The Detroit times., 1913-12-18

1T was the gosh-dangdest stampede
| ever seen. A thousand dog teams
hittin' the ice. You couldn't see 'em
fer smoke. Two white men and a
Swede froze To death that night. an
there was a dozen busted their lungs.
But didn't I see with my own eyes the
bottom OF the waterhole? II was yell
low with gold like mustard plaster.
That's what made the stampede. An
then there was nothin' TO it.-Nothln'
TO t"-Narrative OF Shorty.
John Messner clung with mittened
hand to the bucking gee-pole and held
the sled In the trail. He rubbed his
cheeks and nose every little while.
In point of fact. he rarely ceased from
rubbing them. and sometimes, as their
numbness increased, he rubbed
fiercely.
Behind his churned d heavily loaded
Yukon sled. and before him tot, ii
string OF Ave dogs The rope by
which they dragged the slsd rubbed
against the side Of Messner's leg.
When the dogs swung on a bend In
the trail. he stepped over the rope.
There were many bends, and he was
times he tripped over the rope. or
stumbled. and at all times he was awk-
ward betraying a weariness so great
that the sled now and again ran
upon his heels.
It's too cold to travel anyway" he
said. He spoke aloud, after the man
ner OF men who are much by them
selves. only a fool would travel at
. a. nnpt AiO
below it's because It's seventy-nine."
He ploded on silently for a few
minutes, and then, as though there
had been no lapse In his speech, he
added:
And no ground covered. and It's
too cold to travel"
Suddenly he yelled, Whoa" at the
dogs and stopped. He seemed In a
mild panic over his right hand, and
proceeded to hammer 1t ferociously
against the gee-pole.
"You--poor--devils! he addressed
the dogs which had dropped down
heavily on the Ice to rest. His was q
broken. jerky utterance, caused by the
violence with which he hammered his
numb hand upon the wood. What
have you done. anyway, that two
legged other animal should come
along, break you to harness, curb all
your natural proclivities and make
slave-beasts out OF your"
He rubbed his nose, not ref1ectively.
but savagely, In order to drive the
blood into 1t, and urged the dogs to
do their work again. He travelled on
the frozen surface Of great river.
John Messner seemed succumbing
to the apathy OF II all. The frost was
benumbing his spirit.
But the dogs were observant, and
suddenly they stopped. turning their
heads and looking back At their mas
ter out OF eyes that we're wistful and
questioning.
The man was about to urge them
on, when he checked himself, reused
up with an effort and looked around.
The dogs had stopped beside q water
hole. not a fissure, but hole man
made, chopped laboriously with an AK
through three and half feet Of Ice.
"All right, you soref0oted brutes."
he said. 'Tll investigate. You're pot
bit more anxious to quit than I
am"
He climbed the bank and disap-
peared. The dogs did not lie down,
but on his feet eagerly waited his
return. He came back to them, took
q hauling rope from the front Of the
sled and put around his shoulders.
Then he gee'd the dogs to the right
and put them at the bank on the
run.
They cleared the bank with . rush.
swung to the left and dashed up to
q small log cabin. II was a deserted
cabin OF a single room. Messner un-
harnessed the animals, unloaded his
sled and took possession, and then
set up his light sheet-iron stove and
started q 6re.
While waiting for the water to boil.
he held his face over the stove. The
moisture from his breath had col
lected on his beard and frosen into
great mass Of Ice, and this he pro-
ceeded to thaw out.
A wild outcry from the dogs with
out did not take him from his task.
He heard the wolish snarling and
yelping OF strange dogs and the sound
OF voices. A knock came to the door.
Come In" Messner called.
The door opened. and gazing out
OF his cloud Of steam he saw q man
and woman pausing on the thresh-
old.
Come In" he said peremptorily.
"and shut the door"
Peering through the steamA he could
make out but little of theif personal
appearance. The nose and cheek