Yellowstone monitor., 1914-02-19
REX BEACH
ADVENTURE
S T 0 R I E S
BY REX BEACH

whaler, a whisky caSk and
missionary, having to do wit
bloodletting away out on tn
edge of things, involving white men,
passions and the smoldering hate o
the Eskimo. as it was told to me by
revenue man while we were STEPPED IL
laughter. music, clinking glasses ant
the mutfied clang Of Broadway troll
leys
! had bemoaned the urbanity Of life
the paucity of the pastoral. Wha
though the duck had been delicious
and the salad perfect! The stale
breath Of the city was in my Aostriis
and rallied at it's refinement. SO. Leo
by my mood, my friends discourse
wandered out into the distant reaches
till felt the heave Of slanting decks
smelt the sea spume and heard the
salt air whining through the shrouds
North and west we cruised through the
smoky seas where the sea parrots
scream. up toward the Diomedes,
where the roar of the bull walrus
browns the beat Of the surf, land there,
out Of the tropic blue Of his Havana,
he wove this story OF the arctics:
At the tip Of that point OF land
which leans farthest out and whispers
across to the moss garbed hills OF
Siberia nesties a native village Since
the earliest days no whaling ship has
passed it without pause to trade, for it
is the most prosperous of all the towns
from Dutch Harbor to Point Barrow,
The strait teens with walrus. deer
range the ridges behind, salmon choke
the rivulets, and the cry Of geese In
the slow summer air IS like a noisy
burden.
One June midnight, as the yellow
sun dipped shallowly below the hori-
xon, a Hawaiian schooner anchored
abreast the sand spit and was soon
surrounded by the curious populace.
They came OF in kyaks and big skin
boats. bearing many things to barter,
noisy and pleased in their childlike
friendliness. They had not traficked
long until the captain ordered up a
cask OF whisky and broached It. So It
was but short time until the sailors
were In possession of the Eskimos'
spoiIs and they in turn reeled under
the drunken fumes The schOoner's
master was a half breed-swart. thick
and domineering. As time drew along
for some reason he grew enraged at q
native and struck him. That one, liQ-
nor maddened and aroused from his
customary good nature, drew knife
and made at the master. Doubtless
white blood would have run had not
sailor snatched bludgeon and beaten
down the Eskimo, at which his tribes
men drew together threateningly. The
crew. who had likewise become IN
famed. charged them with every
weapon handy and swept them over
board, all but a dozen, who fought
back doggedly. These, forced down
the deck inch by inch, sought refuge
beneath the forward deck, where they
crouched, thoroughly terrified.
The sailors. drunk with victory and
the blood lust, seized blubber hooks
and, reaching In, dragged them out
one by one. As each was brought
forth they knocked in his head and
threw him verboard-eleven in all.
Then, glutted with the kill, their decks
awash with blood, they weighed an
chor and sailed away like pirates Of
the Spanish main. In this fashion ha.
tired was sown at Prince Of Wales.
On the sand ridge behind the town
they reared eleven great whale ribs in
4 row. while the squaws let down their
hair and rocked and walled. and the
men spoke with stony faces and bit
ter words.
AS the years passed. whenever
child grew to understanding, his moth
er taught him the story Of the bleach
Ing bones and nursed the hatred in
him as jealousy as she did his life
Withai they were crafty people and
realized that vengeance must come eau.
tiously. for each year there were more
and more white men In the country,
md back Of them was 8 great power
which they felt, but could not fully
grasp. These newcomers treated them
we'll as rule, and but for the mem.
sry Of the whalers' treachery they
would have made friends greedily. Az
i was. the tribe came to be known as
1nfriendly and inhospitable, and It was
4 this time that my friend sailed
north out Of the mists. bearing oD the
revenue cutter missionaries-two Of
hem.
Zone was farmer iad," said he, ran
ohio boy. He ran less to prayer than
o hard work, and l told the old man
hat he would make the Indians ike
him. But the other-somehow knew |
ae was due for trouble from the 6rst
He was nice enough. only for his airs.
Ind he brought his young wife With
Iinl- both Of them aflame with the de- |
IRE to teach the heathen
I'VE anchored about mile ana 1 |
laif from shore. and the old man.
'ent for all the villagers. It was the
My town We had ever stopped 1t |
shere they didn't hurry ont of tholB
'vp errord. bot ever since the ~ -