OCR Text |
Show ftfvt flT Northland Romance ffSi Robert WSei ! rail i ----- Mpf tv-i; service .There's nothing doin' Hi? theTe's ten men for every job! The whole thing's a fake. You Cheechnkers better git right home." Yes, after all our travail, all our torment, we had better go fight home. , Already many were preparing to do so. ; This was the end. CHAPTER VI . I will always remember my first day ;In the gold camp. All was grotesque, makeshift, haphazard. Back of the main street lay the red-light quarter, and behind it again a swamp of nig-gerheads, nig-gerheads, the breeding place of fever and mosquito. Till midnight I wandered up and .down the long street; but there was no darkness, no lull in its clamorous life. I was looking for Berna. My heart ; hungered for her; my eyes ached for her ; my mind was so full of her there seemed no room for another single thought. But it was like looking for a needle in a strawstack to find her In that seething multitude. So with spirits steadily sinking zerowards I waited. After a session of debate, we decided de-cided to reserve our rights to stake ; till a good chance offered. It was a : bitter awakening. Like all the rest we had expected to get ground that was gold from the grass-roots down. ; But there was work to be had, and we : would not let ourselves be disheartened. disheart-ened. . The Jam-wagon had already deserted de-serted us. He wTas off up on Eldorado ! somewhere, shoveling dirt Into a sluice-i sluice-i box for ten dollars a day. I made up ; my mind I would follow him. Jim also ' would get to work, while the Prodigal, we agreed, would look after our interests, and stake or buy a good ! claim. ; The country was at the mercy of a gang of corrupt officials who were i using the public offices for their own ! enrichment. Franchises were being ! given to the favorites of those in pow-; pow-; er, concessions sold, liquor permits granted, and abuses of every kind i practiced on the free miner. All was 1 venality, injustice and exaction. "Say, boys, I guess I've done a slick ! piece of work," said the Prodigal with some satisfaction, as he entered our tent. "I've bought three whole out-j out-j fits on the beach. Got them for 25 per i cent less than the cost price in Seattle, i I'll pull out 1Q0 per cent on the deal, j Now's the time to get in and buy from the, quitters." .-:-. -.. j "Irs Too" bad to take advantage of them," I suggested. "Too bad nothing I That's business j , your necessity, my opportunity. Oh, you'd never make a money-getter, my boy, this side of the millennium and you Scotch, too." I roamed the long street with an &wful restless agony in my heart. 'Where was Berna, my girl, so precious now it seemed. I had lost her? 1 visioned evils befalling her; I pierced my heart with dagger-thrusts of fear for her. Oh, if I only knew she was safe and well! If I could only find her! The land was a great symphony; she the haunting theme of It. I bought a copy of the Nugget and went into the Sourdough restaurant to read it. As I lingered there sipping sip-ping my coffee and perusing the paper indifferently, a paragraph caught my eye and made my heart glow with sudden hope. Here was the item : "One of the largest gambling plays that ever occured in Dawson came off last night in the Malamute saloon. Jack Locasto of Eldorado, well known as one the Klondike's wealthiest claim-owners, claim-owners, Claude Terry and Charlie Haw were the chief actors in the game, which cost the first-named the sum of 419,000. "Locasto came to Dawson from his cluim yesterday. It Is said that before be-fore leaving the Forks he lost a sum ranging in the neighborhood of $5,000. 'Last night he began playing In the Malamute with Haw and Terry In an 'effort, It Is supposed, to recoup his losses at the Forks. The play con-' con-' tlnued nearly all night, and at the wind-up, Locasto, as stated above, was loser to the amount of $10,000." Jack Locasto! Why had I not thought of him before? Surely if anyone any-one knew of the girl's whereabouts, it would be he. I determined I would ask him at once. ; So I hastily finished my coffee and Inquired of the waiter where I might find the Klondike king. "Oh, Black Jack," he said: "well, at the Green Bay Tree, or the Tivoli, or the Monte Carlo. But there's a big poker game on and he's liable to be in it." Once more I paraded the seething street. Women were everywhere, smoking cigarettes, laughing, chaffing, strolling in and out of the wide-open saloons. A libertine spirit was in the air, n madcap freedom, an eflluence of disdainful sin. I found myself by the stockade that surrounded the police reservation. One of the constables, a tall, slim Englishman Eng-lishman with a refined manner, proved to me a friend In need. "Yes," he said, in answer to my query, "I think I can find your man. He's downtown somewhere with some of the big sporting guns. Come on. we'll run him to earth." After a short walk he pushed his way through a crowded doorway and I followed. It was the ordinary type of combined saloon and gambling joint. In a corner, r esiding over a stud poker game, I was surprised to see Mesher. My companion pointed to an Inner room with a closed door. (To B Continued) CHAPTER V Continued. u ndrtuo of boats and scows were running the rapids, and we watched ;be,n with au untiring fascination. That was the most exciting spectacle . 'tl,e whole world. The Issue was Jife or death, ruin or salvation, and ,m dawn till dark, and with every fcff minutes of the day, was the breathless climax repeated. Every ijav were bodies dragged ashore. The ripids demanded their tribute. The ',, of the trail must pay the toll. , Soon I knew that Bernn and I must part, and but two nights later it came. We were sitting by the river, I remember, remem-ber, a little way from the boats. As she sat, silent and with hands clasped, It was as if the shadows that for a little had lifted, now enshrouded her with a greater gloom. "Tell me your trouble, Berna." She shook her head, her eyes wide as if trying to read the future. "It's nothing; it's only my foolish cess. If I tel1 you it: wouldn't help m any. And then it doesn't matter. Ion wouldn't care. Why should you care?" She turned away from me and seemed absorbed in bitter thought. "Care! why, yes, I would care; I do care. You know I would do anything any-thing In the world to help you. You must tell me, Berna. It will worry me indeed if you don't" Once more she refused. I pleaded ivith her gently. I coaxed, I entreated, en-treated, She was very reluctant, yet at last she yielded. "Well, If I must," she said; "but it's ail so sordid, so mean, I hate myself; my-self; I despise myself that I should have to tell it." She kneaded a tiny handkerchief nervously iu her fingers. "You know how nice Madam Winkle-stein's Winkle-stein's been to me lately bought me new clothes, given me trinkets. Well, there's n reason she's got her eye on a man fur me." I bit my lip. "Who's the man?" "Jack Locasto. Have you heard of Mm? He's got a million-dollar claim on bonanza." Had I heard of him ! Who had not tan of Dlaek Jack, his spectacular M;er plays, his meteoric rise, his theatric display? "Of course he's married," she went . "but that doesn't matter up here. There's such a thing as a Klondike marriage. Anyway, he wants me." "hut you wouldn't, surely you wouldn't?" She turned on me fiercely. "What do you take me for? Surely you know me better than that. Oh, Ma almost make me hate you." hitily I tried to soothe her, whispering: whis-pering: "Oh, my dear, tell me all about It lm sorry, gin, Ym son.y, She went on in her fierce, excited way. I "He came to the restaurant in Bennett. Ben-nett. He use t0 watcl mg a Jot ms eyes were always following me. I was " raid, i trembled when I served him. . c liked to see me tremble, it gave "m a feeling of power. Then he took 0 Giving Ille presents, costly gifts. I anted to return them, but she 'oul(ta't let me, took them from me, TO them away. Then he and she had "s 'al,s' I know it was all about nj ' Tlmt W!)s why i came to you that tht and begged you to marry me lcive me from hjm ut be can't get you against your I cried. nnl no! but he'll never give up. s relentless and of all women he ; s me. He would break me on the of d'shohor. Oh, God !" i!eJr- f'1Ce grew almost tragic In Its well"1 "I' n,nne' friendless, a poor, friend ',1 rm wro,ls' rve one SWM Ml 1 "nd ni Clie' ni die' 1 (' it. before I let him get me." as terribly distressed nnd at loss Wnfort her. "sh, Born,,,.. I pleaded, "please havo n'f SUch thi"Ss- Remember you lln anvtl ld "le' 0ne thnt WOulli Su' i "?s la llis Power to help you." ,; l(ked at me a moment, r7 cn you help rue?" me, d0.',!;ir'"s you- Wi" yu miirry "Xni' ', 111 -vou be my wife?" v.ei'0 ,', wldii't marry you if yon she o-i,', ninn left lu the world," ,; vehemently. VlllvV' I t . , "Why! t0 bG Mlra- toft on," w!ly' you aun'1 love me ; yu v-"e for me." 1 es r i Eirl. V. , tl0' Nerna. I do Indeed, "auch ti,.,? , you ! Wo11- I care so Since ti,! beg l'ou to, marry me. 1 loved . m0'"Cnt 1 set eyes on you, .vou, j (;u' LonS before I ever met fr Tou . you- I was just waiting o'thVit 7 ' Slnce tlle beS'nnlnK 've J0U as aU Planned that I should ' And youj hgw Jo you care?" She stood up to bear my words. She would not let me touch her, but there was a great light In her eyes. Then she spoke and her voice was vibrant with passion, all Indifference gone from it. "Oh, you blind! You coward I Couldn't you see? Couldn't you feel? Tliat day on the scow it came to me Love. Do you know what I wished as we went through the rapids? 1 wished that it might be the end, that in such a supreme moment we might go down clinging together, and that in death I might hold you in my arms. Oh, if you'd only been like that afterward, after-ward, met love open-armed with love. But, no! you slipped back to friendship. friend-ship. I feel us if there were a barrier of ice between us now. Leave me, leave me, for I never want to see you again." "Yes, you will, you must, you must. Berna. I love you so, I love yon so." I crushed her to me, I kissed her madly, yet she was cold. "Have you nothing more to say than fine words?" she asked. "Marry me, marry me," I repeated. "Now ?" Now! I hesitated again. The suddenness sud-denness of it was like a cold douche. God knows, I burned for the girl, yet somehow convention clamped me. "Now if you wish," I faltered; "but better when we get to Dawson. Better Bet-ter when I've made good up there. Give me one year, Berna, one year rand then" "One year!" The sudden gleam of hope vanished from her eyes. Then she turned to me in a sudden spate of passion, her face pleading, furrowed, wretchedly sad. ' - .fif,i,.i'.-,.r. "Oh, my dear, my dear, I love you better than the whole world, but I hoped you would care enough for me to marry me now It would have been best, believe me. Well, be it so, we'll wait one year." "Yes, believe me, trust me, dear ; It will be all right. I'll work for you, slave for you, think only of you, and in twelve short months I'll give my whole life to make you happy." "Will you, dear? Well, it doesn't matter now. . . . I've loved you."' All that night I wrestled with myself. my-self. I felt I ought to marry her at once to shield her from the dangers that encompassed her. She was like a lamb among a pack of wolves. I juggled with my conscience. I was young and marriage to me seemed such a terribly all-important step. Yet in the end my better nature triumphed, and ere the camp was astir I arose. I was going to marry- Berna that day. A feeling of relief came over me. How had it ever seemed possible to delay? I was elated beyond be-yond measure. I hurried to tell her. Love words trembled on my tongue tip. It seemed to me I could not bear to wait a moment. Then as I reached the place where they had rested I gazed unbelievingly. A sickening sense of loss and failure crushed me. For the scow was gone. It was three days before we made a start again, and to me each day was like a year. Why her sudden departure? de-parture? I had no doubt It was en-, en-, forced. I dreaded danger. Then In a while I grew calmer. I was foolish to worry. She was safe enough.- We would meet In Dawson. At last we were under way. Once more with swelling sail we drove be-, be-, fore the wind. Perhaps the rich ; ground would all be gone ere we i reached the valley. Maddening thought ! after what we had endured 1 We must ; get on. The days were Insufferably hot and : mosquito-curst ; the nights chilly, damp : and mosquito-haunted. I suffered I agonies from neuralgia. Never mind, ; it would soon be over. We were on our last lap. The trail was near . its end. Ye, It was indeed the homestretch. Suddenly sweeping round a bond we raised a shout of joy. There was that great livid scar on tho mountain face the "Slide," and clustered below It like shells on the seashore, an army of tents. It was a gold-born city. Trembling with eagerness wo pulled ashore. Our troubles were over. At last we had gained our Eldorado, thank Cod, thank God ! A number of loafers were coming to meet us. They were strangely calm. "How about the gold?" said the Trodigal; "lots of ground left to stake?" One of them looked at us contemptuously. contemptu-ously. He chewed a moment ere he spoke. "You Cheechnkers better git right home. There ain't a foot of ground :to stake. Everything in sight was slaked lust.lall. The rest is Umud. j |