The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-10-16
CHAPTER VIII. (Co.tsnssdJ

IFE 4 liar and cheat II fooled all
creatures 1t had fesed him, Burning Day
light OF It's chief and most Joyous e1-
- ponents. He was nothing mere bunch Of
flesh and nerves and sensitiveness that crawled in
the muck for gold. that dreamed and aspired' and
gambled, and that passed and was gone Only the
dead things remained the things that were not flesh
and nerves and sensltiveness, the sand and muck
and gravel the stretching fats the mountains. the
river itself, freezing and breaking year by year
down all the years When all was said and done II
scurvy game. The dice were loaded Those
that died did not win, and all died Who won? Not
even Life, the stool pigeon the arch capper for the
game-Lfe, the fOurishing graveyard the ever
lasting funeral procession.
He drtfted back TO the immediate present for a mo
ment and noted that the river sn ran wide open and
that moose bird perched the bow OF the boat was
surveying him impudently. Then he drifted dreamiy
back to his meditations.
There was no escaping the end of the game He
was doomed surely to be out of all And what Of it
He pondered that question again and again
Conventional religion had passed Daylight by He
had lived sort OF religion in his square dealing and
right playing with other men and he had not INDUCED
in vain metaphysics about future life Death ended
all. He had always believed that and been unafraid
And at this moment the boat fifteen feet above the
water and immovable. himself fainting with weak
ness and without particle Of strength left in him.
he still believed that death ended all and he was still
unafraid His views too simply and solidly based
to be overthrown by the first squirm or the last of
death fearing life
He had and animals die and into the
hed Of his vision. by scores. came such deaths He
saw them again. just he had seen them at tie
time and they did not shake him. What Of It? They
were dead, and dead long since They weren't both
ering about It, They weren't lying on their bellies
across a boat and waiting TO die Death was easy
easier than he had imagined; now that it was
near the thought of It made him glad
A new vision came to him. He saw the feyerish
city OF his dream the gold metropolis Of the North
perched above the Yukon on a high earth bank ard
far spreading across the fiat He saw the river steam
ers tied 10 the bank and lined against it three deep
he saw sawmils working and the long dog teams
with double sleds behind, freghting supplies 10 che
dlggings And he saw. further the gambling houses
banks, stock exchanges, and all the gear and chip
ana markers the chances and opportunities Of
vastly bigger gambling game than any he had ever
seen II was sure hell. he thought, with the bunct
a-workng and that big strike coming. TO be ont of II
all Lie thrilled and stirred at the thought and once
more began uttering his ancient lies
Daylight rolled over and off the boat Ieaning
against It as he on the Ice He wanted 10 be in
on that strike And why shouldn't he? Somewhere
in all those wasted muscles OF his was enough
strength. If he could gather It all ar once TO upend
the boat and launch it Quite irrelevanty the idea