with us at some tine, and, despite his
/ ten years r0ughing 4 in Alaska and
! the Canadian northwest, he didn't look
I very much different from the average
/ smoothly shaver man of good family
ana education one may meet anywhere
II was approaching Christmas, and
.tehry had dsigned to ask me TO help
! him out making some purchases. We
! spent several hours around the stores.
! II was more than Henry had bargained
! Tor, and when we returned 10 the
/ mouse his first act was to throw him
Self INTO a chair and proclaim the in
| formation that he was ''dog-tire /"
llred over what?'' asked Bill from
the other side of the library table.
/ Walking. I've put in three hours Of
- good, solid tramping, and III bet I've
! covered ten miles if I've covered one"
/ Martha doesn't seem to be very
I much oVerworked, replied Bill.
guess women are used to that sort
/ OF thing. but as for me, no more
Christmas presents if 1 have to tramp
as I've done today after Them
Tramp, nOnsensei You don't want
10 k-ck about little old ten-milee stunt.
How'd you like to put in 500 miles to
bring Christmas homer" asked Bill.
Not any for me- answered Henry.
when did you ever hear of anyone
doing such a thing?"
II didn't hear about it." answered
Bin Il did it myself"
When? How 1 asked, greatly in
terested, and IN response to my urging
and Henry's smile of incredulity, he
plunged into the tale
1T was during the course of my sec
ond year in Alaska that the incident
which was the contributory cause Of
my march occurred" Bill began, land
! expect III have to go back to that to
get everything straight in your minds. |
The Klondfke gold rush had just COM
menced in a mild sort OF way, but Joe
Peters, wi h whom I was doubled up /
on prospecting at the tine, had il i'm |
his head that in the district between |
Razor Back divide and the Tanana !
hills. just on the edge of the North |
river valley, was the Golconda for US |
As a result OF this Pigment of his mag /
nation we put in the summer there /
looking for the quartz mine we didn't I
discover, and there we met the Eng /
! shman Martin. and his two children. /
How Martin CHANGED to be there and /
from whence he came We never got an /
exact story. but We had to put the best /
We cOul1 together from his rawlings and |
the prattle of those two babies-for
that's all they were, one :, q clever
little chap named Tom, and the other
., named Josie, and as pretty a little
girl as you can imagine. Martin was |
already raving when he stumbled on
US. with just a little store of ct cetera
on his gack and the two children tag
sing At his heels. He had a fever bad
ana we had to try and doctor him up |
some way. but as we didn't have any
thing that would answer for medicine
except linimenC we couldn't do him /
much good, and the next afternoon he
died in q delirium.
I'VE buried Martin and then tried to
decide what to do with the children. It
was already September, and the heavy
winter weather was due to close in on
Us any day, 50. for this reason. I ar
gued against Martins project to take
the children down in the Kiondike
country and leave them with some wo-
a fairly Sizable village
We've got to get 'em somewhere
where they can be taken care of prop
erly,' urged Martin, but pointed out
hat, barring sickness, and the young
sters were sturdy enough not to make
hat strong fear we could do Just as
well by them at their age until spring. |
At any rate, II was better for us 10
ry rather than start on that long
rudge TO Dawson, over 200 miles away.
md most of the trip lying through a
Pretty mountainous country. In the I
nd my counsel prevailed, and there !
We were. the Self-appointed guardians
y those babes, at least until winter ,
'roke the following year. The kids !
ook to us like fish to water. and we Z
ook to the kids in much the same way. I
'unny how you can come to love little |
ids like that when they're good and :
fright. Wei, things went along swim {
ningly, the babes were happy and con- 7
ented and so was Peters and myself.
Intli along in the early part of No
'ember, when Peters drew me. aside
ma asked me II | had thought OF any
christmas for the kids |
d" What put that idea in your head?' J
asked. 9
Heard Josie asking Tom when il !
'as Sandy was goin' to come Those
ids have been used TO havin a real +
christmas. an it's goin' to break their 4
carts Il they don't have one ?
" 1 guess We can frame up some $
hing for them l answered, and that Z
nded the matter for a couple of DAYS. Ii
kept that l couldn't get the idea out 1
{ my mind that It was mighty little II
ed be able to do for them. and some 0
hing ought TO be done. Tom told me n
bout the real Christmas tree his Ia j.
her had had for them the year before. b
ne toys, etc, Sanity had brought, and l
began TO feel the futility OF our ef- n
'rts still more. Nothing is entirely =
npossible TO the fur trader, no mat =
n where he is located, ] had found in =
" couple of years experience up =
here, bus Christmas for the kids with h
$ certainly looked an impossibilitv. b
1T was the morning of the 9Th of / q,
ovember that Peters spoke to me c,
gain about Christmas, and then il was / a
Re idea popped into my head. but p
hen / told Peters about it he looked 81
me as though he thought I was
any 81
% Why, man he said, 1T means 500 p
Ties, goin' and comm. an what could e
1u dig up in Dawson? Nothin' al ali =
think maybe we can carve out some =
iings from wood here and fake along "
lat way -