Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-03-18

many counted him as ;
friend. The latter never rea
soned why. except that he had done
them favors. and in the north tina,
counts for much, Perhaps they bull
likewise upon the fact that he was ever
the same e. all and that in days OF
pleny or in times OF famine his store
was open to every man. and all recely'
ed the same measure. Nor did he raise
his prices when the boats were late.
They recalled one bleak and blustery
autumn when the steamer sank at the
Lower Ramparts. taking with her all
thei. winters food, how he eked out
his scanty stock, dealing to each and
every one his portion month by month.
They remembered well the bitter win
ter that followed, when the specter of
famine haunted their cabins and when
for endless periods they cinched their
belts aud cursed and went hungry to
sleep, accepting day by day the ra-
tons doled out to them by the grim.
gray man at the log store. Some Of
them had money belts weighted low
with gold washed from the bars at
Forty Mile, and there were others who
had wandered in from the Koyukuk
with the first frosts. footsore and drag
ging. the legs of their skin boots eaten
to the ankle and the taste of dog meat
still in their mouths. Broken and dis
pirlted, these had Jared as well through
that desperate winter as their brothers
from up river and received pound for
pound of musty -four. strip for strip Of
rusty bacon. lump for lump of precious
sugar. Moreover. the price of no single
thing had risen throughout the famine.
He mixed in no mans business. He
took and paid his dues unfalteringly.
He spoke in a level voice. and he smsl-
ed but rarely. He gazed at a stranger
once and weighed him carefully: there
after his eyes sought the distances
again. as If in search of some visitor
whom he kne~ or hoped or feared
would come.
This day he stood in the door Of his
post staring up the sunlit river, alb
sorbing the warmth Of the arctic after
noon. The Yukon swept down around
the great bend beneath tn. high, cut
banks and past the little town, disao-
pearing behiad the wooded poin. be-
low. which masked the upcoming
steamers till one heard the signing la
Dor Of their stacks before he saw their
smoke.
b sound of shouting caused him
to Il his head. Downstream, a thou.
sand yards away, men were raising q
flagstaff made from the trunk Of a
slender fr, from which the bark had
been stripped. heaving on their tackle
as they sang In unison. They stood
well out upon the rivers bank before
q group Of we'll made houses, the peel
ed timbers Of which shone yellow in
the sun. He noted the symmetrical
arrangement OF the buildings, noted
the space about them that had been
smoothed for a drill ground and from
which the stumps had been removed,
noted that the men wore suits Of blue
and noted in particular the figure of
IN officer commanding them.
The lines about the traders mouth
d%eepened. and his heavy brows con-
tracted.
"That meaus the law" he murmured
half aloud.
he stood 30, meditating somberly,
TILL the fragment Of a song hummed
lightly by a girl fell pleasantly on his
ears, whereupon the shadows vanished
from bis face. and ne turned expect.
antly. the edges of his teeth showing
beneath his inustachc, the cornevv e
his eyes wrinkling with pleasure.
The sight was good TO him. for lie
efrl approaching down the trail was
III some wood sprite. light footed,
slender and dark, with twin braids Of
hair to her waist framing an oval
face cOlored by the wind and sun. She
was very beautiful, and a great foyer
surged up through the old mans veins
till no gripped tho boards at HIS side
and bit sharply at the pipe between
his teeth.
Tho salmon berries are ripe she
announced, land the hills back OF the
village are pink with them. took
Constantine's sqraw with me, and We
oVcked quarts aud quarts. i ate them
aliw
Hell laughter was like ths tinkie of
silver bells. Every move OF her grace.
ful body was u~urestrainsd and dow.
Ing. with a hint Of Indian freedom
about 1t. Beaded and trimmed like Q
native princess, her garments mani. |
tested an ornature that spoke OF sav'
agery. yet they were neatly. cut and