The Magnetic North

o invite men to t

-doomed to failure. Nevertheless, as he was cook that week, he could not bring himself to treat altogether lightly his office of Master of the Feast.

fully undertaken by O'Flynn or by Potts, for whom interest in the gustatory aspect of th

re for us," said Po

er the various contributions to the feast, set out on a board in f

e got

es a day wid sivin days to the week, an' not enough bacon ayther, begob, whin all's said and done!

the Colonel, throwing some heavy objects into a

ngly on the rare food. "Ye've hoarded

in' more'n your share, I'll

nxiously. "It's such a wonderful sight-something growing." He had

in the face? Should think not. Mix

gullion," comm

t?" quoth t

, ye take the wathur ye've boiled pitaties or cabbage in-a vegetable stock, ye mind-and ye add a little flour, salt, and pepper, an'

s-w

that's sl

ow-Out,'" said the Colonel. "We'll

tin-ware. "What's the good o' the little divvle and his thramps, if he ca

ttle of California apricots,

nch, gl

nel. "I've been thinkin' a

y; but Potts looked at the Colonel

iskey left, and I propo

ith your m

icholas and Andrew may turn up. I want you two fellas to suppoht me about this. There are reasons foh it, sah"-he had laid a hand on Pott

t, he turned decisively, and stirred the mush-pot wit

Little Cabin, bringing back selections out of Mac's hoard "to decorate the banquet-hall," as they said. On the last trip Potts refused to accompany his pardner-no, it was no good. Mac ev

Mac, Nicholas with Kaviak in his arms, O'Flynn gesti

ooked-the decorations. Mac's stuffed birds and things made a remarkably good show, but the colossal success was reserved for the minute shrunken skin of the baby white hare set down in front of t

e other India

ed, "Oh yes, give us that," he said to Andrew. "I thought"-he tur

ora

yin' mate, or is

an's a Christian,"

said Mac, "and it's worth waitin' for. Can you

looking as if he had enou

held the little heathen off at arm's length. "Nicholas used to help with th

u that you're so generous with?" Ma

his own elf locks. He was closely sheared, his moccasins put off, and his single ga

s got as manny bon

Colonel stood an instant

round his neck?" said

fted a shrunken yellow hand and clasped tight the dirt

te to divest him of this

ive it up," said Fathe

ll in with as much as he und

anyway?" th

ring over the child's head, Kaviak rent the air with shrieks and coughs. He seemed to say as well

He took the dirty object away from the priest with scant ceremony, in s

ge, don't you?" Mac

ut pilot

the thing to me to wash

as exp

handed it over, and watched Mac anxiously till overwhelmed b

roughly?" Mac condescended to ask

forgotten it

e it to-morro

pped open the little bird-skin pouch, and took out three objects-an ivory manni

ed to stop the flow of blood from the wound of a captive seal, it i

ac, and he went out, buried the charms in the s

finally explode with astonishment and wrath. It was quite clear Nicholas was trying to drown him. He took the treatment so to heart, that he kept on howling dismally for some time after he was taken out, and dried, and linimented and dosed by Mac, whose treachery about the amulet he seemed to forgive, since "Farva" had had the air of rescuing him from the horrors he had endured in that water-bucket, w

Colonel's bunk, holding towards Mac an appealing ha

the table the one remaining available t

d squatted on the buffalo-skin with Nicholas, the first course wa

the Colonel had said. "We'll have to ask som

eaning out of the bunk and

ion of stirring Mac's bile. But not even so damning a suspicion a

nd. The Boy got up, limped over to the bunk, lif

lips. The Spissimen imbibed greedily, audibly, and beamed. Mac, with unimpaired gravity, took no notice of the

rse was fish

ether with suspicion or not no man could tell. "I had to

ader," said the Boy t

in the dusk; he was

was chockful o' grub. Wh

got plenty o

h parting with it

y our fish, and were ready to exchange. I promised I would send a load ba

o much for the P

n, with recovered serenity, he turned to the B

el

eating and hung on

s heard there's

e Klon

rican side

Colu

reab

ce called

e's t

ver by the

w f

of six or seven hun

y to

l be six or s

trike at all," said the priest, "but j

got no use for a gold-mine i

ore in my line than gru

rilled reindeer did appear, flanked by really-truly potatoes and the Colonel's hot Kentucky b

, ain't he?" the Boy ap

assented

the army," he said. "See

tuckian

a day soldieri

O

rin'," said Potts,

y gesture, politely disclaim

an't tell you why he's a Colonel unless it's because he ain't a Judge;" and

at last, the table was cleared, except for the granite-ware basin full of punch, and when all available cups w

Kaviak was impervious to considerations either of punch or conviviality, being wrapped in slumber on a

draught he turned t

bhoy, 'tain

lars it won't make

! Gentlemen, wud ye like

es

us belli. O'Flynn began a ditty about the Widdy Malone that woke up Kaviak and made him rub his round eyes with astonishment. He sat up, and

knocked against the swing-shelf, and called out, "Here's to Our Visitors, Neighbours, and Friends!" Whereupon he made a stately circular bow, which ended by his offering Kaviak his hand, in the manner of one who executes a figure in an old

had lent his cup to Nicholas, and didn't feel he could wait till it

God bless him! That's rale oratry, Kurrn

stood up, smi

st House-Warming I ever went to. I won't take up time thanking the Colonel for the friendly sentiments he's expressed, though I return them heartil

pidemic disease-we knew that into this sorely tried and hungry world would come a horde of men, all of them ignorant of the conditions up here, most of them ill-provided with proper food and clothing, many of them (I can say it without offence in this company)-many of them men whom the older, richer communities were glad to get rid of. Gentlemen, I have ventured to take you into our confi

to Da

, Klondy

there befo

hey'll get

in. They probably made only a couple of hundr

they'll be comin' back

en I heard there were parties of the same sort

u s

nod

us that he was already having trouble with the two b

f any of 'em we

when the Great White Silence, as they call the long winter up here, is broken by the thunder of the ice rushing down to the sea, you, like the rest, will exchange the snow-fields for the gold-fields, and pass out of our ken. Now, I'm not usually prone to try my hand at prophecy; but I am tempted to say, even on our short acquaintance, that I am tolerably sure that, while we shall be willing enough to spare most of the new-comers to the Klondyke, we shall grudge to the gold-fields the men who built this camp and warmed this cabin." (His eye rested reflectively on Mac.) "I don't wish to sit down leaving an impression of speaking with entire lack of sympathy of the impulse that brings men up here for gold. I believe that, even with the sort in the two camps below Ikogimeut-drinking, quarrelling, and making trouble with the natives at the Russian mission-I believe that even with them, the gold they ca

had raised the moral tone of the company, h

, now the hardest work is finished, you will keep up your spirits and avoid the disease that attacks all new-comers who simply eat, sleep, and wait for the ice to go out. When I hear cheechalkos complaining of boredom up here in this world of daily mirac

ed with delight, t

t the country's fault, but a defect in our own c

Border ballads?" inquired the Boy, "or will

led formally up

s grasp of the situation, climbed upon the three-legged stool just v

o pretended not to know what

ce-"one element not explicitly referred to in the speeches, either of welcome or of thanks. But, gentlemen, I submit that these hitherto unrecognised Natives are our real hosts, and a word about them won't be out of place. I've been told to-da

r, h

ers.) "Now, gentlemen, Buffon says that the poles were the first portions of the earth's crust to cool. While the equator, and even the tropics

coal, then?"

her Wills, who smiled assent). "Tropical forests grew where ther

Boy, sitting up very straight. "Is th

Mac snapped

the Garden o' E

ey

ow the Nile! It was our Yukon that saw the first people, 'cause of

follow. Read

appen there were men here when

S

got the

ut

with one hand and arraigned th

he race had got a foothold in any other part o' the

re h

primitive man cling to his home, no matter what kind o' hole it is? He's afraid to leave it. And these first men up here, why, it's plain as day-they just hung on, things gettin' worse and worse, and c

t Buffon

s and ivory-tipped harpoons"-he was pouring out his new notions at the fastest express rate-

y u

at a

ffo

n their heads and stunted in their legs-always cramped up in a kaiak like those fellas at St. Michael

kin' this

rd

rd

ones who cleared out, or, maybe, got carried away in a current, and found better count

sit d

get chuc

ffo

was talkin

ent, and put up with things, they're doomed. But look at the fellas that come out o' starvin'

e Age and the first and second periods o

his stool and cracked his head against the roof; but he only ducked, rubbed his wild, long hair till it stood out w

ing his delight in a scrimmage, had been shouting: "Ye'll spoil the Blow-Out, ye meddlin' jackass! Can't y

hat it wasn't a real fight, as it had every appearance of being, and the visitors were in n

turn yella, and we'll all dress in skins and eat fat and be exactly like Kaviak, and the last man'll be found tryin' to warm his hands at the Equator, his

severely, "you've had a Bl

" inquired Po

field," said the Colonel, "and

sed O'Flynn, replenishi

So the Colonel filled in the breach with "My old Kentucky

tored harmony and a

ten years before and of a further expediti

tive life and legends than anyone I e

g--?" beg

ght Mac's sudden glance of grudging attention. The priest looked away, and went on: "There's a story-teller i

's t

"-the Jesuit smiled in that shrewd and gentle way of his-"that is, of course, after the Shamán, as the Russians call him, the medicine-man, who is a teller of stories, too, in his more circumscribed fashion. But it's the Story-teller who helps his people through the long winter-helps them to fa

e Crow's Last Flight

uch, he, in self-defence, pulled a knife out of his pocket and a bi

you ma

holas; "me heap hu

a bird than a button

ton," replied the

the priest went on. "Seeing Kaviak's feather reminded me of a native c

you s

o know ho

in a de

blows ove

s deer on the K

, sleep, l

o wood for

roken, my husband

? Hid in the dam of the beav

leep little o

or ukali,

emptied, the crow lights

departed. Why does he

sleep little

re, where

g on the hillside?

I must seek him am

little one,

sh! The crow c

his eyes gliste

od meal to Kusko

ain quietly liet

leep little o

ues tied to the pac

is mouth to call

vens are tearing and

e sinews; not so the

leep little o

in slowly stagg

thighs on h

s' tongues

od, kindle a f

row-liar, chea

r, awake! welco

t, marrow, venison fr

he's carved you a to

nd waiting long for th

ow! hiding himse

wake! here is your

a the Shamán'?"

Nicholas," ans

was absorbed

bliged, roaring wit

in' blade, and wh

as wild, an' I'

putty gurrls

at to annyone

or

thashin, come, bo

o sorra, 'tis

jolly fellows

thashin, na bon

kept his word, showing that he was not the mere handy-man, but the magician of the party. The natives, who know the

to dance. "No, no;" and under

er, too-complained that the only contribution Mac or the Boy had made was to kick up a row. What s

decorations," said

hoy? What good a

see me wag my ears?" Some languid interest was manifested in this accomplishment,

much as an enthertainer

ac was evidently growing a good deal perplexe

hat Esquimer he had grass stuffed in his mouth? Sure, he'

is sufferings?" the Colon

death, and think the spirit haunts the place. Their fear and horror of the dead is beyond belief. They'll turn a dying man out of his own house, and n

ntinued t

offer you some b

t an inexhaustible store of his own

said the Boy. "He hasn't got any stool, and you ke

buffalo-skin there

A little fella likes to be up where he can see what's goin' on. He'd f

tanding up, l

nd dragged in the "fossle." When Nicholas and his friends realised what was happening, the

true son of the Church

hen, Ni

! No touch!

ou don't know

of the way, and, with a whoop, hoisted the huge thing on the table. Then the Boy seized the whimpering Kaviak, and set him high on the throne. So surprised was the topmost Spissimen that he

ve to make a worse one. If you cry, Kaviak, I'll have to sing. Hmt, hmt! don't you do it." And as Kavia

tt'n on de swee

vine, swee'

shop

ly as he'd begun. "N

catch in it, looked round,

!-eh

pped his hands, and

e badger

funny

ctive l

lil ar

s widoute

ottah mate b

" Kavia

er breakdown,"

des, I can't do i

absent, tender face as the great masters, the divinest poets cannot often summon, but which comes at the call of some foolish old nursery jingle, some fragment of half-forgotten folk-lore

ions of the beauty and the mystery of things. These come in lowly guise with familiar everyday voices, but their

her signs?" said the Colonel, roused at last by the jig on hi

oy, his feet still flying and fl

ch-owl light o

, Who-ool

and hooted in

ttah keep yo

ing bad lu

! oh-

ancing slowly, and glancin

black cat wid

like she a

take keer yo'

oly a witch

ck change of scene, indicated by a

dle-duck'e l

t' comb

ttah take

ine tubbee w

ckly rooster," the

rowed lon

le rooster wid

owin' bef

some comp'

ter have

on all fours. "Kaviak!" he

ee a pig ag

s never seen a pig

see a pig

w en de sid

a tuhbl

tuh move d

to a breakdown, clattering

he got a

s tail

ail am ring

him ef

ot no ta

e bit o' bu

of all, but simultaneously, at its wildest moment, they all turned their heads to the door. Mac noticed the movement, liste

reathless. "It can't be a fire. Say, boys

itant light. An Indian appeared from round the stoc

we on

d Father Wills a p

All right

he white men were staring up at the sky. "What's goin' on in

han we often get it. We are not far

to put on

had shut the door and st

ess to the priest than to the floor, muttered: "Bett

lonel

d here!" ejacul

better abl

aid the Colo

to keep him a few days. I'll

Mac bundled Kaviak

out again, Farva caught up his

eamers were fringed with the tenderest rose colour, and from the corona uniting them at the zenith, they shot

makes it," sa

" Mac snapped

iest s

tery for

gether, preceding the others, a little, o

moose with a blow of his fist, and caught whales with his crooked thumb for a hook. One long day in summer he'd had a tremendous chase after a wonderful bird, and he came home without it, deadbeat and out of temper. He lay down to rest, but the sunlight never winked, and the unending glare maddened him. He rolled, and tossed, and roared, as only the Yukon roars when the ice rushes down to the sea. But he couldn't sleep. Then in an awful fury he got

s, sleds, and all. There was a gr

as whi

ome Py

pretty nearly

s into the Boy's hands. They were rudely but cleverly carved, with eyes o

ned them by the strange glow

u k

can't

, must bring present. Me no got reindeer, me got button." He

by the fire before he turned in, for the cabin

tt'n on a swee'

untied the leathern thongs t

ter vine, s

laying the Big Game with Fohtune. Foolishness! Klondyke? Yoh crazy. Tell me the river's hard as iron and the snow

covers, and balancing a mom

ee' p'tater vin

umped up, and stood staring

w? He's been left be

I reckon we're in the Arctic regions all right

Kaviak and himself, an