RETROSPECTION
Constable Hope had been attracted by John Berwick, and meant to see more
of him. So that when he met him one day with his arm in a sling he
showed himself friendly.
Smoothbore's trooper was a youth of ideas--a good type of the fine
force. Though he was still but twenty-four years of age his life had so
often been in danger that he had courage and character far beyond his
years. As the incident which broke down the conspiracy had proved, he
was an adventurer at heart, with more than usual brilliance and spirit.
He would ride into a band of yelling drunken savages and get his man
without showing a gun, and time and again had solved difficulties
through sheer daring, cleverness, and shrewd knowledge of men. He played
the game for love of the game. Money, by way of graft, he did not deem
any reward.
John Berwick had interested him. He felt that they held interests in
common, so when they met he addressed him. He was not in uniform, and
Berwick had no idea he belonged to the police.
He followed John into one of the gambling-halls, whither John had gone
in search of any of his old-time colleagues who might not have joined
the stampede.
As, standing beside each other, they watched the play at a Black Jack
table, a burly Swede lounged up, and from his hip pocket drew out a bag
of dust, which he laid on the table in line with the wagers of the other
players. The sack held about three thousand dollars-worth of gold.
The dealer dealt each man a card, slipping it under his wager, and then
dealt another round. The different players, starting with the one on the
dealer's left, after looking at what they had drawn, either tapped their
cards if they wished another card or placed their hand beneath their
wager if they were content to "stand."
When it came to the Scandinavian's turn he stood stupidly looking at his
gold.
"Well--what do you intend to do?" asked the dealer.
"Have I got to leave that gold there?"
"No, you can take it up if you want to," replied the other.
The Swede hesitated, then picked up his gold and walked away, while the
dealer idly turned over the cards, at sight of which even the stoic
Dawson audience grew noisy with comments. The cards turned up were an
ace and a king--Black Jack, a winning hand against all others.
"That's what a fellow gets whose nerve fails him," remarked Constable
Hope.
"Yes, but perhaps it is not always better to win."
Constable Hope glanced shrewdly at John. He followed up the thought with
a searching remark.
"I wonder if it would have been better if the miners had won against the
officials."
"I wonder!" The remark was not encouraging.
"I heard you make your speech at the finish of the Dominion Creek
stampede," Hope persisted in saying; "there does not seem to be much
agitation in these days."
"No, the discontented, or rather the wronged, have gone down the river,
preferring the chances of a new field to securing justice here. Those
who have property are afraid to speak. A goldfield is not a place where
principle flourishes."
"You're not like the Swede; you didn't lose your nerve," said Hope.
Berwick made no reply.
"Did you ever see a good man lose his nerve?" the policeman asked.
"No."
"Well, I have. Once I was in the mountains down below with a buck
policeman, a Scotch-Canadian from back east, and as good a trooper as
ever sat a horse. Got lost in a blizzard on the prairies later on, and
they never found him till spring--the coyotes had not left much of him.
Well, Chisholm and I went hunting one day, and, travelling along, came
to a box canyon. We decided to try and cross it; it was a couple of
hundred feet deep, and we started, Chisholm going first. I let him down,
he holding my hands with one of his, while with the other he grabbed a
bush. No sooner had he put his foot on the ledge we figured on getting
down to than he found it soft and yielding. For some reason he dropped
my hand and grabbed at a tuft of moss and hung there. Then his footing
went further down, which drew his chest tight against the wall of the
canyon. I threw myself on my stomach and grabbed him by the collar and
said, 'Jump.' His eyes glistened, and he appeared not to hear me. Then I
looked over the edge and saw that the ledge he had been standing on had
given way entirely, and that he was suspended by his arms alone. He
would not speak; he would not move. The wild light in his eyes faded a
bit, but there he hung, to all appearance dead. Had I not had a lariat
with me I should have been powerless. As it was, I got a slip-knot
around his feet, and so up under his arms, and this I made fast to a
tree. Then I laughed at him. It is a wonderful light, that which comes
into men's eyes at the fear of death. I have only seen it once again--in
the eyes of a mother travelling on a river steamer who thought her child
had fallen overboard. Losing your nerve is dangerous."
When their drink and Hope's story were finished they walked out in the
street, where they met Smoothbore. As they passed him John nodded, and
his companion brought his hand half way to the salute and then lowered
it. Hope had given himself away; the other saw he was a policeman.
"You know Smoothbore?" Hope asked.
"I have spoken to him."
Hope did not reply for a moment, after which he continued, "There's a
man who never loses his nerve."
It was the highest tribute Hope could pay.
"Did you ever hear of Paper-collar Johnnie?"
"No," said John.
"Paper-collar was an officer down below, and he and Smoothbore were
pals. They were out to a banquet one night and returning home late--in
fact dawn was breaking over the prairie, cold and misty, when they
reached the ford of the river outside their post. It had been raining
hard, the stream had risen, and the driver drew up before the ford and
said, 'The river seems pretty bad, sir.' 'Hold on,' said Paper-collar,
'this won't do; mustn't try and cross that ford if the river is in
flood.' 'Driver, halt,' ordered Smoothbore, 'my companion wishes to
alight; get down, sir.' Paper-collar stepped down on the prairie. 'Now,
driver, the ford.'"
"And he took it all right?"
"Yes, sir; and hours afterwards a patrol from the fort picked up poor
Paper-collar."
"What would Smoothbore have done had the miners risen after the Dominion
Creek stampede?" Berwick ventured to ask.
"He'd have fought, and the police would have stood by him. He'd have
used his nerve."
"I learn there is a 'Nordenfelt' and a maxim in the Passes. If the
miners had got them down here and hauled them to the top of the Dome
they would have made things hot in the Barracks."
"Well, maxim or no maxim, Smoothbore would have fought. Neither he nor
any of the police do any grafting; but we should have fought."
"Perhaps it is as well the Alaska stampede began," said Berwick
musingly.
"It was very much better," said Hope decisively. So they parted, and
Berwick felt the last word had been said about his bid for miners'
justice.