New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1910-09-28
The !;
SILVER
HORDE !
By REX BEACH, :
Author of The Spoilers" and
! The Barrier :
. Copyright. 1909. by Harper @ Brothers !
.sE eE y. ~ . i J. X * !. J. . !. . \ <

Dali lash StdfLeu YET. r VI lue
first time he is real menace to Willis
Marsh"
won't you take my advice and re
consider?" urged the girl.
''Listen," said the young man. II
came to this country with definite
purpose in mind, and I had three years
in which to work it out. I needed
money-God, how I needed money!
They may talk about the emptiness of
riches and tell you that men labor
not for the kill but for the pursuit;
not for the score, but for the contest.
Maybe some Of them do, but with me
1t was gold I needed, gold had to
have, and I didn't care much how l
got it so long as got it honestly. I
focused every power upon my desire.
but a curse was on me-a curse,
nothing less. At first I took misfor-
tune philosophically, but when it came
and slept with me l began to rage at
1t. 1t was terrifying because my time
was shortening, and the last day of
grace was rushing toward me.
"Just to show you what luck I play
ed in, at Dawson l found a prospect
that would have made most men rich,
and. although such thing had never
happened in that locality before. it
pinched out. l tried again and again.
and finally found another mine. only
to be robbed of it by the Canadian
laws in such manner that there was
not the faintest hope Of my ever re-
covering the property | finally shifted
from mining to other ventures, and
the town burned. l awoke in a mid
night blizzard to see my chance for a
fortune licked up by flames, while the
hiss of the water from the iremen's
hose seemed directed at me, and the
voice Of the crowd sounded like jeers.
II was among the first at Nome and
staked alongside the discoveries who
undertook to put me in right for once;
but, although the fellows around me
made fortunes in day, my ground
was barren and my bedrock swept
clean by that unseen hand which l
always felt, but could never avoid.
Once a broken snoWshoe in a race
tune; at another time corrupt judge
plunged me from certainty to despair,
and all the while my time was grow
ing shorter and I was growing poorer.
''TWo hours after the Topkuk strike
was made l drove past the shaft, but
the one partner known to me had gone
to the cabin to build a fire and the
other one lied to me, thinking | was
a stranger. I heard afterward that
just as | drove away my friend came
to the door and called after me, but
the day was bitter, and my ears were
muffled with fur, while the dry snow
beneath the runners shrieked so that
it drowned his cries. He chased me
for half mile to make me rich but
the hand of fate dashed my dogs faster
and faster, while that hellish screech-
ing outdinned his voice. Six hours
later Topkuk was history. You've seen
stampedes-you understand.
"AIy name became a byword and
caused people to laugh, though they
shrank from me, for miners and sail
ors are equally superstitious. No man
ever had more opportunities than l,
and no man was ever so miserably
unfortunate in missing them. In time
I became whipped, utterly without
hope. Yet almost from habit l fought
on and on with my ears deaf to the
voices that Knocked me.
"And something tells me that have
left that i'll omened thing behind at
last. and 1 am going to win!'
"But you're too late" suggested
Cherry. ''You say your time was up
some time ago" - d.. .~+...
perhaps" he returned, staring into
the distances. "That's what I was
going out to ascertain. l thought 1
might have few days Of grace allow
ed me. That's why can't quit, now
that you've set me in motion again.
now that you've given me another
chance. That's why we leave tomor-
row and go by way Of the Katmai
pass" -@.4..-,