The Trail of a Sourdough / Life in Alaska

s ages were huddled around the stove in a little road-house

pipe if you fellers want a yarn from me," said one, when th

aybe when I have finished my story you won't feel any different; but I can't help it, and it is none of your -- business. The deed is done, and well done, and Rosa Nell (that ain't her name, as you can see by the initial stake if you want to dig it out from under th

a thing but empty bottles to bump with. Behold the size of the glass dump outside yonder if you don't bel

out one and another by the stove, "the fire is

ded to buy a thousand dollar outfit and go to Norton Sound. It was late in October; the storms came on, and the upshot of it was that we were ship-wrecked off the coast and were finally put in at a small camp nearly a hundred miles from where we wanted to

full and there was not a vacant cabin anywhere. If there had been, you know we were absolutely without money to buy or build with. How I cur

dently not where she had intended to be, just like ourselves, but was a teacher, left over from some stranded expedition, probably. Anyhow, there she was, and there we were. We a

. Some men, you know, don't water their dogs once in six weeks, if at all, and as everything

with closed eyes, he said, tryin' hard to get warm under his fur robe; when the tent flap was brushed aside, and in rushed a mad dog, snapping and

t lay upon the floor. With that he made for the dog, and finally drove hi

e we were. He was pale with fright, covered with bl

a, and so far from home. This is hard lines, ain't it, boys?' between

e road-house as it was then past midnight, while three of the boys rigged themselves in their furs and hunted the blasted brute tha

other things and bathed the wounds; but, best of all, they cheered up the poor fellow by telling him that he need have no fear of hydrophobia, as the bite of the Eskimo dogs in

s: An old log school-house, long since deserted for the new one built near by, was unused except as a store-room. This building had been originally made warm and tight by m

one corner, the windows were to be mended as well as possible along with the chimney in the middle of the roof; and for a trifling consideration each month we were to have the use of the bui

sides of some of the same in place of glass in the windows, we did get fixed some sort of comfortable. Anyhow, we had a house over our heads that could not blow down in a blizzard, and a solid door which kept out mad dogs at nig

ar, the messenger said. When I saw her a few minutes later her eyes were shinin' like stars in the night time. She wanted me to go

re hastily laid for the next day. We had some trouble to get good dogs for the trip, and befo

gettin' our grub cooked. We then took the bells off our dog collars and packed our sleds behind closed doors; but it was no go. In spite of all our precautions three dog-teams followed our trail as we slipped s

the other fellows in on what was left. After that, without sleeping, but w

o beat the band. We shovelled, panned, built dams, and worked like beavers in water above our knees. We moved our tents further up on the bank at midnight at the risin' of the creek durin' a hard ra

as no go

mmer when we could have done better work; and a lot of other things of like description. When I insisted that we had done the very best we possibly could, and that there was positively no

ned toward me with considerable spirit, and almost with anger said, the tears comin' into her eyes meanwhile, '

s were nev

ll you, fellows," dropping his voice and taking the pipe from between his teeth he knocked its ashes out upon the cold hearth, "that cre

mehow, I can't explain it, but there are others besides Eugene Field's kids who are good at 'seein'

at I have done, you can just take it out in kickin'-yourselves. Our new ledge is a jim-dandy; an

ow, boys, and I'll listen t