Gunnison news-champion., 1921-05-27
W23
SCARLET SI3{ PLAGUE
q JACK LONDON

offered hll ny horse. my pony. my
aYss. au thar D r.grsessed. II he 7yould
give Fazta ~ ne. and he grinned In
my face and shook his head lie vas
very Insulting Ua aid that in the
old days be had been a servant had
been dirt lEGrr the 'ect Of men Ike
me and % women like yos;a. and that
nov be lad tho greatest LADY in tho
Land TO b. srrval, 20 him aad cook his
food and ng-a his brar8 You had
your day before the plague. be said.
but this .a my day. and a damned
good day &, Is unlIdn't trade back
20 the oli times Tor anything Such
words be- spoke but they are not his
words Re was a vulgar. low-mIndsd
man. and yslo ua,hs fell continually
from hIs iips
Also he told me that II he caught
rne making eyes at his woman he d
wiring my neck and give her beating
as veil What was to do vas
afraid He vas a brute That first
night, when discovered the camp.
Nesta and | had great talk about the
things OF our vanished world We
talked Of art, and books. and poetry
and the Chauffeur listened and griuned
and sue"Ted He vas bored and an.
gered by our way Of speech which he
did not comprehend. and finally he
spoke up and said And this Is Vegta
Van Warden. ouetimo wife OF Van
Warden the maEnate-a high and
siuck.up beauty who l. now my
squaw Eh, Professor Smith. times Is
changed, times Is changed Here. you.
woman. take on my moccaslns and
lively about Il vant Professor
Smith to see how we'll have you
trained
Il saw her clench hcr teeth. and the
fame Of revolt rise 10 her face. He
drew back his gnHrled fist to strike.
and was afraid. and sick at heart l
could do nothing TO prevail against
him So | got up TO 20. and not be
witness to such iud!guity. But the
Chauffeur laughed and threatened me
with a beating II did not stay and
behold. And | sat there. pcrforce. by
the campfire on the shore OF Lake
Tcmescal and saw Vesta. yesta Van
Warden. kneel and remove the moe
casins Of that grinuing. 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 tho
Chauffeur gloated, while she performed
that dreadful. mental task. A triae
balky at times, professor. triae baIky:
but n clout alongside the jaw makes
her as meek and gentle as a lamb
And another time he said: We've
got to start all over and replenish the
earth and multiply. You're handi.
capped, professor. You amt got no
wife, and we're up against a regular
Garden-of' Eden proposition. But I
amt proud. III tell you what. profes.
sor. He pointed at their little infant,
barely year old. There's your wife,
though you1l have to walt 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
up-not /. | do you the honor, Pro
fessor Smith. the very great honor. OF
betrothing to you my and Vesta War
den's daughter. Amt it cussed bad
that Van Warden amt here to seer
Il lived three weeks OF infinite tor
ment there in the Chaureur's camp.
And then, one day. firing of me. or
OF what to him was my bad effect on
Vesta, he told me that the year before,
wandering through the Contra Costa
hills to the straits OF Carquinez. across
the straits he had seen n smoke. This
meant that there were stir other hu-
man beings. and that for three weeks
he had kept this inestimable precious
information from me. ! departed at
once. my dogs and horses, and jour.
neyed across the Contra, Costa hills to
the straits. saw no smoke on the
other side. but at Port Costa discov.
cred small steel barge on which I
was able to embark my animals. Old
canvas which found served me for
a sail, and southerly breeze famed
me across the straits and up to the
ruins OF Vallejo. Here, on the out.
skirts OF the city found evidences Of
a recently occupied camp. Many clam
euels SnoWeo 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 salt
marshes to Sonoma valley Here, at
the old brickyard at Glen Ellen. came
upon the camp. There were eighteen
souls all told. Two we're old men,
one Of whom was Jones, a banker.
/ The other was Harrison, a retired
| pawnbroker. who had taken for a wife
/ the matron Of the State Hospital for
the Insane at Napa. OF all the per.
sons Of the city Of Napa, and Of all the
other towns and villages in that rich
and populous valley, she had been the
only survivor. Next, there we're the
three young men-Cardiff and Hale.
. hAA