Bloomington High School, The Gothic, 1912, Page 42

Description:	tended with them for the crust. A council was held in thestone igloo of Kayak Pete. Placer Jim said, Men, we musthave supplies. We can get along without tobacco but notour coffee and bacon. I will go to Fort Cudahy for morerations if one of you will go with me. To Fort Cudahyin mid-winter? Impossible, muttered Jack Starks.It must be done. I will go with you, spoke up SandyMcGregor, the best man at the works.Eagle Mountain towers above Nulato. It is the eastpeak of the Keyukuk range. Fort Cudahy is distant threehundred miles and more by dog-trail. It was indeed a fear-ful trip for two men to attempt in the deep night of Alaska.We will not notice the terrors of the journey thither,nor the heroism of the pair battling for the lives at Nulato.We will ignore the trials of the faithful dogs, who alonemade the trip possible, and turn to the last hours on thereturn.McGregor and Placer Jim were stalking stolidly alongbehind the sled. Placer Jim dragged a whip in one hand.The dogs were black shadows on the snow. Presently athong slipped in his snowshoe and, with a curse, PlacerJim knelt down to tighten it. McGregor strode on aloneand glanced at the sledge to see that the cargo had notshifted out of place. He looked up at the silent sky andmyriad stars. The Dipper seemed revolving almostabove his head. Down in the southern sky Jupiter blazedforth and the Milky Way lighted the heavens. He lookedat Jupiter again and remembered how it had appeared tohim when he was living back in the States. It rose aboutseven oclock, the time when he was making the last roundto see that the stock was secure for the night. The lowsheep-fold was before him and the ewes were turning theirsoft eyes upon him. With the lantern in his hand, he peeredinto the cow-barn and patted the startled calf on the back.He was walking across the crisp snow and the lampshed its glow through the window to greet him. Then therecame the story for the younger children as they ate theirapples about the hearth. After the other children had saidgood-night, he remained. Father and mother sat up tooand together they discussed the day and planned the mor-row. The red coals shed a gentle radiance about the roomand illumined their faces with a beautiful light.Placer Jim came running up and cracked his whip atthe dogs.Were a good twenty miles from there yet, he said.Yes, I guess we are, McGregor answered. I wasthinking of home.It would be mighty fine to be back there again, saidPlacer Jim.We never had famine there, and always we had lotsof good things to eat. Nora baked pies that would makea mans mouth water to see.Yes, and at Thanksgiving time, replied McGregor, Ihave eaten turkey enough to make a pig sick. Not tomention the side dishes I have emptied.And at Christmas, too, we used to have a big time andlots of candy for the kids.Oh, do you know it must be nearly Christmas now,broke in McGregor.So it is, and if I count right it is Christmas Eve thisvery hour.Judging by the stars it must be getting along towardmidnight in the States. We can call ourselves the SantaClaus of Nulato.* * * *The few people at Nulato assembled in a small hut thatPage Forty-two
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloom/id/1112
Collection:	Bloomington High School

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