The Winds of Chance

boulders which in ages past have lost their footing on the steep hills forming the sides of the cup. Between these boulders a thin carpet of moss is spread, b

discourage man's puny efforts to climb over them. Nevertheless, men have done so, and by the thousands, by the tens of thousands. On this particular morning an unending procession of human beings was straining up and over and through the confusion. They lifted themselves by foot and by hand; where the slope was steepest they crept on all-fours. They formed an unbroken, threadlike stream extending

eed, appear to be ants, those men, as they dragged themselves across the meadow and up the ascent; they resembled nothing more than a file of those industrious insects creeping across the bottom and up t

own as Sheep Camp. Although it was a temporary, makeshift town, already it bulked big in the minds of men from Maine to California, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, for it was the last outpost of civilization, and beyond it lay a land of mys

hose who had, a considerable proportion had turned back at the giant pit three miles above. One look at the towering barrier had been enough for them. The Chilkoot was more than a mountain, more than an obstacle of nature; it was a Presence, a tremendous and a terrifying Personality which overshadowed th

and hardware and perishable stuffs, and all day long men came and went in relays. One relay staggered up and out of the canon and dropped its packs, another picked up the bundles and ascended skyward. Pound by pound, ton by ton, this vast equipment of supplies went forward, but slowly, oh, so slowly! And at such effort! It was indeed fit w

. All labor-saving devices, all mechanical aids, all short cuts to comfort and to accomplishment, had been left behind; here was the wilderness, primitive, hostile, merc

and men thought in hundredweights or in tons. Yet there was no relief, no respite, for famine stalked in the Yukon and the Northw

lack despair, hearts overtaxed and eyes blind with fatigue, that was what the Chilkoot stood for. Permeating the entire atmosphere of the place, so that e

erative power of youth, and, like some fabled warrior, new strength flowed into him from the earth. Round about him other men were sprawled; some lay like corpses, others were propped against their packs, a few stirred and sighed like the sorely wounded after a charge. Those who had lain longest rose, took up their burdens, and went groaning over the sky-line and out of sight. Every moment new faces, purple with effort or white wi

from which to study the upcoming file rather than as a place in which to rest. This he did with a quick, appreciative eye and with a genial smile. In face, in dress, in manner, he was different. For one thing, he was of foreign birth, and yet he appeared to be more a piece of the country than any man Pierce had seen. His clothes were of a pattern common among the native packers, but he wore them with a free, unconscious grace all his own. From the peak of his Canadian toque there depended

ck. High up on this hillside, amid blasphem

rossignol

a le c

e coeur

ai-t-a p

is ch

hat had caused Pierce Phillips to open his eyes in genuine astonishment, was the fact that the man climbed with a pipe in his teeth and smoked it with relish. On that occasion the Frenchman had not stopped at the crest to breathe, but had merely paused long enough to admire the scene outspread beneath him; then he had swung onward. Of all the sights young Phillips had beheld in this new land, the vision of that huge, unhurried Canadian, smoking, had impressed him deepest. It had awakened his keen envy, too, for Pierce was beginning to glory

ying powers. Already the names of certain "old-timers" like Dinsmore and McDonald and Peterson and Stick Jim had become famous because of some conspicuous exploit. Dinsmore, according to the legend, had once lugged a hundred an

n band of supermen who had dared the dark interior and robbed the bars of Forty Mile in the hard days before the El

morning, but I'd hate to sw

row of teeth snow-white against his tan. "Ho! You'

ce showed his pleasure. "Oh no!" he modest

is Chilkoot she's bad bizness. She's keel a lot of dese s

tis. It's partl

er carry too moch; d

o hurry," said he. "New people are coming all the

Mebbe so; but s'posin'

ntree; dere's

"You're an old-timer; you've been 'inside.' Do

gold in all de wor

on as rich as t

I don

get in on

but I'm t'inkin'

er curiously. "That's funny

biccause you're lak dese oder feller-you're in beeg hurry to be reech. Me-?" He shrugged

ust think, over there"-Pierce waved his hand toward the northward panorama of white peaks and purple valleys-"everything is unknown!" His f

scare' 'b

imes I'm afraid I haven't

ne to his forehead preparatory to rising. "You goin' mak' good 'sourdough' lak me. You goin'

Is that where

eau man; I'm g

gerous work? They say

ver mak' so moch money-tree hondred dollar a day. I'm reech man now. You lak get reech queeck? I teach you be pilot

it," Pierce confessed,

'll be along when I get

you t'rough de canyon free. In one day I teach you

ed the cheerful giant

he first man who has o

hasn't tried to hold m

I've seen with-with

y, dey get wise; dey learn to he'p de oder feller, dey learn dat a smile will carry a pack or row a boat. You reme

r of amusement at the man's brief sermon. This D

a wave of his hand the fellow joined th

nd brutalized them; fatigue had rendered them irritable, and the strangeness of their environment had made them both fearful and suspicious. There was no good-fellowship, no consideration on the Chilkoot. This was a race against time, and the stakes went to him who was most ruthless. P

to the space Doret had vacated. This man was quite the opposite of the one who had just left; he was old and he was f

ut of you, doesn't it?" he

colorless face overgrown with a bushy gray

nly tiring yourself, my friend.

air of hard, smoky-blue eyes in which t

u're the first white ma

ult of a good example. A fell

say. They snap at your heels like coyotes. Hurry? You can't force your luck!" The speaker struggled into a sitting posture and in an apologetic tone explained: "I dassent lay down or I'll get rheumatism. Tough guys-frontiersmen

d they stepped noiselessly into one another's tracks. The only sound they made came from their creaking pack-

d tone. "Poor devils! I wonder what they've done. And yo

s a sort of a lark for me, and I'm having a great time. It's pretty

ah, too-born on Friday, or something. Last night somebody stole a sack of our bacon. Sixty pounds, and every pound had cost me sweat!" Again the speaker ground h

'm packing for wages to earn m

ck like you do, but I'm stove up. At that, I'm better than my partner! He couldn't carry a tune." There was a pause. "He eats good, though; eats like a

ut a stop to this stea

're the very ones that are lifting our grub. I know these citizens' committees." Whatever the physical

breath of the snow-fields had begun to penetrate his so

r man. "So am I. If you'll wait a second I'll

ss, whereupon they set out one behind the other. Pierce's pack was at least double the weight of his companion's, and it gave him a pleasurab

ny of the younger, stronger stampeders-namely, a grim determination, a dogged perseverance-no poor substitute, indee

er Lake. Every mile or two they rested briefly to relieve their chafed and aching shoulders. They exchanged few words while they

d many miles he had learned what there was to learn, for Pierce answered his questions frankly and told him about the sacrifice his family had made in order to

e of 'em tried to lay me. ME!" He chuckled as if the mere idea was fantastically humorous. "Have you heard about this Soapy Smith? He's the boss, the bell-cow, and he's made himself mayor of Sk

two brothers and

rtners w

and helped them with their outfit from time to time. We're at Sheep Camp now, and

hiskered milliner! He's so ornery I have to hide the ax every time I see him. I just yearn to put him out of his misery, bu

life, this country, should have essayed the hardships of the Chilkoot trail

done all the packing for yoursel

lugged over, but in spite of that we've managed to make pretty good time." After a moment of meditation he continued: "Say! You ought to see that old buzzard eat! It's disgusting, but it's interesting. It ain't so much the expense that I care ab

g Lake outlet, some time lat

ve got a camp a

d there and I sleep out wheneve

rip in one day? Why,

g out if I were sure of a hot meal once in a while, but money is no good this s

ast long at

o Dyea this morning by Jim McCaskey, one of the fellows I live with. He's going to put it

ioneer myself, but that infernal partner of mine has about ruined my disp