The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1925-10-29
CHAPTER vi

CHAPTER vi
A certain romantic glamour at
taches to all new countries, but not
every man is responsive to it. To
the person who finds enjoyment
/ preoccupation, in studying ruin OF
& in contemplating glories, triumphs
dramas long dead and gone, old
buildings, old cities. and old worlds
sound resistless call. The past is
peopled with impressive figures, to
be sure; it is a tapestry into which
are woven scenes Of tremendous sig
niticance and events of the greatest
moment, and it is quite natural
therefore, that the majority of PEG.
pie should experience greater fasci-
nation in studying it than in paint
I ing new scenes upon a naked can
vas with Colors of their own imag-
lining. To them new countries are
crude, uninteresting. But there is
another type of mind which find a
more absorbing spell in the contem-
platlon of things to come than of
things long past; another tempera-
ment to which the proven and the
tried possess a flat and tasteless
favor. They are restless, anticipa-
tive people; they are the ones who
blaze trails. To them great cities,
established order, the intricate struc-
ture of well-settled life, are both
monotonous and oppressive; they do
cot thrive we'll Hereunder. But put
them out on the fringe of things,
transplant them to wild soil, and
the sap runs, they flow rankly.
To Pierce Phillips the new SUI
roundings into which he had been
projected were intensely stimulating ;
they excited him as he had never
been excited, and each day he awoke
to the sense of new adventures.
Life. as he had known it, had always
= been good and full, too, for that
matter-and he had hugely enjoyed
it; nevertheless, it had impressed
upon him sense of his own insig-
nihcance He had been lost, sub
merged, in it. Here, on the thresh-
old of new world, he had begun
to find himself, and the experience
was delightful. By some magic he
had been lifted to common level
with every other man, and no one
had advantage over him. The mo-
mentous future was as much his as
theirs and the God of Luck was in
charge of things.
There was a fever - thu .very
1r he breathed. the 1ood ne ate; nc
water he drank. Life ran at a
furious pace and it inspired in him
mpreme exhilaration to be swept
long by it. Over all this new land
was purple haze of mystery
tense of the Unknown right at hand.
The Beyond was reckoning; it was
IS if great curtains had parted and
le beheld vistas of tremendous
promise. .Keenest of all, perhaps,
Vas his Joy at discovering himself.
Appreciation of this miraculous re-
birth was fullest when. at rare in
ervals, he came off the trail and
back to Dyea. for then he renewed
his touch with that other world, and
he contrast became more evident.
Dyea throbbed nowadays beneath a
mighty head of steam; it had grown
surprisingly and it was intensely
alive. Phillips never came back to
It without an emotional thrill and
realization of great issues, great un-
dertakings, in process of working
out. The knowledge that he had
part in them aroused in him an in
toxicating pleasure.
Dyea had become metropolis of
boards and canvas, of logs and cor
rugated iron. Stores had risen.
there were hotels and lodging
houses, busy restaurants and buster
saloons whence came the sounds of
revelry by night and by day. Il
was a healthy revelry, by the way,
like the bolsterous hilarity of al
robust boy. Dyea was just that
an overgrown, hilarious boy. There
was nothing queEulous or sickly
about this child; it was strong, it
was sturdy. it was rough; it romped
with everybody and it grew out of
its clothes overnight. Every house,
every tent, in the town was crowd
ed; supply never quite overlook de-
mand.
Pack-animals were being imported,
bridges were being built, the swanps
were being hastily corduroyed
there was talk of tramway up the
side Of the Chilkoot, but the gold
rush increased daily, and, despite
better means of transportation, the
cal! tor packers went unanswered
and the price per pound stayed up.
new tribes of Indians from down the
coast had moved thither, babies and
baggage, and they were growing
rich. The stampede itself resembled
the spring run of the silver salmon
1T was equally mad, equally resist
less. 1t was equally wasteful, too,
for birds and beasts Of prey fat
tened upon it and the outsetting cur
rent bore burden of derelicts.
Values were extravagant; money
ran like water; the town was wide
open and it took toll from every
newcomer. The ferment was kept
active by a trickle of outgoing Klon-
dikers. a considerable number of
whom passed through on their way
TESTAMENT THIRTEEN
Wires can be made so fine TINT it
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