Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-07-07
CHAPTER I.
THE GIRL OF THE SHOWS.

spirit of romance, Of adven-
ture. Of sympathy for the
picturesque and the unknown surging
through his veins. A billion stars
glowed like yellow. passiOnless eyes
in the polar cold Of the skies. Behind
him, white in its sinuous twisting
through the snow smUthered wilder
ness. lay the icy Saskatchewan. with
few scattered lights visible where
Prince Albert. the last outpost Of civ
ilization. came down to the river half
a mile away.
But It was into the north that How
land looked. From the top of the
great ridge which he had climbed he
gazed steadily into the white gloom
which reached for thousand miles
from where he stood to the Arctic sea-
Family in the grim silence Of the win
ter night there came to his ears the
soft kissing sound of the aurora bore
ais as 1t played In its age old song
over the dome Of the earth. and as he
watched the cold flashes shooting like
pale arrows through the distant sky
and listened to its whispering music
Of unending loneliness and mystery
there came on him strange feeling
that 1t was reckoning to him and call
ing to him. telling him that up there
very near to the end Of the earth lay
all that he had dreamed of and hoped
for since he had grown old enough to
begin the shaping Of destiny OF his
own.
He shivered as the cold nipped at
his blood and lighted fresh cigar.
half turning to shield himself from
wind that was growing out OF the
east. As the match flared in the cup
of his hands for nm instant there came
from the black gloom of the balsam
and spruce at his feet wailing. hun
eerful cry that brought startled
breath from his lips. 1t was cry
such as Indian dogs make about the
tepees Of masters who are newly dead.
he had never heard such cry be-
fore, and yet he knew that 1t was
VOLTS. 1t impressed him with an awe
which was new to him. and he stood
as motiOnless as the trees about him
until from out the gray night gloom
TO the west there came an answering
crv and then from far to the north
still another.
sounds az though Id better go back
to town." he said to himself. speaking
aloud. "By George. but It's lonely"
Jack Rowland was a Chicago man.
For fifteen of his thirty-one years he
had been hustling. Since he could
easily remember he had possessed to
a large measure but one ambition and
one hope. With persistence which
had left him peculiarly a stranger to
the more frivolous and human sides OF
life he had worked toward the achieve
ment of this ambition. and tonight be-
cause that achievement was very near
at hand he was happy. He had never
been happier There flashed across his
mental vision swiftly moving picture
Of the fight he had made for success.
1t had been magnificent fight. With
out vanity he was proud Of 1t. for fate
had handicapped him Mt the beginning.
and still he had won out. He saw him
self again the homeless little farmer
boy setting out from his Illinois village
to take up life in a great city. AS
though 1t had all happened but yester-
day he remembered how for days and
weeks he had nearly starved. how he
had sold papers at first and then by
lucky chance became errand boy In
big drafting establishment. 1t was
there that the ambition was born In
him. He saw great engineers come
and go-men who were greater than
presidents to him and who sought out
the ends Of the earth in the following
of their vocation. He made slave Of
himself In the nurturing and strength
ening Of bis ambition to become one
of them-tO be builder of railroads
and bridges. tunneler Of mountains.
a creator Of new things In new lands.
Voluntarily he had kept himself In
bondage. fighting ceaselessly the OBJ
stacles in his way. triumphing over his
handicaps az few other men had tri-
umphed. rising slowly. steadily. resist
lessly, until now He flung back his
head and the pulse Of his heart quick
ened as ne heard again the words Of
Van Horn. president Of the greatest
engineering company on the continent.
"Howland. we've decided to put you
in charge of the building of the Hud-
son Bay railroad. It's one of the wild
est Jobs we've ever had. and Gregson
and Tborne don't seem to catch on.
They're bridge builders and not wilder
ness men. We've got to lay a single
line of steel through 800 miles Of the
widest country in North America. and
from this hour your motto is DO 1t or
bust! You can report at LIE Pas as
soon as you get your traps together"
Those words had broken the slave
dom for Rowland. He had been fight
ing for an opportunity. and now that
the opportunity had come he was sure
that he would succeed. Swiftly. with
his hands thrust deep In his pockets.
he walked down the one main street
Of Prince Albert. putting out odorous
clouds Of smoke from his cigar. every
fiber in him tingling with the new Joy
that had come into his life. Another
night would see him in lie Pas, the lit
tie outpost sixty miles farther east on
the Saskatchewan Then hundred
miles by dog sledge and he would be
~ the biz wilderness camp where 800