THE MEN OF FORTY-MILE
When Big Jim Belden ventured the apparently innocuous proposition that mush-ice was "rather pecooliar," he little dreamed of what it would lead to. Neither did Lon McFane, when he affirmed that anchor-ice was even more so; nor did Bettles, as he instantly disagreed, declaring the very existence of such a form to be a bugaboo.
"An' ye 'd be tellin' me this," cried Lon, "after the years ye 've spint in the land! An' we atin' out the same pot this many 's the day!"
"But the thing 's agin reason," insisted Bettles. "Look you, water's warmer than ice"—
"An' little the difference, once ye break through."
"Still it 's warmer, because it ain't froze. An' you say it freezes on the bottom?"
"Only the anchor-ice, David, only the anchor-ice. An' have ye niver drifted along, the water clear as glass, whin suddin, belike a cloud over the sun, the mushy ice comes bubblin' up an' up, till from bank to bank an' bind to bind it 's drapin' the river like a first snowfall?"
"Unh hunh! more 'n once when I took a doze at the steering-oar. But it allus come out the nighest side-channel, an' not bubblin' up an' up."
"But with niver a wink at the helm?"
"No; nor you. It 's agin reason. I 'll leave it to any man!"
Bettles appealed to the circle about the stove, but the fight was on between himself and Lon McFane.
"Reason or no reason, it 's the truth I 'm tellin' ye. Last fall, a year gone, 't was Sitka Charley and meself saw the sight, droppin' down the riffle ye 'll remember below Fort Reliance. An' regular fall weather it was,—the glint o' the sun on the golden larch an' the quakin' aspens; an' the glister of light on ivery ripple; an beyand, the winter an the blue haze of the North comin' down hand in hand. It 's well ye know the same, with a fringe to the river an' the ice formin' thick in the eddies,—an' a snap an' sparkle to the air, an' ye a-feelin' it through all yer blood, a-takin' new lease of life with ivery suck of it. 'T is then, me boy, the world grows small an' the wandther-lust lays ye by the heels.
"But it 's meself as wandthers. As I was sayin', we a-paddlin', with niver a sign of ice, barrin' that by the eddies, when the Injin lifts his paddle an' sings out, 'Lon McFane! Look ye below! So have I heard, but niver thought to see!' As ye know, Sitka Charley, like meself, niver drew first breath in the land; so the sight was new. Then we drifted, with a head over ayther side, peerin' down through the sparkly water. For the world like the days I spint with the pearlers, watchin' the coral banks a-growin' the same as so many gardens under the sea. There it was, the anchor-ice, clingin' an' clusterin' to ivery rock, after the manner of the white coral.
"But the best of the sight was to come. Just after clearin' the tail of the riffle, the water turns quick the color of milk, an' the top of it in wee circles, as when the graylin' rise in the spring or there's a splatter of wet from the sky. 'T was the anchor-ice comin' up. To the right, to the lift, as far as iver a man cud see, the water was covered with the same. An' like so much porridge it was, slickin' along the bark of the canoe, stickin' like glue to the paddles. It 's many 's the time I shot the selfsame riffle before, and it 's many 's the time after, but niver a wink of the same have I seen. 'T was the sight of a lifetime."
"Do tell!" dryly commented Bettles. "D' ye think I 'd b'lieve such a yarn? I 'd ruther say the glister of light 'd gone to your eyes, and the snap of the air to your tongue."
"'T was me own eyes that beheld it, an' if Sitka Charley was here, he 'd be the lad to back me."
"But facts is facts, an' they ain't no gittin' round 'em. It ain't in the nature of things for the water furtherest away from the air to freeze first."
"But me own eyes"—
"Don't git het up over it," admonished Bettles, as the quick Celtic anger began to mount.
"Then yer not after belavin' me?"
"Sence you 're so blamed forehanded about it, no; I 'd b'lieve nature first, and facts."
"Is it the lie ye 'd be givin' me?" threatened Lon. "Ye 'd better be askin' that Siwash wife of yours. I 'll lave it to her, for the truth I spake."
Bettles flared up in sudden wrath. The Irishman had unwittingly wounded him; for his wife was the half-breed daughter of a Russian fur-trader, married to him in the Greek Mission of Nulato, a thousand miles or so down the Yukon, thus being of much higher caste than the common Siwash, or native, wife. It was a mere Northland nuance, which none but the Northland adventurer may understand.
"I reckon you kin take it that way," was his deliberate affirmation.
The next instant Lon McFane had stretched him on the floor, the circle was broken up, and half a dozen men had stepped between.
Bettles came to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth. "It hain't new, this takin' and payin' of blows, and don't you never think but that this will be squared."
"An' niver in me life did I take the lie from mortal man," was the retort courteous. "An' it 's an avil day I 'll not be to hand, waitin' an' willin' to help ye lift yer debts, barrin' no manner of way."
"Still got that 38-55?"
Lon nodded.
"But you 'd better git a more likely calibre. Mine 'll rip holes through you the size of walnuts."
"Niver fear; it 's me own slugs smell their way with soft noses, an' they 'll spread like flapjacks against the coming out beyand. An' when 'll I have the pleasure of waitin' on ye? The water-hole 's a strikin' locality."
"'T ain't bad. Jest be there in an hour, and you won't set long on my coming."
Both men mittened and left the Post, their ears closed to the remonstrances of their comrades. It was such a little thing; yet with such men, little things, nourished by quick tempers and stubborn natures, soon blossomed into big things. Besides, the art of burning to bed-rock still lay in the womb of the future, and the men of Forty-Mile, shut in by the long Arctic winter, grew high-stomached with over-eating and enforced idleness, and became as irritable as do the bees in the fall of the year when the hives are overstocked with honey.
There was no law in the land. The Mounted Police was also a thing of the future. Each man measured an offense and meted out the punishment in as much as it affected himself. Rarely had combined action been necessary, and never in all the dreary history of the camp had the eighth article of the Decalogue been violated.
Big Jim Belden called an impromptu meeting. Scruff Mackenzie was placed as temporary chairman, and a messenger dispatched to solicit Father Roubeau's good offices. Their position was paradoxical, and they knew it. By the right of might could they interfere to prevent the duel; yet such action, while in direct line with their wishes, went counter to their opinions. While their rough-hewn, obsolete ethics recognized the individual prerogative of wiping out blow with blow, they could not bear to think of two good comrades, such as Bettles and McFane, meeting in deadly battle. Deeming the man who would not fight on provocation a dastard, when brought to the test it seemed wrong that he should fight.
But a scurry of moccasins and loud cries, rounded off with a pistol-shot, interrupted the discussion. Then the storm-doors opened and Malemute Kid entered, a smoking Colt's in his hand and a merry light in his eye.
"I got him." He replaced the empty shell, and added, "Your dog, Scruff."
"Yellow Fang?" Mackenzie asked.
"No; the lop-eared one."
"The devil! Nothing the matter with him."
"Come out and take a look."
"That 's all right, after all. Guess he 's got 'em, too. Yellow Fang came back this morning and took a chunk out of him, and came near to making a widower of me. Made a rush for Zarinska, but she whisked her skirts in his face and escaped with the loss of the same and a good roll in the snow. Then he took to the woods again. Hope he don't come back. Lost any yourself?"
"One—the best one of the pack—Shookum. Started amuck this morning, but did n't get very far. Ran foul of Sitka Charley's team, and they scattered him all over the street. And now two of them are loose and raging mad; so you see he got his work in. The dog census will be small in the spring if we don't do something."
"And the man census, too."
"How 's that? Whose in trouble now?"
"Oh, Bettles and Lon McFane had an argument, and they 'll be down by the water-hole in a few minutes to settle it."
The incident was repeated for his benefit, and Malemute Kid, accustomed to an obedience which his fellow men never failed to render, took charge of the affair. His quickly formulated plan was explained, and they promised to follow his lead implicitly.
"So you see," he concluded, "we do not actually take away their privilege of fighting; and yet I don't believe they 'll fight when they see the beauty of the scheme. Life 's a game, and men the gamblers. They 'll stake their whole pile on the one chance in a thousand. Take away that one chance, and—they won't play."
He turned to the man in charge of the Post. "Storekeeper, weigh out three fathoms of your best half-inch manila."
"We 'll establish a precedent which will last the men of Forty-Mile to the end of time," he prophesied. Then he coiled the rope about his arm and led his followers out of doors, just in time to meet the principals.
"What danged right 'd he to fetch my wife in?" thundered Bettles to the soothing overtures of a friend. "'T wa'n't called for," he concluded decisively. "'T wa'n't called for," he reiterated again and again, pacing up and down and waiting for Lon McFane.
And Lon McFane—his face was hot and tongue rapid as he flaunted insurrection in the face of the Church. "Then, father," he cried, "it 's with an aisy heart I 'll roll in me flamy blankets, the broad of me back on a bed of coals. Niver shall it be said Lon McFane took a lie 'twixt the teeth without iver liftin' a hand! An' I 'll not ask a blessin'. The years have been wild, but it 's the heart was in the right place."
"But it 's not the heart, Lon," interposed Father Roubeau; "it 's pride that bids you forth to slay your fellow man."
"Yer Frinch," Lon replied. And then, turning to leave him, "An' will ye say a mass if the luck is against me?"
But the priest smiled, thrust his moccasined feet to the fore, and went out upon the white breast of the silent river. A packed trail, the width of a sixteen-inch sled, led out to the water-hole. On either side lay the deep, soft snow. The men trod in single file, without conversation; and the black-stoled priest in their midst gave to the function the solemn aspect of a funeral. It was a warm winter's day for Forty-Mile,—a day in which the sky, filled with heaviness, drew closer to the earth, and the mercury sought the unwonted level of twenty below. But there was no cheer in the warmth. There was little air in the upper strata, and the clouds hung motionless, giving sullen promise of an early snowfall. And the earth, unresponsive, made no preparation, content in its hibernation.
When the water-hole was reached, Bettles, having evidently reviewed the quarrel during the silent walk, burst out in a final "'T wa'n't called for," while Lon McFane kept grim silence. Indignation so choked him that he could not speak.
Yet deep down, whenever their own wrongs were not uppermost, both men wondered at their comrades. They had expected opposition, and this tacit acquiescence hurt them. It seemed more was due them from the men they had been so close with, and they felt a vague sense of wrong, rebelling at the thought of so many of their brothers coming out, as on a gala occasion, without one word of protest, to see them shoot each other down. It appeared their worth had diminished in the eyes of the community. The proceedings puzzled them.
"Back to back, David. An' will it be fifty paces to the man, or double the quantity?"
"Fifty," was the sanguinary reply, grunted out, yet sharply cut.
But the new manila, not prominently displayed but casually coiled about Malemute Kid's arm, caught the quick eye of the Irishman and thrilled him with a suspicious fear.
"An' what are ye doin' with the rope?"
"Hurry up!" Malemute Kid glanced at his watch. "I 've a batch of bread in the cabin, and I don't want it to fall. Besides, my feet are getting cold."
The rest of the men manifested their impatience in various suggestive ways.
"But the rope, Kid? It 's bran' new, an' sure yer bread 's not that heavy it needs raisin' with the like of that?"
Bettles by this time had faced around. Father Roubeau, the humor of the situation just dawning on him, hid a smile behind his mittened hand.
"No, Lon; this rope was made for a man."
Malemute Kid could be very impressive on occasion.
"What man?" Bettles was becoming aware of a personal interest.
"The other man."
"An' which is the one ye 'd mane by that?"
"Listen, Lon,—and you, too, Bettles! We 've been talking this little trouble of yours over, and we 've come to one conclusion. We know we have no right to stop your fighting"—
"True for ye, me lad!"
"And we 're not going to. But this much we can do, and shall do,—make this the only duel in the history of Forty-Mile, set an example for every che-cha-qua that comes up or down the Yukon. The man who escapes killing shall be hanged to the nearest tree. Now, go ahead!"
Lon smiled dubiously, then his face lighted up." Pace her off, David,—fifty paces, wheel, an' niver a cease firin' till a lad's down for good. 'T is their hearts 'll niver let them do the deed, an' it 's well ye should know it for a true Yankee bluff."
He started off with a pleased grin on his face, but Malemute Kid halted him.
"Lon! It 's a long while since you first knew me?"
"Many 's the day."
"And you, Bettles?"
"Five year next June high water."
"And have you once, in all that time, known me to break my word? Or heard of me breaking it?"
Both men shook their heads, striving to fathom what lay beyond.
"Well, then, what do you think of a promise made by me?"
"As good as your bond," from Bettles.
"The thing to safely sling yer hopes of heaven by," promptly indorsed Lon McFane.
"Listen! I, Malemute Kid, give you my word—and you know what that means—that the man who is not shot stretches rope within ten minutes after the shooting." He stepped back as Pilate might have done after washing his hands.
A pause and a silence came over the men of Forty-Mile. The sky drew still closer, sending down a crystal flight of frost,—little geometric designs, perfect, evanescent as a breath, yet destined to exist till the returning sun had covered half its northern journey. Both men had led forlorn hopes in their time,—led, with a curse or a jest on their tongues, and in their souls an unswerving faith in the God of Chance. But that merciful deity had been shut out from the present deal. They studied the face of Malemute Kid, but they studied as one might the Sphinx. As the quiet minutes passed, a feeling that speech was incumbent on them began to grow. At last the howl of a wolf-dog cracked the silence from the direction of Forty-Mile. The weird sound swelled with all the pathos of a breaking heart, then died away in a long-drawn sob.
"Well I be danged!" Bettles turned up the collar of his mackinaw jacket and stared about him helplessly.
"It 's a gloryus game yer runnin', Kid," cried Lon McFane. "All the percentage to the house an' niver a bit to the man that 's buckin'. The Devil himself 'd niver tackle such a cinch—and damned if I do."
There were chuckles, throttled in gurgling throats, and winks brushed away with the frost which rimed the eyelashes, as the men climbed the ice-notched bank and started across the street to the Post. But the long howl had drawn nearer, invested with a new note of menace. A woman screamed round the corner. There was a cry of, "Here he comes!" Then an Indian boy, at the head of half a dozen frightened dogs, racing with death, dashed into the crowd. And behind came Yellow Fang, a bristle of hair and a flash of gray. Everybody but the Yankee fled. The Indian boy had tripped and fallen. Bettles stopped long enough to grip him by the slack of his furs, then headed for a pile of cordwood already occupied by a number of his comrades. Yellow Fang, doubling after one of the dogs, came leaping back. The fleeing animal, free of the rabies but crazed with fright, whipped Bettles off his feet and flashed on up the street. Malemute Kid took a flying shot at Yellow Fang. The mad dog whirled a half airspring, came down on his back, then, with a single leap, covered half the distance between himself and Bettles.
But the fatal spring was intercepted. Lon McFane leaped from the woodpile, countering him in midair. Over they rolled, Lon holding him by the throat at arm's length, blinking under the fetid slaver which sprayed his face. Then Bettles, revolver in hand and coolly waiting a chance, settled the combat.
"'T was a square game, Kid," Lon remarked, rising to his feet and shaking the snow from out his sleeves; "with a fair percentage to meself that bucked it."
That night, while Lon McFane sought the forgiving arms of the Church in the direction of Father Roubeau's cabin, Malemute Kid and Scruff Mackenzie talked long to little purpose.
"But would you," persisted Mackenzie, "supposing they had fought?"
"Have I ever broken my word?"
"No; but that is n't the point. Answer the question. Would you?"
Malemute Kid straightened up. "Scruff, I 've been asking myself that question ever since, and"—
"Well?"
"Well, as yet, I have n't found the answer."