The Bienville Democrat., 1922-02-09

ana the beach, a primitive arrange
= ment of big pots slung from tripods
over fires kindled on a flat area that
: was partly sheltered from the sea and
, the prevailing winds by outcrops of
! Weathered lava.
: AT dawn the men trooped from the
schooner to be fed and warmed, and
then they flung themselves at their
task. The more they got out the
more there was in It for them. But
!. Lund was their overlord, their better,
and they knew it. Only Demlng
worked with one hand the handle Of
. the force bellows, or fed the fires, and
sneered
On the fifteenth day, with the work
better than half done, with more than
a ton of actual gold in colors, that
ranged from flour dust to nuggets, in
the strong-room, the weather began to
change. It misted continually, and
Lund, rejoicing, prophesied the break
ing up of the cold snap.
! BY the eighteenth day regular
Chinook was blowing, melting the
sharper outlines Of the Icy crags and
pinnacles, and providing streams Of
moisture that, in the nights now grad
ually growing longer, glazed every, yard
Of rock with peril.
The men worked In a muck with
their rubber sea.boots worn out by
constant chafng, sweaters torn. the
blades of their shovels reduced BY the
work demanded Of them, the drills,
shortened by steady sharpening, gone
like the spare flesh Of the laborers,
who, at last, began to show signs. Of
quicker and quicker exhaustion with
occasional mutterings Of discomfort.
while Lund, intent upon cleaning of
the crock as a dentist cleans a
crumbling tooth, coaxed and cursed,
blamed and praised and bullied, and
did the actual work Of three Of them. |
Dead with fatigue, filled with food !
drowsy from the liberal grog allow
ance at the end Of the day, the men
slept in a torpor every night and |
showed less inclination to- respond. !
though the eW Of their labors was al
most in sight.
What's the use, we got enough"
was the comment beginning to be
heard more and more frequently.
Lund, he's got more'n he can spend
In a lifetime r
Rainey could not trace these nut.
terings to Deming's instigation, but
he suspected the hunter. There was
no poker; all hands were too tired for
play.
As for Reggy Slmms, she did not lose
the polish Of her culture, she was al.
ways feminine, even dainty at times,
despite her work. that could not help
but be coarse to a certain extent, She
was full Of vlgpr, she showed unex-
pected strength, she was a source Of
encouragement to the men as she
waited on them. And also a source
Of undlsguised admiration, allof which
she shed az duck sheds water. Oil
Rainey gained an increasing respect
In hef .prowess, and swift conversion
to the equality Of the sexes. There
wee times when he doubted bis own
equality. Had she met him on his
own ground, In his own realm Of what
he considered vaguely as culture, he /
would have known a mastery that he
now lacked, As It was, she averaged
higher, and she had an attraction Of
sex that was compelling.
Here was algirl who would demand
certain standards In the man with
whom she would mate, not merely ac-
company through life. There were
times when Ralney felt irresistlbly
the charm Of her as q woman, longed
fnr her IN the nOuerflll sex rpactinns