9
race he would have harbored no objec others that forgot. Moose-Head and
tions ; but these women o f the North Three-Sulmon left the white man Joe
land— no, no, they were too soft, too to lie in the suow. Let them forget
tender, for such enterprises.
no more. With the light o f day shall
Sitka Charley did not know this kind | they go forth and break trull. Ye have
o f woman. Five minutes before, lie j heard the law.
Look well, lest ye
did not even dream o f taking charge j break It.”
o f the expedition; but when she came
Sitka Charley found it beyond him to
to him with her wonderful smile and j keep the line close up. From Moose-
her straight clean English, and talked | Head und Three-Salmon, who broke
to the point, without pleudlug or per ! trail in advance, to Kah-Chucte, Gow
suading, he had incontinently yielded. hee, and Joe, it- struggled, out over u
Had there been a softness and appeal j mile. Each staggered, fell, or rested,
to mercy in the eyes, a tremble to the as he saw fit. The line of march wus a
voice, a taking advantage of sex, he progression through a chain o f irregu
would have stiffened to steel; instead lar halts. Each drew upon the last
her clear-searching eyes uud clear- remnant o f his strength and stumbled
Copyright by Jack London
ringing voice, her utter frankness and onward till it was expended, but in
tacit assumption o f equality, hud rob some miraculous way there was al
bed him o f his reason. H e felt, then, ways another last remnant. Each
) I T K A C H A U L E Y h a d needles o f fire, through fur and flesh that this was a new breed of woman; time a man fell, it was with the firm
achieved
the
impossible. to the bones. So, when the fire hud and ere they had been trail mates for belief that he would rise no more; yet
Other Indians might have grown lusty and thawed a damp circle many days, he knew why the sons of he did rise, and again, und again. The
known as much o f the wis In the snow about It, Sitka Churley such women mustered the Jaml and flesh yielded, the w ill conquered; but
dom of the trail as cUd be; forced his reluctant comrades to len d '1 sea, and why thé sous o f his own worn-' each triumph was a tragedy. The In
but he alone knew the white man's a hand in pitching a fly. It was a prim- unkind could not prevail against them. dian with the frozen foot, no longer
wisdom, the honor o f. the trail, and iWve affair, merely, a blanket, stretched Tender and s o ft ! Day after day he erect, crawled forward on hand und
the law. But these things had not parallel with the fire and to windwurd watched her, muscle-weary, exhausted, knee, lie rarely rested, for he knew
come to him in a day. The aboriginal o f it, at an angle o f perhaps forty-five indomitable, and the words beat in up the penalty exacted by the frost. Even
mind is slow to generalize, and many degrees. This shut out the chill wind, on him in u perennial refrain. Tender Mrs. Eppingwell’s lips were at last set
fa e ^ , repeated often, are required to and threw the heat backward and and s o ft ! H e knew her feet had been in a stony smile, and her eyes, seeing,
compass an understanding. Sltkn Char down upon those who were to huddle born to easy paths and sunny lands, saw not. Often, she stopped, pressing
layer o f green strangers to the moccasined pain o f the a mittened hand to her heart, gasping
ley, from boyhood, had been thrown in its shelter. Then
continually with white men, and as spruce boughs was spread, that their North, unklssed by the chill lips o f the and dizzy.
a man he had elected to cast his for bodies might not come in contact with frost, and he watched und marveled
Joe, the white man, had passed be
H e no
tunes with them, expatriating himself, the snow. When this tusk was com at them twinkling ever through the yond the stuge o f suffering.
longer begged to be let alone, prayed
once and fo r all, from his own people. pleted, Kah-Chucte and Gowhee pro weary day.
Even then, respecting, almost vener ceeded to take care o f their feet. Their
She had always a smile and a word to die; but was soothed and content
ating their power, and pondering over ice-bound moccasins were sadly worn of cheer, from which not even the under the anodyne o f delirium. Kah-
'It, he had yet to divine its secret es by much travel, and the sharp Ice of meanest packer was excluded. As the Chucte and Gowchee dragged him on
sence— the honor and the law. And the river Jams had cut them to rags. way grew darker she seemed to stiffen roughly, venting upon him many a sav
It was only by the cumulative evidence Their Slwash socks were similarly und gather greater strength, and when age glance or blow. To them it was
o f years that he had finally come to conditioned, and when these had been Kah-Chucte and Gowhee, who had the acme o f injustice. Their hearts
understand. Being an alien, when he thawed and removed, the dead-white bragged that they knew every land were bitter with hate, heavy with fear.
did know he knew it better than the tips o f the toes, in the various stages mark o f the way as a child did the skin Why should
they
cumber
their
white man h im self; being an Indian, he of mortification, told their simple tale bales o f the tepee, acknowledged that strength with his weakness? T o do
o f the trail.
had achieved the impossible.
they knew not where they were, it was so, meant death; not to do so— and
And o f these things had been bred
Leaving the tw o to the drying of she who raised u forgiving voice amid they remembered the law o f Sitka
a certain contempt fo r his own people their footgear, Sitka Charley turned the curses o f the men. She had sung Charley, and the rifle.
Joe fell with greater frequency as
— a contempt which he had made it a buck over the course he had come. to them that night, till they felt the
custom to conceal, but which now burst He, too, had a mighty longing to sit by weariness fall from them and w ere the daylight weaned, and so hard was
forth in a polyglot whirlwind o f curses the fire and tend his complaining flesh, ready to face the future with fr;sh he to raise that they dropped farther
Sometimes ull
upon the heads o f Kah-Chucte and but the honor and the law forbade. hope. And when the food failed and and farther behind.
Oowhee. They cringed before him like He toiled painfully over the frozen each scant stint was measured jealous three pitched into the snow, so weak
a brace o f snarling w olf dogs, too cow field, each step a protest, every mus ly, she it was who rebelled against had the Indians become. Y et on their
ardly to spring, too wolfish to cover cle in revolt. Several times, where the the machinations o f her husband and backs was life, and strength, and
their fangs. They were not handsome open water between the jams had re sitka Charley, and demanded and re warmth. Within the flour sacks were
creatures. Neither was Sitka Charley. cently crusted, he was forced to miser ceived a share neither greater nor ail the potentialities o f existence. They
A ll three were frightful looking. There ably accelerate his movements us the less than that o f the others.
could not but think o f this, and it was
was no flesh to their fa ces; their cheek fragile footing swayed and threatened
Sitka Charley was proud to know*
bones were massed with hideous scabs beneath him. In such places death this womun. A new richness, greater
which had cracked and frozen alter was quick and ea sy; but it wus not breadth, hud come into his life with
nately under the intense frost; while his desire to endure more.
her presence. Hitherto he had been
their eyes burned luridly with the light
H is deepening anxiety vanished as his own mentor, had turned to right
which is born o f desperation and hun two Indians dragged into view round or left at no mun’s beck ; he had mould
ger.
Men so situated, beyond the a bend in the river. They staggered ed himself according to his own dic
pale o f the honor and the law, are and panted like men under heavy bur tates, nourished his manhood regurd-
not to be trusted. Sitka Charley knew dens ; yet the packs on their backs less o f all save his own opinion. For
th is ; and this was why he had forced were a matter o f but few ]tounds. He the first time he had felt a call from
them to abandon their rifles with the questioned them eagerly, and their re without for the best that wus in him.
rest o f the camp outfit ten days be plies seemed to relieve him. H e hur Just a glance o f uppreciutlon from
fore. His rifle and Captain Epping- ried on. Next came two white men, the clear-seurching eyes, a word of
w ell’s were the only ones that re supporting between them a woman. thanks from the clear-ringing voice,
mained.
They also behaved as though drunken, just a slight wreathing o f the lips in
“ Come, set a fire Started,” he com and-their limbs shook with weakness. tile wonderful smile, und he walked
manded, drawing out the precious But the woman leaned lightly upon with the gods fo r hours to come. It
match box with its attendant strips of them, choosing to carry herself fo r was a new stimulant to his manhood;
dry birch bark.
ward with her own strength. At sight for the first time he thrilled with a
The two Indians fell sullenly to the o f her, a flash o f joy cast its fleeting conscious pride in his wisdom o f the
task o f gathering dead branches and light across Sitka Charley’s face. He tr a il; uud between the twain they ever
underwood.
They were weak, and cherished a very great regurd for Mrs. lifted the sinking hearts o f their com
paused often, catching themselves, in Eppingwell. He had seen many white rades.
the act o f stooping, with giddy motions, women, but this was the first to traveL,
The faces o f the two men and the
or staggering to the center of opera the trail with him. When Captain Ep womun brightened as tliuy saw him,
tions with their knees shaking like pingwell proposed the hazardous un for after all he was the staff they lean
castanets. A fter each trip they rested dertaking and made him an offer for ed upon. But Sitka Charley, rigid us
fo r a moment, as though sick and dead his services, he had shaken his heud was his wont, cqnceallng pain and
ly weary. A t times their eyes took on gravely; for it was an unknown jour pleasure impartially beneuth un iron
the patient stoicism of dumb suffer ney through the dismal vastnesses of exterior, asked them the welfare of
in g ; and again the ego seemed almost the Northland, and he knew it to be the rest, told the distance to the fire,
bursting forth with its wild cry, “ I, o f the kind that try to the uttermost and continued on the back trip. Next
I, want to exist I"— the dominant the souls o f men. But when he learn he met a single Indian, unburdened,
note o f the whole living universe.
ed that the captain’s w ife was to ac limping, lips compressed, and eyes set
A light breath o f air blew from the company them, he had refused flatly with the pain o f a foot in which the
south, nipping the exposed portions o f to have anything further to do with quick fought a losing battle with the
their bodies and driving the frost, in It. Had It been a woman o f his own dead. A ll possible care had beeii ta
ken of him, but in the lust extremity
the weak and unfortunate must per
ish, and- Sitka Charley deemed his
days to be few. The man could not
keep up for long, so he gave him rough
cheering words. A lter that came two
more Indians, to whom lie had allotted
I the task o f helping along Joe, the third
white man of the party. They had de-
! serted him. Sitka Charley saw at a
glance the lurking spring in their bod
ies, and knew they hud at last cast off
his mastery. So he was not taken un
awares when be ordered them back in
quest of their abandoned charge, and
saw the gleam o f the bunting knives
that they drew from the sheaths. A
pitiful spectacle, three weak men lift
ing their puny strength in the face of
the mighty vastness; but the two re
coiled under the fierce rifle blows of
the one, and returned like beaten dogs
to the leash. Tw o hours later, w itf
Joe reeling between them und Sitke
Charley bringing up the rear, they
came to the fire, where the remainder
C ould N ot Keep U p fo r Long.
o f the expedition crouched in the
not strange, that which came to pnss.
! shelter o f the fly.
| “ A few w ords in y com rades before They had fallen by the side o f a great
w e sleep," Sitka C h arley said, after timber Jam where a thousand cords o f
firewood waited the match. N'ear by
(hey had devoured their sum rations ot
was an air hole through the ice. Kah-
unleavened bread. He was speuking
Chucte looked on the wood and the wa
to the Indians, in their owfi tongue,
as did Gowhee; then they looked
j having already given the Import to ter,
on each other.
Never a word was
the whites. “ A few words, my com- ;
spoken. Gowhee struck a fire ; Kah-
rades, for your own good, that ye may
Chute filled a tin cup with water and
I .vet perchance live.
I shall give yoo
heated i t ; Joe babbled o f things in an
the la w ; on his own head be the death
other land, In a tongue they did not
of him that breaks It. We have pass
understand.
They mixed flour with
ed the Hills o f Silence, and we now
the warm water till it was a thin paste,
travel the head reaches o f the Stuart j
and o f this they drank many cupfuls.
It may be one sleep, It may be several.
They did not offer any to Joe; but he
It may be many sleeps, but in time w»
did not mind. He did not mind any
shall come among the men of the Yu- I
thing, not even his moccasins, which
; kon, who have much grub. It were
scorched and smoked among the coals.
well that we look to the law. Today,
A crystal mist o f snow fell about
Kah-Chucte and Gowhee, whom I com
them, softly, caressingly, wrapping
manded to break trail, forgot they were
them in clinging robes o f white. And
men, and like frightened children ran
their feet would have yet trod many
away. True, they fo rg o t; so let us for- -
trails had not destiny brushed the
get. But hereafter let them remember.
clouds aside and cleared the air. Nay,
I f it should happen they do not.” — He |
ten minutes’ delay would have been
touched his rifle carelessly, grlraiy. \
salvation. Sitka Charley, looking back,
“ Tomorrqw they shall carry the flour
the pillared smoke o f their Are,
| and see that the white man Joe lies j saw
and guessed. And he looked ahead
' not down by the trail. The cupfuls j
those who were faithful, and at Mr#.
; o f flour are counted ; should so much j at
Eppingwell.
I as an ounce be wanting at nightfall—
“ So my good comrades, ye have again
They Cringed Before Him.
Do ye understand? Today there were
The Wisdom of the Trail
Sitka Charley, Indian Though
He Was, Knew, and Failed Not
in the Fight with Grim Death
By JA C K LO N D O N
V
Sm iled V iv a c io u s ly at the W isdom o f
forgotten that you were men? Good.
Very good. There w ill be few er bellies
to feed.”
Sitka Charley retied the flour as he
spoke, strapping the puck to the one
on his own buck. He kicked Joe till
the pain broke through the poor devil’s
bliss und brought him doddering to his
feet. Then he showed him out upon
the trail and started him on his way.
The two Indians attempted to slip off.
“ Hold. Gowhee I And thou, too, Kah-
Chucte !
Hath the flour given such
strength to thy legs that they may out
run the swift-winged lead? Think not
to cheat the law. Be men for the last
time, and be content that ye die full-
stomached. Come, step up, back to
the timber, shoulder to shoulder.
Come 1”
The two men obeyed, quietly, with
out fe a r; fo r it is the future which
presses upon the man, not the present.
“ Thou. Gowhee, hast a w ife and chil
dren and a deer-skin lodge In the
Chlppewyan. What Is thy will In the
matter?”
“ Give thou her o f the goods which
are mine by the word o f the captain—
the blankets, the beads, the tobacco,
the T r a il.
the box which makes strange sounds
after the manner of the white man. Say
that 1 did die on the trail, but say
not how.”
“ And thou, Kah-Chucte, who hast
no w ife nor child?”
“ Mine is a sister, the w ife o f the
Factor at Koshlm. H e beats her, and
she is not huppy. Give thou her the
goods which are mine by the contract,
and tell her It were well she go back
to her own people. Shouldst thou meet
the mun, and be so minded, it were a
good deed that he should die.
He
beats her, and she is afraid."
“ Are ye content to die by the law?”
“ W e are.”
“ Then good-by, my good comrades.
May ye sit by the well-filled pot, In
warm lodges, ere the day is done.”
As he spoke, he raised his rifle, and t
many echoes broke the silence. Hard- ,
ly had they died away, when other
rifles spoke in the distance.
Sitka
Charley started. There had been more
than one shot, yet there was but one
other rifle In the party. He gave a
fleeting glance at the men who lay so
quletiy, smiled viciously at the wisdom
o f the trail, und hurried on to meet the
men o f the Yukon.
MAKE APPEAL TO APPETITE QUEER BELIEFS ABOUT MOON
Food M aterials W h ic h A re o f L ittle
Real V a lu e H a ve D istin c t
Place on Ta b le .
S uperstition s H an ded D ow n F ro m P ast
Ages H a v e N o t b y A n y Means
D ied O u t.
The idea that the moon powerfully
1 Influences not merely the weather and
j the growth o f crops but the func
tions o f the human body and even the
1 careers o f men and women wus al
most a part o f the religion o f the nn-
! den t Egyptians, Jews, Greeks and)
ftomans. The same Idea runs through
English literature, and the very words
"lunatic” and “ lucid” ure derived from
it. The works o f Shukespeure, Spen
ser, Beaumont, Fletcher, Ben Jonson,
and even such modern authors as By
ron, Scott and Shelley, are full o f
| it. It does not appear in Edgar Al-
i Inn Poe, yet one has but to read
“ Ulalume” to find a striking Illustra
tion.
,
Among semlcivilized peoples these
ideas ubout the moon are still nlmost
universal.
In our own country, ami
others in which civilization Is at its
highest, one needs but glance over a
farmers’ almanac to find how much
fuith Is plnced in these exploded Ideas
by persons with even a fa ir amonnt o f
education.
Though different peoples have d if
ferent traditions. It seems that for the
most part the full m oon 's regarded as
the most auspicious phuse, the moon
being propitious in proportion as Its
luminous face Is on the Increase, and
unpropitlous when It Is on the de
Be a “ Live W ire.”
To increase your earning capacity, crease, the worst phase o f all being
you must be an energetic, live speci at the dark o f the moon.
men o f humankind. You should be
H a W a s N o Poet.
throbbing with surplus power.
You
“ You have a pretty good business,
should possess a degree o f strength
that will give you confidence and cour even In December.”
"Y er,” said the proprietor o f the
age and endurance. Then you can go
on d a y after day adding to your skill ocean hotel.
"Th ey hear the sea a-calllng, I p r ^
and knowledge and power in your pro
fession. And when you have climbed sume.”
" I dunno about that. W e keep send-
to the highest point on one sphere o f
endeavor, yon will be ready to look j Ing out booklets right along."—-Louie-
around fo r other work, and continue i ville Courier-Journal.
Not all food materials are said to be
valuable In proportion to the appeul
which they m akeoto the nppetlte. For
example, the flavor substances In foods
which stimulate the oifuctory and gus
tatory nerves, and thus give rise to
appetite, are not ordinarily the sub
stances on which the body depends for
its fuel, nor fo r the great bulk o f its
building materials. The latter mute-
rials— proteins, fats or oils und car
bohydrates— when chemically pure,
have little or no taste or smell. The
preference fo r thin and crlBp rather
than greasy bacon Is given as an il
lustration.
In a recent experiment it was found
thut o f the 129 calories which repre
sent the fuel value o f a very thin
20 gm. (three-fourths ounce) slice,
only nine calories remained when the
slice was sent to the table, 120 calo
ries being represented by the fnt which
»fried out” Into the pnn. In this case
a considerable amount o f flavor hotly
also goes Into the fat, yet most persons
would not consider eating it unless it
has been skillfully blended with large
quantities o f other foods; whereas the
scrap o f skeleton tissue which has lost
93 per cent o f its food value Is regard
ed as a dainty morsel.
to experience the delights that come
only with the dally struggle, required
for the attainment o f the objects one
has io view. Do not forget the value
o f systematic effort.
Do not waste
your energies. Intelligent direction Is
all-important. Force, to be o f value,
must be applied at the proper place.
Effort, to be productive o f reward,
must be directed by superior intelli
gence.— Exchange
Language In the Making.
“ I^xlcogrt.phers have to determine
nice shades in the meaning o f words.”
“ No doubt.”
“ Dictionary makers o f the future
have tbelr work cut ut fo r them.”
“ How s o r
“ W alt until gtezar, guy and gink get
Into tli» language."— Louisville Con-
rter-Joj-nal