The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1918-05-23

oWilt BluuCe VI uuInlTallOn Ut ttaZel,
and they passed with q mutual $50
long,"
"What do you think of that, old
girl?" Bill observed presently. "a
real, honest-to-goodness railroad going
by within a hundred miles of our
shack. Three years. It'll be there be-
fore we know it. Wen have neigh
bors to burn"
"a hundred milesT Hazel laughed.
as that your idea Of a neighborly dis
tance?"
whats hundred milesT he de-
Tended. 1.-TWO days ride, that's all.
And the kind of people that come to
settle in a country like this don't stick
in sight of the cars. They're like
me-need lots Of elbow room. There'll
be hardy souls looking for a location
up where we are before very long.
You'll see."
They passed other crews Of men,
surveyors with transits, chainmen,
stake drivers, ak gangs widening the
path through the timber. Most Of
them looked at Hazel In frank sur
prise, and stared long after she passed
by. And when an open bottom beside
noisy little creek showed the scat
tered tents of the survey camp, Hazel
said:
Lets not stop, Bill"
He looked back over his shoulder
with comprehending smile.
Getting shy? Make you uncom-
Portable to have all these boys look at
you, little person?" he bantered. "All
right, we won't stop. But all these
fellows probably haven't seen n white
woman for months. You can't blame
them for admiring. You do look good
to other men besides me, you know"
So they rode through the camp with
but a nod to the aproned cook, who
thrust out his head, and gray-haired
man with glasses, who bumped over
a drafting board under an awning.
Their noon fire they built at a spring
five miles beyond.
At length they Jared into Hazelton,
which is the hub Of vast area over
which men pursue gold and furs.
Some hundred odd souls were gath
cred there, where the stern-wheel
steamers that ply the turgid Skeena
reach the head of navigation. A land
recording office and mining recorder
Hazelton boosted as proof OF itt
civic Importance The mining recorder,
who combined in himself many capaci-
ties besides his governmental function,
undertook to put through Bills land
deal. He knew Bill Wagstaff.
"Wise man." he nodded. over the de-
scription. eff some more uh these boys
that have blazed trails through this
country would do the same thing
they'd be better off. A chunk of land
anywhere in this country is a good
bet now. Well have rails here from
the coast in year. Better freeze
onto a couple uh lots here in Hazel
ton, while they're low. Be plumb to
the skies in ten years. Natural place
for city, Bill. It's astonishin' how
the settlers Is COMM"
There was ocular evidence Of thin
last, for they had followed in roao
we'll rutted from loaded wagons. But
Bill invested in no real estate, not
withstanding the positive assurance
that Hazelton was on the ragged edge
OF boom.
maybe, maybe" he admitted. "But
I've got other fish to fry. That one
piece up by Pine river will do me for
while"
Here where folk talked only Of gold
and pelts and railroads and settlement
and the coming boom that would make
them all rich, Bill Wagstaff added two
more ponies to his pack train. These
he loaded down with food, staples only,
flour, sugar, beans, salt, tea and cot
fee and a sack Of dried fruit. Also
he bestowed upon Niger a further
burden of six dozen steel traps.
And in the cool of a midsummer
morning, before Hazalton had rubbed
the sleep out of its collective eyes and
taken up the days work Of discussing
its future greatness, Roaring Bill and
his wife draped the mosquito nets over
their heads and turned tlfeir faces
north.
They bore out upon a wagon road.
For a brief distance only did this en-
dure, then dwindled to path. A turn
in this hid sight OF the clustered log
houses and tents, and the two steam
ers that lay up against the bank. The
river itself was soon lost In the far
stretches of forest. Once more they
rode alone in the wilderness. For the
first time Hazel felt quick shrinking
from the North, an awe Of Its huge,
silent spaces, which could so easily
engulf thousands such as they and still
remain land untamed.