The Connecticut labor press., 1918-02-16
By HACK LONDON

Copyright by Jack London

but who ruled the land.
 One day, the Upper Country, which lies far above Circle City. was pro- nounced rich. Dog teams carried the news to Salt Water; golden argosies freighted the lure across the North Pacific: wires and cables sang with the tidings: and the world heard for the first time of the Klondike river and the Yukon country.
 Cal Galbraith had lived the years quietly. He had then been a good hus- band to Madeline. and she had bless ed him. But somehow discomfort fell upon him; he felt vague yearnings for his own kind, for the life he had been shut out from-a general sort of desire, which men sometimes feel, to break out and taste the prime of living. Besides, there drifted down the river wild rumors of the wonder full Eldorado, glowing descriptions of the city of logs and tents, and ludi- crOus accounts of the che-cha-quas who had rushed in and were stam- peding the whole country. Circle City was dead. The world had moved on up river and become a new and most marvellous world.
 Cal Galbraith grew restless on the edge of things, and wished to see with his own eyes. So, after the wash up, he weighed In a couple of hundred pounds of dust on the cOmpany'S big scales, and took a draft for the same on Dawson. Then he put Tom Dixon in charge of his mines, kissed Made line good-by, promised to be back be- fore the first mush-ice ran, and took passage on an up-river steamer.
 Madeline waited-waited through all the three months of daylight. She fed the dogs. gave much of her time to young Cal, watched the short sum- mer fade away and the sun begin it's long journey to the south. And she prayed much in the manner of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. The fall came, and with 1t there was mush-ice Cn the Yukon, and Circle City kings returning to the winters work at their mines, but no Cal Galbraith. Tom Dixon received a letter, however. for his men sledded up her winters sup ply of dry pine. The company re- ceived a letter, for its dog teams fill cd her cache with their best provi- sions. and she was told that her credit was limitless.
 Through all the ages man has been held the chief instigatOr of the woes of woman; but in this case the men held their tongues and swore harshly at one of their number who was away, while the women failed utterly to emulate them. So, without needless delay, Madeline heard strange tales of Cal Galbraith's doings; also, of a certain Greek dancer who played with men as children did with bubbles Now Madeline was an Indian woman, and further. she had no woman friend to whom to go for wise counsel. She prayed and planned by turns, and that night, being quick of resolve and ac- tion, harnessed the dogs. and with young Cal securely lashed to the sled, stole away.
 Though the Yukon still ran free, the eddy ice was growing, and each day saw the river dwindling to a SluShy thread. Save him who has done the like. no man may know what she endured in travelling a hundred miles on the rim ice; nor may they understand the toll and hardship of breaking the two hundred miles of packed ice which remained after the river frOze for good. But Madeline was an Indian woman, so she did these things, and one night there came knock at Malemute Kids door, There Tt he fed team of starving dogs, put a healthy yOungster to bed, and turn attention fO an. He removed her ice-bound mOc- casins while he listened to her tale, and stuck the point of his knife into her feet that he might see how far they were frozen.
 Despite his tremendous virility, Malemute Kid was possessed of a softer, wmanly element, which could win the confidence of a snarling wolf dog or draw confessions from the most wintry heart. Nor did he seek them Hearts opened to him as spontaneous Iy as flowers to the sun. Even the priest, Father Roubeau, had been known to confess to him. while the men and women of the NOrthland were ever knocking at his door, a door from which the latch-string hung always out. To Madeline, he could do no wrong. make no mistake. She had known him from the time she first cast her lot among the people of her fathers race; and to her half-bar0aric mind 1t seemed that in him was his vision and the future there could be no intervening veil.
 There were false ideals in the land The social strictures of Dawson were not synonymous with those of the pre- vious era, and the swift maturity of the Northland involved much wrong. Malemute Kid was aware of this. and he had Cal Galbraith's measure accu- rately. He knew a hasty word was the father of much evil; besides. he was minded to teach a great lesson and bring shame upon the man. So Stanley Prince, the young mining ex-