ATSf SUNDAY; FICTION MAGAZINE; MARCH 26,1 191d
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HE night mi cold, ven
for northern Alaska. .
By Bob Straiig
formed ' the camp of
Kobuk vaa deserted,
but behind the istorm
doora of the saloons
and dance hails there was enough doing, turned them to his pocket, staggered to
Borne husky dogs hitched to sleds were the bar, and drunk a tumblerful of his
curled up In the snow in the street, while ; own hooch, bis bloated face a pale green
their owners caroused or gambled In one and his eyes protruding. " 1;
Of the resorts. Ben at these times had chips In front
In the Last Chance saloon business was Cf him aggregating 160,000.
normal, though it was after 2 In the morn
ing. A row of "all-Ins" occupied benches
facing' the - bar around the sides of - the
gambling-room in the rear. . ' " '. "
A shock-headed youth' played a piano
on a little, raised platform. On his long,
pale, nervous face was the dismal look of
a drug fiend. As he played "My Old Ken
tucky Home" tears coursed from his half-
camp, fed the dogs, and curled up in his
robe in the snow : r .
Day after day : he held steadily up Ko
buk River, trudging ahead of his team, on
The .one. little etrag-Dick took the deal that luck went - The crowd gaped The , perspiration
gling S t r e e t that his way. V v rolled down Fin's mli f&e. One-Bved
f v Twice on the dropping of the ball had Riley , breathed, thickly and grasped the snowshoes. The latter,' heads down,
One-Eyed been prepared to hand over the arm of a man on each' aide of him with Jengues hanging out,- dug ! their pawa hi
keys of the Joint to Ben, and twice, with a the clutch of one' ready to sink for the the snow, stretched their lank, gray
long,4', deep breath of relief, had he re- last time, his large, fishy eyes fastened on ' bodies, and followed in the tralT thus bro-
the baU-slower slower - -';'; ;ken for them.
"He wins! some one shouted. ' 2 Everything went well with him as Jonjr
.' But. Just as the ball was dropping Into aa he had something to do; but in tJae
white the .table was giren a alight shake, lonely watches by his camp fire he llve4
entirely unnoticed by the onlookers In and retired again bis last fierce' battle
Win or lose., their 'excitement tmi r W. ftan and tVi with luck at the roulette table in the Last
his manner never changed, nor did the ball dropped back into the black,' the color Chance. -...V.. ;
banter of the dealers affect him at alL preceding it. - " " - ' A-month later found him at the head-
. "I think I got ye going, Ben," rasped An unconscious hum of sympathy ea
Dlck as he raked In a thousand dollars in caped from the throats of the crowd. Faro
Chips that Ben had just lost. ;'-' Dick wiped the perspiration from his fore
Levi said never a word, but pushed in head.'- V . . v ' , .
$2,000 on the green and waited; The crowd " r "you're out o. luck, Ben!" shouted
waters .of the river. As he was in an en
tirely un prospected region, he decided to
winter there. ' -
Building a small shack, he soon "settled
down to the ghastly routine that governs
the life of a. prospector during the winter
months in the North.
held its breath as. the little ball spun on Scotty. "
its fatal war, trickle, trickle, trickle-now ."All hands drink" intimated One-Eyed
closed eyes; he reveled in a sublime state blowing down now' past the white-the red Riley in an expressive tone of relief, as he
of nudlm sthnentality. -the blue-then puck! ; -.. led, the crowd to the bar. himself almost r He worked feverishly; but even so there
ya u ii i m. puuuum -rguiB, -; 4, ; choking, his mce red and neck swollen., V
separated by row of timber pillars, was- -. , ... , v The throng surged forward; unheedful
the Monte qario dance nau, wnere twelve
"Ah-h!" . came simultaneously from
of Ben, who had slipped back into his
or fifteen highly made-up women, jeweled fifty throats as the little ball dropped into seat ln utter poUapse. his eyes wide and
and nuggeted, danced the square dance the .green niche. Just a little pale and 8Urmy jt was but a moment he was
with as many moccasined miners, to mu- with the ghost of a smile, Faro pushed the; overcome," however; Then he leaped to his
sic supplied by a cornet and violin. They 110,000 in chips over to Ben, who stacked : fe tore bff his hat threw back his head,
shouted and stamped as they danced, clap- them up without a tremor, closely watched and 3. - . j 1 , . 1.
came moments when he would, pause In
the middle of a blow with his pick, lean It
against the wall of the shaft, and think
and think raise his hands to heaven, tear
his beard, and shriek:1- . . j.
' "So help mine God!" in the teeth of the
cynical silence. , :
ping in and clapping out each other, to the bytoe greedy envious eyes of the onlook-.v; thIt mine mother Is in "'T' !V t 7 a
. - . 4 ' - . xiao xrum 01s spruce-wp duds ana pace we
neaven. 1 sen wear never to Det another
He then put $3,000, on the btock, but it. 16n l llrtl heIp mine j..
ers.
delight of the bench-warmers. - -At
the end of each dance the ladies led
their escorts up to a little box office in the came up red that time. The crowd sighed
corner, where each man laid down his dol-. in sympathy. Alaa, many of the lookers
lar, in return for which a check good for on hadnt the price of a meal in ; their
60 cents was handed each girt. Here and pockets, "but all of them were intimate parVBlck.
; - .Those, nearest him broke into f a loud
'Ben's quit the game for good," laughed
there stood an Eskimo in mukluks and
parka, as stoical as his own totem-pole.
with the gyrations of the wheel--to their
cost. And there is not. the least doubt that
. Deigning ; them - hasdly f a look, Ben
floor, clutch his breast with clawlike hand
as if he would tear from hi heart's secret
depths the gnawing desire to gamble--tb
cross cards , With chance till, weak and
worn, his long yellow . teeth showing
through his thlckv parted lips, he would
fall back on his bunk as the cold gray
S? b,tlnl taggereU-through dawn 0f the new day filtered through the
In the soaeious aamblimr-room . little had anyone made them a present of money wi'7v.'i.rr-.' i.--- .-,if.;.l--:
- . . .v v C .li 'w"5-" vnamoonuisuence thinks in the wall
of the. night. His soul seemed to be in
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bands of men were gathered around blan
ket-covered tables, over each of which
hung suspended from the roof a large
brass lamp that cast fitful gleams on the
more or less tense faces of the players.
In the farthest corner from the en
trance was a roulette table, round which
was gathered the largest crowd. ' At one
end of it sat a little, shrlveled-up 'man
played,? forgetting all about ' ; the'., meaL
They possessed a strange appearance, in strange oaths to himself. A
His Drosnectinsr belnar nnnrvliip4lv& ht
rags; the muscles of his face twitched; he thit ctal, he crossed the divide to the
their moccasins, parkas,' and fur caps, giv
ing to the scene a typical Alaskan atmos
phere. ' '
"Got you again, Ben!" shouted Faro.
lit
tle beyond the camp he turned Into a side
trail, and in a few minutes reached his
cabin. :- ' -
Four husky dogs . leaped out to greet ;
"Stack 'em up as high as the roof; that's him' as he approached: At sight of them
our limit. : Five thousand on the black, the hft .nd mntteri: -
with a scrubby beard, a hanging nether man says. Nobody else? Away "he goes!" ; . . -
..J K-11 . . : 1 c001 get me $300 for them, an right."
"Say, Shorty, Ben Levi over there's
some gambler, ain't he?" whispered Three
Fingered BiU. ' - . '
"J should say he is!" rejoined Shorty.
"I knew Ben out In the Cceur de Lion
headwaters of the Toklat before the anew
left in the spring-.' The winter vigil had
turned him gray,-lending him the aspect
of a lean, hungry wolf. He still had a lit
tle of his rough grub, left, bu subsisted
chiefly on fresh meat, of which there was
abundance in the country. : '
All that summer he prospected tha
The red wins, gentlemen! Stack 'em uut rememoenng nis vow, he beat his-creeas wium a radius of many mOe,
up! Stack 'em up! Never venture; never with his hands and again cried: moving camp often In the long summer
win.' Bet 'em up, boys!" ; ; -r : "So help mine God!" and entered the days, inasmuch as one can. then sleep
: Ben hesitated as he pushed a stack of ; - " Put in,' the open. He had grown very si-
chins on the table oaused drew 7 themi Lighting a candle, he went to a box in leBt and carcely ever spoke to the dors.
country, and he was Just the same as he back again, ana rubbed his forehead with, tne corner ana picaea out rour large, dried "". ww, as me sum-
Is now. He goes out and makes a stake a long, skinny, hand. He was plainly aalmon, one o which he gave to each of advanced, he would suddenly atop in
somewhere in mining or dry goods, and all in. ' the 'hungry dogs. Then he staggered to open-mouthed, a horrible
never touches a card till his poke's bustin Raising his head after a long, calcu- his. bunk, drew the robe over himself, and look In his eyes, mutter to himself and
full of gold. Then he turns himself loose, latlng look at his chips, his glance wan- simultaneously fell into a deep sleep. walk on, peering furtively on either. aide, .
He gambled away a good-paying mine dered to where the little ball reposed la7! ? 5 .".'.4.' --4.. ' ' At keystoi?e -our of night he would
once while he had a big gang of men work- one f the niches of Wwheel,Aa'ha";-i" J '.-I V' ' f'f " HboF and tn and gase long he
ing. too. Oh. he's some gambler, all right, Szed there slowly grew the look of one . .".ft " cKx the foUowing into the dark corners of his cabin, a bar-
Ben is! If. a crime, though, to see a man under' hypnotic speU. Long he looked he awoke and remembered, rowed look on his face. ... .
of his years go It the way he doesT and steadily, until his eyes gWed like Lon h ase4. Into the darknea,. mur- rmring these .demonstrations the dogs -
' - t;wo Hve coala , Wm"L h oul nally. gaze at each other
T ; ' Suddenly tearing, them away, he rose made and drank! some coffee, m a terrified fashion, and whimper and -
Shorty pulled up his parka and stuck -to his feet, and with trembling hands pUd his sruh into sacks, and lashed It whine like frightened children. , Ben never -
his bands. deep in his macklnaw pants- pushed aU the hips he possessed onto the' to tb hlg Yukon sled, slipped his gun and heeded them." . ; -pocket.
. ; . . VhUe. . The onlookers gasped with awe, BnOWsho" between the thonr8 hefore' gmaA Wm m hundred
"He's never left that .seat now for for- shuffled their feet, and craned their necks e amp awoke to. life was well on his L mllea Iower down the from where
ty-eight hours; has only drank a few cups still closer. Then . ensud a breathless . wf to the wilderness. he had crossed from the Kobuk. Thar, h!
t woir Mr rui t nnt wii. w. . If at any time during the year that fol- . . . Aimro ne
-. r i .; - . ..oiao mrown up a ruae snack In which ha
apoKen nau a eoxen -worus m u inai ,-xne wnitei", wnispered fscotty excited- . . .
time," Three-Ftagered observed. "Oh, he ly. "Why; he'll break; the house If he tIoned' tt was. with the. usual prophecyt
goes the limit, and then some.", ' . wins! That s 10 to
Ben Levi was paying no attention what- $7,000 on it. But hat
ever to his surroundings. Hia eyes left ingl . ' ' , , 4 : f - " s , .,
the little, whirling ball only long enough ; Nervously Faro balanced the little bail .Moralising In the wilderness is a habit -
to pile np his winnings or to pick up one between his finger -and; thumb,' gave the attended by a. -whole regiment of eonse- r--'Qold! .Gold! .At last I have Struck Itl
of the -many stacks of chips in front of wheel a turn with his left hand, and with quencea,, The survivors are those" who Ha, hat At last! O mine God In heaven,
him, push it onto the table, and .eagerly- a swift motion of , hU right spun the bail keep a taut rein on their minds. If they. 1 thank Thee!" -'V -iv-: - ' -i.' , f '
await the outcome." -- -' - .: ' t '"on Ita fateful ; . way. ' : The commoUon have nothing to read or any duties to ab- He raised' his outstretched arms and
one by one the smaller players dropped aroused by such a bet had drawn all the eorb the leisure hours of the long winter looked up at the sky. . . ;
out to concentrate their attention wholly players isom the other tables They wereV nights, they "will do wisely if thfy return -i v"Htf, - ha!? be-chuckled mockingly to
on the duel between Faro Dick, the dealer,, all keyed up to the same pitch; all had j to first principles by carving an Image out himself that night as he sewed up the eonj
and Ben LevL Twice .during the sitting the same tgnse look in their eyea and the' of a piece of wood with a jackknife or .tenU ofva little gold sack. "Now have Z
Ben had reduced the bank roll of the house same twitch about the lips.. : - ;" ' ' , keep" the silence at bay by long sleeps at got you!Hdf ho!"---:. V-i U'.. - :
to three figures. He didn't know that, of ...Ben leaned forward over the; table, his night and plenty of hard work through " He roared and laughed while the dogs
course. - v ' : . t - beard thrust out. his arms outstretched, the day - ' ' outside wailed with a fear that stifled
r'Many tlmea had One-Eyed Riley,. the his long; skinny hands closed like two. , Ben , Levi traveled for twelve straight them.. --Vi- .
proprietor' of the Last Chance, changed knots, and -hi eyes fastened on the ball, hours without pausing to make' camp or evi worked frantically until the freeze
the dealers on him in the hope of turning as if by sheer force of will he would make cook rup.At the end of that time, being;. up, every evening sewing up-the residue
the hick of the house; but H was not Until it stop on the desired bracket ; ' . ; a( thoroughly, exhausted, . he made a- hasty - (Continued on Page 11) '
ireait ine nouse 11 no ' . . : ; .- -
1. and he's got at leasK'h' bck ne f thes day" with
(That chances he's tak- a h always has."
was parUally prepared to face the second
winter. - , - .
; He was washing a pan of gravel in the
creek-bed one night; muttering to himseir
as usual, when he suddenly dropped it and
screamed: - ','
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