The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1925-10-21

|9! All along the trail men lay about
M exhausted and only with the most
b snperhnnan courage IS he abie. t0
continue. :
CHAPTER II. (Continued)
Phillips abundant vigor continued
to evoke the elder mans frank admir-
alton; he eyed the boy approvingly
and Piled him with questions. Be-
fore they had travelled many miles
4 he had learned what there was to
learn, for Pierce answered his ques-
tions frankly and told him about the
sacrifice his family had made in or
der to send him North. about the
trip itself, about his landing at
/ Dvea, and all the rest. When he
escame to the account of that she'll
game the grizzled stranger smiled.
I've lived in wide-open countries
all my life said the latter, but this
beats anything ever saw. Why,
the, crooks outnumber the honest men
and they're running things to SUIT
themselves. One Of 'em tried to lay
me Mel" He chuckled as if the
mere idea was Enthusiastically humor-
4 Gus. Have you heard about this
Soapy Smith? He's the boss, the
y bell-cow, and he's made himself
mayor of Skagway. Can you beat
q III. III bet some of his men are on
II or Citizens Committee at Sheep
III Camp. They need a lot of killing,
they do, and they'll get it. What
did you do after you lost your
4 money!"
Il fell in with two brothers and
went to packing
went partners with them?"
mo. they" Phillips face cloud
ed, he hesitated briefly. Il merely
lived with them and helped them
with their outfit from time to time.
We're at Sheep Camp now, and l
share their tent whenever I'm there.
I'm about ready to pull out and 60
b" alone"
4 Right! And don't hook up with
fenybody." The old man spoke with
Feeling. Look at me. I'm nesting
, with a dodo-darned !gray-whiskered
: Emilliner! He's so ornery have to
hide the ak every time l see him. l
sjust yearn to put him out of his
misery, but l dassent Of course he
Fhas his points-everybody has; he's
/ a game old rooster and he loves me.
I That's all that saves him."
\ Phillips was greatly interested to
learn that two men SO united tor
this life, this country, should have
essayed the hardships of the Chilkoot
trail. 1t amazed him to learn that
already most of their outfit was at
Linderman.
do you mean to say that you have
done all the packing for yourself
and your partner?" he inquired.
"N-no. Old Jerry totters across
with a package of soda-crackers once
in a while. You must have heard
him; he creaks like gate. OF
course lie eats up all the crackers
before he gets to Linderman and
then gorges himself on the heavy
grub that I've lugged over, but in
spite of that we've managed to make
pretty good time" After a moment
of meditation he continued: "Say!
You ought to see that old buzzard
! cat! It's disgusting, hut it's inter-
esting. 1t amt so much the expense
that l care about as the work. Old
Jerry ought to be in an institution
some place where they've got wheel
chairs and big market-garden. But
he's plumb helpless, so l can't cut
him loose and let him bleach his
bones in a strange land. ! haven't
got the heart"
They were resting at the Long
Lake outlet, some time later, when
the old man inquired:
Il presume you've got a camp at
Lindcrman, ch?""
mo. I have some blankets cached
there and sleep out whenever !
can. make the round trip"
Round trip? Round trip in one
/ day? Why, that's thirty miles"
| Real miles, too. This country
makes man of fellow / would
mt mind sleeping out if / were sure
of a hot meal once in a while, but
money is no good this side of the
Summit. and these people won't even
let a stranger use their Stoves"
4 you can't last long at that, my
1 "fou can bunk in our tent as long
as we're here" the other man VOL
unteered. IF you get across in time
you can travel in our boat, too. But
III have to warn you about Old
Jerry. He's ornery. Nature was
[ cruel when she introduced him into
/ q defenseless world"
/ That's the second kind offer I've
had this morning." Pierce said,
thoughtfully. "A big smiling Cana
/ dian made the first one. found him
| singing on the Summit. He's an
! ;old-timer and he's altogether diff
4 ferent to us tenderfeet. He made
me rather ashamed of >myself."
The elderly man nodded. Most
pioneers are big-calibered. I'm a
sort of pioneer myself, but that in
feinal partner of mine has about
ruined my disposition. Take it by
and large, though, it pays a man to
be accommodating"
CHAPTER III
Already the weeding-out process
had gone far and the citizens of Lin
herman were those who had survived
i. The weak and the irresoluta had
disappeared long since; these fell
lows who labored 50 nightly to
forestall the coming winter were the
A contest to find the best Town