The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-10-09


yening miles TO The cached boat underneath which
they fell together and lay motionless long time.
Light as the task would have been for a strong man
TO lower the small boat 10 the ground 1t took Daylight
hours And many hours more. day by day, he dragged
himself around T. lying his side caulk the gaping
seams with moss. Yet when this was done the river
Still held LIS ice had risen many feet but would not
start down stream. And one more task wated-tbe
launching Of he boat when the river water 10
ceive II. Vanly Daylight staggered and stumbled and
fell and crept through the snow that was wet with
nav, or across when the nights frost still crusted
IL beyond the weight OF man. searching for
squirrel striving achieve one more transmutation
of furry leap and scoding chatter into the lifts and
tugs OF mans body that would hoist the boat over
the rim Of shore ice and slide il down into the stream
Not TIL the twentieth Of May did the river break.
The down stream movement began Mt FIVE in the morn
'ng ana already were the days long that Daylight
sat up and watched the Ire Elijah was too far
gone to be Interested in the spectacle Though vaguely
conscious. he lay without while the ice
by great cakes of il carominC against the bank up
roofing trees and gOuglng out earth BIZ Hundreds Of
IONS All about them the land shook and reeed from
The shock Of these tremendous collisions At the end
OF an hour the run stopped Somewhere below IL was
blocked by jam. Then the river began TO rise.
lifting the ice its breast TIL II was higher than rhe
bank From behind ever more water bore down and
ever more millions Of tons Of ice added their weight
20 the congestion TIE pressures and stresses became
tefTlhc Huge cakes Of Ice were squeezed out till they
popped INTO the air like melon seeds squeezed from
between The thumb and forefnger Of a child while all
along The banks a wall OF ice was forced un When
the Jam broke the noise Of grinding smashing re-
doubled For another hour the run continued. The
river fell rapidly But the wall Of ice on top OF the
bank and extending down into the falling water
NAMED
The tail Of the ice run passed and for the first
,iuie IN SIX months Daylight open water. He
knew that The ice had not yet passed out from the
upper reaches Of the Stewart that it lay IN packs and
Jams In those upper reaches and that might break
loose ana come down in a second run any time but
the need was toe desperate for him 10 linger Elijah
at any
As FOR himself he was that enough strength
remained in bis wasted muscles 70 launch the boat
II was al! gamble. II he waited for the second ice
run Elijah would surely die and most probably him
sell IT he, succeeded in launching the boat If he
Kept ahead OF the second ice run II he did not get
caught by some Of the runs from the upper Yukon II
luck favored in all these essential particulars as we'll
as IN a score of minor ones they would reach Sixty
Nile and be savea if-and again the if-he had
strength enough TO land the boat Sixty Nile and
not go by
He set TO work The wall Of ice was i've feet above
the ground on which the beat rested First prospecting
LOT the best launching place. found where a huge
cake or Ice sheived upward from the river that ran
fifteen feet below 10 the top Of the wall This "a. q
score of feet away and the end or an hour be had
managed 10 get the boat that far He was sick with
nausea from his exertiOns and al times l. seemed thar
blindness smOte him. for he could not see his ewes
ve2ed with spots and points of light that were as ex
crucating as diamond dust his heart pounding I'D 10
Ills throat and su1ocatng him. Elijah betrayed in
teFeS dld not move nor open his eyes AID Daylight
fought out his battle alone At last falling on his
knees from the shock OF the exert0n he got the boat
poised on secure balance TOP of the wall Crawl
ing on hands and knees be placed III tie boat his rab-
bit skin robe the rife and the pail de did not bother
with the axe. II meant additional crawl OF twenty
feet and back and if the need should arise he
well knew be would be past all need
Elijah proved a bigger task than he had antici-
pated. few inches a time, resting IN between
he dragged him over The ground and up a broken
rubble or ice to the side Of the boat. But into the
boat he could not get him. Eliiah's limp body was
far more difficult lift and handle than an equal
weight of like dimensions but rigid Daylight failed
to hoist him, for the body collapsed ;ie middle Ike
Imrtempty sack ar CEN. Getting into the boat Day
light tried yainlY 10 drag his comTade II after MIN
The best he could do to get Eijah'S head and
shoulders on top the gunwale. When he released
his hold TO heaye from further down the body Elijah
Ice.
In despair Daylight changed his tactics He struck
the other in the face
Cod Almighty. amt yOu-all a MANI" he cried
There, damn ycual! There
Al each curse he struck him the cheeks the nose.
me mouth striving by the shock If the hurt bring
oack me sinking soul and far-wanderug viii Of the
man. The eyes futrered open.
Now LISTEN he shouted hoarSeIv when / ger
youF head 10 the gunwale hang on. Hear me: Hang
VI. Bite INTO II with your teeth. bur hang on
The eyes iuttered down but Daylight knew the
message had been received Again be got the help
less mans head and shoulders on the gunvae
Hang on. damn you Bite i'm lie shouted rs he
shifted his grip lower down
One weak hand slipped off the gunwale the fingers
OF the other hand relaxed. but Elijah oDeyed and his
Teeth held on When the lift came his face ground
forward and the spintery wood tore and crushed the
skin from nose. lips and chin and face downward
ne slipped on and down the bot IN OF The boat ill
his limp middle collapsed across the gunwae and his
legs hung down outside But they were only his legs
and Daylight showed them in after him Breathing
heavily he turned Elijah his back md covered
him with his robes
The final task remained-the launching of the boat
This, of necessity was the evercs Of all for be had
been compelled 10 load his comrade in aft Of the
halance II meant supre sfCrt at lifting DAY
light steeled hiWself and began. Something must
nave snapped. for, though lie unaware OF it, the
next he knew was lying doubled his stomach
across the sharp stern ~ the boat. Evidently-and
for The first time in his life-he had tainted Fur
thermore II seemed 10 him that be finished that
he had not one more movement left IN him. and that
strangest Of all be did not Visions came t.
him. clear cut and real and concepts sharp ms steer
cutting edges. He who all his days had looked on
naked life had never seen much Of 'ifes nakedness
before For the first time he experienced n doubt OF
his own glorious personality. For the moment life
Tatered and forgot To lie. After ALL he was little
earth maggot. Just like all the other earth nagcofs
Ike the squirrels he had eaten like the other men he
had seen fail and die like Joe Hines and Henry Finn
who had already failed and were surely dead like
Elijah lying there uncaTng with his skinned face
in the bottom Of the boat. Daylights position was
such that from where he lay he could look up river
to the bend. around mich or later the next
Ice run would come. And he looked he seemed tn
see back through the past TO & time when neither
white man nor Indian was in the land and ever he