Martinsburg W Va evening journal. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1913-1920, 1918-01-16
CHAPTER XII.
The Stress Of the Trail.

The Stress Of the Trail.
Roaring Bit dumped his second pack
on the summit of the Klappan. ana
looked away to where the valley thas
opened out of the basin showed its
blurred hollow In the distance. E,lt
he uttered no useless regrets. With
horses they could have ridden solill
through a rolling country, where every
stretch Of timber gave on grass
grown level. Instead they were forced
back over the rugged route by which
they had crossed the range the ssiin-
mer before. Grub, bedding, fufs and
gold totaled two hundred pounds. On
his sturdy shoulders Bill could pack
half that weight. For his wife tho
thing was a physical impossibility,
even had he permitted her to try.
Hence every mile advanced meant that
he doubled the distance, relaying from
one camp to the next. They cut their
bedding to blanket apiece, and that
was Hazel's load--all he would allow
her to carry.
you're no pack mule, little person."
he would say. 1T don't hurt me. 1--WE
done this for years"
But even with abnormal strength
md endurance, it was killing work to
buck those ragged slopes with a heayy
load. Only by terrible, unremitting eff
fort could he advance any appreciable
distance. They were footsore, and
their bodies ached with WEAKNESS that
verged on pain when they gained the
pass that cut the summit of the. Klan4
pan range.
We'll, were over the hump Bill re-
marked thankfully. s'lt's a downlliIls
shoot to the Skeena. don't think its
more than fifty or sixty miles to where
we can take to the water
They made better time on the west
ern slope, but the journey became Il
matter of sheer endurance. Food was
scanty--flour and salt and tea, With
meat and fish got by the way. AMI
the black flies and mosqu. loes
swarmed about them maddeningIy day
and night.
So they came at last to the Skeena,
and Hazels heart misgave her when
she took note of Its swirling reaches,
the sinuous eddies--a deep, swift,
treacherous stream. But Bill rested
overnight, and In the morning sought
and felled stable cedar, and began
to hew. Slowly the thick trunk
shaped itself to the form of boat
under the steady swing of his ak.
In week it was finished. They
loaded the sack of gold. the bundle OF
furs, their meager camp outfit amid
ships, and swung off into the stream.
| The Skeena drops fifteen hundred
feet in a--hundred miles. Wherefore
there are rapids, boiling stretches *
| white water in which many good
canoe has come to grief. Some OF
these they ran at imminent peril. Over
| the worst they lined the canoe from
| the bank. And In the second week
| OF July they brought up at the head
| Of Kispiox Canon. Hazelton lay few,
miles below. But the Kispiox stayed
| them, slulce box cut through old
( stone, in which the waters ragged with
deafening roar. No man ventured
into that wild gorge. They abandoned
the dugout. Bill slung the. sack Of
gold and the bale Of furs on his back.
! TITS the last lap, Hazel" said he.
"We'll leave the rest Of 1t for the first
/ Siwash that happens along"
So they set out bravely to trudge
the remaining distance. And az the
fortunes of the trail sometimes be-
fan, they raised an Indian camp on
the bank of the river at the mouth Of
| the canon. A ten-dollar bill made
them possessors Of another canoe. snd
an hour later the roofs of Hazetson
croDDed I'D above the bank.
ooh, BILL" Hazel called from the
bow. Look There's the same old
steamer tied to the same old bank.
We've been gone year. and yet the
world hasn't changed mite. won
der IL Hazelton has taken Rip van
Wrinkle sleep all this timer"
(To Be Continued Tomorrow