The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 25, 1903, Page 8

THE SUNDAY CALL (Copyright, 1902, by Jack London) , C what y lazy mans, £ you lazy mans would desire me to hat for wife. It is not good. Nevaire! No, nevaire, will lazy hoosband be.” 4 spoke her mind to pad spoken listen to lazy You hang rount, o my cabin and do noth- ¥ get grub for the fam- not 1 the dust? Odder moos’ 1 Never a day Even now gs are yet have I have no mans wit o wife McCormack, odder man now I was prospacting over on ers of the Tanana Har- a knew n £ of r Bonanza until it was too g protested you are—what the—yes—in the dark. It ate e rich mine the creek which is Eldorado, drive the stake and him go ans know what of him which drive the Sixty days no file the papa Then ee odder mans—what at claim Then they like the wind, to flle valre rich. Him get One v hid the major portion of his s the time up? he asked. “What s Savoy last night"™ ng him. “Him I my cabin last strong mans. g wind. I will me for I say—"" ¥ is winnaire, thea 2 will not be— children.” gton been er in just her color helghtened her eyes he great- be meen n's eyes. Her sled at her in hirsute er, Wolf T'ang, laid in her lap. Harrington pressed. dog to lover and back cing she f the froi Wolf Fang? If him file the papaire, shall ? Eh? What you me his ears ang suddenly added, rising to her & out the team. stolidly. She had »m the first time they had been joined unto e cried, springing eaped into sudden -on eye Harrington ging down the trail to the road forked and to Fort Cudahy, she nd turned about. y Mans!” she called Fang, him say yes—if you But somehow, as such things will, it leaked © all Forty Mile. which had hitherto spec ted on Joy Molincau’s choice between her two latest lovers, now hazarded bets and guesses as to which n the forthcoming race. The ™ camp divided itself into two factions and every effort was put forth in order that their respective favorites might be the first in at the finish. There was a scram- ble for the best dogs the country could afford, for dogs, and good ones, were es- sential, above all, to success. And 1t meant much to the victor. Besides the possession of a wife, the like of which had yet to be created, it stood for a mine worth a million at least. That fall, when news came down of Me- Cormack’s discovery on Bonanza, all the Lower Country, Circle City and Forty Mile included, had stampeded up the Yu- kon—at least all save those who, like Jack Harrington and Louls Savoy, were eway prospecting in the west. Moose pastures and creeks were staked indis- criminately and promiscuously; and inci- dentally, one of the unlikeliest of creeks, Eldorado. Olaf Nelson laid claim to 500 of its linear feet, duly posted his notice, and as duly disappeared. At that time the nearest recording office was in the police barracks at Fort Cudahy, just across the river from Forty Mile; but when it be- came bruited abroad that Eldorado Creek was a treasure house it was quickly dis- covered that Olaf Nelson 'had falled to make the down-Yukon trip to flle upon his property. Men cast hungry eyes upon the ownerless claim, where they knew a thousand-thousand dollars waited but shovel and sluice-box. Yet they dared not touch it; for there was a law which permitted sixty days to lapse between the staking and the filing, during which time the clalm was immune. The whole coun- try knew of Olaf Nelson's disappearance, and scores of men made preparation for the jumping and for the consequent race to Fort Cudahy, But competition at Forty Mile was lim- ited. With the camp devoting its energies to the equipping, either of Jack Harring- ton or Louls S8avoy, no man was unwise enough to enter the contest single-handed. It was a stretch of 100 miles to the Re- corder’s office and it was planned that the two favorites should have four relays of dogs stationed along the trall. Nat- urally the last relay was to be the cructal one, and for these twenty-five miles their respective partisans strove to obtain the strongest possible animals. So bitter did the factions wax. and so high did they bid, that dogs brought stiffer prices than ever before In the annals of the country. «nd, as it chanced, this scramble for dogs turned the public eyes still more searchingly upon Joy Molinean. Not only was she the cause of it all, but she pos- sessed the finest sled dog from Chilkoot to Bering Sea. As a wheel or leader Wolt Fang had no equal. The man whose sled he led down the last stretch was bound ta win. There could be no doubt of it. But the community had an innate sense of the fitness of things, and not once was Joy vexed by overtures for his use. And the factions drew’ consolation from the fact that if one man did not profit by him, neither should the other. However, since man, in the individual or in the aggregate, has been so fash- joned that he goes through life blisstfully obtuse to the deeper subtleties of his, wo- menkind, so the men of Forty Mile falled to divine the inner deviltry of Joy Moli- neau. They confessed afterward . that they had failed to appreciate this dark- eyed daughter of the aurora, whose father had traded furs in the country be- fore ever they dreamed of invading it, and who had ‘herself first opened eyes on the scintillant northern lights. Nay, ac- cient of birth had not rendered her less the woman, nor had it limited her wo- man’s understanding of men. They knew she played with them, but they did not know the wisdom of her play. its deepness and its deftness. They falled to see more than the exposed card, so that to the very last Forty Mile was in a state of pleasant obfuscation, and it was not untll she cast her final trump that it came to reckon up the score. Early in the week the camp turned out to start Jack Harrington and Louis Savoy on their way. They had taken & shrewd margin of time, for it was their wish to arrive at Olaf Nelson's clalm some days previous to the expiration of its !mmun- ity, that they might rest themselves and their dogs be fresh for the first relay. On the way up they found the men of Daw- son already stationing spare dog teams along the trail, and it was manifest that little expense had been spared, in view of the millions at stake. A couple of days after the departure of their champions Forty Mile began sending up their relays—first to seventy-five sta- tion, then to the fifty, and last to the twenty-fiva. The teams for the last stretch were magnificent, and so equally matched that the camp discussed their relative merits for a full hour at fifty be- low before they were permitted to pull out. At the last moment Joy Molineau dashed in among them on her sled. She drew Lon McFané, who had charge of Harrington’s team, to one side, and hard- ly had the.first words left her lips when it was noticed that his lower jaw dropped with & celerity and emphasis suggestive of great things. He unhitched Woit Fang from her sled, put him at the head of Harrington's team and mushed the string of animals into the Yukon trall. “Poor Louls SBavoy!" men said; but Joy Molineau flashed her black eyes defiantly and drove back to her father’'s cabin. Midnight drew near on Olat Nelson's claim. A few hundred fur-clad men had preferred sixty below and the jumping to the inducements of warm cabins and com- fortable bunks., Several score of them had thelr notices prepared for posting and thelr dogs at hand. A bunch of Captain Constantine's mounted police had been ordered on duty, that fair play might rule. The command had gone forth that no man should place a stake till the last second of the day had ticked itself into the past. In the Northland such commands are equal to Jehovah's in the matter of po- tency; the dum-dunras rapid and effectlve as the thunderbolt. It was clear and cold. The aurora bore- alis painted palpitating color revels on the eky. Rosy waves of cold brilllancy swepl across the zenith, while great coruscat- ing bars of greenish white blotted out the stars or a Titan's hand reared mighty arches above the Pole And at this “Ten to One on Harrington,” Bawled the Birch Creek Kingl. mighty display the wolf dogs howled, as had their ancestors of old time. A Dbearskin-coated policeman stepped prominently to the fore, watch in hand. Men hurried among the dogs, rousing them to their feet, untangling their traces, stralghtening them out. The entries came to the mark, firmly gripping stakes and <notices. They had gone over the boun- daries of the claim so often that they could now have done it blindfolded. The policeman raised his hand. Casting off their superfluous furs and blankets and with a final cinching of belts, they cdme to attention. “Time!" Bixty pairs of hands unmitted; as many pairs of moccasins gripped hard upon the snow. “Gol"”- 5 , e.- | = They shot-across the wide expanse, round the four sides, sticking notices at every corner, and down the middle, whers the two center stakes were to be planted. Then they sprang for the sleds on the frozen bed of the creek. An anarchy of sound and motion broke out. Sled collid- ed with sled and dog team fastened upon dog team with bristling manes and glis- tening fangs. The narrow creek was glutted with the struggling mass. Lashes and butts of dog whips were distributed impartially among men and brutes. And, to make it of greater moment, each par- ticlpant had a bunch of comrades intent on breaking him out of the jam. But one by one, and by sheer strength, the sleds crept out and shot from sight in the darke ness of the overhanging banks, Jack Harrington had anticipated this crush and waited by his sled uutil 1t une, tangled. Louls Savoy, aware of his rival's greater wisdom In the matter of dog driv- ing, had followed his lead and also walt- ed. The rout had passed beyond ear: shot when they took the trall, and it was not till they had traveled the ten miles or 50 down to Bonanza that they came upon 1t, speeding along in single file, but well bunched. There was little noise, and less chance of one passing another at that stage. The sleds, from runner to runner, measured sixteen inches, the trall eighteen; but the trall, packed down fully a foot by the traffic, 'was like a gutter. On either side spread the blanket of soft snow crystals. If a man turned into this in an endeavor to pass his dogs would wallow, perforce, to thelr bellies and slow down to a snall's pace. So the men lay close to their leaping sleds and walted. \ BN LS No alteration in position eccurred down the fifteen miles of Bonanza and Klone dike to Dawson, where the Yukon was encountered. \ Here the first relays waited. but hers, intent to kill their first teams, If neces- sary, Harripgton and Savoy bad had their fresh teams placed a couple of miles be- yond those of the others. In the confusion of changing sleds they passed full half the bunch. Perhaps thirty men were still leading them when they shot on to the broad breast of the Yukon. Hero was the tug. - When the river frose (n the fall a mile of open water had besn left Detwesn two mighty jams This had but pecently . ecrusted, the current being swift, and now it was as level, hard and slippery as a dance floor. The instant they struck this glare ice Harrington came to his knees, holding precariously on with onme hand, his whip singing flercely among his dogs and fearsome abjurations hurtling about their ears. The teams spread out on the smooth surface, each straining to the ut- termost. But few men in the north could £t thelr dogs as 4id Jack Harrington. At once he began to pull ahead, and Louls Bavoy, taking the pace, hung on desper- ately, his leaders running even with the tall of his rival's sled. Midway on the glassy stretch thelr re- Jays shot out from the bank. But Har- rington did not slacken. Watching his chance when the new sled swung in close, he leaped across, shouting as he did so and jumping up the pace of his fresh dogs. The other driver fell off somehow. Savoy 414 likewise with his relay, and the abandoned teams, swerving to right and left, collided with the others and piled the ice with confusion. Harrington cut out the pace; Savoy hung on. As they neared the end of the glare Iice they swept abreast of the leading sled. When they shot into the narrow trail between the soft snowbanks they led the race; and Dawson, watching by the light of the aurora, swore that it was' neatly done. When the frost grows lusty at 60 be- low men cannot long remain without fire or excessive exercise and live. So Har- rington and Savoy now fell to the ancient custom of “ride and run.” Leaping from their sleds, tow-thongs in hand, they ran behind till the blood resumed its wonted channels and expelled the frost, then back to the sleds till the heat again ebbed away. Thus, riding and running, they covered the second and third relays. Sev- eral times, on smooth ice, Savoy spurted \ his dogs, and as often falled to galn past. Strung glong for five miles in the rear, the remainder of the race strove to overtake them, but vainly, for to Louls Savoy alone was the glory given of keeping Jack Har- rington’s killing pace. As they swung Into the seventy-five mile station Lon McFane dashed alongsid: Wolf Fang, in the lead, caught Harring- ton’s eye, and he knew that the race was his. No team in the North could pass him on those last twenty-five miles. And when Savoy saw Wolf Fang heading his rival's team he knew that he was out of the running and he cursed softly to him- self in the way woman is most frequently cursed. But he still clung to the other's smoking trail, gambling on chance to the last. And as they churned ulong, the day breaking in the southeast, they marveled in joy and sorrow at that which Joy Molineau had done. Forty Mile had crawled out of its sleep- ing furs and congregated near the edge of the trail. From this point it could view N B ¢ \ N the up-Yukon courwe to its first bend, sew. eral*miles away. Here it could also see across the river to the finish at Fort Cud. ahy, where the Gold Recorder nervously waited. Joy Molineau had taken her po- sition several rods back from the trall, and under the circumstances the rest of Forty Mile forbore interposing itself. So the space was clear between her and the splender line of the course. Fires had been built, and around these men wagered dust and dogs, the long odds e Wolt Fang. “Here they come!™ shrilled an Indlan boy from the top of a pine. Up the Yukon a black speck appeared against the snow, closely followed by & second. As these grew larger more black specks manifested themselves, but at & goodly distance to the rear. Gradually they resclved themselves into dogs and sleds and men lying flat upon them. “Wolf Fang leads,” a lieutenant of po- lice whispered to Joy. She smiled her in- terest back. “Ten to one on Harrington!™ erfed a Birch Creek king, dragging out his sack. ““The Queen, her pay you not meechT™ queried Joy. The lieutenant shook his head. “You have some dust, ah, how mecch?™ she continued. Hae exposed his sack. She gauged ft with rapid eye. » “Mebbe—say—two hundred, eh? Geod Now I give—what you call—the tip. Cov- aire the bet.” Joy smiled inscrutably. The Meutenant pondered. He glanced up the trail. The two men had risen to their knees and were lashing their dogs furiously, Har- rington In the lead. “Ten to one on Harrington!” bawled the Birch Creek king, flourishing his sack In the lleutenant's face. “Covalre the bet,” Joy prompted. He obeyed, shrugged his shoulders in token that he ylelded not to the dictate of his reason but to her charm. Joy nodded to reassure him. All noise ceased. Men paused in the placing of bets. Yawing and reeling and plungin ke luggers befors the wind. the sleds swept Wildly upon them. Though he still kept his leader up to the tall of Harrington's sled, Louls Savoy's face was without hope. Harrington's mouth was set. He looked neither to the right nor to the left. His dogs were leaping in perfect rhythm, firm-footed, close to the trall, and Wolf Fang, head low and unseeing, whining softly, was leading his comrades mag- nificently. Forty Mile stood bDreathless. Not a sound, save the roar of the runners and the voice of the whips. Then the clear voloe of Joy Molinean rose on the air. “All Ya Wolt Fang! ‘Wolt Fang!™ Wolf Fang heard. He left the trall sharply, heading directly for his mis- tress. The team dashed after him aad the sled poised an Instant en & single runner, then shot Harrington inte the snow. Savoy was by like a flash. Har- rington pulled to his feet and watched him skimming across the river to the Gold Recorder’s office. He could not help hearing what was sald: “Ah, him“do vaire well” Joy Molineaw ‘was explaining to the lieutenant. “Himee ‘what you call—set the pace. Yes, him set the pace vaire well."” e e ——— Restoring a Tintoretto. Tintoretto's famous “Paradise,” which visitors to Venice will easily remember as hanging over the throne of the Chamber of the Grand Council in the Palace of the Doges, measures twenty-two feet In height and sixty-eight feet In length. The ™ plcture is to undergo renovation, and has been taken down by the ald of special mechanical appliances in the presence of the National Commission for Paintings. The glory of “Paradise,” painted in 1500, in Tintoretto’'s twenty-sefond year, wers the saints and angels in a marvelous blending of light and color, which, black- ened by time, are no longer perceptible The wall on which the Tintoretto has hitherto hung is now undergoing repairs. The fourteenth century frescoes by the Paduan artist, Guariento, remains of which still adorn this same wall, will aft= erward undergo restoration.—Inter Ocean, ADVERTISEMENTS. s DR. CHARLES FLESH FOOD For the Form and Complexion. 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