THE GOLDSEEKERS REACH THE GOLDEN RIVER
The goldseekers are still seeking. I withdrew, but they went on. In
the warmth and security of my study, surrounded by the peace and
comfort of my native Coolly, I thought of them as they went toiling
over the trail, still toward the north. It was easy for me to imagine
their daily life. The Manchester boys and Burton, my partner, left
Glenora with ten horses and more than two thousand pounds of
supplies.
Twice each day this immense load had to be handled; sometimes in
order to rest and graze the ponies, every sack and box had to be
taken down and lifted up to their lashings again four times each day.
This meant toil. It meant also constant worry and care while the
train was in motion. Three times each day a campfire was built and
coffee and beans prepared.
However, the weather continued fair, my partner wrote me, and they
arrived at Teslin Lake in September, after being a month on the road,
and there set about building a boat to carry them down the river.
Here the horses were sold, and I know it must have been a sad moment
for Burton to say good-by to his faithful brutes. But there was no
help for it. There was no more thought of going to the head-waters
of the Pelly and no more use for the horses. Indeed, the gold-hunters
abandoned all thought of the Nisutlin and the Hotalinqua. They were
fairly in the grasp of the tremendous current which seemed to get
ever swifter as it approached the mouth of the Klondike River. They
were mad to reach the pool wherein all the rest of the world was
fishing. Nothing less would satisfy them.
At last they cast loose from the shore and started down the river,
straight into the north. Each hour, each mile, became a menace. Day
by day they drifted while the spitting snows fell hissing into the
cold water, and ice formed around the keel of the boat at night. They
passed men camped and panning dirt, but continued resolute, halting
only "to pass the good word."
It grew cold with appalling rapidity and the sun fell away to the
south with desolating speed. The skies darkened and lowered as the
days shortened. All signs of life except those of other argonauts
disappeared. The river filled with drifting ice, and each night
landing became more difficult.
At last the winter came. The river closed up like an iron trap, and
before they knew it they were caught in the jam of ice and fighting
for their lives. They landed on a wooded island after a desperate
struggle and went into camp with the thermometer thirty below zero.
But what of that? They were now in the gold belt. After six months of
incessant toil, of hope deferred, they were at last on the spot
toward which they had struggled.
All around them was the overflow from the Klondike. Their desire to
go farther was checked. They had reached the counter current--the
back-water--and were satisfied.
Leaving to others the task of building a permanent camp, my sturdy
partner, a couple of days later, started prospecting in company with
two others whom he had selected to represent the other outfit. The
thermometer was fifty-six degrees below zero, and yet for seven days,
with less than six hours' sleep, without a tent, those devoted idiots
hunted the sands of a near-by creek for gold, and really staked
claims.
On the way back one of the men grew sleepy and would have lain down
to die except for the vigorous treatment of Burton, who mauled him
and dragged him about and rubbed him with snow until his blood began
to circulate once more. In attempting to walk on the river, which was
again in motion, Burton fell through, wetting one leg above the knee.
It was still more than thirty degrees below zero, but what of that?
He merely kept going.
They reached the bank opposite the camp late on the seventh day, but
were unable to cross the moving ice. For the eighth night they
"danced around the fire as usual," not daring to sleep for fear of
freezing. They literally frosted on one side while scorching at the
fire on the other, turning like so many roasting pigs before the
blaze. The river solidified during the night and they crossed to the
camp to eat and sleep in safety.
A couple of weeks later they determined to move down the river to a
new stampede in Thistle Creek. Once more these indomitable souls
left their warm cabin, took up their beds and nearly two thousand
pounds of outfit and toiled down the river still farther into the
terrible north. The chronicle of this trip by Burton is of
mathematical brevity: "On 20th concluded to move. Took four days.
Very cold. Ther. down to 45 below. Froze one toe. Got claim--now
building cabin. Expect to begin singeing in a few days."
The toil, the suffering, the monotonous food, the lack of fire, he
did not dwell upon, but singeing, that is to say burning down through
the eternally frozen ground, was to begin at once. To singe a hole
into the soil ten or fifteen feet deep in the midst of the sunless
seventy of the arctic circle is no light task, but these men will do
it; if hardihood and honest toil are of any avail they will all share
in the precious sand whose shine has lured them through all the dark
days of the long trail, calling with such power that nothing could
stay them or turn them aside.
If they fail, well--
This out of all will remain,
They have lived and have tossed.
So much of the game will be gain,
Though the gold of the dice has been lost.
HERE THE TRAIL ENDS
Here the trail ends--Here by a river
So swifter, and darker, and colder
Than any we crossed on our long, long way.
Steady, Dan, steady. Ho, there, my dapple,
You first from the saddle shall slip and be free.
Now go, you are clear from command of a master;
Go wade in the grasses, go munch at the grain.
I love you, my faithful, but all is now over;
Ended the comradeship held 'twixt us twain.
I go to the river and the wide lands beyond it,
You go to the pasture, and death claims us all.
_For here the trail ends!_
_Here the trail ends!_
Draw near with the broncos.
Slip the hitch, loose the cinches,
Slide the saw-bucks away from each worn, weary back.
We are done with the axe, the camp, and the kettle;
Strike hand to each cayuse and send him away.
Let them go where the roses and grasses are growing,
To the meadows that slope to the warm western sea.
No more shall they serve us; no more shall they suffer
The sting of the lash, the heat of the day.
Soon they will go to a winterless haven,
To the haven of beasts where none may enslave.
_For here the trail ends_.
_Here the trail ends._
Never again shall the far-shining mountains allure us,
No more shall the icy mad torrents appall.
Fold up the sling ropes, coil down the cinches,
Cache the saddles, and put the brown bridles away.
Not one of the roses of Navajo silver,
Not even a spur shall we save from the rust.
Put away the worn tent-cloth, let the red people have it;
We are done with all shelter, we are done with the gun.
Not so much as a pine branch, not even a willow
Shall swing in the air 'twixt us and our God.
Naked and lone we cross the wide ferry,
Bare to the cold, the dark and the rain.
_For here the trail ends._
_Here the trail ends._ Here by the landing
I wait the last boat, the slow silent one.
We each go alone--no man with another,
Each into the gloom of the swift black flood--
Boys, it is hard, but here we must scatter;
The gray boatman waits, and I--I go first.
All is dark over there where the dim boat is rocking--
But that is no matter! No man need to fear;
For clearly we're told the powers that lead us
Shall govern the game to the end of the day.
_Good-by--here the trail ends!_
* * * * *
WORKS BY
GILBERT PARKER
16mo. Cloth. Each, $1.25.
PIERRE AND HIS PEOPLE.
WHEN VALMOND CAME TO PONTIAC.
AN ADVENTURER OF THE NORTH.
A ROMANY OF THE SNOWS.
A LOVER'S DIARY.
"He has the instinct of the thing: his narrative has distinction, his
characters and incidents have the picturesque quality, and he has the
sense for the scale of character-drawing demanded by romance, hitting
the happy mean between lay figures and over-analyzed 'souls.'"
--_St. James Gazette._
"Stories happily conceived and finely executed. There is strength and
genius in Mr. Parker's style."
--_Daily Telegraph,_ London.
PUBLISHED BY
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY,
66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK.
* * * * *
_A NEW EDITION_
ROSE OF DUTCHER'S COOLLY
BY
HAMLIN GARLAND
Cloth, 12mo. $1.50
_WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS_
"I cherish with a grateful sense of the high pleasure they have given
me Mr. Garland's splendid achievements in objective fiction."
_THE CRITIC_
"Its realism is hearty, vivid, flesh and blood realism, which makes
the book readable even to those who disapprove most conscientiously
of many things in it."
_THE NEW AGE_
"It is, beyond all manner of doubt, one of the most powerful novels
of recent years. It has created a sensation."
_KANSAS CITY JOURNAL_
"After the fashion of all rare vintages Mr. Garland seems to improve
with age. No more evidence of this is needed than a perusal of his
'Rose of Dutcher's Coolly.' One might sum up the many excellences of
the entire story by saying that it is not unworthy of any American
writer."
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
66 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK