The Bossier banner., 1918-01-31
CHAPTER !.
Going "ln."


Going "ln."
|. midnight sun had set, but In a
= between two snow peaks it had
sed vast caldron from which rose
II Of jewels, garnet and turquoise,
& and amethyst and opal, all
,,,,ing in sea of molten gold. The
of II still clung to the face Of the
i Yukon. as a flush does to the
vrinkled cheek Of a girl just
I'd from deep sleep.
rveept for a faint murkiness in the
4 was still day. There was light
.,uohi for the four men playing pi-
,,ale on the upper deck, though the
men of their party, gossipins in
~ grouped near at hand, had at
mt aside their embroidery. The
4 Who sat by herself at little dis
,ee held q magazine still open in
lap.
eordon Elliot had taken the boat at
,rres Portage, fifty miles farther
IN the river. He had come direct
a the creeks, and his impressions
Ithe motley pioneer life at the gold
sings were so vivid that he had
ma an isolated corner of the deck
apre he could scribble them in note
X while still fresh.
But he had not been too busy to see
III the girl in the wicker chair was
much of an outsider as he was.
IaInly this was her first trip in. Cor
a was a stranger in the Yukon coun-
!. one not likely to be overwelcome
hen it became known what his mis-
lon was.
From where he was leaning against
he deckhouse Elliot could see only a
he, chiseled profile shading into a
bass Of crisp, black hair, but some
uality In the detachment Of her per-
bnality stimulated gently his imagina-
On. He wondered who she could be.
A short, thickset man who had ridden
bwn on the stage With Elliot to
Herre's Portage drifted along the deck
Mard him. He wore the careless
Fb Of a mining man in country
Iich looks first to comfort.
Bound for Kusiak?" he asked, by
|my Of opening conversation.
sYes," answered Gordon.
The miner nodded toward the grouI
nder the awning. "That bunch lives
u Kusiak. They've got on at different
saees the last two or three days
atept Selfridge and his wife; They've
hen out. Guess you can tell that from
karing her talk-the little woman il
ID with the snappy black eyes. She'
lllin' over with talk about the style
New York and the cabarets and tn
Pew shows. That pot-bellied little fel
oN IN the checked suit is Selfridge
He y Colby Macdonald's man Friday.
Elliot took in with a quickened ir
efest the group bound for Kusiak. II
40 noticed that they monOpOlized a
matter of course the best places o
BE deck and in the dining room. The
ere civil enough to outsiders, br
elr manner had the unconscious sell
mess that often regulates social a,
kities. 1t excluded from their ga,
n everybody that did not belong
y proper set.
That sort Of thing gets my goat" tn
aner went on sourly. "Those wome
per there have elected themselve
nciety with a capital S. They put Q
the airs the Four Hundred do
nv York. And who are they an,
aw!-wives to a bunch of graftin
hdticians mostly"
That's the way of the world, ism
4 Our civilization is built on tt
rcup SYSTEM" suggested Elliot.
Maybe so," grumbled the mine
But hate to see Alaska come to i
=, ] saw this country first in ninet
eVen-packed an outfit in over IL
paM. Every man stood on his ow
ma legs then. He got there If /
w strong-mebbe; he begged dow
= the trail good and plenty if he W:
wax. We didn't have any of the a
lncial stuff then. A man had to ha,
ne CUTS to stand the gaff."
suppose it was wild countr
y. Strong"
Inc little miners eyes gleame
nest country in the world. We dfdn
sand for anything that wasn't on Il
Sei. It was poor mans country
sees nfteen dollars a day and plen
! work. Everybody had a chanc
aasDody could stake a claim al
pmole on his luck. Now the big co
.Oiatfons have slipped in and grabb,
~ pest. 1t amt prospector's prop
saon any more. Instead of faro banl
eve got savings banks. The wild
Yen dance hall has quit business
avor OF moving pictures. And, as
1u before, we've got Society,""
All frontier countries have to con
I'M
hmp! In the days I'm telling "
out that crowd there couldn't
sled meat to fill their bellies thr'
1 Parasites, that's what thu
They're living off that bunch
ennecks down there and folks lii
VIM wave of his hand Strol
MED to group of miners who h;
lued the boat with them ut Pierre
There We're about Il dozen
men. for the most part husl