The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1915-04-17
IheScarlet
Plague
BY JACK LONDON

! uAlso he told me that II he caught
ims( making eyes at his woman he'd
wiring my neck and give her q beating
In well. What was to dof ! was
afraid. He was q brute. That first
might, when l discovered the camp.
lvesta and had great talk about the
things OF our vanished world. We
talked Of art. and books, and poetry;
and the Chauffeur listened and grinned
and sneered. He was bored and an
Igered by our way of speech which he
did not comprehend, and finally he
spoke up and said: And this is Vesta
Wan Warden, .onestime wife of Van
Warden the magnate-a high and
|stuck-up beauty, who is now my
isquaw. Eth, Professor Smith, times Is
changed, times is changed. Here, you,
woman, take of my moccasins and
lively about it. want Professor
Smith to sec how well have you
trained
IT saw her clench her teeth, and the
flame Of revolt rise in her face. He
drew back his gnarled fist to strike,
land / was afraid. and sick at heart. l
could do nothing to prevail against
him. So got up to go, and not be
witness to such indignity. But the
chauffeur laughed and threatened me
with beating II did not stay and
behold. And sat there, perforce, by
the campfire on the shore Of Lake
Temescal and saw Vesta, Vesta Van
Warden, kneel and remove the moe
casins of that grinning, hairy, ape
like human brute.
oh, you do not understand, my
,grandsons. You have never known
anything else, and you do not under
stand.
Halter broke and bride wise. the
Chauffeur gloated. while she performed
that dreadful, mental task A trife
ibalky at times, professor, trifie balky;
but a clout alongside the jaw makes
her as meek and gentle as lamb
I "And another time he said: We've
got to start all over dnd replenish the
earth and multiply. You're handi-
capped. professor. You amt ~ NJ
wife, and we're up against regular
Garden-of-Eden proposition. But
amt proud. I'll tell you what, profess
sor.' He pointed at their little infant.
barely year old. There's your wife.
Though you'll have to wait till she
grows up. It's rich. amt It? ], We're
all equals here, and I'm the biggest
toad in the splash. But, amt stuck
iup-not I. do you the honor, Pro
fessor Smith, the very great honor, OF
betrothing to you my and Vesta War
den's daughter. Amt 1t cussed bad
THAT Van Warden amt here to seer
81 lived three weeks OF infinite tor.
Iment there in the Chauffeur's camp
And then, one day, firing Of me, OF
Of what to him was my bad effect on
fvesta, he told me that the year before,
wandering through the Contra Costa
hills to the straits Of Carquinez. across
the straits he had seen q smoke. This
meant that there we're stir other hui
man beings, and that for three weeks
he had kept this inestimable precious
Information from me. departed al
tonce, my dogs and horses, and jour
lneyed across the Contra. Costa hills tc
the straits. I saw no smoke on the
1other side, but at Port Costa discov
lered q small steel barge on which.
i-~s ohlo - o,v,ho ~ 49,, ansv,,alo nyS
jcanvas which / found served me fol
y sail, and southerly breeze famed
me across the straits and up to the
ruins Of Vallejo. Here, on the out
iskirts OF the city ! found evidences Of
Ia recently occupied camp. Many clam
tshells showed me why these humans
had come to the shores of the bay
This was the Santa Rosa tribe, and
followed its track along the old rail
,road right Of way across the sal
marshes to Sonoma valley. Here, a
1.-The old brickyard at Glen Ellen, came
upon the camp. There were eighteer
souls all told. Two were old men
lone Of whom was Jones, q banker
The other was Harrison, retire<
lpawnbroker, who had taken for a wifi,
THE matron Of the State Hospital fol
the Insane at Napa. OF all the per
tsons Of the city of Napa, and Of all tn,
other towns and villages in that ricl
land populous valley. she had been tn,
only survivor. Next, there we're thu
three young men--Cardiff and Hale
who had been farmers, and VAIN
wright, a common day laborer. Al
three had found wives. To Hale. {
Icrude, illiterate farmer. had fallen Iss
ldore. the greatest prize. next to Vests
iof the women who came through tn
plague. She was one of the world
most noted singers, and the plagu
had caught ner at San Francisco. .Sh
had talked with me for hours Ct
thine, telling me Of her adventures, I'm
itil. at last, rescued by Hale in tn
lMendocino forest reserve. there hal
jremained nothing for her to do Blu
become his wife. Bat Hale was
syood fellow IN spite Of his illiteracy
He had keen sense Of Justice.
'The wives Of Cardiff and VAIN
wright were ordinary women. ~
'customed to toll, with strong constitu
tions-just the type for the Wild nev