The Barrier

t'ing how

gin' eve

e's no more

r's jus'

y pack so

she's no

t forty mi

her sin

'm busy m

ry on d

tole me yas

I'm own d

s, and he would take her on a journey far longer than either of them had yet taken-a journey that would never end. Had not the gods looked with favor, at last, upon his long novitiate, and been pleased with the faith he had kept? Had not this discovery of "No Creek" Lee's been providentially arranged for his own especial benefit? A fool could see that this was a mark of celestial approbation, and none but a fool would question t

and with it go the laughter and the

world was very bright indeed this afternoon, and he burst aga

rossignol

à le c

e coeur

' ai-tà

gtemps que

e ne t'o

otn

le bird, oh

voice so li

eart that la

arts that's

loved, I l

can, but n

ing out of his pack-stra

rnesses of mosquito-netting stretched over globelike frames of thin steel bands, which they slipped on over their hats after the manner of divers' helmets, for without protec

ou that found him, w

man goin' so fast he'll meet hese'f comin' home!' Den he turn roun' an' go tearin' back, wavin' hees arms lak' he's callin' me, till he fall

hat way at Holy Cross,"

familiar. Hees face she's all swell' up an' bleedin' lak' raw meat." The Frenchm

crazee. Hees nose an' ears is look lak' holes in

e you got him

have bad enemy w'at I like to see catch hell I

of that? Why, that's worse than dropping water on

wors' t'ing I know. Dat's w'y I

evils till they stung you craz

pe, and, raising his veil, undertook to smoke. The pests

Dey're

en we get out of the woo

gain, eh?" ventured the other after a while, unable

he's through wit

in' purty b

's ri

goin' marry on

he ain't the kin

Mebbe you don' care if

a man that will

et, fervently. "No man w'at's livin' could treat her b

good girl that attracts a bad man, particularly if she's pretty; and it goes double, too-the good men get the hellions. A fellow can't get

y on no bad man," sa

. I knew a girl once that was just as good and pure as Necia,

ughed Doret,

he was a WOMAN! Two fellows fell in love with her. One of them lived in the same camp as her, and he was a good man, leastways everybody said he was, but he wasn't wise to all the fancy tricks that pretty women hanker after; and, it being his first affair, he was right down buffaloed at the very thought of her, so he just hung around and slept late so that he might dream about her and feel like he wa

n tak' a shot at him?

man didn't know the other by sight, living as they did in different parts; third, he was an ordinary sort of

de good ma

bout it, but he went away l

s too

e he had lost. She stood it pretty well, and never whimpered, even when her eyes were open and she saw what a prize-package she had drawn. The fact that she was game enough to stand for him and yet keep herself clean without compla

aid Doret. "Dat ain' wrong

so she stood it for three years, living worse than a dog, till she saw it wasn't any use-till she s

at? No man don' hurt no

der answered, while his face had grown so

ords that accorded well wi

for he had been living lonely, loving her al

ne!" said the other. "I'll bet

y silence, the younger one waiting eagerly for him to continue, bu

es Lee,"

great interes' 'bout dis

was true about a good girl and a bad man, and to show why I want Necia

eir language was indirect, each knew the other's thought. But there was no time for furt

asn't brought

'ink much of dat feller. Wat's de

to rest, for the up-trail was heavy and the air su

y without bein'

ale. "Poleon has b

don't want nobod

nounced Stark; "but if they had seen you tw

already. As no explanation of his presence was offered, neither the trader nor Doret made any comment then,

e in another one, e

had grub-staked him, and he seemed so set on it that I ackeressed. You see, it's the first chance I eve

l to studying the back of the man next in front, who happened to be Stark, observing every move and t

cost of much effort and profanity they gained the firmer footing of the forest. Occasionally they came upon the stream, and found easier going along its gravel bars, till a bend threw them again into the meadows and mesas on either hand. Their cou

a shorter cut t

I've always had a pack to carry, so I chose t

hear 'bout dis strike an' be

ter they got there," Stark said, sourl

agreed

lf," the trader remarked. "One man

ight," Stark laughed, significa

n his own discovery, and if anybody tries to

t, nobody else does," Lee remarked, w

nows w'ere Lee's creek she's locate' but John an' me, an'

and there ain't a half-dozen men ever been up to the head of that stream, mu

ve duties. Their preparations were simple. First they built a circle of smudges out of wet driftwood, and inside this Lee kindled a camp-fire of dry sticks, upon which he cooked, protected by the smoke of the others, while Gale went back to the edge of the forest and felled a dozen small firs, the branches of which he clipped. These Poleon and Runnion bore down to the end of the spit for bedding,

ith their poison that he was in a measure impervious to their sting, hence the insects gathered on his wrinkled, hair-grown hide only to give up in melancholy disgust and fly to other and fuller-blooded feeding-grounds. Camp had been made early, at Gale's sugg

them over fondly by the glow of dying embers. It is at such times that men's garrulity asserts itself, for the barriers of caution are let down, as

ll-luck had risen with him at the dawn and misfortune had stalked beside him as he drifted and drank from camp to camp, while

' but cramps and epidemics and inflammations. I'm the only miner in Alaska

u got your name

appendix of the body politic; yes, worse'n that-I've been an appendix with a seed in it. I made myself

to spend your mon

all shrivelled up inside like a dead puff-ball; now it's me for the big feed and the long drink. I'm goin' to 'Fri

here are no unforgettable faces in its smoke. When Lee fell silent the trader and Stark resumed their talk, which was mainly of California, it seemed to the Frenchman, who also noted that it

' to dat gal we was tal

his companion, but the young man's mind

range tale,

t?" questio

knowed w'at marry a good gal ju

uriously upon the old man; but Gale kno

y-happened when I was

toes got bad again, then sauntered away from the fire and spread his blanket. The rest followed and made down their beds; then, drawing on gloves and hat-nets, and rolling the

remade their packs, and were ready to resume th

hoice of locations when we get up yonder. I've been

ark. "Then there won't b

as often occurred when two men have cast eyes on the same claim, and have felt the miner's causeless

urning his back on the others, he cut four splinters of varying lengths, and, a

o Doret, but the Frenchman waved him courteously to Stark, and, when both he and Runnion had made their choice, Lee handed him the remainin

aughed Poleon, "de las'

filed towards the narrow valley that s