River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-02-18


roaring stoves, combined with lack of
ventilation. kept the big room insani-
! tarily warm. The click of chips and
| the boisterOus play at the craps table
! furnished monotonouS background
! of sound to the equally mOnOtonOus
! rumble of mems voices where they sat
| and stood about and talked i'll groups
and twos and threes. Through the
open door that led to the dance room
came the roIlicking strains of Vir-
! ginia reel played by piano and u tid-
| die.
Cultus George. a big, strapping Cir
Gle City Indian. leaned distantly and
dourly against the log wall. He was
il civilized Indian. if living like a
white man connotes civilization, and
| he was sOrely offended, though the of
tense was of long standing.
For years he had done white mans
work, had done it alongside of white
men and often had done it better than
| they did, He wore the same pants
they wore, the same hearty woolens
and heavy shirts. He sported as good
watch as they, parted his short hair
on the side and ate the same food
bacon, beans and t1Our-and yet he was
denied their greatest diversion and re-
ward-namely whisky.
Cultus George was a money Garner.
He had Staked claims and bought and
sold claims He had been grubstaked,
and he had accorded grubstakes. Just
now he was a dog muSher and freight
er. charging % cents pound for the
winter haul from Sixty Mile to Muc-
luc, and for bacon 33 cents, as was the
custom. His poke was fat with dust
He had the price of many drinks. Yet
no barkeeper would serve him. WhlS-
XIV, the hottest. Swiftest cOmpleteSt
gratifier of civilization, was not Tor
him. And be resented this invidiOus
distinction. as he had resented it for
wears. deeply And he was especially
thirsty and resentful this night, While
the white men he had so sedulOusly
emulated he hated more bitterly than
ever before.
The Virginia reel in the dance room
wound to Il wild close. All couples
promenade to the bari" was the call
er's last cry as the music stopped. And
the couples were so prOmenadlnG
through the wide doorway into the
main roOm-the men in furS and moe
casinS. the women in soft, fluffy
dresses. silk stockings and dancing
plippers-when the double storm doors
were thrust open, and Smoke BelleW
staggered YEARLY in.
Eyes centered Oh him. and silence
began to fall He tried to speak. pull
ed off his mittens, which fell dangling
from their cords. and clawed ut the
frozen moisture of his breath which
had formed in fifty miles of running.
Only the man at the craps table.
without turning his head. continued to
roll the dice and to cry: "Oh, you Joe.
Come on, you joe" The gamekeep-
er's gaze. fixed on Smoke. caught the
players attention. and he, too. With
suspended dice, turned and looked.
whats up. Smoker" Matson, the
owner of the Annie Mine. demanded.
With a last effort Smoke clawed his
mouth free. Il got some dogs out
there-dead beat" he said huskily.
Somebody go and take care of them.
and I'll tell you what's the matter"
In dozen brief sentences he outlin-
ed the situa ton. The craps player. his
money still lying on the table and his
slippery Joe Cotton still uncaptured.
had come over to Smoke and was now
the first to speak.
I'VE gotta do something. That's
straight. But what? You've had time
TO think. What's your plan? Spit it
out!'
Sure" Smoke assented. We've got
to hustle light sleds on the jump. Say
100 pounds of grub on each sled. The
drivers outfit and dog grub will fetch
it up fifty more. But they can make
time. Say we start five of these sleds
pronto-best running teams, best mush-
ers and trail eaters. On the soft trail
the SledS can take the lead turn about
They've got to start at once. At the
best, by the time they can get there
all those Indians won't have had a
scrap to eat for three days.
Auu Iueu DIS SOOu DIS We ' z gu LhNoN
sleds off We'll have to follow up with
heavy sleds. Figure it out yourself
Two pounds a day is the very least we
can decently keep those Indians travel
ing on. That's 400 pounds day, and
with the old people and the children
five days is the quickest time we can
bring them into Mucluc. Now, what
a no Won oOipor RI 6n1''
Take up a collection to buy all the
grub said the craps player. Fetch
a washbasin. somebody. 1t won't take
a minute. An here's starter"
He pulled a heavy gold sack from
his pocket, united the mouth and pour
ed a stream of coarse dust and mug
gets into the basin. A man beside him
caught his hand up with jerk and an
oath, elevating the mouth of the sack
so as to stop the run of the dust To
casual eye six or eight ounces had al
ready run into the basin.
Don't be a hawg!" cried the second