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Show An Alaskan Romance. Eskolieto was a fair maiden whose home was back a little from the coast from St. Michael, in a valley fed by pelucid streams in the summer and which in the winter supplied the finest skating skat-ing in the North. Eskolieto had seen eighteen winters and perhaps fifteen summers, for occasionally occa-sionally the summers lose their reckoning in that latitude and fail to materialize. Eskolieto's mother was half Russian and half Aleute. Her father, some years previous to the opening of this story, on one bitterly frosty day had met a Polar bear in the trail: the bear pitied his hardships and took him in. As Eskloieto advanced to womanhood she wab yery lovely; a decided brunette, her cheeks a little lit-tle snow-burned, but the general average was something stunning. She and her mother lived alone. In summer they worked a placer claim on Ora creek and had much gold dust. Their home was a natural cave in the limestone, the mouth of which they had securely closed with a wall and heavy double doors, which made the cave secure against excessive ex-cessive cold in the winter and which by smoke they could free from mosquitos in summer when their attentions became too pointed. There they lived in severe contentment. The days were filled with calm, the nights with the aurora borealis. The fur-hunters brought in the few supplies needed. Among the last that they had received was a small magnifying mirror. Up to that time Eskolieto had only seen her image vaguely outlined out-lined in a little lake near their home. With the coming of this mirror she for the first time got a clear idea of her own loveliness. Thereafter she carried herself with a more queenly air. She was assisted in this by a natural grace which she had acquired by carrying gravel from the bank to the creek in a bear-skin bucket on her head. They were the first family in that village, not only on account of their home and their gold dust and a pair of Secretary Long's trained reindeer rein-deer and sledge, but from a high-born grace which is always discovered to attach to what were supposed sup-posed to be just ordinary people before they came into possession of the dust. Many young men of the village cast languishing languish-ing glances before the beautiful maiden, but she would not "have it." One by one they gave up In despair, declaring to themselves that it was useless to try to warm a heart that was bound round about with the Arctic circle. So the time passed until one evening when the thermometer indicated 38 degrees below zero Eskolieto declared the air was so oppressively hot that she was feverish and restless and would hitch up and take a spin. Her mother remarked that "she was not so warm," but the maiden heeded not, rather went out, harnessed her deer and sped away. While bowling along the sledge struck an obstruction ob-struction which caused it to bound so that for the moment Eskoleito thought she was riding in a Salt Lake City electric car on Brigham street between Main and State streets. Pulling up and wheeling her team the dusky maiden got out to see what had given her the jolt. She was not long in discovering that it was a man lying insensible insen-sible from cold in the narrow road. She by main strength loaded the prostrate form into her sleigh, and urging the team into a run never relaxed their speed until she reached home. The mother hastened out to learn the cause of her daughter's swift return, and quickly sizing the matter up helped to carry the inanimate form into the cave. The work of resuscitation was very slow. Life was almost extinct, but the mother rubbed the hands of the insensible man with frozen snow and Eskolieto chafed his eafs and nose with an icicle, until at last his eyes opened and the half-delirious stranger began to lustily curse the infernal cold. That voice was the sweetest music that Eskolieto nad ever heard and she whispered to her mother, Hush, he is praying." In reality he was swearing swear-ing in mixed Missouri and Chinook. What days followed and what nights. It was in December and the nights were nineteen hours long. The derelict proved to bo s young man with air skin, blue eyes and fiery red hair. At last he heart of Eskoleito, which had never been touched before, was strangely moved. She no nger relished smoked salmon and whale blubber wr breakfast; she had an undefinable feeling such 5s the more southern maiden has when she wants tfiP1 cake or CU8tard P A made passion had ea possession of her. I h , lthl nEhts nineteen hours long, what could jejp but be the natural result? On the seventh w the stranger, fully thawed out, proposed and m was accepted. The strange man was Lazarus Toolate. They were married according to the formula of the bride's tribe. What joy was theirs through that long winter! They looked into each other's eyes, ate from the same candle, told their love, she in the Aleutian vernacular, he in mixed Leadville and Chinook jargon; but they understood. In his pocket, when found, Lazarus had a snapshot snap-shot photo of his sister, which had been colored by a local artist. Eskoleito gazed often and long upon that picture until an almost insane longing sprang up in her heart for female trappings like the showing in the picture. The tardy summer came at last. By that time Lazarus was growing a trifle restless. He longed to be away for just one day. Indeed, he was thinking what plausible excuse he could frame in order to get out. His bride was thinking of -that incomparable gown. At last she tremblingly asked Lazarus how much it must have cost. He was shrewd; with a sigh he answered, "No end of money." It had really cost $3,625. "Have we enough dust to buy one like that?" asked Eskoleito. Lazarus thought that possibly it might be done. "And how long will it require?" asked the bride. Lazarus thought about four months. "And will you go?" asked the excited Eskoleito. Lazarus at first dissembled. He could not leave his darling for such a weary stretch of time, but at last he yielded. He took the dust, started over the trail, took ship at St. Michael, and in due time pulled into Seattle. His first purchase was a ready-made, turkey-red calico wrapper, cut go , and trimmed trim-med with gaudy ribbons, souk b Jnd red hose, a ravishing belt and other da .n.y b. 3 of apparel, costing in all $9.63. These he took to his room. Then he went out, bought for himself a $7.60 suit of clothes, a hat and pair of boots, and as he contemplated his image in a show window mirror mir-ror he grew more and more in love with himself. him-self. He made some acquaintances and for a few days painted the lower streets of Seattle crimson. At last he was asked to play a friendly game of Alaskan. "And what is that?" he asked. "Why, freeze out," was the reply. Lazarus played well, but he lost. His companions compan-ions praised his game, but he continued to lose. He played more and more recklessly until at last his dust was all gone. Then he wrote a letter to Eskoleito on a piece of bark, gave it to a prospector that was going north, gave him the letter and the bundle of finery ho had bought and begged him to deliver the letter and the bundle. All the letter said was "kawut," which is the Goshoot for gone. Then he drowned himself in the sound. The prospector carried the letter north, found Eskoleito Esko-leito and told her the pitiable story of her Lazarus. Laza-rus. "But," asked the bereft woman, "did he send me nothing?" "Oh, yes, I had forgotten," said the man, and unrolling his bearskin he brought out and delivered the package. In a moment the grief of Eskoleito was greatly assuaged. In an hour she had donned the wrapper, wrap-per, the stockings and the belt. She was stunning. stun-ning. The prospector lingered, enchanted for a few days, then begged Eskoleito to permit him to share her grief for the lost Lazarus. In cooing Alleutian vernacular she coyly asked the newcomer: "Could you always dress me like this?" He believed he could and she fell into his arms. It has always been so since that first rather airy achievement in dressmaking was accomplished accom-plished in the original garden. |